Why most of us will probably switch to Windows 8.

[irrykuxeh]

I just watched a youtube video comparing strictly the performance differences between Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Video Link:

Used same machine and same drivers for all tests. I was pretty impressed at the number of benchmarks he used to compare them. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, I can sum it up here.

Boot Speed: Windows 8 is significantly faster

Resource Management (RAM): Windows 8 uses significantly less

PCMark 7: Windows 8 scores slightly higher

3dmark 11: Windows 7 scores slightly higher

FurMark: Windows 8 scores slightly higher

DirectX11: Windows 7 in some games, Windows 8 in others. More or less the same.

Memory Benchmarks: Practically the same.

I definitely don't like Metro UI, but if my PC will perform better with Windows 8, then you can count on me upgrading! Also, I imagine all of these scores will begin to tilt in favor of Windows 8 as more drivers are released and more internal improvements are made.

 

[Knufire]

Everything I've read points to Win 8 being a better operating system then Win 7, the only thing stopping people is the Metro UI.

 

[EarthDog]

Everything I've read points to Win 8 being a better operating system then Win 7, the only thing stopping people is the Metro UI.

Spot on... Whats the use of having a barely faster car in some cases that sucks to drive?

Boot Speed: Windows 8 is significantly faster

Guy said "a little faster" and that was 4 seconds total. Not bad, but not zOMG wow to me. Not to mention, that seems its a mechanical drive.. My SSD gets to desktop full go in 10s...

I wonder what the changes are in memory... for example did they do away with or better manage the superfetch (which as we all ((should)) know releases upon request).

I guess I doubt you will notice the differences in performance unless you do a lot of the encoding and such as that showed the biggest gains.

 

[irrykuxeh]

Spot on... Whats the use of having a faster car that sucks to drive?

If you "drive" competitively! Id est Folding@Home, Benchmarking, et cetera. This forum tends to have a high number of people who participate in those activities.

 

[EarthDog]

Good point. Did he test F@H though or any competitive benchmark outside of 3D11 (which went down ever so slightly)? His voice was like nails on a chalkboard to me so I bailed awfully early.

 

[ssjwizard]

To be completely honest metro UI isn't that hard to get used to. Do I like it? not really, but its not bad enough to prevent me from using the OS. Here's the big one for me though, KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS! windows has been loosing useful keyboard functionality since windows 2k pro. Windows 8 includes a laundry list of new keyboard functions that make using the OS extremely fluid. The power user menu for example is Super + X and pops up like the old start menu with options such as control panel, device manager, power options, admin tools, admin level command prompt, and more. There are several other menus like this one built into the OS. Widnows 8 kernel is also modular so its finally got the ability to run on multiple CPU architectures without a special version. My hope is that this will finally allow the video server to actually be properly reset without restarting the system, though I have yet to figure out how to do that. The resource monitors included are better but most of use use 3rd party tools for that anyways so its kind of MEH.

 

[BrotherJohn]

My bulldozer benched better with W8cp higher on the Passmark test than it does on W7.

 

[redduc900]

Have you tried disabling Metro and restoring the Classic UI, by changing the RPEnabled DWORD value from 1 to 0, located under the following sub-key?

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

 

[EarthDog]

I thought they removed that option in the RTM and thus release version? If not, I take it all back.

 

[redduc900]

Hmmm... not sure.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

My bulldozer benched better with W8cp higher on the Passmark test than it does on W7.

How much better?

"Better" is very subjective. A small amount could be variance between runs, while a large amount is good.

 

[c627627]

I am waiting for the RTM release to start real tests but could someone please clarify: People report Classic Shell being fully compatible with Windows 8. http://sourceforge.net/projects/classicshell/files/


If this is correct, then does this not take care of the Metro problem? Does Classic Shell return Windows 8 back to classic User Interface or not?

 

[EpicMango]

I was extremely excited about Windows 8 when they first announced it. I kept up on their blogs and I just kept getting more excited. For some reason, I thought the new task manager was just badass, and I was looking forward to that more than anything (Because anybody who knows stuff about computers actually spends time in Task Manager)

And then Metro came along and I dropped everything. Haven't kept up to date since, besides RSS feeds talking about what features its getting and whats being dropped.....so I still am keeping up with Windows 8, but not by choice.

If I can boot to desktop, I'm switching. Thats all I care about!

 

[c627627]

On the thread topic though, Gautam did extended Operating System tests a while back which showed Windows Vista performing excellent. In real life however, as most of us have experienced, that was not the case. So benchmarks do not always tell real life usage experiences, by far.


First time buyers, I don't see why anyone would not choose to go with Windows 8? Metro problem will be addressed if it hasn't already been - imho - there is no way we won't figure out how to disable Metro UI.


Paying to upgrade to Windows 8 though, many post they will not do that.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Having used the Windows 8 Consumer Preview x64, I will say that it does seem to run more smoothly than Windows 7 Pro x64.

 

[irrykuxeh]

Good point. Did he test F@H though or any competitive benchmark outside of 3D11 (which went down ever so slightly)? His voice was like nails on a chalkboard to me so I bailed awfully early.

Ya, I decided to just tough it out :/ I haven't seen anyone post F@H results on Windows 8, but I imagine that PPD will increase as a result of the other improvements seen there like better Resource Management.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

And because of the OS being even lighter than 7

 

[EarthDog]

All assumptions at this point... I dont think its a reach, but its allllll assumptions at this time.

Like I said, for benching, if its better, Im there for that. Until we get a standard UI, not changing.. and its unlike me to have such a firm stance on change like this too. I used the Metro interface in beta for a week or so and just didnt like the feel. I (feel) I gave it a fair chance then...

 

[Aynjell]

I can't switch unless there's an out of box way of ditching metro. I am not going to go through a ritual to get an OS usable, especially when I'm paying for it... that money is better spent on a myriad of other things.

Never thought I'd say it, but I'm honest to god tired of tweaking things.

 

[ssjwizard]

Metro is fully integrated as of the latest release and can't be disabled. VI Start and a few other classic shell type apps do work but most of them interfere with some of the new functions I mentioned above. VI start in particular kills every single one of the new keyboard commands AND does not index contents nearly as well as win 7 start menu or even CS menu does.

I believe that after Win 8 has been around for a while your going to see ALOT of UI enhancements from 3rd party that are built on the metro SDK.