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Black_Mage
iMage
Premium Member
join:2012-09-12
USA

Black_Mage

Premium Member

[Other] Win 7 vs Win 8

I plan on getting a desktop soon mainly for entertainment. Playing movies & games. Some games being about 10 years old or slightly older. Would you recommend Windows 7 or Windows 8?

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran

Premium Member

Not much difference. If you don't like Metro just install Classic Shell and be done with it. Heck, install ClassicShell anyway, it's better than the vanilla Start Menu in any version of Windows.

I haven't had a problem with old games on 8. Some of mine predate XP. Windows XP-era games should be a piece of cake.

randavis
74 Challenger 440 4bbl
join:2000-01-19
Blue Springs, MO

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Personally, I would use win7.

That being said, I do not use a smart phone or tablet, so I am not accustomed to the touch gestures.

It seems to me that the win8 gui is geared to the smartphone crowd. They are already using apps on their phones that display in a full screen.

I like being able to scatter a few open windows on my desktop and be able to multi-task.

I have limited exposure to win8. I was given a broken laptop which had the win8 release candidate installed. I couldn't make much sense of it, so having an unused copy of win7 pro, I put it on it.

This Christmas, my brother who is not very computer savvy asked me to shop for a laptop for his daughter who will be attending college next year.

I found a Dell for a decent price and got it for her. I uninstalled most of the "crapware" on it and set up an antivirus program on it. It seemed to be a bit more difficult for me than doing the same thing on my daughters' win7 machine which I changed the mechanical hard drive out for a SSD.

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
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join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR

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Some of those games may not work well on either -- you might want to google their compatibility.

I use both, and I agree with getting some kind of start menu software installed.

Black_Mage
iMage
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join:2012-09-12
USA

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said by randavis:

I like being able to scatter a few open windows on my desktop and be able to multi-task.

I forgot to mention. I don't plan on running more than 1 app at a time because this PC won't be use for productivity.
bbear2
Premium Member
join:2003-10-06
dot.earth

bbear2

Premium Member

Win7. 1. More reliable. 2. Based upon your needs. 3. If you need to run some of the old games and they are not working with the basic compatibility mode settings, then you can simply load the WinXP OS (free download from MS) and run it as a VM under Win7. Not sure if Win8 lets you do this or not.
HarryH3
Premium Member
join:2005-02-21

HarryH3

Premium Member

said by bbear2:

simply load the WinXP OS (free download from MS) and run it as a VM under Win7

I'm pretty sure that you need Win 7 Pro or higher to get this functionality.

DownTheShore
Pray for Ukraine
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join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ

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Just out of curiosity, I installed the game Pandora's Box on Win 8.1. The copyright date on game insert is 1999, and the game was discontinued in 2006.

»www.amazon.com/Pandoras- ··· 0004WLPG

I installed it right from the disc, using the Custom Installation. It wanted me to install Windows Media Player. I chose "no" because I didn't know if it would replace my current Windows Media Player or if it would set up a separate program file. When the installation finished, the Compatibility window came up saying that there was a problem with the installation. I already knew, from my Vista computer, that the game requires a patch to work on newer computers, so I had previously downloaded that patch from Softpedia.

I installed it and was able to run the game. The only problem seems to be that the intro video scenes are audio only. Since those only occur at the beginning of new chapters and the video portion isn't essential to game play, that's not a big deal. The rest of the game plays smoothly. An odd thing is that even though I did a full install of the game (500+ MB), the game requires that that the CD be in the disc drive to play it. I suppose I could copy the disc to a virtual drive and it would work, too.

Does anyone know if two versions of Windows Media Play can be installed on the same computer? If so, then I could probably install the older version of WMP and the videos would play.

The point though, is that Win 8.1 can handle an old game.

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR

darcilicious

Premium Member

The point appears to be that Windows 8.1 can handle THAT game.

I've had old games NOT work on Windows 7 so it doesn't hurt to check first.

plencnerb
Premium Member
join:2000-09-25
53403-1242

2 recommendations

plencnerb

Premium Member

Well, I'm running a game on Windows 8.1 that is older by 8 years

»www.classicdosgames.com/ ··· ows.html

In my case, it would not install directly. I have to use an application called DosBox
»www.dosbox.com/

Below is a screen image from the readme file that comes with the game showing the copyright, plus the system requirements.




