Vista vs Win 8

I have an old PC running Vista. I ran the Microsoft Win8 upgrade advisor
expecting it to say "no can do" and it came back with a list of things that
might not work or that I would have to reinstall. It also "suggested"
which Win8 I should buy.

Forget all that! I'll need to look at all that if I decide to go ahead.
What I'm interested in to help me decide whether to go ahead is:

1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many and Win8 seems to be heading
the same way. True? False?
2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a user
experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine. How am I
likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the old PC?

Graham Harrison wrote:
I have an old PC running Vista. I ran the Microsoft Win8 upgrade
advisor expecting it to say "no can do" and it came back with a list of
things that might not work or that I would have to reinstall. It also
"suggested" which Win8 I should buy.

Forget all that! I'll need to look at all that if I decide to go
ahead. What I'm interested in to help me decide whether to go ahead is:

1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many and Win8 seems to be
heading the same way. True? False?
2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a
user experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine.
How am I likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the
old PC?

The 25 words or less answer is, "you already have an OS, what do
you want another one for" :-)

If I try and answer the question in a rational way, it takes
pages of text you're not going to read.

There are no "compelling, must have" features in the newer OSes.
That should make the choice easier.

The time to be testing these, is when Preview versions are
available for download. You can still get evaluation versions,
as the Win8 Enterprise version is available for testing. Thinking
about Win8, when they're charging full retail price for it,
is too late in the cycle. The only reason I bought Win8,
was it was $39.95 at the time. And that turned out to be
about all it was worth. It's not my everyday OS. Neither
is Linux. But I use all of them, once in a while. (I run
Linux off a pen drive.)

I haven't given up on Win8. I use it as a "compute engine",
for things where other OSes have bugs (memory management in
WinXP being one).

Paul

You can install win8 with vista in dual boot and if
you don't like win8 remove it.


"Graham Harrison" wrote...
I have an old PC running Vista. I ran the Microsoft Win8 upgrade advisor
expecting it to say "no can do" and it came back with a list of things that
might not work or that I would have to reinstall. It also "suggested"
which Win8 I should buy.

Forget all that! I'll need to look at all that if I decide to go ahead.
What I'm interested in to help me decide whether to go ahead is:

1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many and Win8 seems to be heading
the same way. True? False?
2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a user
experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine. How am I
likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the old PC?

On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:57:32 +0100, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:


1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many


"Seen as"? Yes.

Is? I didn't find it to be anything like that. I thought it was fine.


and Win8 seems to be heading the same way. True? False?


"Seen as"? Definitely true.

Is? Not according to me.


2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a user
experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine. How am I
likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the old PC?


Let me point out something that you perhaps don't realize: Windows 8
has two interfaces; the Modern/Metro Interface (which may be all
you've looked at) and the traditional Desktop Interface.


The Modern/Metro interface is the default. If you are using a desktop,
without a touch screen, you, like many people, may hate it and
therefore hate Windows 8 if you don't realize there's an alternative.


The traditional Desktop Interface is almost identical to Windows 7's
interface; the biggest difference is that there is no Start Orb to
click to bring up the Start menu. But note that you can get the Start
Orb back by using one of several third-party programs, either free or
very inexpensive (Classic Shell at
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ and Start8 at
http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/; my personal preference is
Start8, but they are both very good). And going from one interface to
the other is very easy; there are several ways, but simply pressing
the Windows key is perhaps the easiest. Simply installing one of those
two and using the traditional desktop interface may be a better
choice for you than going to Windows 7. I use Windows 8, almost
exclusively with the traditional desktop interface, and with Start 8
installed. If you were to look at and use my computer, you would have
a hard time realizing that it's not Windows 7.

--
Ken Blake

"Live" wrote in message ...
You can install win8 with vista in dual boot and if
you don't like win8 remove it.


"Graham Harrison" wrote...
I have an old PC running Vista. I ran the Microsoft Win8 upgrade advisor
expecting it to say "no can do" and it came back with a list of things
that
might not work or that I would have to reinstall. It also "suggested"
which Win8 I should buy.

Forget all that! I'll need to look at all that if I decide to go ahead.
What I'm interested in to help me decide whether to go ahead is:

1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many and Win8 seems to be heading
the same way. True? False?
2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a user
experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine. How am
I
likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the old PC?

