Windows 7 or 8

If this thread was anywhere else I could not find it. I'm going to order a new alienware laptop and I'm so undecided if I should order windows 7 or 8 on it? I'm totally happy with windows 7 on my laptop now but just wondered if there is any main reason I should order it with 8?

Thanks,
Trish

 

Well before the flame war begins, the best thing for you to do is try to find a windows 8 pc and use it to see how you like it. It really does come down to personal preference.

My own 2 cents: It is an OS designed for touch input. The only time I have enjoyed using it was on a friends touchsceen enable laptop (The acer ultrabook if i recall correctly). I am not heavy into social networking or RSS feeds, so I didn't see any use for the tiles. I can't think of a reason to go with win8 if you are happy with win7.

 

Thanks for your input. I was doing some searching on the internet about it and was basically what I found if you were using a touch screen then it was great. I really like windows 7 but having said that I really liked xp. I guess your right its just preference wanted to make sure there was something I might of been missing.

Trish

 

Another thing to consider is you can always upgrade from any version of win 7 to win 8 - indeed at some point you may be forced to. Some machines with win 8 pro allow you to downgrade to win 7 pro. So if you are happy with 7, stick with it as you can always upgrade later.

Another point on Alienware. I believe you can call in directly to a sales rep to haggle on price. They may even offer a discount for being an NBR member (youll need to have a few more posts). You might want to create a thread in the AW section to get your post count up and see if you can get in contact with an AW rep here. Could save you a few bucks.

 

Thanks again I didnt realize that. Most all the questions I have I've been able to find answers to here before I joined but I do have a few more I will post.
Trish

 

Other than Windows 7 performing a little better than Windows 8, I find them very similar. I expect Windows 8 may eventually perform better as it matures, but right now Windows 7 has a slight performance edge. As long as you avoid the cumbersome tiled Modern UI (Metro) and the inefficient full-screen apps monstrosity, the Windows 8 desktop can be used almost identically to the Windows 7 desktop. You need to add a Start menu to the desktop for Windows 8 to become fully efficient, but overall it is a decent OS. The only downside I consider to be significant is that Microsoft has sacrificed some usability in an effort to make it more secure. That makes driver updates and changes at the OS level more effort than they should be. The heightened level of Driver Signature Enforcement is overkill, especially with Secure Boot fully implemented. For average users that run whatever drivers ship with their computer almost indefinitely, this will not matter much. Ignorance will be bliss for them.

 

I would choose windows 8 personally. THe new start screen, I barely see it, as soon as I start my computer I go straight to the desktop (Windows + D) and all my main apps are just pinned to the taskbar. There are a lot of small tweaks on windows 8 which I doubt they will implement onto windows 7. The startup delaying certain processes is useful somewhat flanked by the fact I have an SSD anyways. For ignorant/lazy types the OS is a bit more safe, less hassle on your part to maintain everything. Only issue is if you are into using the modded non signed drivers, just requires a special restart under 'change pc settings' in the metro interface to get into any special features like safe mode or disabling driver signing.

Overall its a pretty safe low maintenance OS. Some hate it, some love it. Try it and find out. You can always go back to 7, but I think it would be cheaper to go to win7 from win8. (not 100% sure since I used a student code for my win8).

 

Boy this is a loaded question if there ever was one (other than Android or iPhone).

But I have to go with Windows 7. It seems far more refined and stable than Windows 8 currently is. Plus Windows 8 is more for touch devices as that is what Metro UI is optimized for. You can always upgrade later if it seems to be a better choice. But I don't think you can downgrade to Windows 7 if Windows 8 gives you any problems.

 

Go with Windows 8 is the only advice I can give.

Once I cleaned my drive and installed Windows 8, I needed a lot of getting used to it.
The first hours the only thing I was saying was 'where the hell is my Start Menu, this is crap, i'm going to reinstall Windows 7 tomorrow first thing'. But once you get used to the Metro UI and the tiles, and start to dig it and see the use of it (it's just your start menu, but then easily accessible and just bloody brilliant), you will not want to go back to Windows 7.

