any reason NOT to use Windows 8.1?

[Phil Swanson]

From what I have herd on this site everybody wants to use Win 7. But when I talk to my computer freinds they say " why go backwards?" Get Win 8.1 and the free upgrade to Win 10 when it comes out.
Any reason why I should use older software instead of getting something that wont be outdated in a few years?

 

[Robert Boyd]

The "interface" is annoying. It is made for touch screen. It takes some getting
use to. Be prepared to google and youtube for answers to functions.

 

[HIGHSPEEDGRAPHIX]

stay away from win 8+

i wouldn't call 7 outdated at this point...... the issues you will have is with your printer/driver and software/RIP that may have issues with communication from updates and things of that nature are not resolved as fast from the of the printer/software manufacturer. your pc buddy doesnt have knowledge and experience using the equipment and software we are using.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

It does take some getting used to. It took me about 2 days of playing with my Cintiq tablet to get to where I'm comfortable with it.

There could have been somethings that they could have done differently or better (aren't there always), but all in all, it really isn't a bad OS.

I think most of the problem stems from it being a radical change from Win 7 and earlier OSs and I think that got a lot of people.

It just depends on how quickly you accept change and if you have any legacy software that you are worried about as well.

 

[Phil Swanson]

The "interface" is annoying. It is made for touch screen. It takes some getting
use to. Be prepared to google and youtube for answers to functions.

There is a fix for the "touch screen" home page. 8.1 is much better for that issue and now u can buy a software fix so it looks just like 7.

I would be concerned about it not interfacing with Flexi 10 correctly.
Win 7 is still being offered for some computers but I was thinking that being able to upgrade to win 10 might be a good idea.......MAYBE NOT?

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

Don't even bother paying for software to make it look/behave like Windows 7.

Use ClassicShell (http://www.classicshell.net/) and it works like a dream for free.
There are even Win7 icons floating about to make it look exactly the same.

 

[Techman]

get the 10 version and a hard drive,, and test it.. I think you will be happy with 10

 

[Phil Swanson]

get the 10 version and a hard drive,, and test it.. I think you will be happy with 10

Good idea. Thanks for that info. Actually my wife is running 8.1... I think I will switch computers with her and try the 8.1.
I'm in no hurry. I am still running XP! XP is still working ok but with my update to Flexi 10 it is a little slow.

 

[BrianKE]

I have been using Windows 8.1 for over a year with Flexi 10 with no issues whatsoever. Best thing I ever did was upgrade to a SSD drive when I upgraded. Super fast start times of about 3-4 seconds for a complete reboot. Flexi 10 is up and running in about 5 seconds.

The interface is the biggest issue people have. The OS itself is much more stable and secure than Windows 7 in my experience and according to my friend who is an IT manager for a company of about 50, all using Windows 8.1.

There is a Start menu on Windows 8.1, albeit slightly different than previous versions of Windows. You have an entire screen of Start menu rather than the pop-up window.

As for the upgrade to Windows 10, you can get the free upgrade with both Windows 7 & 8.x versions but only for Full Retail versions (not corporate accounts).

 

[chester215]

I would be wary of upgrading if you are using older versions of print/cut programs such as flexi.
If you upgrade your OS you may also need to upgrade other programs as well.

 

[SightLine]

For me the question would be any reason TO use 8.1? As long as you keep Windows 7 updated (just as you should with any version) there are really no problems with security. Windows 7 is so mature that stability is not an issue. Windows 7 also gets the free upgrade to Windows 10, not just retail either. OEM also gets the notifications. The one exception is when the Windows 7 computer is joined to a domain. Domain joined computers currently do not get the free Windows 10 upgrade notice. This is by design as most large corporations do not want literally thousands of desktop end users suddenly trying to upgrade their systems - that would be an absolute IT nightmare. For corporate deployments its much better for an IT admin to download something like that once and then deploy it through many of the Windows domain tools. Same with Windows Updates in large networks - you don't want several thousand desktops all suddenly trying to independently download some new critical updates all at once. That is where WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) comes into play. WSUS downloads the updates and then it deploys them to the desktops per a schedule that the admin sets.

