WIndows 7 or 8?

I´m most likely going to be buying a gaming laptop here within the next three months or so and I´m wondering which OS I should go with. I´m worried windows 8 will not be as compatible with as many games as windows 7. However I´ve heard that direct X 11.1 is only available for windows 8. Any opinions? Also, has anybody ran all the Total War games on 8? (Mainly concerned about Rome I and up)

I´ve also heard that in general 8 operates quite a bit faster, however if it means sacrificing game compatability it will not be worth it....

I´m refering to the windows 7 and 8 basic versions and not the pro versions.

 

That's a fairytale. Given your usage, I see no reason for you to use Windows 8.

 

Some people have a lot of issues with Total War games on Windows 8, some don't have any issues at all:

https://www.google.com/search?q=tot...-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

If you don't want Windows 8 for any other reason (touch support, Xbox Music, Xbox Video, Metro apps like Netflix which sometimes give a better user experience than the web interfaces), I'd go with Windows 7.

 

I would also look into the availabilty of drivers for 7 depending on what manuf. you plan to purchase from, assuming you want all of your hardware to function properly.
What make and model do you have in mind ?

 

I had assumed we were talking about a machine that had Windows 7 installed from the factory (say, Alienware's lineup). I wouldn't recommend installing Windows 7 on a machine that's only got 8 from the factory due to the driver issues, like you mentioned.

 

At the moment the best is to get a machine with Win8 pro so if need be you have downgrade rights too win7 Pro and if you properly backup the system before downgrading you could even get Win8 later if need be. Again though research it to be sure it is worth all the hassle of drivers and the like.............

 

Nah, slightly faster, but nothing that will make a difference. Now, if you don't want Windows 8 because you dislike the user interface, you know which one to go for. On the other hand, depending on your usage pattern, you may do just fine with Windows 8. I'd go with TANWare's suggestions, get Windows 8 Pro, so you can always downgrade if you end up hating Windows 8. If anything, Win 8 has been very polarizing. Personally, I don't mind it, there are things I prefer in Windows 7 (i.e. the start menu has functionalities that are lacking in the Windows 8 start screen and all apps screen) and things I prefer in Windows 8.

 

From what I've heard, Windows 8 is pretty good about compatibility, so unless you find that specific games like Total War don't work with it as well, that probably isn't something to worry about.

Likewise, DX 11.1 shouldn't make much difference. There aren't going to be many games that require it for several years. Just look at how many games require DX10 and Vista these days - it's not that many for it having been out for almost 6.5 years. Windows 8 being no more popular than Vista, it's unlikely many games will require DX 11.1 in the lifetime of your computer. There'll be some that support it, but I doubt there will be many that won't run just fine with regular DX 11.

So barring compatibility issues with specific programs, I think it's really a question of which interface you like more.

 

I´m considering the sager np 8230....so would there be better driver support for 8 or 7 with that laptop in specific?

 

A quick search on Clevo's site shows no drivers at all for Win 7 CLEVO Driver Download
I tried the Sager site but could not get any results for either OS
You may want to check the Clevo/Sager subforum for anyone who has attempted to install 7
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...clevo-p151sm1-sager-np8230-owners-lounge.html

 

Usually the company putting the package together for you does this. As in the offerings from power note books.
Configurator

 

So I´d imagine that np 8230 sager is has much better driver support for windows 8, and really more or less from the various bits I´ve read 8 is just as compatible as 7 in regards to games. Anybody have a different opinion?

 

As TANware astutely pointed out you could order it with 7 installed from PNB or GentechPC, but if you do I would request a driver disk for 7. I assumed that you were ordering your machine without an OS, in that case 8 should be no problem at all to install yourself.

 

spot on here, OP.

Sent from my PI39100 using Board Express

 

The hardware does not have better support just that all then hardware was designed for native windows 8 support. Well before the release of Win8 all the OEM's were gearing for exclusive Win8 support but since the debacle with the OS just not taking on the desktop fronts OEM's and hardware suppliers have scrambled for Win7 support. Most of the mass produced systems are though better with Win8 support, but if 8.1 fails to impress this could change for desktop/DTR machines as OEM's take a page form the Lenovo book.

Any new OS will have issues. Do not make this the reason to shy away from Win8 as any issues will usually get fixed eventually. This is just the nature of then game................