Again, if you find the right tools, I don't see why any game, regardless of how old, won't work on Windows 8.1.

--Brian

dandelion
MVM
join:2003-04-29
Germantown, TN

1 recommendation

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I am partial to windows 7.. though I have professional and don't know of the other versions...I have a win 8 laptop that I still can't figure out and am thinking of downloading the classicshell to help.

PS.. I still have a "dumb" phone which may be an issue to figuring it out though.

Dustyn
Premium Member
join:2003-02-26
Ontario, CAN

2 recommendations

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Who was it that said no one needs more than 640K?

Mike
Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA
·Verizon FiOS

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Windows 8 with Classic Shell provides a lot better performance over 8.

You can also get your official Windows button back and replace the Classic Shell icon.

»vishal-gupta.deviantart. ··· 97783610

Andy from CA
Premium Member
join:2008-09-05
Anaheim, CA

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As others have said Windows 8 (now 8.1) with classic shell will give you the same UI you've known and liked. Plus with 8 you get to play with the Metro screen and, possibly, like it as well as long as it's an addition and not an in lieu of.

I use Classic desktop most of the time and Metro for weather and to keep up with newer ideas. I guess you can teach an old dog (50) new shells.

Maven
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join:2002-03-12
Canada

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Keep in mind these facts:

- Support for Windows 7 will be yanked before Windows 8
- Windows 8 is overall better optimized
- Windows 8 boots faster from a shut down, something that may be particularly significant for an entertainment computer

I don't see a single rational reason to buy Windows 7 at this point, unless you have some quirky program that won't run under Windows 8.
DarkSithPro (banned)
join:2005-02-12
Tempe, AZ

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said by Black_Mage:

I plan on getting a desktop soon mainly for entertainment. Playing movies & games. Some games being about 10 years old or slightly older. Would you recommend Windows 7 or Windows 8?

From Wikipedia about windows 8:

Windows DVD Maker was removed.
Windows Media Center is no longer included with any of Windows 8 editions. It is available as an add-on through the Add features to Windows 8 service for Windows 8 Pro (via the Media Center Pack) and Windows 8 core edition (via the Pro Pack).[14][15]
Windows Media Center cannot run on startup or on top of other windows because of “new Windows OS requirements and behaviors”.[16][17]
Windows Media Player no longer has the Media Guide feature.
DVD-Video and MPEG-2 Video codecs are no longer included.[18] Video DVDs can be played in Windows Media Center.[14]
Windows 8.1 removes Facebook and Flickr support from the Photos app.[3]

Seems to me they somewhat gutted the little perks that come with 7. And for those who are telling you to install classic shell. Ask yourself why you would need to install a 3rd party program to GIVE YOU BACK functionality that a previous OS has. Does that make any sense to you at all? Also most windows 7 drivers work on 8. What does that tell you about the new OS? It's just a re-packaged Windows 7 with some tweaks and optimizations that caters to touch screen computers.

DownTheShore
Pray for Ukraine
Premium Member
join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ

DownTheShore

Premium Member

Just like Win 7 was a repackaged version of Vista with some tweaks and optimizations.

With every incarnation of Windows something appears and something disappears. Installing Classic Shell is for familiarity, not for necessity; it's no big deal.

Besides, how many of us here keep our computers plain vanilla with only the originally installed software, throughout the life of our ownership? How many of us only use the Windows-provided media apps? I know that I don't; I normally use third-party software. So adding Classic Shell to the mix isn't heinous in any way.

Windows Media Center has always been a PITA to use, as far as I'm concerned, and I don't miss it. If I want to watch TV on my laptop, I just use the program that I downloaded from my cable company.
DarkSithPro (banned)
join:2005-02-12
Tempe, AZ

1 recommendation

DarkSithPro (banned)

Member

Windows 8 À la carte? It's faster, tastes a little better, but the portions are a little smaller and you have to pay extra for the fries...