Should I upgrade to Windows 7 or 8?

Harper · 11-19-2012, 11:45

Through my school I can get Windows 7 or 8 (upgrade versions) free. I have XP running on my desktop PC and was thinking about installing 7 or 8. I'm not sure which I want to go to. I haven't used 8 much at all and a lot of people are saying the start menu is cumbersome and they were sticking with 7.

Also I've never installed Windows using an upgrade disc. I have a licensed version of XP and plan on backing up my files first. Anything else I need to know about?

Happypuppy · 11-19-2012, 13:22

I would most assuredly go with Win 7. I would stay away from Win 8 until the very least they release SP1

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Dip Dungles · 11-19-2012, 13:28

Agreed but with a few more points. You cannot just bounce from XP to 7. You have to take a few more steps in order to do it. I'm not positive but I'm sure it's the same for 8.
Aside from that I would go for 7 instead. It's more of a stable platform because if there is a problem you can find a hit using google. Plus like said before always wait until SP1 comes out on any OP. Remember Vista?

pipedreams · 11-19-2012, 13:37

How much memory does your XP desktop have and how old is it? You may find your better off with XP unless you have a fairly new machine.

srhoades · 11-19-2012, 16:39

Used Windows 8 for the first time today and I didn't like it. The desktop is the same as Windows 7 but without a start menu. The start menu is a whole other screen with large obnoxious tiles instead of menus. I'm sure eventually they will bring back the start menu or there will be a third party add-on. Now it was fast, and this was a cheap dell with a regular Pentium dual core.

Harper · 11-19-2012, 17:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by pipedreams

How much memory does your XP desktop have and how old is it? You may find your better off with XP unless you have a fairly new machine.

4 gig of memory (DDR3). I built it myself. It's about 3 years old.

kensb2 · 11-19-2012, 18:03

Recommend upgrading to the 64 bit version of 7. Since your mobo supports DDR3, you can easily double the amount of ram in your system, and for a fairly good price.

srhoades · 11-19-2012, 18:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by kensb2

Recommend upgrading to the 64 bit version of 7. Since your mobo supports DDR3, you can easily double the amount of ram in your system, and for a fairly good price.

You cannot upgrade from XP to 7. You must do a clean install. You certainly cannot upgrade any operation system from 32bit to 64bit, also requires a clean install.

tcruse · 11-19-2012, 18:46

There are several third party apps that will return the start menu (Start8 < $5) is the one that I have used. The new start screen is not really appealing to me but I can see where MS will push the Metro Apps really hard. They want to create a profit center similar to iTunes. Win8 will run in less memory since AERO desktop is gone. Also, there is no XPMode for Win8, the Hyper-V is faster but does not support USB redirection and you do not get a free license for XPMode OS. Also, Hyper-V required SLAT and Virtual Extensions for the Hyper-V. (VirtualBox from Oracle is a replacement for Virtual PC, free). For Enterprise customers there are some other issues for mixed Server 2008R2 and Server 2012 networks.
And Yes you are looking at a re-install of OS and all applications in either case.

Harper · 11-19-2012, 18:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by srhoades

You cannot upgrade from XP to 7. You must do a clean install. You certainly cannot upgrade any operation system from 32bit to 64bit, also requires a clean install.

It looks like I can, I'll just have to back up my files and re-install all the programs.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...sked-questions

pipedreams · 11-19-2012, 18:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harper

4 gig of memory (DDR3). I built it myself. It's about 3 years old.

You should be good to go but as other said you need a clean install. Go with the 64 bit version and another 4gig of memory and it should hum.

srhoades · 11-19-2012, 21:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harper

It looks like I can, I'll just have to back up my files and re-install all the programs.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...sked-questions

Uh, that is not an upgrade. An upgrade is where you can pop in the disc and it will convert your operating system to the new one without having to reinstall anything.

What you described (and what miscrosoft is explaining to you) is a fresh install of a blank operating system and you have to reinstall all your programs and restore your files.

You can only upgrade do a true upgrade from Vista to Windows 7, not XP to windows 7.