 

If you get a touchsceen laptop, get win 8. if not, I'll give you the rundown... I'm an IT-technician and scientist and I use computers every day, both for work and leisure. I've tried sooo much to like windows 8, being the newest on the block'n all. I've fixed the following issues by cracking and hacking and modifying win 8:

*Wide-Gamut colorprofile so the screen can display correct colors (default is a colorprofile that only displays ~20% of the 16,5 million colors of 24-bit ProPhoto spectrum)
*Registry fix so the screen isn't 200 nit maximum when hardware (pnp compatible) supports 300 nit.
*Windows Update and Task Manager hang on start
*also full 8000 refresh, incl. disk, current, bios, mode, video, frame, etc. -full package
*plugging the NSA backdoors (14 of them found, most with the Com-Surrogate hub, last one being a backdoor in the printerspool service that acts as a universal backdoor thru (installed per default) printer server software)
*Getting a decent start menu and ridding the system of the Palestine-wall 'start screen'
*Enabling IP-stack refresh and disabling unused protocols in the hybrid-stack setup to effectively have QUIC on tcp-http protocol(s)
*Disabling WinRT and BITS services so no NSA/CIA bigdata operation is run on my system
*Stopping win 8 administrator-privilege without prompt for Java Runtime env. to make the RedOctober software harmless
*Enabling secure boot/UEFI and locking hardware profile, system build and validate build and user
*Getting working usb 3 drivers
*Enabling NDIS filter install for wireless and lte connections
*Enabling mac-address change for ethernet-cards
*Getting working QoS override so I don't get hit by ISP server side bandwidth downthrottling.
*Enabling LTE *censored* so I can bypass ISP 12GB per month data-limit
*Turning off ALL NTLM communications, requests and validations
*Turning on digitally signed software requirement for all admin-code run sequences
*Turning on biometric id requirement for all admin authentication
*Getting system up-to-date (KB this and KB that)
*Getting all drivers up-to-date and tweaked and installed for maximum performance
*Making ALL my software run (incl. total war games as mentioned earlier in this thread)

and with all this work, just on the bloody system that is, done, and having used win 8 now for like half a year, I can still say, that windows 7 is the best ms os around and I see NO reason whatsoever to update to this piece of os unless you're one of those people who either likes to incessantly platter your screen with fingerprintmarks and oil and fat or one of those fetishists who like ms and nsa/cia to know EVERYTHING you do, and how you look and sound, sitting infront of your per legal definition and as consented to thru EULA agreement, your Microsoft server....

 

7777777777777

 

8 so I can impress people.

Edit sorry for ot but wing nut seduced me to.

 

Right, but there´s much better driver support for the specific laptop I´m looking at (the sager np8230) so soley based on that it´d make more sense to go with 8 in my opinion.

 

Buddy of mine just received the W series 17in clevo about a week ago. ordered it with win 7 as he hated the interface of win 8. no problems so far.

I'm sure someone will correct me if i am wrong, but since sager gives resellers the option to install their own OS, i doubt you will have problems with win 7. I doubt LPC, Xotic, Mythologic et al would sell new hardware with win 7 if there was going to be major issues (it would be a nightmare for them)

If you like win8, go with 8. If you prefer win 7, stick with that. The driver issue is moot, imho.

 

Drivers can make or break a laptop as well so don't just discount it cavalry. Without those drivers your laptop is just paper weight as it won't run or load properly it needs the drivers to work on the laptop especially the customized versions.

 

That would be true if they actually listened to people and made a version that is customized version for what people needed not why they like to sell. That would improve their bottom line and image would surpass even Apple....*ak*....

 

7


:thumbsup:

 

I agree with the other issues, my point is do not use the programs early compatibility issues to discard the OS. So I should have clarified that................

 

At this point I`m pretty sure I`ll be going with 8. The user interface is something I don`t really like, but I can learn no navigate it no big deal. What I am most concerned about is driver support and game compatability, however 8 seems better for drivers and in regards to games they both seem about even.

 

Win8, for the most part, oem's have a native driver assembly. TBH I do not use the OEM's drivers and upgrade mine from the various component manufacturers. To each his own though...........

 

It's also worth mentioning that Windows 8.1 (now available for Client Preview) will fix most of the interface problem.
Windows 8 is actually better at managing resource like RAM and CPU. My laptop, which is pretty slow to be honest, performed much better under Windows 8, although the battery life was not optimized and some specialty software I needed for school would not work, so I had to revert to Windows 7.
Looking past the Metro UI, Windows 8 is a very good OS, and it should become even better with the official release of Windows 8.1 in the end of 2013.

