My computer is starting to run slowly for some reason so I'm considering giving it a format and reinstalling Windows at some point.

So, should I stick with Windows 7 or update to Windows 8/8.1? Some people on here don't seem to fond of it and newer isn't necessarily better. But I can't help but want to try it out.

And why, in 2.2 years, does a computer become so slow?

So find a friend who has it and try it out on their machine?

That way, when you find how shit it is, you haven't needlessly thrown money at Microsoft, nor committed to an OS that is worse but you can't be bothered with the effort of uninstalling and reinstalling.

> And why, in 2.2 years, does a computer become so slow?

It doesn't? I'm pretty sure (ignoring faults) the hardware will be running at the same speed it always was.

The problem will mostly be shitty software making stuff take longer, with maybe a sprinkling of genuine delays due to having to look at more data.

I can't think of anyone with >= Windows 8 to try it out. I don't think I've actually spent any money on an OS since Windows 95 which came with my first computer. Maybe Windows 98 was a little more genuine and came with someone else's computer and I "borrowed" it.

I suspect it is installation of software over the years slowing it down somehow, but I doubt much more is actually running in the background that it was then. Maybe more than I think. Maybe also I should buy some more RAM. 4GB enough these days?

I've got it on my new laptop and it's...ok I guess. Things that I need to do don't really seem harder, all seems fine.

I use it and it's fine, the difference is just a bit jarring at first. Now, I hardly ever see the start screen, most stuff is pinned to the taskbar, just as it was in Windows 7.
I got windows 8 on the cheap pre-order that they did though, I think they want some absurd price for it now.

So are most people's complaints just about the change of the UI? Should I just stick with Win7 and is Win8 better suited to portable devices?

I installed W8 on my new PC when I got it in April. Boy do I regret ever doing that. I hoped that 8.1 would unfuck-it-up, and it did to some extent. But in the end I gave up, backed up everything, and upgraded to W7.

Some people love W8, and some can put up with its deficiencies. But its bucktoothed way of doing things was actually impeding my work. Too many niggles for me to expand now. I just want to forget it TBH.

That doesn't sound very good. I don't think many people here have had good things to say about 8. I still can't help but want to try it. Maybe I'll try it in a VM before reinstalling.

RAM prices seem to be a lot higher than when I bought my computer. Another 4GB would be £14 more than when I paid for stuff :O

Have you tried reseating the RAM?

Good idea. I'll try reseating my 2GBx2 TBH!!!

Yay! #MrPotatoBack

Trigger :D

So called cos he often had a masked man riding on his back.

It's a toughy. It is very geared towards touchscreens, but a lot of that can be got rid of. There's freebie start menu replacements like Start8 which make it more usable, plus there are some themes out there which look less drab and dire than Windows 8's defaults - if you don't mind swapping out system files!

Of course, a lot of the effects from Windows 7 and Aero have been removed from Windows 8, so if you like a flashy desktop, it's never going to be as flashy with Windows 8. Of course, if you're not into this, it's less of a problem.

Personally having used it, I do prefer Windows 7. It just does pretty much everything right straight away without having to install all manner of add-ons and hacked system files to fix. But then again, my Windows installation is about 3 years old and still running nice and fast (I take care of my PC!)

I don't have a problem with Windows 8.1. As Radio said, I pin my most used applications to the taskbar and on the rare occasions that I ever use the start screen, it just works and never bothers me. I've said this before, but it's worth reiterating, it fundamentally works exactly the same as the Windows 7 start menu in that you open it by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard, you type the name of the application you want, optionally select it with cursor keys and press enter to start it.

If you're a mouse user who always clicks on the start button and navigates down a deep folder structure, the Start screen may still be better for you, as now you don't have to work within that restricted "All Programs" section of the Windows 7 start menu. I still think the traditional expanding Start menu structure in Windows XP is better and easier to use with a mouse than Windows 7 and I don't know why Microsoft chose to make Windows 7 so difficult to browse. Of course the type to search in 7 is much better, but if you're adamant about using a mouse it's clumsy and awkward to use.

The most obvious issue with Windows 8/8.1 is that it's radically different from predecessors and people don't like change because we're all inherently lazy and don't want to have to retrain. It reminds me a lot of the discussions that were had when Windows 95 first launched and people were complaining that it didn't work like Windows 3's Program Manager.

Regarding the flatness of the UI that Dave mentioned, I don't mind that. Some people hate that the window borders are larger than they were in Windows 7, but I usually work with my applications maximised so don't notice them. As for themes, I usually pick a neutral colour scheme anyway as I don't want or need my Windows UI to be distracting me away from the application I'm using.

There are some nice new touches that Windows 8 has that Windows 7 doesn't. The built-in multi-monitor taskbar being my favourite. No longer do I need any 3rd party software to add a taskbar to my second monitor like I did / do with Windows 7. Hurrah!

As for the differences between Windows 8 and 8.1. Go with the latter. 8 is good, it's obvious 8.1 is what Microsoft were aiming for, like Windows 7 is what they were aiming for when they released Vista, but the bean counters demanded they release it before it was ready.

>> I've said this before, but it's worth reiterating, it fundamentally works exactly the same as the Windows 7 start menu in that you open it by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard, you type the name of the application you want, optionally select it with cursor keys and press enter to start it.


You forgot the massive, inexplicable pause while it says "searching" and seems to be actually doing sweet Fuck all. Same as in 7, really.

Also, I like to be able to browse a nice, compact list of programs installed (especially as I quite often forget what stuff is called/what I have installed :$ ) and 8 seems to make that impossible - on the all apps page everything is huge and fully expanded, so I end up scrolling 3 pages to see everything (and always seems to have stuff missing, too)

I don't see any pauses while typing here in neither 7 nor 8. You haven't done anything silly like disable the background search service have you? Lots of people turn that off because they think they're optimising their PC by disabling it as it means its not constantly scanning their PC when it's idle.

Missing icons know the Start screen is probably the apps creating shortcuts in folders that Windows 8 doesn't look at when considering for the Start screen icons.

First thing I always do with Windows 7 is to expand the start menu to fill the height of the screen. OK it doesn't expand into multiple pages, but it's good enough for me!

That does help a little, but still quite difficult if you have multiple levels of folders which would naturally expand horizontally across the screen in Windows XP.