I hadn't thought of dual boot. That might be a way forward, thanks.

"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:57:32 +0100, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:


1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many


"Seen as"? Yes.

Is? I didn't find it to be anything like that. I thought it was fine.


and Win8 seems to be heading the same way. True? False?


"Seen as"? Definitely true.

Is? Not according to me.


2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a
user
experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine. How
am I
likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the old PC?


Let me point out something that you perhaps don't realize: Windows 8
has two interfaces; the Modern/Metro Interface (which may be all
you've looked at) and the traditional Desktop Interface.


The Modern/Metro interface is the default. If you are using a desktop,
without a touch screen, you, like many people, may hate it and
therefore hate Windows 8 if you don't realize there's an alternative.


The traditional Desktop Interface is almost identical to Windows 7's
interface; the biggest difference is that there is no Start Orb to
click to bring up the Start menu. But note that you can get the Start
Orb back by using one of several third-party programs, either free or
very inexpensive (Classic Shell at
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ and Start8 at
http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/; my personal preference is
Start8, but they are both very good). And going from one interface to
the other is very easy; there are several ways, but simply pressing
the Windows key is perhaps the easiest. Simply installing one of those
two and using the traditional desktop interface may be a better
choice for you than going to Windows 7. I use Windows 8, almost
exclusively with the traditional desktop interface, and with Start 8
installed. If you were to look at and use my computer, you would have
a hard time realizing that it's not Windows 7.

--
Ken Blake

I was aware of the 2 interfaces but not aware enough to have remembered it
without prompting. I wasn't aware that the traditional implementation
doesn't have an orb. How do you get to programs without it if you need to
use keyboard/mouse without using one of the add-ons you mention?

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Graham Harrison wrote:
I have an old PC running Vista. I ran the Microsoft Win8 upgrade
advisor expecting it to say "no can do" and it came back with a list of
things that might not work or that I would have to reinstall. It also
"suggested" which Win8 I should buy.

Forget all that! I'll need to look at all that if I decide to go ahead.
What I'm interested in to help me decide whether to go ahead is:

1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many and Win8 seems to be
heading the same way. True? False?
2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a
user experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine.
How am I likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the
old PC?

The 25 words or less answer is, "you already have an OS, what do
you want another one for" :-)

If I try and answer the question in a rational way, it takes
pages of text you're not going to read.

There are no "compelling, must have" features in the newer OSes.
That should make the choice easier.

The time to be testing these, is when Preview versions are
available for download. You can still get evaluation versions,
as the Win8 Enterprise version is available for testing. Thinking
about Win8, when they're charging full retail price for it,
is too late in the cycle. The only reason I bought Win8,
was it was $39.95 at the time. And that turned out to be
about all it was worth. It's not my everyday OS. Neither
is Linux. But I use all of them, once in a while. (I run
Linux off a pen drive.)

I haven't given up on Win8. I use it as a "compute engine",
for things where other OSes have bugs (memory management in
WinXP being one).

Paul

My Vista installation is beginning to show signs of wear which was one
reason for going to look at the 8 advisor. You make it sound like I'd be
better off doing some real maintenance on my Vista (never a bad thing, let's
face it). Hmmm!

On 6/22/2013 8:10 AM, Ken Blake wrote:
On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:57:32 +0100, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:


1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many


"Seen as"? Yes.

Is? I didn't find it to be anything like that. I thought it was fine.


and Win8 seems to be heading the same way. True? False?


"Seen as"? Definitely true.

Is? Not according to me.


2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a user
experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine. How am I
likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the old PC?


Let me point out something that you perhaps don't realize: Windows 8
has two interfaces; the Modern/Metro Interface (which may be all
you've looked at) and the traditional Desktop Interface.


The Modern/Metro interface is the default. If you are using a desktop,
without a touch screen, you, like many people, may hate it and
therefore hate Windows 8 if you don't realize there's an alternative.


