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Weekend Open Forum: Will Windows 8 be worth buying?
Calling Microsoft's latest operating system a success would be an understatement. In roughly a year and a half, Windows 7 surpassed XP as the most used operating system in the US and it's hailed as Microsoft's all-time fastest-selling OS, moving 300 million licenses as of January 2011. With Redmond recommitted to a three-year release cycle, Windows 8 is poised to arrive sometime next year -- but is anyone ready to pony up for another upgrade?
Most users seem thoroughly satisfied with Windows 7 as it represents a much-needed overhaul for XP and it addresses many of Vista's issues. Logic stands to reason that if Microsoft wants to lure customers away from Windows 7, its next operating system will have to take some risks -- and we all remember how that worked out for Vista. Based on Redmond's announcements and leaked pre-release builds, Windows 8 will bring the following changes:
- Windows Explorer gets the oft-ridiculed ribbon menu
- Cloud integration including Web-based storage via SkyDrive
- Native support for ARM's mobile processors (introed at CES)
- Touch optimized login screen, browser, Task Manager and more
- Portable Workspace - clone of your OS on a bootable USB drive
It doesn't take an expert to see that many of the updates are intended to make Windows more relevant in the mobile market. Considering full-fledged desktops and laptops are the meat and potatoes of Microsoft's Windows revenue, we assume some features are also instore for the standard user. Our question to you is: what will it take for you to purchase Windows 8? Will you buy it no matter what? Are there any changes you'd like to see?
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User Comments (81)
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lawfer
on May 6, 2011 8:29 PM |
No. |
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Cueto_99
on May 6, 2011 8:34 PM |
Don't think so... Not gonna pay a grand for some OS "DLC"... I'll wait for a complete overhaul... |
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treeski
on May 6, 2011 8:35 PM |
Just from all of the rumors I've seen... A huge resounding yes! I love the 'metro' theme that Microsoft has been pushing, and a lot of the new features look great. I'm excited! |
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tw0rld
on May 6, 2011 8:38 PM |
I think the timing is wrong. I do not see businesses transitioning to win 8 when they are just getting accustomed to 7. Also the cost will no doubt make companies hesitant. |
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lawfer
on May 6, 2011 8:40 PM |
treeski said: Just from all of the rumors I've seen... A huge resounding yes! I love the 'metro' theme that Microsoft has been pushing, and a lot of the new features look great. I'm excited!
What rumor are you hearing that we haven't? On the latest builds we've all seen, there's no metro theme, just a metro-like logon screen. If you're willing to pay 200+ for that.... |
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PaulWuzHere
on May 6, 2011 8:42 PM |
I see a 5 year release cycle being more sensible, but what do I know? I'm only a consumer. |
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gwailo247
on May 6, 2011 8:59 PM |
If they have a beta, I'll try that out, if they don't I'll try it out through other means, and go from there. The ribbon/cloud, etc, is not that much of a big deal for me. I expect that it will run like 7 under the hood, so I would not expect any major performance gains, so it will probably be down to the integration between the desktop/tablet/phone. Also depends if they provide some kind of upgrade benefit for 7 owners. I could see them having XP or Vista owners pay more or less full price, but to expect 7 owners to shell out $200, well, they'd have to really put something impressive on there to warrant the purchase. But we're still talking about a year, so I'm really just gonna wait and see. |
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Guest
on May 6, 2011 9:03 PM |
I'll probably install it somewhere just to play with it, but for a real, usable OS, you're generally better off skipping a version. Example: Win 98 skip ME XP skip vista Win 7 |
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red1776
on May 6, 2011 9:25 PM |
I'll probably install it somewhere just to play with it, but for a real, usable OS, you're generally better off skipping a version. Example: Win 98 skip ME XP skip vista Win 7 .....and skip Windows 8 Buy Windows X-Holographic.....Damn, I wasn't suppose to leak that! |
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Xclusiveitalian
on May 6, 2011 9:28 PM |
I wouldn't pay $10 for this. It would have to improve speed all around, including under 5 seconds boot up and shut down, and instant resume...then and only then would i consider getting windows 8. |
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Guest
on May 6, 2011 9:40 PM |
As b. gates is still making billions, don't you think these new OS versions should be a tad cheaper? |
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motrin
on May 6, 2011 9:46 PM |
if theres going to be a discount for students then yes. |
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Tekkaraiden
on May 6, 2011 9:53 PM |
If it's inexpensive enough maybe, otherwise no. |
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captaincranky
on May 6, 2011 9:55 PM |
I wouldn't pay $10 for this. It would have to improve speed all around, including under 5 seconds boot up and shut down, and instant resume...then and only then would i consider getting windows 8. Why does everybody blame the boot up time solely on the operating system?
