Win 7 vs free Win 8 upgrade. Also, optimal software setup?

Hi all!

I just bought a new Lenovo t440s. I would like to have it optimally setup to be lean, fast and secure. Also, it comes with a free windows 8 upgrade if I desire (the laptop is not touch screen). Should I do this?

Basically...should I format my computer completely, stick with windows 7, or upgrade to windows 8? Are there certain Lenovo features that I would want to reacquire? Avast vs. Avira, ccleaner vs. something else? I just want to maximize my SSD space and have the best/most efficient programs for battery life and security. How do I create an install flashdrive (no optical) if I desire to completely format and do a clean install?

I know this is a vague question, btw.

Thanks for the input!

 

don't screw up a beautiful laptop with Windows 8. stick to 7 and I won't bother typing an essay about why as I'm tired really.....

Backup your current OS partitions to an external HDD or something using Macrium Reflect Free

so if anything wrong goes in the future, you can simply boot off a Macrium Reflect Falsh Disk recovery media which you can easily create and within a few minutes, you'll be back to factory state.

I bought Macrium Reflect Pro because it allows you to restore without even needing a CD or external flash drive, it simply adds a boot entry to the boot menu so it can recover automatically after a system reboot. If you have some cash, then go for the Pro otheriwse the Free edition is excellent and has everything with the exception of the way you restore is that you have to boot off the recovery flash disk rather than do it on the fly

 

Thanks for the heads up!

I haven't owned a Win 8 device, but I have played around on it a bit (didn't really care for it). I did hear there were some "under the hood" changes that make it more efficient, and just thought maybe I could get a Win 7 shell or something.

I have Microsoft Security Essentials (default). Didn't know if there was something better to my traditional security suite which has been this for years:
Avira (free version)
Ccleaner
Spyware Blaster
Spybot SD (disable tea timer)

Back in the XP days, I was super into tweaking my computer and what not...but it has been years since I really looked into software and tweaks. Just wondering where things are now. Just had to retire my MSI Wind Xp netbook...which made me super sad hahaha

I made a back up on my SSD using Lenovo Rescue and Recovery and was just wondering what else was out there.

Cheers!

 

Yes you can install a Start Menu alternative to make it *feel* like Windows 7 and do a few changes here and there but.....

1) Why would you bother changing the guts of a fugly OS to start off with when you have a system with Windows 7? I know many people including me who would die to be able to buy a computer at this day and age that has Windows 7 on it or at least the drivers available for a Windows 7 clean install. Luckily, Alienware is one of those and they offer Windows 7 Drivers for my laptop

2) Even if you do customize Windows 8 to your liking, its performance is less in 95% of any benchmark you would run with the exception of Firestrike in 3DMark which I could care less about.

3) People say Windows 8 boots faster, true, but not entirely, it gets to the desktop faster by skipping some drivers / services during startup but then will load them slowly as you are in the Windows desktop, the fact is, to get a fully 100% functional system, by the time it loads all those drivers / services, it is no better than Windows 7

4) you have half your control panel options in the regular control panel and the other half of the settings can only be accessed in the Metro screen PC Settings, I don't know whose dumb idea was that at Microsoft he needs to be shot in the head

5) They say Windows 8 is better optimized for newer hardware and especially SSDs, well let me tell you the ugly truth, if it was better optimized for newer hardware? how come an 8 year old OS (Win 7) beats it in every benchmark still? The only thing that I see different and more optimized from an end user perspective is the fact that they changed the Disk Defragmenter's name to "Optimize Drives" and with that, it means that if you have an SSD, Windows 8 will NOT defragment it but rather, optimize it, How? instead of defragging it it will only send TRIM commands to it for garbage collection. wowwwwwww very optimized for new hardware! LOL I use O&O Defrag PRO myself which sends TRIM command to the SSD so I don't need that and it's not something worth mentioning really unless you are a newbie which I know you're not and don't know how to find a good defargementer that supports SSDs (TRIM commands)

6) Its Wireless connection manager is not as configurable as it was in Windows 7, very limited

7) In order to change a basic setting such as the horizontal / vertical size limit of an icon...... let's say you have a shortcut on your desktop called "SUPERAntiSpyware" because it's too long, the name would be truncated so I usually like to increase the horizontal size limit of icons to see the full text rather than ugly dots in the name.......with Windows 7, you can easily change that by right clicking on your desktop / customize / windows colors

With Windows 8 you need to dig in deep into the registry and find the setting then enter some large number like 1700 instead of 1250 (default) yeah, my grandma would surely be able to do that

8)........I'm tired already someone please take over

 

Don't downgrade. Windows 7 all the way.