On a new Alienware laptop, you will also not have to worry about driver incompitability.
The only drawback I found, as I love to benchmark, is that the performance is slightly (and I really mean, slightly) less then on Windows 7 atm. This is nothing you would even remotely notice or see with just working on it or playing a game or something. It's just numbers in a benchmark.
This was also the case when Win 7 was released vs Win Vista. It takes a few months for all software to be optimized and tuned for Windows 8.

I love Windows 8 personally

 

I would say Windows 7, like everyone else says, Windows 8 is more for touchscreens. I've played around with 8 on a regular laptop and on a touchscreen & I liked it better on the touchscreen. Maybe it's cuz I'm used to Windows 7 and I didn't like how they changed it so much for 8. In the end, it comes down to what your preferences are.

 

I think it has a lot to do with what you get use to using also. Maybe I will just flip a coin.

Thanks all,
Trish

 

yea it kinda is about what your going to use it for. i dont care for windows 8 because of the metro interface and they have taken out media center (yea i know not many probably use it anymore) and now made it into a form of DLC. i mostly looked into windows 8 for my home theater pc because i use a cable card to watch TV. not having the cable companys box is great (pretty much unlimited DVR space, recording 4 programs at once, closed captioning without going into the cable box config if your using hdmi) but they didnt upgrade media center and actually removed it from being able to auto launch and such. but thats a side note.

my opinon is if you do alot of social media or forum/rss stuff and dont mind the backward way of getting around then great, windows 8 is really good for you. but if you hate excessive social media, only one fully visual application at a time or use media center much then yea stay with windows 7, its older but from my experiences, every other version of windows is the one to go with, and windows 8 is one of those that i myself will skip.

 

I don't mind Windows 8 so far and I've been using it exclusively since the day it launched. I like the way it deals with duel monitors, the faster boot times, the explorer ribbon UI, and the option to use Metro is I choose to. I do have a start menu replacement though. Can't do without that.

Only reason I have even been thinking of installing a windows 7 partition is to use it for bench-marking as you get better numbers in 7, but other than that I see no reason to go back.

 

I didn't mind Windows 8 for the most part. I was missing my OSD drivers and could never seem to get them to work properly but I think most people have solved that and it isn't really a problem anymore. Windows 8 is a little different then 7 but once you get used to Metro is kind of grows on you I find. The thing that bugged me was not being able to close some programs unless you alt F4 them, windows will otherwise just minimize them and then close them when it decides your done with them but it wasn't really an issue per say. Start up and shut down times were nice and fast and it loaded nicely I just felt it wasn't quite ready for mainstream use IMO. It is really geared towards tablets more so then a full desktop again IMO but it is not a bad OS by any means and it really does not deserve all the hate people are putting on it. Performance wise it isn't a whole lot different then 7, with some people saying they are getting gains and some people saying losses but either way it isn't much in either direction. If you use 7 and don't like change, you probably won't like 8 but if you are open to something new then you might love it.

 

I already loaded Windows 8 on my machine and it's kind of a hassle to maintain. Alienware uses Synaptic for the touch pad and IT'S AWFUL!! The palm detection is horrible and much worse than my old laptop (XPS L702x) running Windows 7. It also had Synaptic touch pad. Also, sometimes, the driver just stops working in Windows 8. The cursor will jump all over the screen and I have to reboot. It's really annoying and interrupts your productivity.

Synaptic just released updated drivers a couple days ago and I was excited to try them out and hope they fixed the issues.

But, their zip files were corrupted. Hopefully, they will fix that soon too.

So, if you don't mind dealing with issues like this, Windows 8 isn't so bad.

