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Debbie

Widows 7 Or 8?

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Morning all! With the approaching demise of Window XP support I think a system upgrade is way over due. I am thinking either Windows 7 or 8. I have had some not so complimentary reports on Windows 8 as it appears to be a totally different navigational experience. I was also thinking of Windows 7 because my boys’ school uses this one. Has anyone had any experience with this or can anyone tell me what the pros and cons of using one and not the other are please? Any advice most appreciated!

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Morning Debbie,

I'm on windows 7, and much prefer it to windows 8, for now at least. The support for 7 is vaster, and runs a lot smoother too. 8 is only on it's first version (I think?) so there will still be bugs to iron out.

Personally, I only emigrate to a newer windows when they either stop releasing service packs for whichever one I'm running, or like XP, it becomes pointless to carry on using the old versions.

I heard a lot of bad things about windows 8 when it originally came out, I think as an OS on the surface, a lot to do with compatibility and also the lack of any games, apps etc. as they didn't migrate anywhere near as many applications as they should've done. I don't hear as much negative criticism of it nowadays though so they may well have cracked down on some of the major snagging issues.

If it were a ultimatum, I'd go 7 for now. Ask me again in 1-2 years and it might well be 8.

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Hi Nordie

Thanks ever so for that, good point about the support. I’m not the most technically minded and I hate having to change and upgrade, even though I use the computer every day for work. I dread each new Office upgrade too! :unsure:

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Windows 7 is older but is rather similar to Windows XP.

Windows 8 uses a different start menu that covers the full screen and there is more to learn.

I recommend Windows 7.

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I had this problem when my Vista based laptop gave up the ghost Debbie.

I opted for 7, partly because 8 seemed so geared to touch screens and I wanted another laptop. I also prefer the 'traditional' desktop and easy access to things like the control panel.

I'm happy with it. I use Internet Explorer 11 and really, apart from the lack of some on screen gadgets (I only managed to get a clock whereas before I had a few more) it works just the same.

I have a Toshiba laptop and it takes a few seconds to come out of hibernate which is what I wanted as I tend to keep many Explorer windows open simultaneously and it's a pain to have to reopen them! I transferred all my bookmarks and most files from a memory stick, even set it up with the same desktop wallpaper within a few minutes. All very smooth.

Of course, I freely admit I've never tried 8, so can't comment on that, just that I'm happy with 7!

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No problem, I also hate going through the rigmarole of upgrading my OS, it's just a pain in the back side.

And as the gold ol' saying goes.. if it aint broke, don't fix it. Windows 7 works well for me, for now :)

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I had the option of going to 8 but remained with 7. I'd highly recommend it.

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Thanks guys - :wub: that has definitely made me feel more confident about making the change and also that I've made the right decision to go for Windows 7.

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My eldest daughter and my wife have 8 and after a while they are both happy with it.

I'm still on 7.

Bite the bullet and go for 8

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"I'm Enery the 8th, I am

Enery the 8th I am I am

I got married to the Widow next door

She'd been married 7 times before..."

Sorry about that - the typo in your topic title had me in stitches. :lol:

FWIW, I think Windows XP is one of the ugliest OS's ever dumped on us all, but millions of users got used to it. As a Mac user since the mid-90s, I did have a brief experience with Windows 7 a few years back, and found its ease of use and general 'prettiness' a vast improvement over XP. I have heard that W8 is not so intuitive to use at first, as many things about it have been redesigned, so the jury's still out on that one.

From my own experience, I'd say W7 might be the way to go for now.

Edited by Peckris

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"I'm Enery the 8th, I am

Enery the 8th I am I am

I got married to the Widow next door

She'd been married 7 times before..."

Sorry about that - the typo in your topic title had me in stitches. :lol:

FWIW, I think Windows XP is one of the ugliest OS's ever dumped on us all, but millions of users got used to it. As a Mac user since the mid-90s, I did have a brief experience with Windows 7 a few years back, and found its ease of use and general 'prettiness' a vast improvement over XP. I have heard that W8 is not so intuitive to use at first, as many things about it have been redesigned, so the jury's still out on that one.

From my own experience, I'd say W7 might be the way to go for now.

:o

You bloomin' Mac users!! I jest, I jest... But seriously, apart from Windows ME (let's just not go there) Vista was the worst OS to come out of Windows. One of my favourites was the fact it reinstalled any malware you uninstalled :wacko:

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But seriously, apart from Windows ME (let's just not go there) Vista was the worst OS to come out of Windows. One of my favourites was the fact it reinstalled any malware you uninstalled :wacko:

I had Windows ME for a while, it was...interesting. Give me back my Commodore Amiga any day! ;)

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For me, I just need a few lines... (not the sort sniffed through a rolled up shilling either)

10 home
20 sweet
30 goto 10

:P

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We have 7 & 8. I have 7 and love it. My wife, who is the household tech genius, has 8.

