6 replies to this topic

[Elemental Crisis]

As mentioned in my status update, I decided to upgrade to Windows 8 as I was able to get Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 which was too good of a price to pass up. I went with a clean install which was pretty cool seeing how I was told many times by Microsoft that I could only upgrade my current version of Windows. The entire process took maybe 15 minutes though I spent an extra 30 minutes trying to figure out why it seemed to be freezing during boot only to realize it made my 2nd monitor which is my TV the default monitor.

I'm really not impressed with the new metro look that Microsoft now forces on to everyone. I see it's advantages for the average computer user but for people like me, its useless. Granted I didn't spend that much time with it and installed Start8 15 minutes into using the new metro interface. Start8 is awesome as it brings back the classic start menu and comes with a bunch of additional options for you to customize your environment. Stardock only charges $5 for the standard version which is pretty nice considering Microsoft should of given users an option to use the old style, but they didn't so Stardock gets to make millions off them.

Here's what metro currently looks like for me.
 Windows8-Metro.png   570.5K   10 downloads

It probably seems weird that I'd upgrade yet not use the "main" new feature of Windows 8 but I was more interested in the other changes made that make it, in my opinion a lot better than Windows 7. For started they really did work some magic when updating the read/write code and I'm amazed at just how fast copying files between my drives is now. The updated transfer windows is also really nice and is actually pretty accurate for once. I love the fact that when installing software, Windows will notify you and auto-install any required additional software like .Net or Visual Basic if the program needs it. I'm also impressed with the load times, even though I'm still in a somewhat clean install state it's still a lot faster when booting, installing or loading programs compared to a clean install of Windows 7.

Overall, it's not that bad. The many improved features make up for metro which as I mentioned before can be easily replaced with Start8.

[Holder]

I'll be honest that looks horrible, it's not far off from what they've done to the 360 dashboard. Yes mobile phones are popular but not everything has to look like them

I used to update windows every time a new one came out but I can't really be bothered any more, I think I'm not investing in W8 because well - I don't need to.

I never used to trust speed claims that went with any of the OS, I felt like it was a same old story. Kept being told that slow down isn't a problem any more and it'll be faster for longer. That $5 would soon mount up though and make a nice profit if you think about how many people would snap it up just to have something which looks like what they used to have .

[Elemental Crisis]

It's a shame that Metro is the main reason most people wont upgrade seeing how they've made so many improvements that had they stuck with the old start menu people would be praising Windows 8. Metro is pretty bad but its avoidable.

[Holder]

Personally I don't think I would upgrade anyway, like I said I'm pretty much bored of doing do. Things work and I'm happy with that, there's no immediate problem, actually the only reason why I'm on this version of windows is because it was cheaper when I was putting my machine together.

[ffta707]

Apparently a lot of video games take a 10 - 15 fps hit.

They are trying something new, but it looks like they are going from Mobile Phone > Desktop instead of Desktop > Mobile Phone.

[Elemental Crisis]

ffta707, on 12 December 2012 - 08:54 PM, said:

Apparently a lot of video games take a 10 - 15 fps hit.

I've seen nothing but improvements in the few games I've played so far. Farcry 3 runs amazing and In SWTOR I'm pulling an additional 30 FPS with the same settings as before.

[ffta707]

Elemental Crisis, on 13 December 2012 - 01:16 PM, said:

I've seen nothing but improvements in the few games I've played so far. Farcry 3 runs amazing and In SWTOR I'm pulling an additional 30 FPS with the same settings as before.

That's good news then. Do you have compatibility issues?