 

Haha, no need for anyone to take over...you've convinced me

I love Win 7 on my desktop and always hated Win 8, but you always hear stuff like "No, its better now for x, y, and z!" Thought maybe it was getting pooped on like Vista launch did (Vista did get better imo)

Also, I did not know that Win 7 outperformed it on most benchmarks...that alone is argument enough for me

R.e. recovery: I typically know how to create a recovery disk, but Lenovo stated that there was a recovery partition, but I don't see it...so I was a bit baffled. I know how to create one, just didn't want to waste valuable space if it was hidden somehow and I was unaware.

Thanks for the info!

 

I've tinkered with Win8.1 on the T440s and I didn't have any trouble. The large trackpad helps out a bit, though the design of the trackpad leaves a lot to be desired. If you have the 1920x1080 display you might find Win8.1 better for handling the DPI. Some of my users say Win7 is either too small or too big depending on DPI setting. Win8.1 handles it a little better.

The Win8 upgrade discs Lenovo packs with the laptops are terrible. They are old, loaded with bloatware, and the install literally takes about two hours. Installing Win8.1 clean is hackery and probably outside the boundaries of this forum, so for that I'd say just keep Win7 (which Lenovo also bloats up but is at least bearable).

 

Is any of this bloatware?

Last two programs that you can't see are:
ThinkVantage Active Protection System
ThinkVantage Password Manager

Hm, I don't have 1080p sadly (couldn't find one on ebay or the outlet, and the new cost is outrageous). But I have 1600x900, which is pretty crisp imo. I don't know why everyone was pooping on these TN panels...pixel-philes, maybe?

The DPI seems pretty acceptable to me so far

I received no disks whatsoever (just the laptop, charger, and ac adapter)

Also, the trackpad is my only gripe, so far, about the t440s. It is not as "clicky" and loud as many that others received...I just wish they had kept designated left and right click buttons

 

That's odd, the T440s's I have here at the office all have three Win8 discs in them. How would your upgrade be delivered?

I find all the Lenovo apps to be kinda bloaty. I call them "Job-Security-Ware" like someone at Lenovo had to justify their job by saying NO WAIT I CAN MAKE A GREAT POWER MANAGER APP!! So I'd uninstall most of the Lenovo stuff but you may find some use in it. That ShareIt thing looks purely unnecessary.

Just an FYI, if you look through some of the older posts, you'll see this forum is very anti-Win8. There are lots of people here who do not personally care about your computing experience, as long as you do what they convince you to do. There is a mob mentality that will make every effort to drive you to their side of the fence.

That said, it's best that you come to your own conclusion about which OS you want to run. You may not want to go through the hassle of switching to Win8, then potentially going back to Win7, and whatever else. If it's too much to do now, don't bother. Use Win7 and off ya go. If you want to take the chance and see if it's a better experience for you, try Win8.1. I strongly recommend a clean install without Lenovo cruft but it might be tricky to do.

 

Windows 8 is not totally dreadful. I use it on my Steam PC gaming rig. It actually gives off a gaming vibe. As a general OS as others have stated you are better off with Windows 7. It's a more refined and polished OS.

Besides, Windows 9 is right around the corner.

 

Thanks, subzero and others, for your input and assistance!

Last questions (promise )

Are any of you familiar with Lifehacker's ninite program pack? I trust notebook review (mostly ), and was curious what programs you use or like?

Lifehacker Pack for Windows: Our List of the Essential Windows Apps

https://ninite.com/lifehacker14 (compressed view, no article)

Last, know of any great tweaks to 7...such as reg editing or UI?

Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it!!!

Edit @ subzero: I assume I would have to download it and install from there, but I am not really sure TBH....My t440s has no optical so unless the install disks you have access to are usb (flashdrives) of some sort, then they would not work for me anyway

 

Yep Ninite is a great time-saver when you need to reformat. Highly recommended. :thumbsup:

 

Funny enough, Power Manager (along with Hotkeys) is the only Lenovo application that I leave on my ThinkPads since I've found it to be very useful over the past decade plus, when it was called "IBM Battery Maximizer"...

