I assume your Windows 7 installation works exactly like Windows 7 now so unless you wanted the new features of Windows 8.1 why would you upgrade to Windows 8.1?
Windows 8: how did so much suck happen?
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I assume your Windows 7 installation works exactly like Windows 7 now so unless you wanted the new features of Windows 8.1 why would you upgrade to Windows 8.1?
Squeegee Beckenheim
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Even Microsoft don't describe it as a desktop, but rather a laptop. With a 1.6Hz processor and a maximum of 64GB hard-drive, I really don't think it can be compared to a desktop.
It does also rather beg the question - if you've got something that works as a tablet, why would you want it to work as a laptop? And if you've got something that works as a laptop, why would you want it to work as a tablet? Doesn't it still make sense to have one, coherent, OS that can run whatever applications you want to use on the machine? Having, say, music and word processing requiring different environments makes no sense on such a device, does it?
icerat
Philosopher
It's not an unknown reason at all. People have little reason to update their old PCs, which were plenty powerful for most things, and tablets are taking their discretionary gadget money
Faster boot times is about it. If you're on 7 and happy, don't move.
Yes, another dumb marketing move by Microsoft (who of course own Skype). Seems the entire workforce has been given Surface to use and they've forgotten not everyone has one.
Nope, not at all analogous. You've climbed in the back and are playing with the DVD controls for the kids when there's a perfectly good drivers seat with everything your used to, but you've just chosen to ignore it.
A dual core i5 1.6Hz is more powerful than most peoples desktops. Plug in a full screen monitor, bluetooth screen and mouse and USB or NAS drive and most people couldn't tell the difference.
Seriously? I can't count the number of times I wish I had a decent keyboard for my tablet. And doing something on my desktop and then need to go to the effort to transfer to my tablet for portability is a pain in the a**. Sure I could use a laptop but they just feel unwieldy now!
Probably not, and I'm not sure why you're asking. Music and word processing don't require different environments on Windows 8.
Having said that, I think as time goes on there will be better and smoother integration between the touch and non-touch environments.
The thing that everyone is missing is that they think there's a "market" at all and they are still thinking that it's a la carte when it's a fixed menu....
It's no longer ABOUT the consumer. It's about what the kitchen is going to serve up. People might complain that they don't like the meal, but they'll still eat it.
It's no longer ABOUT the consumer. It's about what the kitchen is going to serve up. People might complain that they don't like the meal, but they'll still eat it.
Squeegee Beckenheim
Penultimate Amazing
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This site says that the average for a desktop is 1.5-2.5GHz. I don't know when the page was created, but seeing as it's talking about 64 bit processors as a thing of the future, I think we can assume that it was a while ago, so that number will be larger today.
I didn't say that having one, amalgamated device was a bad idea, I said that having two separate OSes on the one device was a bad idea. Wouldn't 1 OS from which you could access every program be better?
Wowbagger
The Infinitely Prolonged
You would need to install a 3rd-party add-on, such as Classic Shell (which is generally free) or Start8 (which has a free trial, but is only $5 or less if you buy it.) And, that utility will take it from there. Start8 from StarDock is my favorite.
It is, basically, a toolbar on steroids. But, it replaces the menu system completely, so many users were put off by that, initially.
It happens that the Ribbon (which, by the way, was thoroughly user tested for years, unlike Win8's Modern UI) actually did offer a distinct advantage over the menu systems of the past, since it offers more features with (usually) fewer clicks. And, things are grouped in a way that (usually) makes intuitive sense. (Though, I still wonder why the Select icons are all the way on the opposite end of the bar from the Copy and Paste icons.) So, in the long run, people loved it enough, that most of them do NOT miss the menus, anymore. And, the Ribbon is being adopted by other applications.
Compare that to Win8: Even a couple of years after its release, it seems too many people still miss the old, compact Start Menu, with its easier access to more features. And, no one else seems eager to adopt anything like Win8's UI.
icerat
Philosopher
There's more to computing power than just Ghz.
There isn't two separate OS's. There's two different interfaces to the same OS. Is that ideal? No, better if they can have one that works well on both. They tried that with windows mobile, it got swamped by iOS and Android with dedicated touch interfaces. Again though, I think they'll be more and better integration going forward, but probably needs another year or two of development.
For what it's worth the Xbox One has three separate OS's.
Belz...
Fiend God
It has a few bugs and annoyances but it does work better than pretty much all previous versions, and I actually like the taskbar now. Why did they have to reinvent the wheel after getting it right is beyond me.
Pardon my total naivety, but couldn't the installation/first startup just ask "Would you prefer to default to the classic PC desktop or the tablet-style Metro thingumajig?" (though possibly not in those exact words).
<giggle>
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This is The End
Penultimate Amazing
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This is The End
Penultimate Amazing
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elbe
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Developers seem slow to require support for new versions of DirectX. 11 only works on Vista and newer and there are still only a handful of games that actually require it. As of yet I've only heard of one game coming out that will require 8 so if you're a PC gamer 7 will hold you perfectly fine for a while.
I got a new computer.
Why not just install Windows 7 on it?
Installing drivers for the new hardware (networking) and all the updates is a hassle.
And I do sometimes want to reinstall from scratch.
Fair enough.
icerat
Philosopher
This is my Windows 8 desktop as I post this message. I've minimised the browser a little (I normally use it maximised) so you can see the desktop itself.
Apart from the windows icon instead of the start button, it's virtually identical to Windows 7.
Which would mean you wanted some of the new features of the OS.
davefoc
Philosopher
One would expect that a new OS would have some features that the old one doesn't. My question is whether there are any advantages to the new Windows 8 UI over the Windows 7 UI for a desktop PC user and if so what are they?
Wowbagger
The Infinitely Prolonged
The problem is that nothing else around it is identical.
Your argument is, effectively, a strawman. No one is arguing that the Desktop interface, once you get to it, is different from the past.
What we are arguing is that the Start Menu is replaced by a bunch of other things in other places, making it more confusing to figure out how to get anywhere else.
AND, that there is a second interface, the Modern UI, that is more prominently displayed by default.
(Also, until 8.1, that Windows icon/start button thing wasn't even in Win8. Though, that's a moot point, now.)