Windows 7 or Windows 8(.1)

[QuietOne]

I really can't decide which one would be more beneficial in the long run. I am on Windows 8 at the moment but planning to wipe my boot drive and start again but not sure which to use.

I use it mainly for UK and US Netflix, Youtube, spamming stupid questions in this place and the most intensive thing is gaming and GPU benchmarks.

My specs are:

M/Board: Asus Maximus IV Gene/GEN3
CPU: Intel core I7 2700K at 4.7Ghz
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro LP
GPU: EVGA Geforce 780 3GB SC with ACX
Soundcard: Soundblaster Recon3d PCI-e
OS drive: 120GB Corsair Force3 SSD
Data Drive: 1TB WD Caviar Black Edition
PSU: Corsair TX850M
Case: Corsair Obsidian 350D

Windows 8 is great with start button and I hear 8.1 has that already built in. It's a tough one.

 

[dugdiamond]

i would wait 2wks to hear what everyone's views are on 8.1.

the upgrade is free for win8 users

 

[jamesriley94]

I'd just go with Windows 8 tbh.

Once you get used to it, it really isn't that bad. Just put your icons on the desktop and taskbar, and you can get away without using any metro or apps at all.

I certainly wouldn't be spending money on 7 these days. Maybe if you have a copy lying around, but 8 should get better and better from now on, whilst 7 will slowly lose support.

I actually prefer 8 to 7 now, and it's far better for multi-screen use.

 

[QuietOne]

Thanks for the help guys, I will re-install Windows 8, having a custom start menu and not using metro is so much better.

I'm preparing my USB stick for installation. don't want to ruin the look of my new case by having an optical drive in it

 

[SeekaX]

You like old games? Win7. You don't care about anything older than 5 years and you can deal with metro? win8.1

 

[QuietOne]

I decided to re-install Windows 8. Just need to install some programs and personalise it a bit and I'm done. Thanks for your help peeps.

 

[Feronix]

Yeah, don't wait for the start button in Windows 8.1. It just takes you back to the Metro interface.

I'd recommend Iobit, but Classicshell and Start8 ($5) will work fine too

 

[QuietOne]

I gave Start8 a go, kinda looks cleaner, I think everything is installed now, disabling system restore and moving the pagefile to another drive has freed up a lot of space on my C drive

 

[Dicehunter]

If you could completely remove metro and use good looking custom themes I'd use 8 in a heart beat