But, if I got to do it over, I would stick with Windows 7 and then upgrade when Windows 8 SP1 is released. Usually all the bugs get worked out by SP1. Until then, we're all working (for free) as debuggers and testers for Microsoft and all the software and hardware makers.

Moral: Not blaming Synaptics hardware, L702x touchpad was awesome, but Synaptics and/or Dell need to get on the ball with their Windows 8 drivers, it's such a PITA to work with...many have given up and resort to using mice.

That's the one thing that would make me consider getting rid of this awesome machine for something else. The reason I bought a laptop is for portable use. I don't want to have to use a mouse or may not have a surface to use a mouse on at all. The pad needs to be better than the Macbook Pro touch pad. Hate to bring Apple into this but they do make a pretty good pad, except for the integrated button, which is a huge PITA on a different level.

If Dell can combine the best of the Apple touch pad and the Dell track pad, we'd have a real winner.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the new drivers, going to try them now. Been having a few issues with tracking and incorrect touches at times.

 

I cannot say that I agree with the statement that Windows 8 is for touch screens. It is, but it isn't. And, I'm glad about that because I think touch screen computing sucks for the most part. The Modern ("Metro") UI is definitely extremely well suited for them, but there is a lot more to Windows 8 than the Modern UI. I consider that part of Windows 8 to be the most undesirable aspect of the OS. I have fully adopted it, but not completely satisfied with it at this point.

I figured the best way for me to decide which is better (in my opinion) was to run a dual-boot setup. About the first 60 days I intentionally spent most of the time using Windows 8 almost exclusively and was able to tolerate it fine. I have to be honest though, and a big part of the reason that I put up with it is because I am able to tweak it to work the way I want it to. As configured by Microsoft, it's an inefficient UI by default. Flash back to the WindowsXP Start Menu that so many hated compared to the simple "Classic" Windows Start menu. Given time, I think anyone can adjust to the dumbed-down Modern UI, but what's most cool about it is there's really no reason or need for anyone to find themselves adjusting because Windows 8 is a very flexible OS. The fact that it has both environments available makes it a more flexible OS than Windows 7.

It has features that would have been nice to have in Windows 7. I like a number of things about Windows 8, but the limited UI customization options suck, the unacceptably small selection of pastel color schemes are extremely boring, and I strongly dislike the full screen apps versus windows. Web browsers are just downright ugly in the Modern UI. Everything is oversized by default and hogs up more than appropriate screen space. I find the pop-out menus (charms bar, etc) sometimes get in my way and are often annoying.

It's kind of ironic that they still call it "Windows" since everything designed for the new UI is full screen. I think they should call it "Microsoft Uni-task" instead, because multi-tasking is clunky unless you use the desktop environment. Multi-tasking isn't very important for tablet users that do primarily email and web browsing. And, that takes care of a rather huge segment of the computer skill deficient world that we live in. As pathetic as it seems to some of us, something that works like their smartphone on steroids is probably appreciated and not so "scary" for those folks. I think the learning curve for the technically challenged will be less with Windows 8. For the technically challenged that have already learned to use older versions of Windows, the Modern UI will be a change and any form of change involving a computer is a significant challenge for them. Simply rearranging the order of their desktop icons is a huge deal. For that reason, I don't see Windows 8 becoming widely adopted as a business OS for a long time. It might even get skipped completely in the corporate world, just as Vista was. (I'm serious about change being a big deal. I know a number of people like this... and most are in jobs that require using a computer for many hours a day.)

Now that I am done intentionally focusing on giving equal or more time to Windows 8, I use Windows 7 most of the time as a matter of personal preference. It has been about 10 days since I booted Windows 8.

I will eventually elect to ditch Windows 7 and not waste drive space on a dual-boot setup. By using it now, I will have a greater appreciation for the things Microsoft will be doing to make it a more palatable OS for the masses. But, I will wait until Windows 8 is not as crippled. What is mainly holding me back at this point is the degraded performance, since I can (and do) mod Windows 8 desktop to function almost exactly the same as Windows 7. So, the things about the UI that I consider to be unaesthetic, inefficient and annoying are not deal-breakers because I rarely see them.

