Real World Benefits - Win8 v's Win7

[mart4494]

I installed Win8 onto a separate partition and I suppose the MetroUI is a matter of personal taste. Personally not really for me but who knows what the final release will be. Maybe Microsoft are testing the waters and if there are enough negatives may give the option for a classic look otherwise as has been mentioned elsewhere, they could have a Vista mk2 on their hands. Read a great deal on here and elsewhere about the new version but I've yet to read anywhere exactly what the real world day to day benefits will be to change from Windows 7 64bit to Win8. With my limited experience there doesn't appear to be any difference in speed and it's really no big deal if it should shave a few seconds off the boot time. Once the PC is switched on then that's it. No doubt things are different in the touch screen world but for the vast majority of users that are still with a keyboard and mouse can anyone a, b, c those real world benefits??

 

[burtie]

So far I have to agree, while the faster boot time is nice this whole metro thing really holds it back. I also like the new file explorer, its nice having real buttons that are of some use; the copy to and move to are a real godsend as it keeps a small list of your history making it easier to move things around.
Apart from that I have not found much else, but its still early days. I got mixed feelings about it at the moment, some of it I like and some of it I hate!

 

[mart4494]

Just my extra $0.02 worth but reading between the lines it almost looks as though Microsoft is trying to move things onto the cloud. I have no problems using GMail but that is about it. I prefer to 'own' the software and store the confidentials on my own PC. There is of course more profit for Microsoft to be in a position to offer a monthly software rental licensing facility but I would never in a million years allow files to be kept under their safe keeping. Possibly more convenient if you're restricted to a laptop with little HD space so you can access your files anywhere (provided the facility does not experience an outage and of course dependant upon the user having a reliable connection). As I sync daily between my main PC and my laptop then it would not be a benefit to me as an individual. Probably me just playing devils advocate here but still open to hearing about those real world benefits.

 

[SIW2]

Where do I find this file explorer?

 

[imacken]

He means the revised Windows Explorer.

 

[burtie]

Yeah the winows explorer

 

[HPDeskjet]

It'll be Windows 7 for businesses, that's how simple it is when comparing Windows 7 and Windows 8 (in its current state). I'll bet already that Windows 7 will be the next XP because home desktop users and businesses will reject Windows 8 in their droves.
Home users and businesses will stick with Windows 7 until the bitter end. I personally never had any problem with Vista, I installed it when it came out and could never understand the negative reaction it got, but Windows 8 is a completely different story.

I also agree with mart4494 when he/ she says " it almost looks as though Microsoft is trying to move things onto the cloud." MS are hoping for an app cash cow with Windows 8 on tablets. A walled garden in which you do not own what you have bought, you only own the rights to use it and not own it outright. It struck me as very suspicious that some apps also require a Windows Live account in order to use them. Fine foe a mobile phone or tablet perhaps but not for those of us who prefer to have more control over our own purchases, files, music etc.

 

[mart4494]

It'll be Windows 7 for businesses, that's how simple it is when comparing Windows 7 and Windows 8 (in its current state). I'll bet already that Windows 7 will be the next XP because home desktop users and businesses will reject Windows 8 in their droves.
Home users and businesses will stick with Windows 7 until the bitter end. I personally never had any problem with Vista, I installed it when it came out and could never understand the negative reaction it got, but Windows 8 is a completely different story.

I also never had a problem with Vista once all the junk was stripped out and you could get the thing up to a decent speed. Hence Win7 is v6.1 (from memory). It's just a slimmed down Vista. Why MS had to put all the stuff on Vista in the first place is beyond me. Maybe Win8 is faster than Win7 but from a productivity point of view it's a huge backwards step. Maybe things will change with the final release but sadly I don't think they will.

 

[HPDeskjet]

Added this to my post while you posted:

I also agree with mart4494 when he/ she says " it almost looks as though Microsoft is trying to move things onto the cloud." MS are hoping for an app cash cow with Windows 8 on tablets. A walled garden in which you do not own what you have bought, you only own the rights to use it and not own it outright. It struck me as very suspicious that some apps also require a Windows Live account in order to use them. Fine foe a mobile phone or tablet perhaps but not for those of us who prefer to have more control over our own purchases, files, music etc.

It'll be Windows 7 for businesses, that's how simple it is when comparing Windows 7 and Windows 8 (in its current state). I'll bet already that Windows 7 will be the next XP because home desktop users and businesses will reject Windows 8 in their droves.
Home users and businesses will stick with Windows 7 until the bitter end. I personally never had any problem with Vista, I installed it when it came out and could never understand the negative reaction it got, but Windows 8 is a completely different story.

I also never had a problem with Vista once all the junk was stripped out and you could get the thing up to a decent speed. Hence Win7 is v6.1 (from memory). It's just a slimmed down Vista. Why MS had to put all the stuff on Vista in the first place is beyond me. Maybe Win8 is faster than Win7 but from a productivity point of view it's a huge backwards step. Maybe things will change with the final release but sadly I don't think they will.

 

[mart4494]

Added this to my post while you posted:

I also agree with mart4494 when he/ she says " it almost looks as though Microsoft is trying to move things onto the cloud." MS are hoping for an app cash cow with Windows 8 on tablets. A walled garden in which you do not own what you have bought, you only own the rights to use it and not own it outright. It struck me as very suspicious that some apps also require a Windows Live account in order to use them. Fine foe a mobile phone or tablet perhaps but not for those of us who prefer to have more control over our own purchases, files, music etc.

It'll be Windows 7 for businesses, that's how simple it is when comparing Windows 7 and Windows 8 (in its current state). I'll bet already that Windows 7 will be the next XP because home desktop users and businesses will reject Windows 8 in their droves.
Home users and businesses will stick with Windows 7 until the bitter end. I personally never had any problem with Vista, I installed it when it came out and could never understand the negative reaction it got, but Windows 8 is a completely different story.

I also never had a problem with Vista once all the junk was stripped out and you could get the thing up to a decent speed. Hence Win7 is v6.1 (from memory). It's just a slimmed down Vista. Why MS had to put all the stuff on Vista in the first place is beyond me. Maybe Win8 is faster than Win7 but from a productivity point of view it's a huge backwards step. Maybe things will change with the final release but sadly I don't think they will.

That's where Apple make the vast majority of their profit - in the apps download. They can afford to virtually give away the iPads. Microsoft want a slice of the action and who can blame them. Only problem is the Windows user is a different animal and whilst the MetroUI may work fine on a phone and/or a tablet it simply doesn't transfer to a desktop or laptop. There were several negative reports about the ribbon interface on Office. Okay there were also positives as well but surely Microsoft could have released an add-on to enable those wishing to do so to use the classic menu bar. It would certainly have encouraged them to upgrade. But nope, that's not how it is so you've still got plenty of folks and companies using Office XP and 2003. Hence they had to release a compatibility program to enable the old Office users to be able to read .docx files. Anyway, enough from me, soapbox now vacated and back to doing some work on Win7.