 

Active Protection System will temporarily stop and park your storage drive when the system drops. It can be useful to prevent damage to hard drives, but you don't need it for SSDs.

Password Manager allows you to use a finger swipe to login to a variety of password-protected sites online. Keep it if you'd use it, get rid of it if you won't.

As ajkula66 said above, Power Manager is great. It's the best and most useful application for notebook battery management I've seen. Definitely keep that one in my opinion.

 

Look at this poor guy, he used to be able to easily select a scaling level on Windows 7, now the guys are asking him to edit the registry of Windows 8 to achieve the same result LOL

DPI Scaling in Windows 8.

 

Man when you said Windows 7 was 8 years old I felt really old.

 

This post is not only off the topic of the thread, but is just plain wrong, so...

This is what I mean.

 

how is it offtopic? this is a continuation of the post I made of how Windows 8 is not as pretty as it seems on the outside

 

It's wrong, for starters. Did you even read the link you posted?

 

yes, the guy is trying to change the DPI scaling as he used to do in Windows 7 but he failed, then another dude suggests how to do it via the registry

where was I wrong?

 

He's trying to do custom scaling, like 132%. Not the notches on the slider.

Ironically, not only are you wrong on "edit the registry of Windows 8" but the registry editing is in Win7. Win8 doesn't do custom DPI scaling. For the notched scaling, Win8 has a slider, just like Win7 does.

 

ohh sorry, my bad

 

Just Windows 7 fanboyism I would say

 

Making an informed decision is not fanboyism. If someone has used W7 for 5 years and W8 for 2 years, whatever OS he decides to stick with in the end, he has very valid reasons for choosing it.

 

Giving out FALSE information is more than qualified for FANBOYISM.

But you know let's just dump all logic in the trash and ignore it.

OP: If you want to have a good operating system you can not go wrong with either one. If you like the task bar, there are many apps that let you download it And it would mostly be exactly like Windows 7. I would like to point out that Windows 8 is simply more efficient than Windows 7, it is better coded, has less driver issues from My own experience, and is faster and better hardware accelerated. If you want to use it on a big display like a living room, it probably would be a better experience than Windows 7.

Don't let all the people here who are not willing to change simply because of the new UI discourage you. Hit up any best buy store and play around with it and see if you like it or not. Simple as that.

 

Fair enough..

True in general.

Now - by your own definition - this qualifies as fanboyism, although I'll stay away from using Caps.

Less driver issues? Seriously? In what parallel universe?

More efficient? In what respect exactly?

"Playing" with an OS and deciding to keep it as something one depends on are two vastly different things, and by testing out a random machine at Best Buy or anyplace else there's not much that one can learn...

 

It's not simply about the UI; far from it. If there are any merits to Windows 8, you're not gonna find them by trying it out in a big-box store. The only thing most people will glean from showrooming is dislike for the UI, which makes your advice counterproductive.

 

Sure, more efficient......and loses out in 90% of benchmarks oh wait....*despiiiiiiiiite* it's better coded as per your statement .....less driver issues? are you kidding me?

now don't let me pull my guns and post Windows 7 vs Windows 8 benchmarks..... then you will see how *efficient* is Windows 8

oh and noone wants no OS that wants you to login with your MS Account to use half of its features and let MS spy the living heck out of you. No I do not want IE 11 in Win 8 sending my browsing history to Microsoft to load pages faster...... no I do not want 2 sets of control panel items that would confuse the living heck out of me.........now I don't want some ugly cartoonish tablet tiles on my desktop, not even in the background, not anywhere........

no I don't want a crippled Wireless Management system that makes me have to reinvent the wheel to simply change a saved Wireless LAN Password......

oh gosh I could go on forever....

please.....if you like Windows 8, use it and be happy, but don't try to spread nonsense saying Windows 8 is more efficient

And wait, play with it in a store? even I could have fallen for that because playing for a few mins with an OS UI is different than having to deal with its mishaps on a daily basis. you cannot tell someone to play in a store with an OS for a few mins then base a valid opinion as to which OS he wants. BUT, what you can base a solid opinion is is thousands of users all around the world, PRO users such as the people on these forums, who want to buy a computer, push it to the max, and use it more productively, but Windows 8 offers exactly the opposite of that.