The traditional Desktop Interface is almost identical to Windows 7's
interface; the biggest difference is that there is no Start Orb to
click to bring up the Start menu. But note that you can get the Start
Orb back by using one of several third-party programs, either free or
very inexpensive (Classic Shell at
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ and Start8 at
http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/; my personal preference is
Start8, but they are both very good). And going from one interface to
the other is very easy; there are several ways, but simply pressing
the Windows key is perhaps the easiest. Simply installing one of those
two and using the traditional desktop interface may be a better
choice for you than going to Windows 7. I use Windows 8, almost
exclusively with the traditional desktop interface, and with Start 8
installed. If you were to look at and use my computer, you would have
a hard time realizing that it's not Windows 7.

All good points about win8 Ken, however there are a amazing amount of
machines designed for a touch interface that will not work and will
never work with win8 as well as some desktops that score as high as 7.6
(wei)on win7 that simply will not run win8. I know I have 2 of them.
Since these machines run win7 extremely well I see no point in people
that have machines similar ever upgrading to win 8. I find it sad that
Microsoft as well as certain other manufacturers decided to go this
route and more or less force people to buy new computers if they want to
try win8 ( I know it is the way of business today)

I am in no way trying to start a flame war as I have waaaaay to much
respect for people like you who have been so helpful in the past and are
a big reason as to why I learned what I have about computers.

On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:58:58 +0100, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:


"Paul" wrote in message
...
Graham Harrison wrote:
I have an old PC running Vista. I ran the Microsoft Win8 upgrade
advisor expecting it to say "no can do" and it came back with a list of
things that might not work or that I would have to reinstall. It also
"suggested" which Win8 I should buy.

Forget all that! I'll need to look at all that if I decide to go ahead.
What I'm interested in to help me decide whether to go ahead is:

1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many and Win8 seems to be
heading the same way. True? False?
2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a
user experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine.
How am I likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the
old PC?

The 25 words or less answer is, "you already have an OS, what do
you want another one for" :-)

If I try and answer the question in a rational way, it takes
pages of text you're not going to read.

There are no "compelling, must have" features in the newer OSes.
That should make the choice easier.

The time to be testing these, is when Preview versions are
available for download. You can still get evaluation versions,
as the Win8 Enterprise version is available for testing. Thinking
about Win8, when they're charging full retail price for it,
is too late in the cycle. The only reason I bought Win8,
was it was $39.95 at the time. And that turned out to be
about all it was worth. It's not my everyday OS. Neither
is Linux. But I use all of them, once in a while. (I run
Linux off a pen drive.)

I haven't given up on Win8. I use it as a "compute engine",
for things where other OSes have bugs (memory management in
WinXP being one).

Paul

My Vista installation is beginning to show signs of wear which was one
reason for going to look at the 8 advisor. You make it sound like I'd be
better off doing some real maintenance on my Vista (never a bad thing, let's
face it). Hmmm!

Sounds like a plan. I've found Vista to be perfectly fine now that
the Service Packs have fixed it.

Ashton Crusher writted thus:

On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:58:58 +0100, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:


"Paul" wrote in message
...
Graham Harrison wrote:!

Sounds like a plan. I've found Vista to be perfectly fine now that the
Service Packs have fixed it.

+1 so have I.



--
http://db.tt/aI6WBZ7w

On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:55:54 +0100, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:


"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:57:32 +0100, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:


1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many


"Seen as"? Yes.

Is? I didn't find it to be anything like that. I thought it was fine.


and Win8 seems to be heading the same way. True? False?


"Seen as"? Definitely true.

Is? Not according to me.


2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a
user
experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine. How
am I
likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the old PC?


Let me point out something that you perhaps don't realize: Windows 8
has two interfaces; the Modern/Metro Interface (which may be all
you've looked at) and the traditional Desktop Interface.


The Modern/Metro interface is the default. If you are using a desktop,
without a touch screen, you, like many people, may hate it and
therefore hate Windows 8 if you don't realize there's an alternative.


The traditional Desktop Interface is almost identical to Windows 7's
interface; the biggest difference is that there is no Start Orb to
click to bring up the Start menu. But note that you can get the Start
Orb back by using one of several third-party programs, either free or
very inexpensive (Classic Shell at
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ and Start8 at
http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/; my personal preference is
Start8, but they are both very good). And going from one interface to
the other is very easy; there are several ways, but simply pressing
the Windows key is perhaps the easiest. Simply installing one of those
two and using the traditional desktop interface may be a better
choice for you than going to Windows 7. I use Windows 8, almost
exclusively with the traditional desktop interface, and with Start 8
installed. If you were to look at and use my computer, you would have
a hard time realizing that it's not Windows 7.

