Windows 8

[aliasmask]

I'm still using Windows XP but I'm going to be doing a system upgrade and I was thinking of getting Windows 7. How close do you think Windows 8 release is (2nd quarter)? I could just continue to use XP and get Win8 later, but I'm afraid of the usual windows issues after a new release. Is Win7 as solid as XP? (I already know Vista blows). I'm really interested in the Win8 multi-processor support (faster is better).

Thoughts?

[wolph42]

- windows XP I have used the longest ever
- windows vista I have used the shortest ever (it really really really sucked)
- windows 7 is great, its stable, easy to use and a good improvement to XP.
- windows 8.... no clue, however:

a short history of mainstream winOS:
windows 95 (v. 4.0): sucked
windows 98 (v. 4.1): good
windows 2000 (v. NT 5.0): sucked
windows XP (v. NT 5.1): good
windows Vista (v. NT 6.0): sucked
windows 7 (v. NT 6.1): good
windows 8...

of course these reflect MY experiences, I have heard of people who have heard of people that seem to know people that had positive experiences with the 'suck' versions.

[aliasmask]

I'll add to your list:

3.11 - is this mac, or wait it has a right click
95 - please stop changing my IRQ ports
98 (1st ed) - buggy
98 (2nd ed) - way better and dominated well in to the XP release.
ME - why lord did they release this (worse ever)
XP - best support of drivers (apology accepted)
Vista - why does my computer freeze every Sunday for a couple of hours (something hinky going on.. Microsoft, what are you doing behind my back)
Win7 - seems fine, but I'm still suspicious from Vista
Win8 - hoping for the best, lets hope they can break the Star Trek cycle of one good, one bad.

[Nith]

Windows 7 is stable and i would recommend it if you use windows. Windows 8 as far as i can tell has few good things in it but for how stable it is i have no idea. The dev version of Windows 8 i have tested wasn't that great or a big deal but then again it was dev version.

On Windows 7 though i have some problems with maptools. Like the program stopping when editing macros, right clicking the window and freezing with no Java errors. Hope the new build might fix that.

[jfrazierjr]

Another thing to remember.... Initial releases generally have a number of hardware related issues that cause all sorts of general windows issues and at the worst, BSOD. As a general rule, MS gets reports of bad hardware/software conflicts and fixes them with SP1(about 6-12 months after base release).

SP1 is very stable for almost all people except(in some small number of cases) those with brand new hardware. Then new hardware comes out and it's broken, so they release SP2 to fix(12-18 months), but they break half the crap they fixed in SP1(so SP2 is generally REALLY sucky). Eventually, they release SP3(24+ months) and it is good for the vast majority of people.

At least that has been the pattern since NT 4 back in the late 90's.

So... If this holds true to form, I would suggest waiting roughly 12 months(until SP1 is out or due out in the near future) after Windows 8 is released before even considering purchasing it and make sure you skip the second service pack if at all possible....



Personally, I thought W7 was really nice in terms of UI and stuff... BUT...twice Windows update changed my manufacturers(pre-installed) WI-FI driver to a GENERIC Windows one and I lost Internet connection!!! Then, after another update, I kept getting BSOD... Did a system restore and skipped(and marked as do not installed) the problem hotfix. A month later, the same thing happened, so I ditched Windows for Linux. I run XP in a VM under Linux using VirtualBox when I need a Windows based program(Fractal Mapper, D&D 4E Character Builder, and one or two other things.) Of course, I have had issues with linux also, but most of those were due to my own stupidity or hardware(trouble finding certain drivers)

[wolph42]

...Win8 - hoping for the best, lets hope they can break the Star Trek cycle of one good, one bad.

it all depends, if 8 == NT 6.2 then its likely a solid candidate. If its 7.0 then its likely a very buggy candidate. And as 8 wants to merge all the platforms into one os (phone, tablet and desktop) I think its a safe assumption that it will be an 7.0 release.
Also with all n.0 increases there have been major changes in the software architecture, which warrants the 'bugginess' of the software. Hence the 0.n releases were solid updates of the n.0 releases where they took care of the massive amounts of bug reports they got for their teeth.
And as the n.0 releases had build up a (really) bad name by then, they decided to change the name when the 0.n release was there.

I think that the major issue lies in the fact that there are just too many parameters to handle. This is one MAJOR advantage the Apple has over MS: their OS runs only on their systems so they should knows what they're dealing with. Windows however needs to run on basically anything the world can throw at them, good luck with that. So its not really surprising that when they decide to do a major overhaul of the core architecture that its 'incompatible' with many systems and that only after all they reports they got, that they are enabled to solidify their current system in something that is compatible with the world.

Given the above... I wouldn't wait for 8.

edit: ninja'd (sort of)

[Esheon]

I think 8 will have some serious issues, at least at the beginning. Maybe by the time SP3 comes out it will be decent. On the other hand, 7 was good on release day, and is still good. I ran 7 from release month to last November (when my good computer was fried by a power spike that melted my surge protector), without any problems. When I get that computer replaced, I'm going back to 7. For now I'm on XP.

