Do you prefer Windows 8 to Windows 7 and earlier?

Careful, it could also be negative infinity popular as well..

 

Actually, I would say the positive note here is that it's garnered as many votes as it has. With all the hatred towards it I was sure it would be me and like two others who voted for it.

 

There actually are quite a few here who like Windows 8.x. While at present the users are in the minority. It has been out now for about a year and there for there will always be a few systems that came with it. Most will not want to give M$ the double dip and pay for a downgrade license for Windows 7, nor should they have too. Linux for most as a primary OS is a no go. With the interest in it Windows 8 has generated in 3-5 years Linux may not be looked in the same light as it is today.

On that note it will not be overnight but Windows as a dominant OS could easily start to loose its grip. This could be especially true for XP users and the like more used to the GUI's provided to Linux as the interface. Linux in mobile devices already has its hold with Android as a shell, the thing to see here is if M$ is blind enough to let Android or some other Linux shell start to dominate the PC?

 

lol....oh yeah.....lmao....doh

 

In the US, PC shipments are up 3.5% from a year ago, whereas Mac sales are down perhaps 10% (Linux sales were not reported by Gartner).

Mac sales down, PC sales up - Oct. 10, 2013

As this poll shows, there's some dissatisfaction with Windows 8 which Microsoft needs to address (though 8.1 is a huge step in the right direction). But the exodus from Windows as the dominant x86 operating system that has been frequently mentioned on this forum for the past year? It's just not materializing.

 

As faulty as Windows 8 is for some, the mass market will just buy whatever cheap laptop/desktop is on sale at their local brick-and-mortar store, choice be damned. And, most of those cheap laptops/desktops will be running the latest Windows operating system.

So really, it's sales from apathy rather than "Oh, new Windows version!". And perhaps their XP machines are starting to die or become too slow for their liking.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, pretty much the same thing happened with Vista. Mass market needed new computers, they happened to come with Vista, people bought them regardless of Windows version. Both Vista and 8 started off negatively, though Vista eventually became decent (gasp, someone here *likes* Vista??). 8.1 improves some things that were wrong with 8, though not completely. Though by the time everything's fixed, Windows 9 might be out and become the next uber-popular Windows after XP and 7.

 

Actually, whether or not that's true depends on who you ask. Different analysts quote different numbers. Let's just say it's not clear whether or not there was in fact any increase in the US. The worldwide picture remains bleak, to say the least.

 

For me, the default settings of W7 were equally poor for productivity as W8 - namely jump lists were particularly annoying. Before I was aware that this could be altered, I much preferred the more mechanical nature of XP.

With the awareness that these things can be modified, and the extra features of 8.1, I do prefer it over W7. My only remaining gripe is the metro-embedded skype. A truly horrible application.

 

I would not expect it to happen in a year, I don't think even in the next year either. Although it may very slowly within the next year start. It did not take a year to build the M$ empire nor will it take just one to make it tumble. Because there is such a large hardware base out there already, especially running legacy Windows, there is no rush to replace M$ based systems.

The problem is the hardware manufacturers of PC's suffer, This is compounded by the fact any hardware today will probably still be well suited for running for the next 4-8 years. That is unless some must have program or media types demand better hardware.

Slowing the issue is Windows 7 is still available on a few new systems. This has its time limit though and unless M$ extends this, or gets a better Windows 9 out before then, it could become a significant factor in others finding alternatives.

IMHO Linux, or any other OS looking to replace M$, needs access to a really strong office suite. If this were to happen at any time M$ could be looking at some real trouble. Since it does not exist though Windows will remain dominant for quite a while and any slide downward will be extremely slow.

 

Two I don't like with W 8.1 which is the new mail app (wow talk about scatter shot app) and the Start Page tile grouping. It's nice you can name the group but why did they not incorporate folder grouping for the tiles like in iOS and Android ?

 

That's the problem if the stats hold up-Mac aren't going to nor will it ever overtake PC price of Mac and lack of Mac clone will never allow it to dominate the market regardless of how Mac may want to portray the market field. Linux so many distro will never be a real threat to M$ or Mac to date until they become one O/S Linux only then will they be a real thorn in the side of M$ and Mac.