 

Just thought I'd let you all know that the Alienware 18 I got did not allow you to upgrade to Wins 8 anyway. I called them about it and they said they all could be upgraded to 8 so they configured me my computer. To make a long story short the ordered ended up wrong not only once but twice there was something missing on it so finally I just went with Wins 7 and got the specs I wanted. I guess that means I can push Wins 8 farther down the road before I have to get use to it.

Thanks all,
Trish

 

I tried it myself and it was irritating to say the least, unintuitive and far too restrictive in its configurations. I did not add the start menu myself and I would have if I thought it would help. I think its great for the tablet machines and my mom likes it well enough because its simple but for me I will stay with 7 for a while longer. No hate for either one, they are both bloated as hell compared to Linux but that's for another thread.

 

I personally like Windows 7 more than 8. I just believe that being out there for more time makes it more reliable and compatible. Windows 8 will get to that point in a year or so. I've tried it and I like the social media features on it and the new app store but still makes me wonder if I really want it without having a touchscreen.

 

That also leads to the question "do I want a touchscreen" and I have to say no. If Microsoft were on their game, they would just make the desktop as functional as it is in Windows 7 and give the user a configuration option to select which UI to use as a default. We can do this with third party utilities already, and they work great. I just seems silly that Microsoft crippled Windows 8 instead of building all of that in by default to begin with. They could also give a choice whether to have a Start menu or not... which is not remarkably different than choosing the new style versus classic start menu in previous versions of Windows. I think the fact that they did not provide those options demonstrates a lack of careful planning and forethought on their part.

 

I agree 100% here, had I wanted a touchscreen (which I did Not) I would have gotten a tablet, but I am not using it while sitting on the toilet reading Reddit. I want to get the most out of one serious piece of hardware and I don't need the OS limiting me instead of finding better ways to be more useful in a meaningful way that has real world applications.

 

Is windows 8 harder to learn as opposed from goign from vista to 7?

 

I don't have 7 yet, but I went from Vista to 8 with my wife's system - and that seems to be a steep learning curve. I still can't get the hang of the metro (sorry, 'modern') start menu, the charms bar, and the interface in general. (I still end up poking around looking for the control panel, for example!)

To be fair, like I said in another post, most folks who do win 8 says it takes a while to really give it a fair shot (to get used to it) and I probably didn't spend enough time with the wife's new computer to get a good handle on how it all works.

I can tell you if it was mine, I'b be tossing Start8 or one of the other start button/win8 mod programs on there pretty much right away!

 

Not sure if I would say "harder" to learn, but it is way different. Vista and Windows 7 where not very different. I'd say it is harder to like, and as jeffreyac, takes a while to get used to. I am very used to it, but I don't know that I would say I like it yet. I don't hate it either. It's just not very impressive. It's perfectly fine on the desktop... Not very good when using the Modern UI.

 

I didn't really like Windows 8 at all until I found some of the tools that Mr. Fox referred to earlier and customized it to my liking, now its starting to slowly grow on me. I still won't go to it as my main OS, but its a lot more fun to tinker with now that I don't have to deal with the Metro/Modern UI fluff unless I want to for some bizarre reason. Hopefully Microsoft will listen to everything being said by their customers and make some of these changes and realize for a brief moment that they don't really know better than the end users of their products. I've seen some articles recently that they are supposedly going to push an update/patch in the possibly near future to allow the user to choose whether to boot directly to the desktop or boot to the other UI and also adding the start button back. I think those two options alone will help with the learning curve for many people and make the experience much better.

 

For me it is not so much a matter of learning curve as much as personal preference and dislike for the unaesthetic aspects of Windows 8. What I am referring to is the clunky interface that requires more clicks, keystrokes, idiotic scrolling and layers of Modern UI to move through and other wasted and unproductive gyrations to do the simplest of tasks. Fortunately, those inefficiencies are never an issue using the Windows 8 desktop UI.