[wolph42]

On the other hand, 7 was good on release day, and is still good. I ran 7 from release month to last November (when my good computer was fried by a power spike that melted my surge protector), without any problems. When I get that computer replaced, I'm going back to 7. For now I'm on XP.

yes... but as you can read from my earlier post, win7 is actually vista but at a later stage (after they ironed out the bugs). I too have had very little issues with win7 from the beginning onwards, but that was also the case with XP which was also pretty solid. Both are improvements on a new (crappy) version based on what they learned.

[dorpond]

Windows 8 was a complete joy and surprise to me with how fast it was. With bios included, it took 7 seconds to boot from the moment I let go of the power button to the time I logged in.

That was a cold boot, no sleep.

I was very impressed.

All my work apps worked in it, and that wasn't even beta! Funny, I never tested maptool. What an idiot! Well beta will be out shorty to test that.

If I were you I would wait until windows 7 computers are shipping with a free upgrade to 8, or in the case of Hp, they ship both versions. We only purchase Hp at our office and I am waiting for that transition period where you can install either version. So I have a halt on all new computer purchases until then.

8 in theory, is going to be huge, but it has the potential of being the worst OS since ME. It will be huge because phone and tablet 8 will come out the same time. All three will work very well together from what I hear.

[Geroblue]

As someone who has been a computer tech for, tweitch twitch, over 25 years and counting, WinXP was good. It just needed a bit of an upgrade to improve its security.

Vista, big piece of junk.

I haven't a home version of Win 7, I use it at work. But it seems nothing more than a patch to Vista.

I prefer XP, but when Vista is no longer supported by MS, I'll switch to Linux. I've used many operating systems. So Linux wont be a big leap for me.

[Full Bleed]

BUT...twice Windows update changed my manufacturers(pre-installed) WI-FI driver to a GENERIC Windows one and I lost Internet connection!!!

Never had this happen, but the easy fix would have been to set the updates not to install anything unless you said to. I usually only recommend automatic updates for people that are pretty computer-clueless. You'd just get a pop-up notice every once in awhile (once a week or so) that says you have updates waiting. Take a look, pick the ones you want, remove the others.

WinXP was pretty good, but constantly under assault. Win7 has been bullet-proof in comparison. That alone is reason to upgrade (not to mention that XP feels positively primitive after using Win7 for a few months.)

IMO, the problems with Vista were greatly exaggerated and I find that most people who claim to hate it never spent any real time on it. I only ever spent any real time with it on one computer (my Mother's) as I went from XP to 7 on my rigs, but she never had any issues and I generally do maintenance on her computer about twice a year since she's not very computer literate. In fact, she's still running Vista without problem.

Win 7 (32 and 64) have been fantastic and I've been using it since pre-release. There really isn't anything I don't like about it and have been running it on all my computers (HTPC, Production, Game, Laptops, etc.) All issues I've ever had with Win 7 have been graphic driver related and falling back to earlier versions of moving up to a beta has usually fixed things.

I'll be jumping on a Win 8 tablet when it releases and will put it on my HTPC to test the waters. Unbiased reviews have been solid, but like jfrazierjr mentioned, there could be some driver issues on initial release (usually on older or poorly supported hardware.)

BTW, anyone who wants to check out the Win8 Developer Preview can: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516

[Geroblue]

I take care of about 200 computers where I work. Getting rid of Vista and going to Win 7 was a big improvement.

[jfrazierjr]

BUT...twice Windows update changed my manufacturers(pre-installed) WI-FI driver to a GENERIC Windows one and I lost Internet connection!!!

Never had this happen, but the easy fix would have been to set the updates not to install anything unless you said to. I usually only recommend automatic updates for people that are pretty computer-clueless. You'd just get a pop-up notice every once in awhile (once a week or so) that says you have updates waiting. Take a look, pick the ones you want, remove the others.

True(and I did set to install manually), but sometimes when there are 30+ updates, it's easy to overlook one or not have a full understanding of exactly what it is going to do. So, if it says:

Code: Select all

Updated driver to Aetheros wireless network adapter

I doubt most people would go into the details and notice that the driver is named "genericwirelessdriver.dll"(or whatever.) This is especially the case when drivers are typically made into 8.3 name format which generally gives very little indication of exactly WHAT is contained within. As an example, on my work computer, it states that I have an IBM 5100 AGN(it's a Lenovo Laptop). But the drivers are named:

Code: Select all

NETw5x32.sys
NETw5c32.dll
NETw5r32.sys

Which should be obvious anyone that these files are to support an IBM wireless network card driver... right?

But anyway, in this case, I did end up telling Windows to leave my existing driver alone after the second time it happened(had to do a restore point and then update every OTHER hotfix except that one). But once I started getting BSOD, I just said the hell with it and jumped ship to linux. As noted, I have had plenty of issues with linux also, but a number of them were due to my ignorance with linux(just like I had to reinstall Windows 3.11/9x several times back in the 90's until I learned how to be more careful of Windows specific files!)