Want to upgrade from Vista. Win7 or wait for Win8?

kearneybobs

I've been stuck on Windows Vista for the last couple of years now having never bothered to upgrade to Windows 7. Now I've got the itch to upgrade.

So I was wondering, should I just go ahead and get Windows 7 now or wait for Windows 8 to come out?

I use my PC all the time for general browsing, media streaming as well as copious amount of gaming too and I will be upgrading that too in the next few months too (but that discussion is for another thread).

What do people recommend?

Overheal

kearneybobs wrote: »

I've been stuck on Windows Vista for the last couple of years now having never bothered to upgrade to Windows 7. Now I've got the itch to upgrade.

So I was wondering, should I just go ahead and get Windows 7 now or wait for Windows 8 to come out?

I use my PC all the time for general browsing, media streaming as well as copious amount of gaming too and I will be upgrading that too in the next few months too (but that discussion is for another thread).

What do people recommend?

If you have an itch for a touch device, definitely get Windows 8. More touch devices will be the norm in the future. The Lenovo Yoga already is on preorder for the same price as the Zenbook Prime: they have the same specs, but the Yoga can bend over backwards into a tablet, and has a capacitive-touch screen. Between the two, I have my clear winner.

I could really delve deep into the differences in Windows 8, but to sharpen it down to a simple point: Windows 8 is Windows 7 with a seriously amped-up Start menu. It still in fact, on a desktop/laptop, has many of the same functions as the 7 menu. If you press Start, and type Calculator, and press Enter, you still get the calculator to launch. More importantly: you can still operate it, in practice, just like your windows 7 computer. Your only alteration in experience comes from when you need to access your start menu - briefly even - to launch another program.

If you get Windows 7 you will be able to purchase the 8 upgrade for €15. You can effectively try both operating systems, but bear in mind that PCs designed for Windows 8 will support it better, of course (in a similar way people expected Windows XP to work well with their Vista PCs, without correct driver support)

Torqay

kearneybobs wrote: »

So I was wondering, should I just go ahead and get Windows 7 now or wait for Windows 8 to come out?

Windows 7 SP1 is a mature OS, upgrading your system will be most likely a flawless affair.

New Microsoft operating systems are known to be full of bugs which are usually ironed out with the roll out of a service pack a few months later.

If you buy Windows 7 now, you'll get an upgrade license for cheap, if you want to move on to Windows 8 later.

kearneybobs

Yeah. I'm thinking that I will go with Win7 now. Going to buy the non upgrade edition, do a fresh install and maybe move to Win8 down the line. Wont have a need for the touch features in Win8 so it's not a major bonus right now.

Where's the best place to buy Win7 (non upgrade). I had a look on softwareforstudents but they seem to be out of stock on Win7??

Torqay

95 yoyos at Dabs. 32-bit version here.

Momento Mori

Windows 7. Just because I see it as more reliable right now. I recently started using it and I must say, such an improvement from Vista.

Capt'n Midnight

Depends on which you prefer, bells and whistles or stability and compatibility.

Use 7 now if you need stability, wait until the dust settles on windows 8 if using for production.
Think of the €15 as insurance.

kearneybobs

Alright, Since I'll be planning on upgrading my computer in the next couple of months and suggestions on how to avoid licensing problems with a copy of Win7? I'll want to install it now with the option of reinstalling it again on a newly built PC.

I assume the upgrade edition (£49) is no good for me since I wont be able to validate my copy of Vista since the PC will have changed hardware. Is that right?
If I do get the OEM version then that license will be tied to that computer, will it not be? or will I be able to deactivate that license and use it for my newly built computer with a fresh install of Win7?

Blazer

Unless you have a touchscreen monitor avoid Win8 like the plague..it's frakking awful..
Sure it's based on an optimised version of Win7 but the metro ui is shocking to use.
Normally I'd be the first to upgrade since I have a MSDN account through work so get all the software for free but I'm staying away from Win8 for a long time yet to maintain my sanity.

In fact we did the tech and non-tech test.
Find the power off in less than 10 minutes.
It took an engineer 2 minutes to find it, it took the secretary 8 mins to find it and she was cursing like a sailor when she found it.

Capt'n Midnight

as with all upgrades do a reality check

how much is you laptop worth if sold second hand ?

how much would a new laptop of similar spec with windows 7 + €15 for windows 8 option cost ?

it might not apply , but if you got a €400 laptop 2 or 3 years ago it might worth considering biting the bullet

also if the problem is that vista is slow check the stickies about speed up tips , don't forget that upgrading an OS won't magically solve all problems (regardless of whether it's windows , OSX, or linux etc)
.

kearneybobs

kearneybobs wrote: »

Alright, Since I'll be planning on upgrading my computer in the next couple of months and suggestions on how to avoid licensing problems with a copy of Win7? I'll want to install it now with the option of reinstalling it again on a newly built PC.

I assume the upgrade edition (£49) is no good for me since I wont be able to validate my copy of Vista since the PC will have changed hardware. Is that right?
If I do get the OEM version then that license will be tied to that computer, will it not be? or will I be able to deactivate that license and use it for my newly built computer with a fresh install of Win7?