And hates every minute of the time she has to use it. Her opinion of it is unprintable although she concedes that it does have some merit in hand-held applications.

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I had Windows ME for a while, it was...interesting.

I had a laptop with ME on - total crap, both my desktop & laptop run 7 - very happy with that

I remember buying a computer for work around about 2001 which had the very brief successor to W98, can't remember what it was called, but it was the worst OS Microsoft ever produced. And I've used them all from DOS3 to 6, Windows2 :o

I used Xenix (an early UNIX clone for PCs) back in the late 80's much better, does any one have any experience of the current Linux type versions? I've chickened out of trying as I'm not sure I would get my favourite DTP (Serif Pageplus) to work under emulation mode

David

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I had a laptop briefly (about a year a go) which came with the latest Linux, while there isn't a lot I can fault with it, I'll always prefer Windows as it's what I know. The functionality is smooth and it isn't hard to get to grips with the interface, but I just can't be bothered to go through the hassle of learning it all.

Regarding DTP, unfortunately it's a long debated issue that doesn't produce a favourable result. Specifically I don't think Serif will emigrate because of the costs involved (and I believe they're a relatively small team) and at the moment you can't support Serif on Linux. With that in mind, I doubt it'd let you run it on any emulator.

What do you use out of interest? Daemon tools?

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Morning all! With the approaching demise of Window XP support I think a system upgrade is way over due. I am thinking either Windows 7 or 8. I have had some not so complimentary reports on Windows 8 as it appears to be a totally different navigational experience. I was also thinking of Windows 7 because my boys’ school uses this one. Has anyone had any experience with this or can anyone tell me what the pros and cons of using one and not the other are please? Any advice most appreciated!

Simple Solution, get a Mac :)

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Morning all! With the approaching demise of Window XP support I think a system upgrade is way over due. I am thinking either Windows 7 or 8. I have had some not so complimentary reports on Windows 8 as it appears to be a totally different navigational experience. I was also thinking of Windows 7 because my boys’ school uses this one. Has anyone had any experience with this or can anyone tell me what the pros and cons of using one and not the other are please? Any advice most appreciated!

Simple Solution, get a Mac :)

I use Windows 7 on my desktop, and Windows 8 on my tablet, and both are fully functional, and easy to use. I have a detachable KB on my Surface Tablet, but do not use it, as Windows 8 is built around the touchscreen (and a large touch-KB), and that works great for me. I have been a Microsoft User since MS-Dos, so I have kind of grown up with the Microsoft and Windows format.

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When I first had windows 8 I thought "what have I done"....it does take some getting used to compared to previous versions, but it does have some good features...however, recently undertook Windows 8.1 and that was a disaster..no option to uninstall and it was just not compatible with a lot of my software and my scanner. I managed to find a way of uninstalling it, but it was a pain in the arris!!

I do like windows 8 but as usual with Microsoft there are a couple of annoying imperfections.

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Yes, it was ME that was the awful one (the last one running under MSDOS) Though XP had a DOS emulator

There are an awful lot of companies still using DOS based software under XP - a problem now Microsoft have stopped supporting XP

Windoze 8 is still based on the NT core (NT6.3)

800px-Windows_Updated_Family_Tree.png

Edited by davidrj

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Yes, it was ME that was the awful one (the last one running under MSDOS) Though XP had a DOS emulator

There are an awful lot of companies still using DOS based software under XP - a problem now Microsoft have stopped supporting XP

Windoze 8 is still based on the NT core (NT6.3)

800px-Windows_Updated_Family_Tree.png

Great time line David! BTW...if you were involved in all those different software/System changes, you must be nearly as old as me! Ha,Ha!

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Great time line David! BTW...if you were involved in all those different software/System changes, you must be nearly as old as me! Ha,Ha!

I stole the timeline from Wikipedia

My first computing experience was was with CP/M (anyone remember that - Digital research) using a Z80 card in an Apple ][, we had a massive brute of a hard disk with the amazing capacity of 5MB!

Later we migrated to DOS and then Santa Cruz Xenix - using a Tandon AT with a 100MB disk (this hardware cost £2000 in 1986)

My favourite operating system has to be RiscOS running on an Acorn Archimedes, though Amiga Dos was interesting

So yes Bob, I am that old, and I haven't written a line of code for over 20 years now,so everything getting a bit rusty

:)

David

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Great time line David! BTW...if you were involved in all those different software/System changes, you must be nearly as old as me! Ha,Ha!

