Why upgrade to Win 8.1?

lifeblood

Senior member
Oct 17, 2001
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I decided it was time to upgrade my desktop (keyboard and mouse only, no touch) to Win 8.1. With Update 1 the UI for mouse and keyboard users has improved enough that I can stomach it, and I expect they will continue to improve it until they get it right. My question is more about building a business case for the upgrade. I have Win7 with Media Center and it does everything I need. What new things does Win8 bring to the table that justifies the monetary cost of upgrading?

Win8.1 upgrade costs $119.99, plus another $99 for the Pro Pack. What does that buy me? I’ve made a list of improvements that are relevant to me, and other things that may be improvements but are not desired or relevant to me. As I look at the list of new/improved things I don’t see them being worth the $220 price tag. Anyone have more reasons I’m missing?

Reasons

- Slightly Faster – I play games so a few more FPS is always appreciated, plus faster boot times.
- Better security/Less intrusive updates – Win7 isn’t bad but better is always welcome.
- Better multi-monitor support – I use two monitors and this is a nice improvement.

Not Reasons

- Improved Copying/Search/Task Manager – Nice, but I so rarely use these functions the improvements are irrelevant.
- Access to App Store apps – Nothing in there that interests me. The programs I run for work, school, and fun are all classic programs.
- Touch screen interface – This is for a desktop without touchscreens so the touch interface does nothing for me.
- Skydrive integration – I store most things locally, and use Dropbox for what little I put into cloud storage.
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
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Your case is very $$$ involved. On that basis, stay with 7. I have all of the 7 and 8, and 8.1 packages via my Technet subscription. ergo, there is no $$$ impact, so my case response is "why not?"
 
F

fabler

Stick with Win 7 until Win 9 comes along. So long as your hardware is compatible.

Win 8.1 updated, for me, is vastly superior to Windows 7. But that's a personal preference. :\
 
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stinger608

Senior member
Mar 6, 2009
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Something I didn't realize with Windows 8/8.1 is what BonzaiDuck linked to in this thread by the same user:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2379163

An article posted on Maximum PC regarding the use of Windows 8 as a home server:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/windows/windows_8_home_server_guide?page=0,0

I includes "Storage Space" so one can pool several drives together as one large storage drive for media, pictures, music etc... to share on a network. It also allows system backups for any network systems as well.

And if you like to run virtual machines Microsoft's Hyper-V can be enabled and using Windows 8.1 a person can actually run the same video card, network card, sound card, etc... as the host machine!

I felt these were two large pluses for Windows 8/8.1 that I had no idea until today existed in these operating systems.

Basically you can take your normal desktop system and turn it into a home server/media PC/gaming system all at once. :eek:
 

Insert_Nickname

Diamond Member
May 6, 2012
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And if you like to run virtual machines Microsoft's Hyper-V can be enabled and using Windows 8.1 a person can actually run the same video card, network card, sound card, etc... as the host machine!

I felt these were two large pluses for Windows 8/8.1 that I had no idea until today existed in these operating systems.

Basically you can take your normal desktop system and turn it into a home server/media PC/gaming system all at once. :eek:

You do need the x64 PRO version for Hyper-V (The x86 version is not supported). But yeah, its pretty cool... :cool:
 

Mushkins

Golden Member
Feb 11, 2013
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I includes "Storage Space" so one can pool several drives together as one large storage drive for media, pictures, music etc... to share on a network. It also allows system backups for any network systems as well.

You've been able to do this going all the way back to Vista at least (cant remember if XP had the feature). Storage Spaces comes with a fancier interface for it and a handful of minor perks and tweaks, but logically grouping drives into a single drive is nothing new. It's also a Bad Idea from a data integrity standpoint, anyone one of those drives goes and you're going to lose data across all of them due to fragmentation.
 

stinger608

Senior member
Mar 6, 2009
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You've been able to do this going all the way back to Vista at least (cant remember if XP had the feature). Storage Spaces comes with a fancier interface for it and a handful of minor perks and tweaks, but logically grouping drives into a single drive is nothing new. It's also a Bad Idea from a data integrity standpoint, anyone one of those drives goes and you're going to lose data across all of them due to fragmentation.

Really? I haven't seen anything, other than third party software, that allows drive pooling in Windows 7.
 

Leyawiin

Diamond Member
Nov 11, 2008
3,204
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Stick with Win 7 until Win 9 comes along. So long as your hardware is compatible.

This is what I just did with a Phenom II X4 spare parts PC. Win 9 is supposed to be out this time next year so I just bought a download version OEM Win 7 Pro license. $61. Even with my main PC I don't think any performance improvement is going to make me say "OMG this is SO much better!". I mean, I have no point of comparison so how could I miss a few extra FPS in a game (and I don't play BF4)?