Yes you are right and we are all wrong *weep*

To me, you sound like a hardcore Windows 8 fanboy who cannot present facts but just blatant objective statements like " Windows 8 is more efficient" or " Windows 8 is faster and better hardware accelerated " with no solid facts or proof

 

Uhuh. Hilariously funny, given the drivel that follows.

Fascinating. Would you like to reveal to us the source of these wondrous pieces of information you have here?

So, it is "simply more efficient". Alright, why don't you tell us what, exactly, you mean by that, and how you have obtained this information.

"Better coded", huh? Why don't you show us that incisive comparative analysis between Windows 7 and Windows 8, oh, shall we say, of just two pieces of code that you no doubt must have access to? You don't want us to suspect you are giving out FALSE information here, now, don't you?

"Faster"? In what respect? Show us some benchmarks, and feel free to discuss other benchmarks that say the opposite.

"Better hardware accelerated"? Now this one is pretty awesome, too. Are we to assume that you can tell us, with references to the pertinent code, what functions exactly, and in what way, are "better hardware accelerated"? I certainly hope so, since otherwise we would be forced to conclude that you are giving out FALSE information. You don't want that, right?

While you're at it, why don't you let us know who these "people here who are not willing to change simply because of the new UI" are? Inquiring minds would like to know.

 

Basically my point. Most people here are just completely closed minded about how time and technology is moving. Microsoft needed to develop a UI that incorporated touch and they did a Damn good job of it on their first try.

I have a Google phone and everything is tied to my Google phone. MS is doing the same thing and so is Apple. Its stupid lame exuses like that, that makes the arguments some people here completely lame. The funny thing is, the Metro UI can almost be easily disabled by downloading shell start menu (or something like that) and then bam! You have a Windows 7 UI practically. Sure Windows 8 might have a few draw backs from Windows 7, but it sure as hell as allot more advantages.

To all the haters haiting on Windows 8, you all don't realize the impact Windows 8 has had on laptops and mobile devices. They have become much easier and powerful to use with touch based input and now we have Lenovo Yoga laptops that are just awesome and convenient. So please, wake up and get out of your little "shells" and embrace the OS for what it is. Something different that at least managed to have as good as a performance as something already proven (Windows 7).

If it wasn't Windows 8 I'm very sure we would still have boring laptops with no ultrabooks and cool 2in1 machines. Quit crying people.

This is how it is basically:

Bussiness: Gets Windows 7
Entertainment/Productivity: Windows 8
Mobile (Laptops, tablets, anything with touch input): Windows 8 is a must.

 

Right, it's my personal preference not liking to sync my OS settings, passwords, Wifi, etc. with the cloud, fair enough, not a deal breaker.

The tiles, yes, I know I can hide them, I know I can never see Metro, but it is still there in the background, heck, you cannot even uninstall some of the stubborn metro apps on Windows 8.1 anymore like Photos, Camera. Now why can one uninstall the Music and Videos app but no the Photos app is beyond me. it's not like there is no default Windows Picture Viewer, there is, someone at likes the photos app too much to allow us to uninstall it. Mind you, on Windows 8 it was uninstallable, not anymore. I did try some batch file which I got off MDL forums that is supposedly going to uninstall any metro app if I enter its APP ID which I did, nope, not going anywhere

again, these are not deal breakers for me.

For one, I am the most person open to change, and I don't mind UI changes, I can navigate and use Windows 8 without any start menu alternative pretty good, it's not that hard.

now the deal breakers.....

1) A new OS, that has been refreshed twice, with supposedly better support for newer hardware and SSDs.......if it even gets me the same scores I get as Windows 7 I would use it, but the sad truth is, any benchmark i've run, AS SSD, CrystalDiskMark, PassMark, 3DMark (with the exception of Firestrike which was specifically optimized for Windows 8), Windows 7 scored 10 to 15% higher, I have the proof and can upload the screenshots if you wish. But we all know that Windows 7 performs better so.....it's up to you if you really want me to post benchmarks I would

2) Windows 8 boots faster.......uhhh,,yes, by cheating......by skipping a few drivers and services to get you to the desktop faster I agree........but then start using your system, many times I would find that at startup, I have no Wireless connection, yet if I wait for a minute it magically connects......sometimes if I reboot it would connect right away, it depends on the mood of Windows 8...... This has been on this Alienware 18, my previous 2 ASUS G750JX and G75VW so it's not my computer......and my router is an ASUS RT-AC68U with the latest firmware,.....tried Merlind Firmware as well, no different......this issue never ever happens in Windows 7.

