New build: Should I go with Windows 7 or 8?

[balloonshark]

This is the rig I will be building soon. It will be used for gaming and other normal PC activities.

i5-4670K, Hyper 212 Evo, ASRock Z87 Extreme6, Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 Ghz Edition 3GB, 120 GB Samsung 840 Series SSD, 1TB WD Blue HDD, Team Vulcan DDR3 1600 2x4GB, Corsair CX600 PS, Asus 24x DVD Burner, Corsair Carbide 500R.

Both my new build and old build (in my sig) will be getting new operating systems. My mother will end up with my old rig which will soon get a 7750 card. I have one copy of Windows 7 and one of Windows 8 to install.

My background: I've only used Windows XP except for when I have worked on my sisters Vista and niece's Windows 7 laptops. From what little I have used Win 7 I like it.

I have never owned a smart phone. I do own an android tablet and my Google account isn't connected to my name. Why did I mention that? Because I don't like devices or apps collecting information on me 24/7. I see that Bing is integrated in Windows 8 and I here 8 is more about social networking which I'm not fond of. I haven't looked deeper into it so that is why I'm here. I also don't plan on getting a touch screen for either machine.

Also, I will be keeping the new machine for about 5 years. Will either OS be getting important security updates for 5 years? Does one OS have an advantage when it comes to gaming? Will both get the same DirectX versions during their lifespan? Can you think of other pro or cons for each OS for my hardware and situation?

Edit: I also should add that my mother is into Facebook and the games on Facebook. She also plays mom type games on the PC. Nothing too demanding.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

I think that Win7 will be updated until 2020. Win 8 will likely have more advanced versions of directX and probably IE, and it is faster than 7. If you can deal with the new interface, i would recommend 8 (soon to be 8.1).

 

[Mem]

Win8 allows you free upgrade to 8.1 plus 8.1 is getting DX11.2 so gaming wise and life span seems better option then 7 IMHO.

FYI I do use Windows 8 for gaming,no issues with any of my games.

 

[Red Hawk]

It's pointless to go with Windows 7 for a new build when Windows 8 has more up to date features and under-the-hood improvements. The interface takes some getting used to, but I think it's fine, and it's getting updated to 8.1 which fixes most of the obvious issues. The 8.1 preview is already out, so if you get 8 and are fed up with the interface you can try 8.1.

You can turn off all the information gathering systems in Win 8 pretty easily; in fact when you first set up the computer it specifically asks if you want to have stuff like user experience tracking, error reporting, location data, etc. active or not.

 

[Snoop]

Use 8, download a start menu replacement, turn off Metro, profit.

 

[rgallant]

still on win7 here for mostly gaming and will move to win 8.1 on release .

 

[jkauff]

I'm using both Win 7 and Win 8 on separate SSDs. I didn't like Win 8 when I installed the Preview version, and I still don't like anything about the Modern a/k/a Metro UI.

I immediately bought and installed Start8, and now I see Win 8 as a viable upgrade from Win 7. I stay on the Desktop all the time. I don't miss Aero much, the new flatter Desktop UI feels cleaner to me and looks pretty good. The OS feels faster, and every program I've installed runs with no problems. My few quirky devices that don't have Win 8 drivers work fine with the Win 7 drivers installed.

I would have no problem recommending Win 8 with Start8 to a Win 7 user, as long as you don't have to spend time on the other side of the wall where the tablet UI lives.

 

[balloonshark]

Thank you very much for your input so far! It is very helpful.

How difficult is Windows 8 or 8.1 to use with a normal mouse? I have a Logitech G9.

Do you have to use Bing to do all searches either online or offline on 8?

When swiping from right to left on the screen in Windows 8.1 you will still get the Search charm, but selecting it and entering a search term serves some different results. In Windows 8.1, the Search charm will provide global search results powered by Bing in a rich, simple-to-read, aggregated view of many content sources (the web, apps, files, SkyDrive, actions you can take) to provide the best “answer” for your query. If you aren't online you will still get the local results by scrolling to the left.

Is their appstore mainly for small tablet like apps? Do they have intrusive permissions like android apps? If there are pre-installed apps can they be removed completely? Does Windows 8 store any settings or upload files to a "cloud" (SkyDrive)? If so can it be disabled?

What security advantages does Windows 8 Pro have over Windows Home Premium?

Also, will older games be usable on either of these OS's?

 

[showb1z]

How difficult is Windows 8 or 8.1 to use with a normal mouse? I have a Logitech G9.

The desktop part, where you'll probably spend 99% of your time, is the same as any Windows. You might have an issue with the hotcorners, but you can disable those in 8.1 or through other means.
Metro and apps use a couple mouse-gestures, which isn't difficult really, but kind of odd.

Do you have to use Bing to do all searches either online or offline on 8?

No.

Is their appstore mainly for small tablet like apps? Do they have intrusive permissions like android apps? If there are pre-installed apps can they be removed completely? Does Windows 8 store any settings or upload files to a "cloud" (SkyDrive)? If so can it be disabled?

Yea, haven't really found many interesting PC apps on the appstore. They're mostly intended for tablets/phones. Permissions are easily configured.
You can remove pre-installed apps.
Skydrive is only used if you want it. Your windows settings are tied to your microsoft account and saved in the cloud, but you can use an offline account which doesn't store anything if you want to.