That is the problem that small upgrade address only a part of the problem and not the real problem at hand lack of user customization and whether one want Metro UI or Windows 7 Desktop start menu interface. And no I like the stories one like to spread that the PC market it at a dead end is just more comedian grandstanding. PC if that was to crash would take down the world and all it's market and Mac or Linux doesn't have the with standing power of PC to keep a system going.

 

I wouldn't say that Linux would never gain a foothold in the PC market. I mean, that was basically what was said with Android back in the day, and here we are now (in the smartphone and tablet market). Dress it up nicely, have some well-known OEMs back it up, and Microsoft could be knocked back to being a minor player in the market. Not accounting for any dirty marketing tricks or the like...

OSX isn't that much different than your typical Linux distro, and if people can get hooked on the idea of OSX, and get hooked on Andriod/iOS in the smartphone market, it's not entirely possible that they couldn't do the same with the laptop and desktop market.

 

Well sure, but that has very little to do with details of Windows' user interface. The developing world is switching to Android as the dominant way of doing business, and considering that your average small businessperson or political activist in the developing world can now do everything he/she needs to do on some $90 Android tablet from China instead of a $400 Windows laptop, that trend is going to continue. x86 is not going to die off, but it's going to constrict to certain specialized uses, kind of how a number of years ago the rise of the laptop didn't cause the desktop to die off, but did cause it to be restricted to certain specialized uses.

 

Also there is another issue with Win8 over Win7. This is the fact of Win8, especially 8.1, push to the cloud and email. Most users upgrading have their email services well entrenched. They do not need yet another email or forced cloud service. While local accounts can be set M$ is making it where 98% of users will not be able to do this without help. I doubt most of those seek and find that help either. While I know most here have little issue getting to local only we are definitely the minority.

Issues such as these keep the general consumer away from Win8, not so much IT. System images would be designed to eliminate any issues. I am not sure though business will take to Win8 as by the time they have to upgrade Win9 or even Win 10 could be out and better suited.

The fact that supposedly in Win 8.1 the local account is supposedly hidden deeper could be a problem that further isolates most consumers from wanting to either upgrade to the OS or purchase new hardware with it. The improvements in the OS may well be negated by this or even make the consumer more leery of the conversion. M$ is saying they are putting out a helping hand and listening to the consumer but it seems back hand slapping them at the same time. This not even going over the multiple other issues of Win8 and the desktop..........

 

There is nothing about Windows 8.1 that discourages a user from continuing to use Gmail and Google drive instead of Outlook.com mail and SkyDrive. They encourage you to also set up a Microsoft account (sensible given that you need one to access the app store and keep track of purchases), but there's nothing about the OS that discourages someone who is already using Dropbox/Google Drive/gmail/yahoo mail/etc from continuing to do so.

Hell, Microsoft even distributes Google products and the Yahoo mail Metro app through Microsoft's own app store.

 

I am saying to setup a local account, to then add accounts as they want.....................

Edit; admittedly this is one thing I hate about Android as well with the play store/amazon and Google accounts etc. but Verizon pushes it too................

 

I think that's just a reality of all modern platforms. Android asks you to create a Google account, to which all your information is synced and tied. Apple asks you to adopt iCloud and its services, and from what I've heard, it's becoming more integral in Maverick. I'd actually have been disappointed if Microsoft had not set up their own similar platform to leverage Skydrive, Outlook.com, etc.

That said, as long as there's a way to opt out or only use the bare minimums for syncing, I'm fine with it. And as far as I can tell, that's still the case with W8.1 (I use a local account, since most of my services are with Google; I don't use most of the MS services).

As for keeping away users with this integration, I doubt it. There's plenty of people I know who rely on Yahoo for mail services, but use an Android phone. There's people very entrenched in the Google ecosystem that also use iPhones. I don't see it as an issue for most.

