Windows 8 gaming – no faster than Windows 7

KitGuru: It is too early to claim that Microsoft have released another ‘Windows Vista’, but the public response in the enthusiast sector is certainly less than positive. Additionally, CEO Ballmer spoke out about the release of their Surface tablets – he said sales were off to a ‘modest’ start, which certainly isn’t the kind of statement that instills confidence.

[Conzul]

Well.....it *is* another Vista. There was nothing wrong with 7. We didn't need 8.

What do I care, I'm running Mint anyway.

[Canary]

Another Vista? Good God, no. It's so much worse. It's an operating systemd designed -specifically- for tablets.

A tablet OS built around the idea of a touch-screen.

That they've ported to PC.

It's a terrible, terrible idea. For PCs at least. I'm actually excited to see how to new MS tablets turn out, because my biggest problem with iOS and Android is that they're really nowhere near as versatile as I'd like. If Windows 8 can bring Windows-level versatility and functionality to a tablet, I may just find a way to scrounge up that $600 or so.

But, considering they seem to be favoring closed-software with their own version of an AppStore, maybe that's not likely to happen.

[darthv72]

i kind of like it. I paid $40 for it and did the upgrade on an xp netbook. You dont HAVE to get everything via the store. I dl firefox from the web and using it right now on that very same netbook.

It didnt take me as long to warm up to it like i did 7 but then again the difference between 7 and 8 is cosmetic on the start menu. 7 and 8 are more alike than 7 and vista.

It is surprisingly speedy on this netbook where xp was getting sluggish.

[jimbobwahey]

I'd say it's even worse than Vista to be honest. Windows 8 is a complete and utter mess of an operating system. I mean Vista was bad yeah, but Windows 8 is an abomination.

[ThanatosDMC]

I said the same thing about how crappy Windows 8 and how bad it is for gaming i just got spammed by disagrees. They're probably from people who's actually never tried the damn thing.

[Baka-akaB]

Sounds more like you never tried it actually . At worst it performs like a faster booting win 7 .

It's fair and one thing to criticize the changes brought by the metro interface , wich you can completely avoid anyway ...

It's another to pretend it has perfs issues or is any worse for gaming and lie about it needing a tablet . You can just run your stuff as usual and seen with win 7 .

Vista just ran badly with almost everything , because of MS itself or drivers and didnt provide gains in anyway . It's nothing similar or worse here

[Bimkoblerutso]

^ It's really more about the precedent it sets for the industry. It doesn't necessarily run any slower than 7 (and in fact, the one saving grace of the OS thus far for me has been how quickly it boots), but when an app that makes things more "desktop-friendly" is almost a required download for those of us not using a touch-based system, things are not as they should be.

Vista, bad as it was, was still beneficial in the long-run because it's failures translated directly into 7's successes. 8 is a move in the complete wrong direction. It will only get worse from here because now Microsoft will be building off already superfluous features for each subsequent OS.

[SkullBlade169]

I honestly rather would use Vista, it has a nicer GUI than that POS which Windows 8 calls a GUI...

[badkolo]

its windows 7 with new tablet features and a extra start screan with live tiles, other then some really minor things to moan about i dont undersdtand why people dont like it, you can use it as windows 7 with out the tiles, but if you want to experience the tiles and apps you can. nothing wrong with that and overall its faster then windows 7

[Derpy]

People don't like it because it's a closed operating system. Personally I like my computer being an open system and would rather move to Linux than turn it into a close system.

[Nick_515]

It's not closed. The store is closed, but it's the same as Windows 7 outside of that and added features.

[b-real]

How is it a closed OS? I am generally interested to hear your reasoning behind this statement.

[AzaziL]

The one thing I really don't like is having to use my mouse to mimic touch gestures to do something as simple as shutting down. So many times moving the mouse up and down on the side, really don't know why they couldn't make a normal pc version instead of a tablet port.

[FordGTGuy]

Or you know you could push the power button on your computer and stop bitching or you can press Win+C to get the charms bar.

[Baka-akaB]

lol i wonder why the hell you even do that much to shut down the thing . Hell i didnt even know you had gestures for that

[AzaziL]

@above
really wish they made that easy to know instead of having to be a computer geek to know all the special commands.