Aside from that I personally see Windows 8.x as a huge public beta test of the "new" Windows OS. Also much like Windows Vista - most large corporates never deployed Vista. They went directly from Windows 2000 to Windows 7. Vista was the poorly designed buggy predecessor to Windows 7 and was pretty short lived. It was basically a huge public beta to see what was good and bad about the "new" Windows OS of the time. That ultimately became Windows 7 and the core of Vista is what Windows 7 was built on. Windows 8.x is the very poorly designed predecessor to windows 10 that pretty much all big corporations are also skipping over. Its the "new" Windows OS and the core of what Windows 10 is with all the worst of the usability and functionality flaws stripped out. Most will also wait until the first service pack for Windows 10 before rolling it out which will squash most of the initial bugs in 10 and also give the IT admins and help desk staff plenty of time to test and qualify all of their line of business applications for full compatibility and to develop their new network management methods that will be needed to properly support the new OS.

I'm pretty sure that, like Windows 7 was, Windows 10 will ultimately become the new "standard" for a good number of years. As far as domain joined computers getting the free upgrade I have looked into it quite a bit. So far Microsoft has been pretty vague about that scenario and what they have pretty much said so far is that enterprise customers with active Software Assurance volume licensing agreements will have a method for getting desktops upgraded to Windows 10. Other information from Microsoft has said there are a couple of other options for domain joined computers. One thing said that domain joined computers will be able to manually get the free upgrade while another method (not terrible if you don't have a lot of them) is to temporarily remove the computer from the domain (change it to just a workgroup) and then run the Windows updates that trigger the upgrade icon, register for the upgrade, and then re-join the computer to the domain.

I have our network up here at our shop setup as a Windows Server AD domain (we run our own exchange server and whatnot) so its going to be a manual process for me as well with about 15 desktops to upgrade when the time comes... I'm already testing it on one machine now and will be checking things like drivers for our Mimaki, FlexiSign, and other applications we run prior to any sort of full scale deployment.

 

[lgroth]

I've been using 8.0 here at work for some time and haven't really had many issues other than obtaining updated software and drivers when it was first updated, was still fairly new at the time. At home is another story, I got me a spanky new laptop that came with 8.1 pre-installed and I do some work from home as well. First problem is connectivity, wireless sucks, keeps dropping connection, it's an 8.1 problem that Microsoft is aware of but has done nothing about. Another issue I have with it is some fonts are problematic or are not recognized, and after one of the Windows "updates" my font tool in all Adobe CS6 programs would lock the machine... Had to go through manually uninstalling them one by one till I found the one that caused the issue, block the update and reinstall the rest. I'm fairly satisfied with 8.0, but the issues I've encountered with 8.1 have me wanting to scrap it. Plus with 10 on the way support is almost non existent especially as far as the connectivity issues are concerned. Win 7 is a workhorse, they had most of the bugs out by the time they released 8 which is pretty stable as long as all your drivers and software are compatible, but 8.1 has flaws that make it not so desirable for business use, especially this business with the connection and font issues....

 

[JoeBoomer]

I have been using Windows 8.1 for over a year with Flexi 10 with no issues whatsoever. Best thing I ever did was upgrade to a SSD drive when I upgraded. Super fast start times of about 3-4 seconds for a complete reboot. Flexi 10 is up and running in about 5 seconds.

The interface is the biggest issue people have. The OS itself is much more stable and secure than Windows 7 in my experience and according to my friend who is an IT manager for a company of about 50, all using Windows 8.1.

There is a Start menu on Windows 8.1, albeit slightly different than previous versions of Windows. You have an entire screen of Start menu rather than the pop-up window.

As for the upgrade to Windows 10, you can get the free upgrade with both Windows 7 & 8.x versions but only for Full Retail versions (not corporate accounts).

Windows 7 is definitely not outdated. Windows 8 sucks. The fact that they are already toting Windows 10 upgrades is evidence of how horrible Windows 8 is. This is usually the point that I start raving about Mac OSX, but I'll leave that alone. (Although mac OS is truly the best

Windows 8 really does suck though. It's a platform designed for autistic children and people with learning disabilities. It looks great on a LeapFrog tablet, but it is outrageous to think it is useful for a desktop pc without a touch screen. Windows 7 will upgrade for free to Windows 10.


Putting a SSD into your computer is in fact THE BEST upgrade you can make to a computer. Period.