What I find truly amazing is that Windows 8 is designed for anemic appliances with small touch screens. The Modern UI components are so bloated and hog up inordinate amounts of screen space, which exacerbates the need for excessive scrolling through multiple screens of tiles.

There are several tools in particular that make Windows 8 a whole heck of a lot nicer and not nearly as butt-ugly.

Start8 for Windows® 8 - Bringing back the Windows Start menu - $4.99 and worth every penny - better than the free ones, too

Decor8 - Personalize the Windows® 8 Start screen with Decor8™! - also a bargain only $4.99 and well worth it

ModernMix - Makes Windows 8 Modern Apps function correctly - yup, you guessed it... only $4.99

WinAero: Tiny Windows Borders for Windows 8 - free - fixes the issue with the über fat and ugly window borders

8GadgetPack - Gadgets for Windows 8 - free - brings back the sidebar gadgets that many of us appreciate

Aero Glass for Windows 8 - free (donation) - fixes the ugly pastel cartoon look and feel of Windows 8 by enabling the Aero transparency (requires SecureBoot to be disabled)

I also grabbed some Windows 8 themes that allowed me to make dark title bars and borders with white text. The OS looks a million times better now. I have it tweaked to the point that it should have been as an RTM product.

---

Edit: also see [Quick Tips] More Details About Making Windows 8 a Good Product

[parsehtml]<iframe width='1280' height="720" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kTAqqfNH8zk?rel=0" frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>[/parsehtml]

 

When it comes to the learning curve, I'm looking at it from the standpoint of my "customers". I'm the Systems Administrator for a very small college in the South and most of the faculty and staff barely know how to do anything that is not within their field of expertise. We are just now migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 and the complaints we get on a daily basis are just downright ridiculous. Most of them are not very technologically oriented and are having a hard time adjusting to the new OS and really having issues adjusting to Office 2010 from Office 2007, so I can't imagine what would happen if we thought about moving to Windows 8.

This is a good article about some tools for the Start button: How to bring back the Start menu and button to Windows 8 | ExtremeTech. I use Pokki that is listed in it for my start menu and to auto-boot to the desktop. One thing I haven't done is theme it, and that is definitely on my list of things to do to Windows 8. I have definitely noticed that its slow in places too, but I've kind of attributed it running it in a VM on an old machine that can barely run VMs as it is.

I agree about the clunkiness and the app size on the Modern UI. I can only imagine what a horrible experience it is having to scroll through lots of pages if you have a bunch of apps on a tablet.

 

I am not a fan of 8. I have been using windows for years and even OSX. I feel as if 8 was designed more for a tablet or for a touchscreen pc.

There is a lot of getting use to. I never use the new UI. I prefer the standard desktop screen. Its also a pain to navigate if you are use to Windows 7

 

To the contrary, Windows 8 is the most tablet-friendly and touch-friendly x86 OS Microsoft has ever made. Windows 7 on a tablet, particularly one with no stylus, is painful compared to 8.

Sent from my Galaxy S III using Tapatalk 2.

 

It is, but you don't need to let that affect you. I don't like finger prints, boogers or scratches on my screens. I like them crisp and clean and use a keyboard and mouse as a matter of preference. Some of my family members have Android and iPad tablets and, personally, I hate using them because they suck. The things that I passionately dislike about Windows 8 all have to do with the Modern UI. With the proper tweaks in place, it is completely avoidable and for all purposes and intents works just like Windows 7 with those tweaks, so it's not a deal breaker. The only thing that I am miffed about is having to use third-party utilities to fix the mess Microsoft made of it. They should have made it available in both flavors by default instead of a crippled desktop UI.