Also @FordGTGuy, does you computer have a sleep button on the case, thought so smart alec...

[Bigpappy]

Win8 is an aquired taste. I happen to like it very much. It is a true HD interface now. The media all look and sound better with Win8. It has big, bright icons and scroll horizontally across my 27" monitor. Right click is used differently and there are more options to customize and organize what you want quick access to. I would admit that I was put off by it at first, but the more I use it, the more I am sure I don't want to go back to the old desktop.

I have also noticed, that younger users who use IOS and Android more that windows, love the interface even without the touch screen. IE10 is also a big hit because it is smooth and secure especially if you avoid flash. I was a masterful move by M$ to not loose the smart-phone crowd to google and Apple. This gives them uniformaty. People who have Win7 and prefer that desktop, do not have to move to Win8. Most businesses will stay with Win7, but there will be a strong push by PC manufacturers to make hadware that utilize all the features in Win8. So you will see heavy support for Win8 in the very near future.

[deletingthis34675334]

Watch it fail and get replaced in a year or two just like how it has been with every second generation of Windows the past decade.

Windows ME, then XP. Vista, then 7. 8, then ...

[barb_wire]

XP bad? what the hell are you smoking, XP was good, very very good once the service packs ironed out it's initial bugs.

If my PC hadn't died 2yrs, I'd still be on XP. Win 7 is good also, took me some time to get used to it but IMO it's almost as good as XP.

[deletingthis34675334]

Never said XP was bad. Don't spin it. I said XP replaced a bad OS just like 7 replaced that abysmal failure you call an operating system that is Vista. As a matter of fact XP is probably my favourite operating system but 7 is good too.

[SkullBlade169]

You obviously didn't use XP when it was first released... it was even worse than Vista, glitchy as hell.

[r21]

You know MS, they release a good OS and the next one's bad. Vista Bad, Winows 7 Good, Windows 8 Bad. The cycle repeats.

[MidNite]

I have 2 Laptops with win7 which I love and a windows Vista PC that I was going to replace because it was very-very slow and extremely loud, I decided to give Win8 a chance for 30 dollars why not, glad I did now my PC is now faster than my laptops as well quiet.

All the programs I downloaded on my vista I was able to use on Win8, with out any issues.

[wishingW3L]

I installed Windows 8 on a crappy netbook with only 1GB of Ram and an Atom and now the thing runs like if it had a core i3 with 3GB of Ram! I can even use Visual Studio 2012 on it and it runs it smooth like if it were nothing. The same with HD movies.

But I did tweaked it like crazy. I even disabled the M$ store and all of its really crappy APPs. I'm never gonna use any of that garbage anyway. XD

[Somebody]

Thanks to Win 7. MS did made Win 7 to run nicely on low spec machines and a number of tech sites noticed that. There was a couple of articles about how efficient Win 7 on such devices but sadly the world was more focused on the emerging war between iOs and Android. Win 7's significant role for the future of Win 8 is harshly forgotten.

Win 7 was optimized for netbooks with a lot of focus on their low hardware spec and touch screen support (during the iPhone craze, just before the tablets appeared) so that MS could have a blueprint for Win 8. Again, the rest of the hardware industry disappointed MS by discontinuing major support for netbooks and started their own mobile devices with Android. It was a repeat of the tech industry's cold shoulder treatment towards MS's own tablet devices a decade ago. As a response/punishment/retributio n, MS designed its own devices and limited the number of exclusive OEM device makers among them of as a FU for the rest of the industry.

It's a different MS we're dealing with here. Zune is crap, from what I learned from a Simpsons episode (not much a fan of MP3 players) but from that MS learned what mistakes to avoid. The X boxes were its most successful hardware products so MS have learned what how to proceed. Tablets and smartphones are pretty much free for all so it won't be hard to dive into.

On a different note : The biggest danger for the rest of the mobile makers is Google itself. They had a great thing with MS but they blew it for a second time so when Goggle and Motorola started to roll out their own hardware...Now that MS have cut off a lot of them from making its devices what happens when Google does the same to the rest? What happens to companies that are not chosen to make MS or Google devices? Some of them are running an already meager existence under the Apple VS Samsung war so what happens to them in the Apple VS Samsung VS MS/Nokia VS Google/Motorola war?