I stole the timeline from Wikipedia

My first computing experience was was with CP/M (anyone remember that - Digital research) using a Z80 card in an Apple ][, we had a massive brute of a hard disk with the amazing capacity of 5MB!

Later we migrated to DOS and then Santa Cruz Xenix - using a Tandon AT with a 100MB disk (this hardware cost £2000 in 1986)

My favourite operating system has to be RiscOS running on an Acorn Archimedes, though Amiga Dos was interesting

So yes Bob, I am that old, and I haven't written a line of code for over 20 years now,so everything getting a bit rusty

:)

David

Too cool David. :)

I started with a TRS-80, with two floppy drives (one for the Operating system), with a fabulous 48k Memory board. Then on to a Olivetti PC with PCos operating system, then IBM PC, then IBM XT (5 MB disk), Multiple IBM AT's, Dell (multiple), and currently have a HP Omni27, Multiple channel, with Beats Audio! It been a great ride!

When I first started in electronics it was tube technology, then tranisters, Then integrated circuits, then large scale IC's, then PC's on a chip (286,386.486, etc), and now multi-Core, and multi channel... :)

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I use 7 at work and have XP at home plus Vista on a laptop I rarely use. I just bought my mother a laptop with 8. WTF, might be good on a phone or tablet but straight from the box it's incomprehensible.

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Yes, it was ME that was the awful one (the last one running under MSDOS) Though XP had a DOS emulator

There are an awful lot of companies still using DOS based software under XP - a problem now Microsoft have stopped supporting XP

Windoze 8 is still based on the NT core (NT6.3)

800px-Windows_Updated_Family_Tree.png

The truly awful one was Windows 2000 (shown as 98SE in that timeline) - it lasted only months before Windows ME replaced it, and then XP was released only a year later.

People tend to think that XP > Vista was an awful long time without any Windows update/release, but don't forget SP1 and SP2, which were quite substantial enhancements to XP. It's just that with Microsoft's almost legendary lack of imagination and flair, they decided to call them 'Service Packs', so people now just think of XP as a single entity when in fact it was three quite separate and substantial versions.

Great time line David! BTW...if you were involved in all those different software/System changes, you must be nearly as old as me! Ha,Ha!

I stole the timeline from Wikipedia

My first computing experience was was with CP/M (anyone remember that - Digital research) using a Z80 card in an Apple ][, we had a massive brute of a hard disk with the amazing capacity of 5MB!

Later we migrated to DOS and then Santa Cruz Xenix - using a Tandon AT with a 100MB disk (this hardware cost £2000 in 1986)

My favourite operating system has to be RiscOS running on an Acorn Archimedes, though Amiga Dos was interesting

So yes Bob, I am that old, and I haven't written a line of code for over 20 years now,so everything getting a bit rusty

:)

David

Too cool David. :)

I started with a TRS-80, with two floppy drives (one for the Operating system), with a fabulous 48k Memory board. Then on to a Olivetti PC with PCos operating system, then IBM PC, then IBM XT (5 MB disk), Multiple IBM AT's, Dell (multiple), and currently have a HP Omni27, Multiple channel, with Beats Audio! It been a great ride!

When I first started in electronics it was tube technology, then tranisters, Then integrated circuits, then large scale IC's, then PC's on a chip (286,386.486, etc), and now multi-Core, and multi channel... :)

My first computing course was in 1980, after failing a now-notorious aptitude test in the 1970s! I can't remember what the computer we used was, but I do remember we were shown the adverts for the Sinclair ZX80.

My second training course was in 1985 at Kalamazoo in Birmingham, where a midi-computer with 1 MB of RAM supported 15 dumb terminals, a printer, a COBOL compiler, and also had BASIC too. Slow? Painful!

My computing career was centred on IBM mainframes using COBOL, PL/1, and EASYTRIEVE. I didn't get a computer at home until the early 90s, and it was an 8088 Turbo, 5 KHz / 10 KHz (or do I mean MHz?), with a 20MB HD which I only ever half filled, on which I ran MS-DOS 3.3 and a little software suite called Mini Office Personal, which included WP, a database, a spreadsheet, communications, and probably other things I never used.

In 1994 I got my first Mac and compared to using DOS it was like a "cat's whisker" AM radio compared to a digital-era TV. However, I did keep Mini Office on various backups, plus the various documents I created, and have discovered an amazing software app DOSBox (which also runs in Windows, by the way) and can now actually run Mini Office on an Intel Core i5 iMac!!! DOSBox will run any DOS apps and there's a website with free DOS games that can be downloaded for it - http://www.dosgames.com/

Edited by Peckris

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