I suspect that this fast boot and skipping some drivers or services to get you to the desktop faster is behind this.... yet, I can actually start working on my Windows 7 OS the moment I see the desktop screen

3) one time I changed my WiFi password, with Windows 7, you can easily click on the properties of the wireless connection and change the password from "Manage Wireless Networks".......with Windows 8....I have to connect......then wait till it fails......then connect again.........then wait till it fails till I see the "Forget Network" button so I can delete the network and re-add it again.......yes,very productive and efficient as the above guy said...NOT

4) you can't fully disable UAC.....unless you do a registry trick otherwise when trying to edit or copy a file to your C: partition you get an extra security prompt do you want to continue......so I disabled UAC through the registry and got rid of that......next......I try to rename folders.....it says folder does not exist........so.......in order to not break the OS, you NEED to keep UAC which I don't ever want.....if I click or do a change to my system, I meant to do that I don't want any extra prompts.......

5) If you don't disable UAC........OneDrive kicks in after a few reboots......awesome! I don't want that ! nope.....you have to have it

The previous registry trick to disable UAC stopped working after they updated SkyDrive to OneDrive in Windows 8.1 Update 1.....

the only way to disable it is if you are lucky to have Windows 8.1 Pri, then it can be disabled through the Group Policy Editor but I don't have 8.1 Pro so.....

6) everytime I open a file, I get this annoying popup telling me that I have other programs that can open this extension......I have to do this for every extension in the planet......Even when I did the following registry trick and rebooted it doesn't work....

Even when I did have Windows 8.1 Pro and I disabled that new app notification through the Group Policy Editor, it doesn't do a darn thing, it would still popup

Really, how in the world do people put up with this? maybe I'm crazy coz I can't.....

 

And unlike most people here, I have owned 7 and 8 for quite a while. They are both good OS's.

My mother hated Windows 8 when she got it. Why? She didn't know how to use it. It was something new and nobody wants to learn anything "New" nowadays. Fast forward 2-3 months she's now perfectly used to it and likes it. That's it. That's why people hate on Windows 8. Its because it is almost completely different than previous any previous OS from MS. And people don't like different. WE ALL KNOW THAT.

BTW she loves how the computer doesn't take a whole minute to turn on but rather a second or two.

 

Yeah? please enlighten us

This sounds like a RAP song

Nope! nope BAM! Metro is always there there is no disabling it, when you install a Start Menu Alternative you are simply hiding it, but it's always running in the background

Alright boss! Undersood, you go enjoy your Windows 8

 

Yes because it never really shutdown, that was a Hyrbid Shutdown which is a mix between shutdown+hibernation.

Try shutting down Windows 8, then install a new hard drive or any other hardware and then start your machine.....the new hardware won't be detected until you give it a full restart

 

Um Ferris why do I boot up in 10 seconds and then I can immediately start doing work? Maybe you have issues with your drivers. Other than that I am mostly correct. Without Windows 8 we would not have the laptops, tablets, and hybrids we have now. Whatever you THINK the flaws are, we have came a very LONG way

 

Indrek, as much as Windows 8 has somewhat grown on me these last 2 years and StartIsBack has made it tolerable, I just can't accept the fact that it's not the no-compromises desktop OS that Windows 7 is.

There are game-breaking issues with Windows 8 that have never been resolved for me, such as the never-ending Automatic Maintenance loop that persisted through multiple reformats and broken compatibility with classic GOG and disc-based titles.

And the removal of things like automatic backups, persistent shadow copies, "manage wireless networks" GUI, Aero Glass and Flip 3D, a full-featured MSE, and Libraries, to name a few, have been a bitter pill to swallow. I couldn't care less for the fluff in Windows 8, but that's beside the point. Go ahead and add IMO useless junk like Metro and SkyDrive integration, but at least don't remove important features that were present in your previous OSes.

 

Please tell me that you're trolling. I beg of you.

Pretty please.

Seriously.

 

Without Windows 8, the PC market would be thriving and the LA Clippers would still be owned by a racist old fogy. :laugh:

 

Wow, we wouldn't have the laptops or hybrids. Well I have to differ here. Laptops have been progressing for a long time before Windows 8 and would still be even without it. There were ultrabooks and/or the like again well before Windows 8. As far as hybrids, they also were before Windows 8, maybe just not as popular. I am not saying they are super popular now just they are an option, be it an expensive one.

x86 Tablets are pretty much new. While they were tried out with Windows 7 it never took off. Thing is, other than consumption, it still is not. It will be a while, if ever, before you see a professional photographer in his studio working with just a tablet to modify and create disks of 1,500 wedding shots with Light Room processing the images. So what in the end has Windows 8 created, x86 tablet consumption. You are right, I guess I could not have lived without.

