Windows 8 Is there a big difference?

[botanica]

I am thinking about upgrading from Vista (came with the laptop I bought in 2009) to Windows 8. Is there a big difference between the two? What improvements can I expect to see?

 

[patcooke]

Windows 7 was s great step forward from Vista (it was what Vista should have been). The greatest change in Windows 8 is in the desktop user interface. Many (like myself have taken advantage of one of the many easily (and some freely) available products to set up a much more "traditional" desktop. In terms of features and stability you should find both Windows 7 and 8 a significant improvement on Vista (all IMHO of course).

 

[Jimbo22]

Before you take the plunge to upgrade your OS, make sure your laptop will support it from your vendors website. I have a Samsung RV511 just over a year old running windows 7 and Samsung informed me that there are no plans for driver support for my laptop and shouldn't expect to see any.

I did partition my laptop hard drive and did a dual boot with the latest beta "Release Preview". With out the supporting drivers it started to act up in about 3 weeks so I just got rid of it. I did like it.

I have windows 8 Pro running on my desktop as only OS and it's fast, but does take a bit getting use to....big learning curve.

 

[Joe S]

I agree with Pat about Windows 7 being a big improvent over Vista. I did upgrade this PC form Vista to windows 7. I also tried the beta of Windows 8 on this PC and saw only a very slight improvement in speed. You may encounter hardware problems with older hardware so check at MS I think they have an upgrade compatibility app to check with I'd try that first.
Joe

 

[PhyllisColeman]

i've also experienced Win Vista for 1 year from 09 to 10 and now using Win 7 .. apart from the differences you have quoted here .. one more thing i realized about Vista is that it often made my laptop process slow while starting and it remained in same state through out performing any function over the laptop...

 

[PhyllisColeman]

and one more thing that makes Vista an old stuff in front of the latest version of Win 8 .. there is improved graphics, more user friendly interface and ease of accessibility along with organization of your data into a laptop... plenty of reasons to switch from Vista to Win 8..

 

[Andrea Borman]

Before you take the plunge to upgrade your OS, make sure your laptop will support it from your vendors website. I have a Samsung RV511 just over a year old running windows 7 and Samsung informed me that there are no plans for driver support for my laptop and shouldn't expect to see any.

I did partition my laptop hard drive and did a dual boot with the latest beta "Release Preview". With out the supporting drivers it started to act up in about 3 weeks so I just got rid of it. I did like it.

I have windows 8 Pro running on my desktop as only OS and it's fast, but does take a bit getting use to....big learning curve.

I have just installed Windows 8 Pro 32 bit a few days ago on one of my Windows 7 netbooks. There is no learning curve if you install Classic Shell. As the latest version now boots straight to the desktop. It also disables all the hot corners,including the charms bar,so you don't see or deal with the Metro theme at all.

Windows 8 runs on a netbook as good as Windows 7 does. The only thing that won't work is the Metro apps. Though all of the software you use on Windows 7 and Windows XP works. As Windows Vista and Windows 7, are very similar to Windows 8 chances are most Windows Vista and Windows 7 drivers will work on 8. At least mine do.

 

[Meleotta3]

Before you take the plunge to upgrade your OS, make sure your laptop will support it from your vendors website. I have a Samsung RV511 just over a year old running windows 7 and Samsung informed me that there are no plans for driver support for my laptop and shouldn't expect to see any.

I did partition my laptop hard drive and did a dual boot with the latest beta "Release Preview". With out the supporting drivers it started to act up in about 3 weeks so I just got rid of it. I did like it.

I have windows 8 Pro running on my desktop as only OS and it's fast, but does take a bit getting use to....big learning curve.

Yes.It's a bit hard to learn(I read a book about it.).You can use some program to make it look loike windows 7 so....it might be worth it? Its not a big change but....

 

[Ralph Bromley]

If you are worried about learning curve why not give linux a shot?
At this rate win 8 and linux distros like Ubuntu are tied in the learning curve aspect.
In fact I daresay the learning curve for Ubuntu is easier then of 8

 

[Sonny]

I run Ubuntu for six months, not saying it is bad but will stick with windows.

 

[davidhk129]

I am thinking about upgrading from Vista (came with the laptop I bought in 2009) to Windows 8. Is there a big difference between the two? What improvements can I expect to see?

Incidental that you ask this question...........

Only 2 or 3 days ago, I took out my Dell Inspiron 1420 from dusty shelf and installed Win 8.1 pro preview.
My Dell laptop has only 2 GB RAM and it used to run real SLOW.
Now with Win 8.1 installed, it runs like a thoroughbred.
Apart from needing to get used to the Metro etc, I like it a lot.
( It's shocking to find myself saying that. But, I mean it. )

 

[Teemocaptain]

The biggest difference is the security!

 

[Pauli]

There is mainly the common issue: other software / hardware aren't instantly following Windows. Like one of my major programs is DVBViewer, the TV program, users report they have needed to install DX9 in order to see it... gosh, it works with DirectX 11 on my Windows 7. Graphics drivers are also expected not to function... beep-beep. Why can't they co-ordinate these things? Get them to work together?

I would be prepared to go for Windows 8, but I would like some assurance that my system works.

 

[twoface]

Win 8 is fast. But if you are coming from Vista, I would just guess that you may have a hardware issue with Win 8 that may prevent it from running smoothly. But I will not advise you to jump into Win 8 yet. The best upgrade your machine can take is Win 7 32-bit.

You can try out Win 8.1 for free till Jan 2014. Head over to the Microsoft website and download the ISO file suited for your machine. It comes with a product key.

Here's the link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-8/preview-iso