 

I have an Android phone and use Microsoft for email (Outlook.com), calendaring (Outlook.com) cloud storage (SkyDrive), and subscription-based music (Xbox Music). I also have a gmail account linked with the phone that I use for app purchases. The latter doesn't prevent me from doing the former, and I think it's the same with Windows 8.1...it's good to create an account to track any app purchases, but use whatever you want for the rest of what you do.

 

Again this is all great for us here who are more entrenched in the technologies. Even so I do not need more accounts and a lot of people look at more accounts = less security and more vulnerability..................

 

It is just like signing on to Amazon, or a forum, or just about anything today. Just ignore the email part of it. Besides, the way things are going, you will log into facebook for everything.

 

And I hate that too. It is coming to the point if one password is hacked, Facebook, then all those retail logins using Facebook etc. could be devastating. Maybe I am getting too paranoid in my old age but it seems things are becoming less not more secure or again we are just more vulnerable..................

 

Really? What's a "facebook"?

 

My favorite:

CIA's 'Facebook' Program Dramatically Cut Agency's Costs - YouTube

lol++

 

In case it wasn't clear, I am not a fan of Facebook, and I do not have an account. Take that NSA. Now I am going to put on my copper hat. Tin foil hats are a myth started by the CIA, as the foil helps to focus the beams so they can read your mind easier.

 

I say this just again proves how bad Windows 8 is in consumers eyes. While the posts were even prerelease on Windows 7 in the eyes of consumers it was a better choice than prior Windows versions. I will just let the link below speak for itself.................

http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...ows-xp-vs-windows-vista-vs-windows-7-a-2.html

 

And speak it does. Excellent comparison.

 

Yeah, I think it's pretty safe to call it... 7 is going to win the poll with about 60% of the vote, and 8 will have about 40% of the vote. First time in three releases that the new version was not more popular here after a year. Even Vista managed 57% of the vote.

Of all these polls, this one has also generated the most discussion. So not only is 8 the least popular release in more than a decade, it's also the most controversial.

 

There's no question that Win8 is probably the most controversial version of Windows yet. But I also think there's a couple things worth noting.

(1) Windows 7 is unquestionably the best version of Windows up to that point, by far. The better the prior version of Windows is, the lower the number of people who will say "I like the new version better than that prior version."

(2) The TG users who are most likely to like Windows 8 are also the ones who are more likely to be over at tabletpcreview than notebookreview.com. There's never previously been a version of Windows where people who like it the most are likely to use a TG website besides NBR.

(3) Frankly, there's been a lot of cyberbullying of people who approve of Windows 8. Personally, I've been told more times than I can count that I must be a paid Microsoft employee and that I'm lying when I say the contrary. I've had someone attack me on a forum besides NBR (I use the same login on that forum) over the posts I've made in this forum. I've even had people PM me with insults about my intelligence and even my family because I like Windows 8. I'm not kidding. The abusive posts are generally deleted a day or so after they're made, but no further action is taken against people making these personal attacks, and the personal attacks have continued to be made all year long. I've thought a number of times over quitting posting in this subforum at all as a result, and I suspect others have decided to do so. I've noticed a higher proportion of people who like Win8, particularly after Win8.1, on ArsTechnica and Engadget than on NBR, and I think this treatment of people who like Win8 on this forum has contributed to a number of people simply leaving or quitting posting on NBR about it.

 

This may be true of posting but not so much of voting. So I do not think this would be as much of an issue to a poll. Being an advocate of Win8 does not make someone a shill etc.. Now there were some that were posting very misleading and inaccurate information that without a doubt did give that impression.

No reason for cyber bullying etc. either. If you can't reasonably discuss something I say get out of the discussion. FYI people that is what this place is, a discussion board.

Other sites will have a more diverse usage pattern it its visitors. This is NoteBookReview so it will be more geared toward laptops. Now this includes ultras and convertibles btu the majority here are either laptop or DTR users. Much more desktop driven of a group. So again for here Windows 8 will always get a tough welcome.

Even on the sites that are more accepting because of form factor usage even with 8.1 acceptance is still fairly low. it may be better but in no way comes near the acceptance of Windows 7. Again this all could have been very different. I do not see a single Windows 7 or Windows 8 person disputing this..................