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Guest
on May 6, 2011 9:58 PM |
If they improve the app software, then maybe. For example, Media Player needs to be able to play blu-rays etc with 7.1 sound and have all the functionality of Foobar for music too...this is just one example. Considering the cost of Windows, it really needs to have better apps. Microsoft seem to have a habit of releasing their software too early with loads of bugs in it just so they can start a revenue stream from it. So, I'll be hanging on for Win 9 in 2014. I'm still using XP on this computer. I have Ubuntu 11.04 on my music server and Win 7 on my notebook. |
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Guest
on May 6, 2011 10:29 PM |
If osx can boot fast not sure why windows can't either. It does boot pretty quick but it can be a tad better. |
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Leeky
on May 6, 2011 10:41 PM |
If I can grab another cheap as chips academic license I'll get it - the rest of the house is staying on W7 for the next few years at least. I'd sooner move everything else over to Linux full time and save the money tbh! |
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Jurassic4096
on May 6, 2011 10:47 PM |
Can't wait! My inner techie is getting too used to W7. |
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captaincranky
on May 6, 2011 10:50 PM |
.....and skip Windows 8 Buy Windows X-Holographic.....Damn, I wasn't suppose to leak that! What happened to "Windows 9"? Or do you think that it will be a named version? Maybe, "Windows, Oops, We Screwed You Again", with Britney Spears a** for wallpaper. |
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gwailo247
on May 6, 2011 10:50 PM |
captaincranky said:
I wouldn't pay $10 for this. It would have to improve speed all around, including under 5 seconds boot up and shut down, and instant resume...then and only then would i consider getting windows 8. Why does everybody blame the boot up time solely on the operating system? No kidding, since I got an SSD my boot time has improved markedly, but it still takes 30 seconds to get out of the ASUS BIOS. |
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Jurassic4096
on May 6, 2011 10:54 PM |
paulwuzhere said: I see a 5 year release cycle being more sensible, but what do I know? I'm only a consumer. So as consumers we are forced to buy it? Thanks, I did not know that. |
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captaincranky
on May 6, 2011 10:55 PM |
No kidding, since I got an SSD my boot time has improved markedly, but it still takes 30 seconds to get out of the ASUS BIOS. Is it Phoenix-Award or something else? The Phoenix Award in my i3 box(Gigabyte H-55) seems to zip right by. (Although I've never actually timed it. Hm, maybe I should). With the HDDs running in AHCI, most of the IDE polling crawl never shows.....?
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Leeky
on May 6, 2011 10:56 PM |
So as consumers we are forced to buy it? Thanks, I did not know that. That doesn't matter, they'll sell billions off of the back of OEM sales on new equipment alone. They'll more than make their money either way. |
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spydercanopus
on May 6, 2011 10:57 PM |
Too little, too soon. Wait another 3 years before releasing 8 and I'll be tempted. They need to be upgrading Windows 7 and Vista with new features, not playing Apple with their updates. |
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Jurassic4096
on May 6, 2011 11:04 PM |
gwailo247 said: captaincranky said:
I wouldn't pay $10 for this. It would have to improve speed all around, including under 5 seconds boot up and shut down, and instant resume...then and only then would i consider getting windows 8. Why does everybody blame the boot up time solely on the operating system? No kidding, since I got an SSD my boot time has improved markedly, but it still takes 30 seconds to get out of the ASUS BIOS. 30 seconds just to POST? I've had three ASUS boards back to back to back and i've never experienced that long a POST with IDE drives, but went Gigabyte this time around, and it takes my system 35 seconds for a complete restart on a Gigabyte board and C300 64GB on SATA II port. |
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