The upgrade edition is governed by the same rules as the licence you upgraded from. OEM licences can't be legally transferred to another machine, so by upgrading an OEM licence you can't transfer the upgrade.

Your best bet is the full retail version.

BostonB

Blazer wrote: »

Unless you have a touchscreen monitor avoid Win8 like the plague..it's frakking awful..
Sure it's based on an optimised version of Win7 but the metro ui is shocking to use.
Normally I'd be the first to upgrade since I have a MSDN account through work so get all the software for free but I'm staying away from Win8 for a long time yet to maintain my sanity.

In fact we did the tech and non-tech test.
Find the power off in less than 10 minutes.
It took an engineer 2 minutes to find it, it took the secretary 8 mins to find it and she was cursing like a sailor when she found it.

I've been using Windows 8 for months. Works fine. never need to use the Metro UI if you don't want to. Install something like Classic Shell. Works pretty much like Windows 7 then. People in my house switch between W7 and W8 and don't notice much difference. Its faster than W7 especially on older hardware. IE10 desktop app is nice and quick.

W8 is meant to be much cheaper than W7.

For people who take 10 mins to find shutdown, they might find this handy...
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Windows+8+Tip%3A+Shut+Down%2C+Restart%2C+and+Sleep#

Blazer

You'll be surprised how many can't find it without googling
I reckon I'll make a fortune in tech callouts when people start using Win8

It's a pity MS removed the registry edit to boot with the start menu otherwise I'd had installed it ages ago on my main system
How's gaming on it?

Diddy Kong

The guys over on XDA have a reg entry that adds the Shutdown & Restart to the right click on desktop - here.

GreenWolfe

Blazer wrote: »

You'll be surprised how many can't find it without googling
I reckon I'll make a fortune in tech callouts when people start using Win8

It's a pity MS removed the registry edit to boot with the start menu otherwise I'd had installed it ages ago on my main system
How's gaming on it?

http://www.7tutorials.com/how-boot-desktop-windows-8-skip-start-screen

Their solution (as far as I know) was to create a small program initiates a short delay, then sends keystrokes to get to the Desktop. The program has to be set to run on logon, otherwise it won't work.

I haven't tried it though, so I have no idea whether this is kosher.

BostonB

Its been in Classic Shell in the start menu, so you can add an XP shutdown into Windows 7 and now 8.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/04/classic-shell-adds-start-button/

I'm quite happy with the default place in Windows 8. I don't really get all the fuss about it. Hover bottom right. Bingo.

I don't use it enough to need it in the right click menu.

Blazer

Diddy Kong wrote: »

The guys over on XDA have a reg entry that adds the Shutdown & Restart to the right click on desktop - here.

oh yeah I know about that...but MS blocked that in the RTM version.
Looks like Classic shell is the only way..and I detest 3rd party apps like those...although it can't be as bad as stardock's ****e?

tricky D

Rule of Thumb (kind of): every second new version of Windows is either poor or fixes the faults from the previous version. XP was good in its day, Vista was poor and 7 fixed that. I'll wait for 9 next time.

Dr Bob

hmm , if you're in the UK or US you can upgrade from anything like XP onwards for €39 or £25 online...cant find any mention of it for Ireland or the EU ...so feck that ....

actually hang on , it looks like we can get it.. the dollar price make it very confusing??
http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/07/02/upgrade-to-windows-8-pro-for-39-99.aspx

BostonB

Blazer wrote: »

oh yeah I know about that...but MS blocked that in the RTM version.
Looks like Classic shell is the only way..and I detest 3rd party apps like those...although it can't be as bad as stardock's ****e?

Alternatively you could simply learn where the power button is in W8 and/or learn the shortcuts.

Go to the desktop (Windows Key + D) then Alt +F4

Overheal

Windows+X will get you to the power-user menu, including the command prompt.

kearneybobs

So it looks like the non OEM version of Windows 7 is what I'll need since I'll be wanting to transfer the license down the line.

Now....where's the cheapest price for that??

Torqay

Elara is asking 150 yoyos for Retail Windows 7 Home Premium.

Dabs only offers Professional and Ultimate as non-OEM, cheaper than Elara for the respective editions.

kearneybobs

Christ it really isnt cheap. Might be cheaper to get two copies of the OEM version of it and just use one when I do actually upgrade my PC.

Torqay

kearneybobs wrote: »

Might be cheaper to get two copies of the OEM version of it and just use one when I do actually upgrade my PC.

Not exactly, OEM is little under 100 yoyos and you'll have to buy either 32-bit or 64-bit. With Retail Windows 7 you can choose during the installation which version you want to install.

_Kaiser_

Torqay wrote: »

Elara is asking 150 yoyos for Retail Windows 7 Home Premium.

Dabs only offers Professional and Ultimate as non-OEM, cheaper than Elara for the respective editions.

For that kinda money I'd be tempted to pay a bit more and get a Technet subscription. Windows, Office, Server all included plus if they bring out a new release during the lifetime of the subscription, you get that free too... for testing purposes of course - I work in IT anyway so it's handy too.

I have one through work and have had access to the Win 8 RTM for about a month.. doesn't make it any better but it's there!