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[diggmcbadass]

the bigger question is: why the hell do you have 32GB of RAM?

What is this heresy? You can never have enough RAM. Disable your page file, run a 8 gb ramdisk for nvidia shadowplay and temp folder caching, make sure your torrent program is caching to ram to reduce disk writes, put a dozen tabs up in your browser that you never run, boot up your virtual linux distro to do some coding in a clean enviroment ,and then take a little break to play some games. Bring up task manager, take a sip of coffee, sit back and enjoy those 32gigs doing god's work.

Edit: Also, op should upgrade and just get one of those start button replacements. Then w8 is basically the same as w7 but with added support for ram and other os stuff.

 

[Lasthope106]

Windows 8 is the best version of windows yet. I've been through many transitions to newer versions of Windows operating systems and it's always the same thing. Lots of people hitching and moaning that the latest version sucks and is responsible for killing kittens. In time, MS always gets it right, except for Windows ME. Upgrade without fear OP.

 

[I'm an expert]

No, I would wait until MS gets rid of Metro and Metro apps(or atleast gives you the option to disable it completely).

Rofl my waffle. Lolicopter incoming. Yeah.


No.

 

[AuthenticM]

Wait for Windows 9.

 

[opticalmace]

Probably worth doing eventually. Are you a student? There is normally some type of cheaper way to get Win 8 if you are. Actually my girlfriend got a copy of Win 8 Pro and Office 2010 from her school for free.

About Win 8 itself, to me it's a mixed bag. I wouldn't bother for $100 but for a small fee it's probably worth your while.

 

[M3d10n]

As a recent convert, I have to say that I'm getting used to it, and it seems worth the performance improvements to me... I've still got a legacy laptop system I keep for dealing with older programs, but the way Windows 8/8.1 encourage you to use the search function for everything is actually a paradigm I can deal with, and it's probably more efficient than browsing through a ridiculously long Start menu list trying to remember what software company developed niche program xxx so I can find the folder that's hiding the launch icon for that program... I really hate some of the default file associations and their related "apps" though; their propensity for grabbing the whole screen is annoying as hell... God help you if you want to listen to music on your PC while actually doing something else...

Outside from the PDF reader, Windows 8 still contains the desktop Windows Media Player and image viewer. However, if you have a keyboard with multimedia buttons, the Music app suddenly becomes usable because you can play/pause/skip without ever switching to it.

I've been putting 8.1 through the paces over the past few weeks on the asus t100. The desktop mode is...functional. It's a shame that so many of the classic search and options are hidden behind a haze of bullshit. I shouldn't have to go through three menus just to find the control panel. So in that regard it's not the best for people who love tweaking settings.

Other than that, it loads much faster than 7, office '13 seems great, and the touch UI works great in tablet mode. Just don't expect any miracles from the Windows store, it's a ghost town for apps. Finally got the hang of reorganizing my tiles, so it isn't the clusterfuck it was at launch.

There are other ways to reach the control panel, other than using the search:

1) Right-click (or long-tap, if on touch) the start button.
2) If you're using a keyboard, Win+I
3) If "My Computer" is selected in Explorer, it's right there in the ribbon menu.

You can also always pin it to the start menu or the task bar.

 

[No Love]

Using Windows 8.1 on my convertible XPS 12. With a touchscreen, Windows 8.1 is a joy to use. Has somewhat of a learning curve but it's very fast and fun.

I use Windows 7 on my big bad home gaming monster rig. Don't feel a need to put Windows 8.1 on there yet.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

I'm at my gf's parent's house for Thanksgiving and I'm attempting to use her younger sister's new laptop with Windows 8. It is a lot different than Win 7. I'm kinda struggling. It's making me feel old.

 

[Maddocks]

I'm about to get a computer with windows 8.1. Is it possible to just rock a ol desktop looking thing like vista? all i need is a awesome picture and everything out of my way to see said picture.

 

[Pinkuss]

I'd go for a yes. I never see/use Metro (my computer auto boots to desktop) and whilst I've installed Classic Shell I rarely use the start menu; the 4/5 common applications I use are pinned to the taskbar and the rest are on my desktop. Other than the things I don't really notice or miss it's just like Windows 7 for me (with a slight performance increase).

 

[genericsuperhero]

I installed 8.1 yesterday from 7 and I got used to the corners pretty quick. I didn't think I would like it. I miss aero though.

A ward of warning, if you do a clean install of 8, then upgrade to 8.1, back up or rename the windows.old folder it creates before upgrading to 8.1. I thought it was more of a service pack, but it ended up completely overwriting the folder it created with a new one. I had to use a disk recovery utility afterwards to get back most of the stuff I didn't have backed up.

 

[AEGISX]

Windows 7 is performing perfectly well, there's no point to upgrade. I'd use 7 until MS stop supporting it.

 

[RS4-]

Well, this morning I decided to go from 7 to 8.1, was a little bothersome to reinstall everything.

I need to find some themes; these huge bars on windows and such is pretty bad.

 

[Castcoder]

I am a student, so I will look into your suggestions. Any leads on some good 8.1 deals, just to make sure I'm not missing out on anything?