 

About the Androids sucking, I completely disagree. I have my M17x for home and things Windows is necessary for, but everything else I used my TF300t tablet. It's amazing, I can do anything I would need for work/school/media playing on it just fine. Plus it's a Quad Core running fast enough to play any HD resolution and any filetype I want. That, and it has MicroHDMI, a USB port, SD card AND Micro SD card slot, etc. Internally it is 32gb, but I have a class 10 microSDHC 64gb inside, plus a 32gb SD Card in the keyboard slot (up to 64 or 128, but I havent invested). It also reads my 1.5tb media USB hard drive perfectly. It does everything I want it to, and is so convenient to place next to the TV and plug in.

Even the games aren't bad for it. I feed it Humble Bundles and holiday sales and I always have things to play. Plus it's emulation possibilities are impressive. It also works with my 360 controller perfectly.

That said, I still love my M17x, and would love it to have a touch screen for Windows 8. I have Windows 8 and have very few problems. Being that I can tweak it to my preference, everything added only aims to please or be removed. I can see it being a problem for low end users though.

Also, my M17x loves my various devices around the house, regardless of if they are android or microsoft. Android tablets do not suck; they have endless possibilities.

The only ACTUAL problem with Win8 and my M17x would be adding an app in the AlienFX editor. The program just crashes, but I don't really care.

 

Tablets have a purpose if you're into that sort of thing. If you hate touch screens like I do, they do suck. That's one of the reasons I said, " I don't like finger prints, boogers or scratches on my screens." I also find them too small to enjoy and more awkward to handle than a laptop.

I think the Android OS if great. Using the screen for input isn't (to me). As far as phones go, I prefer my BlackBerry not because of the OS--the BB OS is inferior--but, because it has a keyboard and tracking device... not a touch screen. I have owned several laptops with touch screens and hated all of them. I would be seriously disappointed if my Alienware M17x R2 or M18x had a touch screen.

It's a matter of personal preference rather than fact, all of which depends on whether one likes or dislikes it.

 

I'm always busy trying to clean my screen as it is, id hate to have to reclean it every time I launched a game or the screen went dark.
I do enjoy browsing with touch screen devices but only when I'm not around my AW. I'm of the opinion that tablets should be used as a supplemental devices. Ie watching tear down videos as I'm pulling apart my beast.

 

Windows 8. Hands down! This whole speculation of windows 8 being more for touchscreen is actually wrong. I have been using windows 8 since the first and had no issues with it. It's more convenient and by far the best windows since xp lol

 

Until MS decides to reintegrate the win 7 start menu and allows "power user" mode with proper feedback for bootloader and BSOD problems, i'm sticking to windows 7 on my M17x R4. My X220 tablet however, works well with Windows 8. And the matte IPS screen is wonderful, no finger print/marks and great viewing angles!

 

W8. Blue should be like a service pack to 7 although to W8. Most issues with 8 outside of the differences in usability including start menu you likely will barely notice or care once you've gotten used to the differences.

Now if you got issues with software for work; like if its tax, financial or server/network: Then stick to W7. Examples: Yardi (IE), ATX or a magnitude of others.


Short: Learn W8, it will be a foundation for the future. Your gaming won't suffer.

 

OK, we can add another fantastic Stardock app to the list of must-haves for making Windows 8 a more flexible and pleasant OS to use.

Enter "ModernMix" - makes the hideous full-screen Modern app atrocities work in a fully functional window from the desktop like they should have in the first place.

This is way better... have a look. Then grab it here... ModernMix™ - Run Modern (Metro) apps in a window on your desktop with ModernMix™

• Run Windows 8 Modern apps in a window on the desktop
• Display and pin Modern apps on the taskbar
• Explicitly close Modern apps by clicking its close button

Microsoft, I hope you're watching. Take note of what needs to be done and make it all standard in SP1.

