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Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 8:15 pm
by anotherengineer
Ok, I'm deciding on whether to purchase the pro upgrade. I am having trouble finding specific improvements/features compared to Win 7 pro.

So far

-better multi-monitor support (good)
-native usb 3.0 support (good)
-I heard updatde AHCI drivers? (good for SSD performance)?
-some type of quick boot is BIOS supports it

What other goodies are there that win 8 pro offers over win 7 pro?

Re: Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 9:19 pm
by onlysublime
there's another thread for this. i know it's kind of crazy and hard to read the other thread because of all the back and forth talk, but creating another thread doesn't make it easier because the same people will come into this thread to hate on Windows 8 which also results in people trying to show the benefits. so it ends up being another debate soapbox.

the haters aren't going to be able to resist so you're not going to get what you desire which is only a list of the improvements.

Re: Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 9:30 pm
by Ari Atari
Other than to echo about the other threads, I got Win8 Pro through my school and here's what I got:

Pros:
Significantly faster shutdown and startup
An upgraded task manager
32bit sound in the sound settings for some reason (win7 only allows 24bit)
Under the hood improvements that I probably don't know of
The file transfer window now gives a graph and allows the pausing of copy and paste
Much faster connection to wifi

Cons:
The not really "Metro" interface (removed with classic shell)
Some drivers are not quite ready (well actually its just creative aggh....)
Ribbon interface everywhere

That's what comes to mind right now. Really, the cons are all personal beefs against pointless change, I guess I'd get used to them eventually. The difference between win7 and 8 is probably what a "service pack" would have been considered a while ago. Not much of an upgrade.

Edits: Remembered more Pros.

Re: Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 9:48 pm
by ludi
Some of the "pros" and "cons" might depend on how you use the machine. Obviously not everyone's a fan of modern UI, but IMO the tablet-oriented design works quite well for a system oriented toward content-consumption. I just converted my HTPC (Win7-64-Home) last night, and mUI felt perfectly natural, particularly on a cheap 720p screen where the lousy scaler tend to corrupt smaller fonts.

OTOH, for my regular desktop where I multitask heavily, I wouldn't want to give up Aero, particularly the peek and preview functions. So for now, I plan to upgrade that machine sometime around half past never.

Re: Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 9:53 pm
by Ari Atari
Ludi, are you talking about Aero Peek, where you hover over the icon in the taskbar and a preview shows up? Its still there, you just have to enable it.

Re: Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 11:13 pm
by ludi
Right you are, I had a chance to play with it a bit more tonight. The one thing I'm still trying to get back now is the various control panel and other miscellaneous applications shortcuts. They all seem to be there, but it takes some digging.

Re: Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 11:27 pm
by Ari Atari
Yep, it is my experience that where win7 had multiple ways to do things, win8 only kept the most obscure ways, but it is nice that they carried over some things. I didn't totally have to start over like I thought I would.

Re: Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 11:28 pm
by derFunkenstein
What is this thing I've done a few times on accident where if my mouse pointer is at the top of the screen, and then I grab and pull down, the screen shrinks and I can move stuff around? Is there any practical purpose for this? WHAT IN THE **** DOES THIS DO?

I just did a split screen with the Bing app and my desktop. Can I do lots of split screens?

Re: Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 11:36 pm
by Ari Atari
Think of the desktop as yet another "metro" app in the "metro" interface world. You can now run a whole TWO apps at once! Just drag the top of the screen and move it to the left or right and then run the second app amazing! Eh...

Re: Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 1:24 am
by onlysublime
derFunkenstein wrote:
What is this thing I've done a few times on accident where if my mouse pointer is at the top of the screen, and then I grab and pull down, the screen shrinks and I can move stuff around? Is there any practical purpose for this? WHAT IN THE **** DOES THIS DO?

I just did a split screen with the Bing app and my desktop. Can I do lots of split screens?


this is the mouse way to either 1) terminate the app or 2) snap the app to the side (like snapping windows to the side in Windows 7).

to terminate the app, drag the metro app by grabbing the top of the screen and then move it to the bottom of the screen and then let go.

to snap it, grab it and then move it to the side of the screen


now, if you don't terminate a metro app, it's usually okay because most metro apps get suspended when they are off screen. the apps that need constant updates (e.g., streaming software) do not get suspended. but for those people that like a tidy task manager and don't want to alt+tab through a bunch of apps will want to truly terminate the app.

Re: Windows 8 - What improvements over Win7??

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 1:30 am
by onlysublime
here are a couple of links:

http://www.howtogeek.com/128123/10-awesome-improvements-for-desktop-users-in-windows-8/

10 Awesome Improvements For Desktop Users in Windows 8

http://www.howtogeek.com/128182/6-ways-windows-8-is-more-secure-than-windows-7/

6 Ways Windows 8 Is More Secure Than Windows 7

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/10/better-on-the-inside-under-the-hood-of-windows-8/

Better on the inside: under the hood of Windows 8

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/138177-under-the-hood-of-windows-8-or-why-desktop-users-should-upgrade-from-windows-7

Under the hood of Windows 8, or why desktop users should upgrade from Windows 7

you really should give it a chance and skim the other thread. you'll find some good information. things like synced settings. more apps. cheaper apps (prices more in line with mobile apps than typical cost of windows apps). lots of free apps. better integration between apps. sandboxing of apps.