 

Interesting - I'm not on NBR nearly as much as I used to, and I tend to be pretty selective with the threads I read these days, so I hadn't really noticed that. That's pretty ridiculous, though, and I can definitely see why it would cause people to leave the forum (both this one and the other one). And I could see it happening - as someone who kept using XP when Windows 7 was out, I occasionally have encountered hostility at NBR because of being a dinosaur and whatnot (and I think I missed some in one thread as evidenced by a moderator's "Posts have been deleted, stay civil" post) - though it hasn't been to nearly the degree you described.

I hadn't actually been aware of Tablet PC Review, likely because I haven't been on NBR as much. Perhaps I had seen it and ignored it, though, given that I quit paying attention to NBR's sister sites after DesktopReview more or less died (which is also why, even though I use a desktop much more than a notebook at home these days, I've never registered for DesktopReview). But you're right, that could be affecting the audience as well.

Another interesting stat... on Steam's October 2010 hardware survey (one year after 7's release), 7 had 47.44% of Steam's market share. In October 2013, 8 (including 8.1) had only 18.69% of the Windows/Linux market share (both 32 and 64-bit in both cases, not counting Mac, and only including Linux b/c Steam's Windows-only stats include Linux ). While not the most reliable source ever, it definitely shows that 7 was more popular among gamers. Even today, 7 has 66% Steam share, down just 10 percentage points from its peak.

 

Here is another trip down memory lane, here is a blog post Talking about XP being better than Win 7. The comments seem to agree.

http://hackadelic.com/is-windows-xp-better-than-windows-7-a-user’s-perspective

 

And that's to the credit of the moderation. When something like this happens, they sweep in less than 24 hours later, remove the offending posts and subsequent posts in response, and there's no evidence it ever happened. And overall, that's a good thing. But in a situation like this, unless you're following the posts constantly and see this as it happens, you'd never know. And so it might not be obvious why people who like NBR are less likely to visit this subforum (and consequently, after a year, less likely to see your poll and respond to it).

As just one example, in one thread, a poster stated that people who like Windows 8 "shouldn't be allowed to vote or breed." I reported the post, and it was removed as well as subsequent responsive comments, so if you reviewed the thread a week later you'd never know it happened. However, in a subsequent PM discussion, I received the comments "I...suggest you go get sterilized" and "You also shouldn't be allowed to operate heavy machinery or vote." If I received such comments, I'm sure other people who posted positive comments about Windows 8 did as well. And after a year of that, I suspect a substantial number chose to no longer frequent this forum and thus didn't vote in your poll.

Gamers in particular have been fond of 7 and disapproving of 8. Ultraportable buyers are the opposite. For example, Alienware continues to offer Windows 7 as an option on all its devices and shuns touchscreens entirely, whereas Sony now offers touchscreens on all its devices, and three out of four of its current product lines are now convertible devices (Tap slates, Duo sliders, and Flip convertibles, versus Pro ultrabooks).

 

If you get hate PMs, report them, especially if it's the follow up from what happened in a thread. The whole point of private messages is that they're private and we will never see them unless reported, so don't expect us to act if they aren't reported. Now given how controversial Windows 8 discussions are and how easy it is to write a post and hit that quick reply button on the spur of the moment, we may have been a bit more lenient than usual. However, a PM screams premeditation and not just a moment where you got emotional. Next time, report it and there will be more severe actions taken.

Another thing, no one but the moderators and member involved will ever know whether warnings or infractions were given.

 

Another forum I use has the policy of, "Attack the post, not the user." I like to think that if the other side has to resort to name calling or personal attacks, then they have lost the argument.

Back on track. I wonder if people are upgrading less, thus lower PC sales, thus lower new Windows uptake. Not to mention people that like new technology, are putting their money into phones and tablets. People that don't need new technology of course won't upgrade their OS. I have a netbook that is still running XP, because it still works fine and there was no reason to upgrade. Anyway, just because sales are down, doesn't mean the OS is bad. There are many factors involved.