--
Ken Blake

I was aware of the 2 interfaces but not aware enough to have remembered it
without prompting. I wasn't aware that the traditional implementation
doesn't have an orb. How do you get to programs without it if you need to
use keyboard/mouse without using one of the add-ons you mention?


Lots of ways--for example. WinKey +R. But since I don't use them
often, I won't trust my memory to tell you all of them, and wait for
someone else to answer you.


--
Ken Blake

On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 12:02:44 -0700, Drew
wrote:

On 6/22/2013 8:10 AM, Ken Blake wrote:
On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:57:32 +0100, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:


1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many


"Seen as"? Yes.

Is? I didn't find it to be anything like that. I thought it was fine.


and Win8 seems to be heading the same way. True? False?


"Seen as"? Definitely true.

Is? Not according to me.


2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a user
experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine. How am I
likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the old PC?


Let me point out something that you perhaps don't realize: Windows 8
has two interfaces; the Modern/Metro Interface (which may be all
you've looked at) and the traditional Desktop Interface.


The Modern/Metro interface is the default. If you are using a desktop,
without a touch screen, you, like many people, may hate it and
therefore hate Windows 8 if you don't realize there's an alternative.


The traditional Desktop Interface is almost identical to Windows 7's
interface; the biggest difference is that there is no Start Orb to
click to bring up the Start menu. But note that you can get the Start
Orb back by using one of several third-party programs, either free or
very inexpensive (Classic Shell at
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ and Start8 at
http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/; my personal preference is
Start8, but they are both very good). And going from one interface to
the other is very easy; there are several ways, but simply pressing
the Windows key is perhaps the easiest. Simply installing one of those
two and using the traditional desktop interface may be a better
choice for you than going to Windows 7. I use Windows 8, almost
exclusively with the traditional desktop interface, and with Start 8
installed. If you were to look at and use my computer, you would have
a hard time realizing that it's not Windows 7.

All good points about win8 Ken, however there are a amazing amount of
machines designed for a touch interface that will not work and will
never work with win8 as well as some desktops that score as high as 7.6
(wei)on win7 that simply will not run win8. I know I have 2 of them.
Since these machines run win7 extremely well I see no point in people
that have machines similar ever upgrading to win 8. I find it sad that
Microsoft as well as certain other manufacturers decided to go this
route and more or less force people to buy new computers if they want to
try win8 ( I know it is the way of business today)


If a machine doesn't run Windows 8, it's almost certainly because it
needs drivers for Windows 8 that aren't available. And if a driver
isn't available, blame the manufacturer of the hardware (who is
responsible for providing drivers), not Microsoft.

By the way, my machine and my wife's, both of which ran Windows 7,
upgraded to Windows 7 without a problem. And I know many other people
with similar experiences.


I am in no way trying to start a flame war as I have waaaaay to much
respect for people like you who have been so helpful in the past and are
a big reason as to why I learned what I have about computers.


Thanks very much for the kind words.

--
Ken Blake

Hi, Ken.

Well said!

After using Win8 since it arrived 10/26/12, I'm quite comfy with it. My
biggest breakthrough came almost immediately after installing Win8: I moved
the Desktop tile to the upper left of the opening Metro/Modern screen. Now,
when I boot up, I just press Enter and I'm at the familiar Win7-like
desktop - except, as we all know, there's no Start button. As you said,
pressing the Win key toggles between the screens.

Rather than use the Win7 Start menu, I've pinned the dozen or so
applications that I use most often to my Taskbar - and to the Start screen.
No matter which interface I'm using, most of my programs are only a
mouse-click away. (Or a Win+numeral) key-press.) I didn't find all my
favorite shortcuts the first day I used Win8 - it took a while - and I won't
try to list them all here. But I never resort to Win+X and then another
click on my choice; it's quicker and easier to press Win+8 to start Media
Center. A built-in feature. No need for an add-on interface, free or
otherwise. After the first few weeks, I've forgotten the Orb. ;)

I can't comment on Drew's observations about touch interfaces and machines
that won't run Win8. My year-old mouse & keyboard rig works just fine.
(This is the latest version of my single home-built computer that I've been
upgrading every few years for a couple of decades now. MSI 990FXA-GD80
mobo/AMD Phenom II x6 CPU/8 GB DRAM, 4 HDDs, 1 SSD, etc.)