 

+1, great stuff!~ :thumbsup:

(although modernmix should be a feature update to start8...)

anywho, microsoft - paying attention? (based on glimpses of ' blue', not yet... )

 

Yup, I totally agree. Looks like "blue" is going to suck even more than Windowz 8 does. I wonder what sort of "pharmaceutical assistance" the Windows 8 and "blue" design team is receiving. Their brains are definitely not working correctly. Maybe they should schedule an appointment with Michael Jackson's doctor.

I suppose it's wishful thinking on my part that they would be paying attention. As Jeff Foxworthy says, "you can't fix stupid" and I believe it.

 

there's a better, more functionally and graphically intuitive design interface to construct for the masses if that's ultimately what microsoft is looking achieve - why they're sticking with this 'metro' tiles & charms approach, all things 'touch' considered, is beyond me...

while they continue to statically invest themselves with this ( blue), other companies (ie: apple? google? etc.) are going to dynamically exploit the os window of opportunity p) and their market share will eventually erode, perhaps greatly...

one thing is for sure, we'll all benefit from this forthcoming competition...

 

Well, we could certainly stand to benefit. The potential is certainly great, but the probability remains to be seen. If consumers and software and game developers continue on the path of allowing the Microsoft Dictatorship to flourish, we most likely will not benefit. I'd never consider a Mac under any circumstances as a matter of principle, but look at how poor game support continues to be in comparison to Windows. It's better than it used to be, but still sucks in comparison. Linux game support continues to be horrid, despite the fact the OS is fully capable of performing as well or better than Microsoft Windows. Consumers are their own worst enemies sometimes.

I am back to experimenting with Linux and tend to like it, but the lack of high quality software and applications is a huge impediment. Linux fanboys have predicted for years that it would displace Windows. It's at a place now that it could actually do that, but it probably never will for the same reasons Apple OS probably never will... inferior and limited options with software, especially good game titles. Apple OS also has other limitations that make it unattractive to enthusiasts. The things that are messing up the current flavor of Windows in an unacceptable way are its inflexible "security features" and lock-downs that are beginning to share some unpleasant similarities with Apple OS.

 

we really could all benefit, but i do share your sentiments, mr. fox; the external optimist sees some os seizing opportunity in the many shortcomings we see proliferating, and the internal realist sees perhaps only continued rigidity...

 

First of all hello everyone, hows the Alienware community doing! I hope all is well.

So lets get down to business, as you can see in my sig I have an Alienware m18x r1 with dual 680ms, this week I managed to get my hands on a free copy of windows 8 from a friend. Lately it seems like the laptop is begging for a format, a new beginning if you will. How is the transition from 7 to 8? Will it be difficult? Can I grab all the necessary software needed from the Dell website to get everything working again? What about things like GPU switching, HDMI in, wirelesshd, etc, would those still work? I know it is a lot of questions but I thought it best to ask before diving into it.

 

Actually really simple, most of the drivers automatically update on it, if memory serves, you have to install the Alienware Control Center and then the display drivers since you have to use modded inf's and other than that its pretty smooth with minimal other installs for other drivers, and some how it gets better benches on win 8, but some games won't work on there too well due to compatibility issues but all around its pretty good, but I stick to my Win 7 ultimate just for the simple reason of Compatibility is not an issue. not sure on hdmi in either but everything else works like a charm by my understanding.

 

hmmm...

as a user of windows 8 pro here for well, erm, mostly an attempt at adopting the 'cutting edge' future of microsoft's os (or maybe, perhaps, some undiagnosed form of masochism? lol ;P), i still think this is a great venture into summating things:

<iframe width='560' height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WTYet-qf1jo" frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Just to let you know HDMI in works fine. Only issue you might have is alienrespawn, but everything else is ok.

 

Thanks for the replies guys I guess I will get on it as soon as I have the free time.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Unless you really like a limited interface that looks and acts like a cell phone, you will probably want to look at this information that I posted here:

Making Windows 8 a Good Product

 

On my M14x I recently picked up I got Win7, just a personal preference.