Harper · 11-19-2012, 21:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by srhoades

Uh, that is not an upgrade. An upgrade is where you can pop in the disc and it will convert your operating system to the new one without having to reinstall anything.

What you described (and what miscrosoft is explaining to you) is a fresh install of a blank operating system and you have to reinstall all your programs and restore your files.

You can only upgrade do a true upgrade from Vista to Windows 7, not XP to windows 7.

I'm saying I believe I can go from XP to 7 with what Microsoft calls "Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade 32/64-bit". I'm not saying it's a "true upgrade".

JimmyN · 11-20-2012, 03:36

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade is cheaper because you are installing it on a PC that already has XP. So it's an "upgrade" from XP rather than being installed on a new PC, but installation is the same either way. It will partition and format your drive and install the new OS. You'll then have to re-install all your software, and copy your data over from the backups.

Microsoft has a program available that you can run to list all the software currently installed on your PC. It's for upgrading to Win7. That provides you with a good list of what you'll need to have on hand to re-install your software after the upgrade. There's no easy path to upgrade from XP to Win7

TAKtical · 11-21-2012, 00:01

You should upgrade to a mac...

Brian Lee · 11-21-2012, 14:15

When upgrading (or fresh install) from XP to 7, get ready for the fact that your printer and scanner (if they're more than about 2 years old) and other things will probably not work with Win 7 because there is no software driver for that device included, and the printer manufacturer probably won't make one either. They like to force you to buy a new piece of hardware you don't need just because of the lack of a few lines of code that make the old devices talk to the new operating system. This is a marketing scam/plot I think Microsoft has been a deliberate partner to for a long time.

The Home version (32 bit) of Win 7 also disables the ability to network with any computer using older versions of Windows, like 2000 and maybe XP too, which still runs the most important computer in my office. (That computer isn't an internet connected toy) To get that networking ability back, you have to pay extra to upgrade again to the 64 bit version. And as usual, it's all because of a few lines of code that were strategically removed from the cheaper version just to hook people who didn't know they'd just end up paying a lot more than they intended to actually get things working again after the Win 7 upgrade. This has been standard Microsoft operating practice for decades now.

WilliamDahl · 11-21-2012, 15:25

I don't upgrade my O/S unless I absolutely *have* to. I was perfectly happy with Win2K until Inuit in their infinite stupidity modified their tax software to no longer run on anything "below" WinXP. I have found older software that cannot run on Vista and Win7 even if you are running in XP compatibility mode. More often than not, a new version of a piece of Microsoft software just gives you new features that you'll probably not need. Hell, I haven't even used all the features of Office 95, much less whatever the current version might be.

Harper · 11-21-2012, 19:34

I already have Windows 7 on my laptop so software compatibility is something I can test.

CaliMoon2005- L · 11-26-2012, 18:13

Yes you can upgrade XP with SP3 to Win 8. Also if you want Win 8 to look like Win 7, just get the program Start 8.

WilliamDahl · 11-26-2012, 22:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliMoon2005- L

Yes you can upgrade XP with SP3 to Win 8. Also if you want Win 8 to look like Win 7, just get the program Start 8.

I wish that Microsoft had separated their user interface from the kernel of their operating system (like UNIX does) so that it would have allowed 3rd party display managers. Or if you were running it as a server, you could choose to save the memory that was used by the display manager and just run it as a command line machine. Tying the display manager into the operating system like that is not a flexible design and is completely braindead as far as I'm concerned.

sappy13 · 11-26-2012, 23:01

i installed windows 8 rc on a spare hdd the other day and it ran amazingly well. i was astonished. Only issue i found at first was that a critical work application did not run and had already been slated to not have windows 8 support until its next release. So that kinda sucked but oh well, thats why we test things before going into a production environment. I had already opened and closed my laptop multiple times since the install. The next time i opened the lid it had a hard time coming out of hibernation. Restarted it and it all i could get was screen flickers at the logon screen, but couldn't get past it. I havent troubleshooted it yet, but def told me win8 didnt like my Elitebook too much. I like the OS more than I thought I would though, i was very surprised. Once you get past the whole new start menu thing, its not too bad. Im looking forward to see where it goes in merging the tablet and desktop os arena.

Linux > Windows still