This debate will never end, of course. We'll just substitute Win9 for Win8
some day, just as we saw the early objections to the then-new Win95, WinXP,
Vista...

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2012 (Build 16.4.3508.0205) in Win8 Pro


"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...

On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 10:57:32 +0100, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:


1) Vista is now seen as an aberration by many


"Seen as"? Yes.

Is? I didn't find it to be anything like that. I thought it was fine.


and Win8 seems to be heading the same way. True? False?


"Seen as"? Definitely true.

Is? Not according to me.


2) I also have a Win7 Laptop and I probably prefer that to Vista as a user
experience - performance is almost the same as the Vista machine. How am
I
likely to get on with Win8 if I make the jump from Vista on the old PC?


Let me point out something that you perhaps don't realize: Windows 8
has two interfaces; the Modern/Metro Interface (which may be all
you've looked at) and the traditional Desktop Interface.


The Modern/Metro interface is the default. If you are using a desktop,
without a touch screen, you, like many people, may hate it and
therefore hate Windows 8 if you don't realize there's an alternative.


The traditional Desktop Interface is almost identical to Windows 7's
interface; the biggest difference is that there is no Start Orb to
click to bring up the Start menu. But note that you can get the Start
Orb back by using one of several third-party programs, either free or
very inexpensive (Classic Shell at
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/ and Start8 at
http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/; my personal preference is
Start8, but they are both very good). And going from one interface to
the other is very easy; there are several ways, but simply pressing
the Windows key is perhaps the easiest. Simply installing one of those
two and using the traditional desktop interface may be a better
choice for you than going to Windows 7. I use Windows 8, almost
exclusively with the traditional desktop interface, and with Start 8
installed. If you were to look at and use my computer, you would have
a hard time realizing that it's not Windows 7.

--
Ken Blake

On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:55:54 +0100, Graham Harrison wrote:

I was aware of the 2 interfaces but not aware enough to have
remembered it without prompting. I wasn't aware that the
traditional implementation doesn't have an orb. How do you get
to programs without it if you need to use keyboard/mouse without
using one of the add-ons you mention?

You do a google search for "windows8 keyboard shortcuts" and
following one or other of the links you are lead to "WinKey + q" as
the command to bring up the list of installed programs, plus a handy
search box.

On Sat, 22 Jun 2013 15:48:16 -0500, "R. C. White"
wrote:

Hi, Ken.

Well said!


Thanks, RC.


After using Win8 since it arrived 10/26/12, I'm quite comfy with it. My
biggest breakthrough came almost immediately after installing Win8: I moved
the Desktop tile to the upper left of the opening Metro/Modern screen. Now,
when I boot up, I just press Enter and I'm at the familiar Win7-like
desktop - except, as we all know, there's no Start button. As you said,
pressing the Win key toggles between the screens.

Rather than use the Win7 Start menu, I've pinned the dozen or so
applications that I use most often to my Taskbar - and to the Start screen.
No matter which interface I'm using, most of my programs are only a
mouse-click away. (Or a Win+numeral) key-press.) I didn't find all my
favorite shortcuts the first day I used Win8 - it took a while - and I won't
try to list them all here. But I never resort to Win+X and then another
click on my choice; it's quicker and easier to press Win+8 to start Media
Center. A built-in feature. No need for an add-on interface, free or
otherwise. After the first few weeks, I've forgotten the Orb. ;)


It's possible, of course, that if I weren't using Start8, after a few
weeks I would have forgotten about the missing Orb, too. On the other
hand, I'm very comfortable with Start8, and I like to point out to
those who don't realize it that they don't *have to* be without the
Start Orb


This debate will never end, of course. We'll just substitute Win9 for Win8
some day, just as we saw the early objections to the then-new Win95, WinXP,
Vista...

Yep! With very few exceptions, when a new version of X comes out
(almost without regard to what X is), many people are unhappy with the
thought of adapting to the changes in the new version and prefer the
old version. Windows 3.1 was better than 95, 95 was better than 98, 98
was better than Me, Me was better than XP, XP was better than Vista,
and on and on and on.

--
Ken Blake