Here is some more OS usage data http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems#Web_clients

 

It isn't the sales being down only that is of issue. It is market share. A lot of Windows 7 market share increase was because of people upgrading their systems. This just is not happening with Windows 8. We here are a typical example of the people who would upgrade their systems even though there is no need to do so. Now while a few have most have and will not. Despite Windows 8 as an OS most people, IMHO, would not be running out to get new systems but sales may not have taken such a large hit.

 

^^^^^ Exactly.

The Internet - as we all know - can be a rather nasty place at times. I've received my fair share of "hate mail" on different forums, and made sure that the offenders were reported so they wouldn't resort to the same action towards someone whose skin is less thick than my own...

 

I definitely prefer Windows 7! But I just like the status quo.

 

Not really it is more based on experience and learning curve and how well does it work to your needs not needs of M$ to make a tablet or improve their Surface sales. That is the part M$ missed big on. And not to mention all the upgrade problems going to 8.1 missing drivers broken drivers I seen on here would indicate a bigger problem. That to me would say 8.1 was not ready for release to start with but only to cover M$ A$$ from all those complaints and problems users were having only to create more problems.

 

Does anyone know if there is a waiting period to re-transfer a Windows 8 Pro retail upgrade license from one computer to another? I'm referring to a license that was used from an existing computer and reactivated on another computer and now within a weeks time I want to move it to a totally different PC.

I'm having so many weird issues on my Toshiba laptop that I think i'm going back to W7.

 

Well for that transfer you should just call M$ support and they should be able to give hopefully a coherent reply to you question. That is your best option as no one here can really give a clear message on that question.

 

Poll is closed, looks at least for now Windows 7 is the preferred OS of the available choices. Thing is I think it is more the preferable UI not OS, put the 7 UI on the 8 OS and it is a no brainer..................

Edit; before the flames start I know Windows 7 UI could use quite a few tweaks itself and has lots of room for improvements..................

 

At least for me, that's spot on. I'd love to upgrade to Windows 8 or 8.1, though I'd much rather have a 7-like UI to go along with that. While of course there are some unofficial workarounds, I'd personally want an official Microsoft UI that is a "real" desktop interface. Just my two cents though.

 

I'm still kinda surprised Windows 8 had so many votes, given its poor reception on NBR.

 

If the regulars at NBR reflected the market as a whole, mobile workstations and gaming laptops would be the hottest mobile devices on the market right now, and ARM tablets would have been a quickly-deceased flash in the pan in 2010

People who occasionally browse the forum but aren't as vocal as the regulars (i.e., a substantial poroportion of votes in this poll) are probably halfway in between the forum regulars and the market as a whole.

 

My friend bought a new laptop and specifically selected Windows 7 Ultimate when purchasing it. After using it a bit I realized how much I miss Windows 7 and find it superior to Windows 8. I still use Windows 8; I like to embrace the newest technology, but man, Windows 7 was a high point. The main thing I like about Windows 8 over 7 is the fact that it starts up so quickly--can't argue with that. But otherwise, I don't care much for it.

 

It's called making new money for M$ and to improve their pathetic sales of Surface that is the only reason. Forget about their online Apps stores that is so pathetic it doesn't even come close to the level of Apple Apps Stores. They could've made a Windows 8 UI akin to Windows 7 but they wanted to makes sales not improve computer sales or increase their PC user database. They think they are Apple Apps store but that boat has already sailed in favor of Apple.

Just get Windows7 and wipe Windows8 off your computer and reinstall the software and use it again and become more happy. If you have UEFI bios there are instructions to disable it to get Windows7 to install on those computers.

 

My Windows computers already have 7; W520 came with 7 Pro and the dekstop I built with 7 Ultimate. I was just stating that I'd like to have the new under-the-hood features of 8/8.1, but I didn't want to deal with the sub-par desktop UI.

 

Well sub-par for all it's worth has worked so far and kept them in business don't you think. The 7 UI for all it's faults does get the job done in a fairly straight forward direction as compared to so many swipes of the A$$ and those (&(& charms bars that don't charm me the least bit.

 

Microsoft's a giant company with other things to keep it alive other than Windows. Office is still a massive cash cow for them, and iirc they've finally broke even with the Xbox 360.