 

Most being a keyword here, personally, I don't mind metro and Windows 8.1 fixes most of the things I found annoying, but Pirx made a good point in another thread about some functionalities of the start menu that are still missing. The All Apps list can get cluttered easily with desktop programs that have numerous start menu entries for one. I'm gonna move on with Windows 8.1 on my Thinkpad Tablet as well as the Windows 8 drive on my M6700. I still have an upgrade for Windows 8 unused, but my desktop is staying with Windows 7 for now, same for my older laptops.

I find the difference in resource between 7 and 8 negligible unless you're on really low powered hardware (think atom). There are new functionalities like better SSD support in Windows 8 which I do like though.

 

Yeah well my CPU is pretty low powered and it is designed as a Ultra mobile CPU, so that might be why it made such a difference.
I've been using windows 8 on and off for about a year now and I enjoy the experience. It does take a little while to get comfortable with it but it should not be a deal breaker. Although to be honest I always dual-boot it with either Windows 7 or a Linux distro.

 

I have 7 & 8 on different partitions, and 8 definitely runs better and faster. As with every new OS, I've lost some older games. But my newer games play just as well on 8.

 

The problem on a HDD is one partition may be faster than another. Also different software installs, even age of the install, can make a huge difference as well. Agreed Win8 though is a generation better and in some aspects is a bit lighter on it feet. Nothing that on higher end hardware is noticeable, I can't speak for the lower end stuff.

All here will agree that we would love the backend of Win8 on our systems. It is the UI that is holding us back. The capability of giving us an awesome non touch UI is there, and could have been there from the get go. M$ is just refusing to listen and give one to consumers, so even their promise of we are listening this time is just as bogus as it was before................

 

I'm pretty sure some of the Windows 8 critics here have argued that the performance improvements of Windows 8 are a myth, a smoke-and-mirrors show, and all based on SSD-versus-HDD and fresh-install-versus-old-install. Pirx, want to weigh in?

 

For the low end and older hardware I gotten W7 to work fairly good but those that where of XP drivers age that is more tricky but you can get it to work on W7 but there are limitations but will work in the rough. As for W8 requiring more and more that will basically rule out older hardware or hardware that doesn't match the the compatibility to run W8. SSD over HDD speed would be a bigger difference and regardless if both O/S are installed on the same high power laptop the users most likely will see the differences maybe the numbers but numbers are numbers and can be made to show what they like us to see and the differences but when they surf the net or email or skype or eBay I doubt that O/S would really make a huge difference there. The problem lies in what software or proprietary software you use will it work or improve the interface of it and if it looks and runs the same on W7 and same on W8 you didn't gain much benefits at all...

 

I am not just speaking performance, but that too. In specific there is the new task scheduler and non-NUMA CPU's such as the BullDozer and older C2Q's. Also while not a miracle cure elsewhere Win8 in general is lighter on its feet.

This can prove to be very useful. While Win7 can be tuned to run just about as good, win8 seems out of the box a bit more optimized. This again is the back end most users never see let alone touch. This could be one thing that would be beneficial to the casual users I help out. I just can't get myself, let alone them, to use Win8's UI............

Again too with high end hardware of SSDs and the like you can barely, if at all, tell the performance differences. While I know I am one of the most vocal here against win8 for desktops, My personal choice would be Win8 for the back end. This is why I am so vocal, fix it like it was supposed to be so that I can play too...................................

Back on topic; again only spend for Win7 if it is to the point you can not stand win8 that much. Otherwise research it and get some hands on time with Win8 to see if you need to seek out a win7 machine....................

 

I should have explained that I have 7&8 on separate partitions on my desktop, not my laptop. It is a Win 7 machine that I added Win 8 to. 8 starts up and shuts down much more quickly than 7. My beloved game Diablo 3, that I played diligently for about one year, performed equally well on both systems, even though it is a high-intensity online game.

As far as getting used to the interface: on the Start Page, drag the Desktop icon to the top left. Now you only have to press Enter to go to the desktop. From the desktop, download the free Classic Shell Start Button, and it will run like XP and 7. This will let you enjoy your machine, and you can play around with the Start Page while you learn how to use it.

 

More rehashing of really truly bland talking points again....I can do what your asking from W7 already boot right into Desktop mode...and not have to use 3rd party software to get to Desktop mode. Classic shell start button is really starting to get old here....

 

Especially since it is all off topic from the thread title................................