I am not a hater, nor is ANYONE here! We all wanted, and want, an OS that has a UI suitable for production. In the end the consumer has spoken about Windows 8 UI and the needs for all those x86 tablets. Back to the OP though.

As stated here use the OS and UI you feel more comfortable with. This is especially true where the cost basis is the same.

 

What I meant was, if I disabled UAC from the start, OneDrive never would show up or appear, that's what I meant by "Kick-In"

I don't need OneDrive because......one time I actually thought hey wait a minute, if OneDrive is so heavily integrated into Windows now, let me buy 100GB of space and actually use it....

so I uploaded all my data for a full night.....

great.......now when I click on any file on my computer it starts downloading it from the web, for weird reason, OneDrive not only uploaded my files, but actually moved them to the cloud..... so I right clicked on them all and tried the "Make Available Offline" and it started downloading 100GB worth of data that was going to take forever.....

I quickly canceled and thank god I had a backup to recopy everything back and never use OneDrive again....

so that my friend is the reason I never wanna see it or have anything to do with it...

now the problem is.......as long as you have UAC disabled, OneDrive won't even show up......if you do enable UAC.....then you will see it after a while in the taskbar.....whether you are logged into it or not......

Disabling it using the below registry trick used to work when it was called SkyDrive but after Windows 8.1 Update 1, if you do that trick and reboot, the moment you reboot your desktop icons won't be clickable for about a minute......if you check the logs. you see in event viewer some OneDrive sync errors

Now about UAC, yes I did disable UAC and it's notification, but that won't stop the security prompt when I want to rename or copy a file to C:

say for example after installing all my programs, some of them leave some weird names man..

example: MiniTool Partition Wizard Professional Edition 8.1.1

so I would rename that folder to simply....... MiniTool Partition Wizard

I organize all my start menu program folders in a very neat easy to navigate through way.....with Windows 8, everytime I want to rename a folder or file, I have to agree to a security prompt "do you want to continue" unless I totally disable UAC via the registry which then as I said causes a lot of issues you never wanna do that....

I respect the open minded approach you have towards this and value your opinion. Sorry, I am a person who plays his benchmarks, I know that's sad, I buy the best system my money can buy to play my benchmarks and that's it.......but in reality, obviously those benchmarks translate into faster everyday performance and snappiness to the max.....windows 7 gives me that......

just my 2 cents worth

 

Honey, I would very strongly advise you to put a lid on your silly generalizations. All you can do is make a complete fool of yourself this way. You know exactly nothing about the minds and motivations of "most people here".

I would also advise you to not try and peddle silly conjectures about what people here do or do not realize. Some of these people have probably forgotten more about the personal computing market and its requirements than you may ever know.

I've got news for you: Ultrabooks have been around a lot longer than Windows 8. And those "cool 2-in-1 machines have, by and large, flopped in the market. Certainly just about nobody is interested in touchscreens on a laptop.

Instead of addressing the complete nonsense contained in this last remark of yours, let me ask you a -question, since now I'm curious: What kind of special training and associated insight do you have that gives you the chutzpah to come in here and tell us "how it is"?

Honey, here's some news for you: Some of us have somewhat higher requirements in our computing than your mom. Imagine that. I have no doubt imagining that Win8 is fine for your mom. It's not for some of us.

10 seconds? Don't you think that's a bit on the slow side? My 2-year-old Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook (Win7, obviously) boots in seven.

 

Aero Glass - Translucency allows better usability when window stacking.

Flip 3D - For ultimate task switching. Ability to see live contents of multiple windows at once in 3D = convenient and looks neat.

MSE - Automatically scheduled scans and configuration, default actions configuration, and ability to initiate custom scan thru right-click context menu in Explorer are all gone in W8 Defender.

Libraries - Why is it hidden by default if File History depends on it?!

 

FYI - for anyone wondering about the "manage wireless networks" thing, while it was absent in Win8, it was re-added in Win8.1. Wi-Fi icon, View Connection Settings, Manage known networks.