Also, will older games be usable on either of these OS's?

Not that much experience with this, but compatibility should be pretty much the same as on Windows 7.

 

[Remobz]

So nobody here prefers bing search engine compared to google?

 

[oynaz]

Nobody prefers bing search engine compared to google

I fixed it for you ;-)

 

[Mem]

Thank you very much for your input so far! It is very helpful.

How difficult is Windows 8 or 8.1 to use with a normal mouse? I have a Logitech G9.

Do you have to use Bing to do all searches either online or offline on 8?

Is their appstore mainly for small tablet like apps? Do they have intrusive permissions like android apps? If there are pre-installed apps can they be removed completely? Does Windows 8 store any settings or upload files to a "cloud" (SkyDrive)? If so can it be disabled?

What security advantages does Windows 8 Pro have over Windows Home Premium?

Also, will older games be usable on either of these OS's?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8_editions

Windows 8

Windows 8 is the basic edition of Windows for the IA-32 and x64 architectures. Documentation obtained from the ImageX tool and Paul Thurrott's book on Windows 8 also refer to this edition as "Core".[2][3] This edition contains features aimed at the home market segment and provides all of the basic new Windows 8 features including the Start screen with semantic zoom, live tiles, Windows Store, Internet Explorer 10, connected standby, Microsoft account integration, the Windows desktop and more.

Windows 8 Pro is comparable to Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate[4][5] and is targeted towards enthusiasts and business users; it includes all the features of Windows 8. Additional features include the ability to receive Remote Desktop connections, the ability to participate in a Windows Server domain, Encrypting File System, Hyper-V, and Virtual Hard Disk Booting, Group Policy as well as BitLocker and BitLocker To Go. Windows Media Center functionality will be available only for Windows 8 Pro as a separate software package.[6]

As to your question on mouse?.. You can use mouse and keyboard just fine on both the old desktop UI and Metro Start,infact I only use mouse and keyboard on all my Win8 PCs,gaming wise all my Vista/Win7 games including Steam and Origin games run fine infact even got some really old ones working like XCOM :Apocalypse which is a 1997 game so that is even pre Win98(using D-Fend which is free for old DOS games).

 

[balloonshark]

Thanks showb1z and Mem! It seems that I should go for Win Pro on my new build. I prefer 7's UI but 8 seems to has plenty of advantages.

I'll keep an eye on this topic for at least another 24hrs. I'm not sure if my SSD will arrive tomorrow, Sat. or Mon. It has been sitting in a post office 1 hour away and it's not scheduled to be delivered until Monday.

 

[Bradtech519]

I'd go with 8.1 even though I'm not a big fan of Modern UI. You can boot to desktop directly now. They will probably keep improving the experience for non-touch users.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

I don't really like certain things about goog, so I use other engines including bing.

So nobody here prefers bing search engine compared to google?

 

[jkauff]

I'd go with 8.1 even though I'm not a big fan of Modern UI. You can boot to desktop directly now. They will probably keep improving the experience for non-touch users.

Keep in mind that 8.1 will not be available until October. If you install the Preview now, you'll have to do a complete reinstall when the final version is released. For now, 8.0 and Start8 are the way to go.

 

[balloonshark]

I guess I'll be installing Windows 8 to my new system on Monday. Do you have any tips or links to tips on installing and making the install smaller? I'll be using the upgrade version and want to do a clean install. This guide looks good so I'll be following it. http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/a/clean-install-windows-8-upgrade.htm

After I install and activate I would like to make an image ASAP. Should I update Windows first before installing the drivers and then make the image?

I'm not familiar with SSD's or Windows 8. Is the install automatic and easy or there something I should know or change? Do you have any other tips for optimizing the install before I image the drive?

 

[Towermax]

So nobody here prefers bing search engine compared to google?

I prefer anything to google.

Also, Win 8 is good with Start8 or similar Metro hider.

 

[jkauff]

I'm not familiar with SSD's or Windows 8. Is the install automatic and easy or there something I should know or change? Do you have any other tips for optimizing the install before I image the drive?

I've found that it's a good idea to have the SSD the only drive connected when you install the OS. Windows has a bad habit of putting some of the boot files on other drives if they're attached. That way you'll be sure that all necessary files are in your recovery image of the SSD.

 

[balloonshark]

I've found that it's a good idea to have the SSD the only drive connected when you install the OS. Windows has a bad habit of putting some of the boot files on other drives if they're attached. That way you'll be sure that all necessary files are in your recovery image of the SSD.

Thanks! I'll leave my storage drive unplugged until after the install.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I prefer anything to google.

Also, Win 8 is good with Start8 or similar Metro hider.

Yeah, but why should we have to use something like Start8 in the first place? Microsoft really F'ed up bad on this requiring third party software to fix the F-up.

 

[Berryracer]

I've found that it's a good idea to have the SSD the only drive connected when you install the OS. Windows has a bad habit of putting some of the boot files on other drives if they're attached. That way you'll be sure that all necessary files are in your recovery image of the SSD.

very true, although a hassle, but I always disconnect my HDD and leave only the SSD when installing either Win 7 or Win 8 as I don't want my boot files spread across two disks