I have Windows Vista. Should I upgrade to Windows 8?


Recommended Posts

get windows 7, windows 8 feels like a beta os at the moment, yes its fast to start up but if you have a traditional device - laptop/desktop its not really built for you. its more for those fancy laptops you see on tv which turn into ipad like devices

Its only fast to startup because it never really shutdown in the first place

Disable fast boot and it takes the same length of time as 7

yes, disable something 7 doesn't have and it's just like 7...

that's sound thinking there

Do you actually know how fast boot works? Obviously not.

If 8 truly was faster than 7 at booting, you wouldn't be able to disable it, do some research.

I have been using Windows 8 on my Acer laptop for several months now, and I find that like many others, Windows 8 Irritates the hell out of me. If you do more than email or surf the web on your PC, stay far away from Windows 8.

Check out this thread on Reddit for more opinions on Windows 8.

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/15rtbr/windows_8_proving_less_popular_than_vista/

At least 40 million people are using windows 8 now, so you can either trust the general population, or some fanboys on websites and blogs.

40 Million? No, I do not think so lol, source?

reasons to stick with vista:

  • you have old hardware that will never work on windows 8

Except that the specs quoted originally are more than sufficient to run Windows 8.

I have a core2duo with 2GB ram and some intel onboard graphics and it ran Windows 7 fine. It also runs Windows 8 with no hassle at all.

Just for fun I installed Vista SP2 in VMWare,

I set everything identically network wise for Vista as I have for every other OS I install there

Every other OS has no issues with the net once I reach the desktop (Linux > Windows )

Vista however

Untitled.jpg

If you have dealt with Vista for three years, then, given your specs, run, don't walk, to the nearest Windows 8 upgrade.

I agree. 8 will probably run better on 2GB than Vista IMO. At very least go to 7.

Just for fun I installed Vista SP2 in VMWare,

I set everything identically network wise for Vista as I have for every other OS I install there

Every other OS has no issues with the net once I reach the desktop (Linux > Windows )

Vista however

Untitled.jpg

Burns my eyes that does, and brings back horrible, horrible memories, nightmares in fact.

Do you actually know how fast boot works? Obviously not.

If 8 truly was faster than 7 at booting, you wouldn't be able to disable it, do some research.

Yes. Do you?

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/08/delivering-fast-boot-times-in-windows-8.aspx

Did it even work in NAT mode?

Just changed that to NAT and I have a connection :) , never had to do that before, so something was changed in Vista networking somewhere ?

Erm, yea I do and I don't need a website to explain it...... :/

Obviously you didn't until you fumbled your way to that site, or you wouldn't have quoted me as you did earlier.... fail

My old Acer Aspire gemstone laptop

Windows XP ---> Vista ----> 7 ----> Now Windows 8 Pro

Although no specific driver for Windows 8, it works wonderfully with windows 7 driver and is blazing fast compared to vista and 7...thanks to Windows Store, this laptop is still capable of getting cool apps and games every day

My old Acer Aspire gemstone laptop

Windows XP ---> Vista ----> 7 ----> Now Windows 8 Pro

Although no specific driver for Windows 8, it works wonderfully with windows 7 driver and is blazing fast compared to vista and 7...thanks to Windows Store, this laptop is still capable of getting cool apps and games every day

Similar story with my laptop

Vista Basic with Ultimate crapware > 7 Pre release > 7 > 8

Laptop was crippled with Vista, every update since then has been fine

Licenses =\= people using it right now. You're a fool if you believe 40 million people are using Windows 8 right now.

As for the question, it's a hard one. You're basically trying to select between 2 abominations, I would probably go 8 just for the fact you can hack it to make it a bit better.

Just changed that to NAT and I have a connection :) , never had to do that before, so something was changed in Vista networking somewhere ?

Some Hypervisors require that, as the virtual adapter might not be entirely compatible with vista or xp. Does Vmware workstation let you install a "legacy network adapter"??? that might help with the bridged networking.

NAT sometimes overcomes those issues.

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

2 GB of RAM

Well my friend I have a Core 2 Duo T8300 (2.4 GHz) and upgrading to Windows 7 was blazing fast! Imagine you going to 8 which is slightly faster.

BTW, if you don't like the UI, just throw it a Start Menu hack and you're done.

Licenses =\= people using it right now. You're a fool if you believe 40 million people are using Windows 8 right now.

A Windows license is only sold when that computer with Windows 8 is activated. OEMs don't buy a bunch of licenses and hope to sell them one day,it doesn't work like that. When the computer is activated by the customer for the first time, that's when the license is sold and the OEM pays Microsoft.

And the only way bulk orders are counted is enterprise volume orders. So if people want to use that excuse, then it completely contradicts what they were saying about enterprise not wanting anything to do with windows 8.

But keep reading meaningless stats from some research groups that use some web hits or some other obscure method to calculate users, instead of using readily available real hard facts, and staying in denial.

Some Hypervisors require that, as the virtual adapter might not be entirely compatible with vista or xp. Does Vmware workstation let you install a "legacy network adapter"??? that might help with the bridged networking.

NAT sometimes overcomes those issues.

I`ll check properly tomorrow, right now I'm waiting for my pizza to cook and hoping I don't fall asleep with the oven on

Do me a favour and give me a Cat Slap to wake me up ;)

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • U.S. partially reverses Anthropic AI ban for Mythos but keeps Fable 5 off the market by Karthik Mudaliar Anthropic says that the U.S. government has finally allowed it to restore Claude Mythos 5. But of course, there's a catch. The rollout is again for a limited set of U.S. organizations that operate and defend critical infrastructure. The company announced this in a post on X (formerly Twitter). This does not mean that Anthropic's latest frontier models are back to normal availability. Fable 5, which was a tuned version of Mythos 5 for public release, remains unavailable. Anthropic said that it is still working with the government to expand Mythos 5 access and make Fable 5 available again, but there's no timeline. Reports from Bloomberg and Reuters say that this decision actually came through a letter from the U.S. Commerce Department. According to Reuters, this would allow more than 100 companies and institutions access to Mythos 5. Reuters also reported that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s letter removes the need for export licenses for approved companies’ non-US citizen employees, as well as Anthropic’s own non-US citizen employees, while restrictions remain for organizations outside the approved list. Anthropic isn't alone with this kind of controlled rollout. OpenAI's newest model family, GPT 5.6, was announced just yesterday, but isn't available for everyone yet. In its announcement, OpenAI also said that access to these models is initially limited to a select group of trusted partners and organizations, with broader access planned later this year. Both of these cases show that frontier AI launches are no longer just ordinary product releases and more like slow and vetted deployments shaped heavily by the U.S. government.
    • Sol, Terra, Luna - aren't those the names of failed crypto coins? 🤣🤣🤣
    • Microsoft Weekly: 5 years of Windows 11, more support for Windows 10, and expensive Xbox by Taras Buria This week's news recap is here, with Microsoft giving Windows 10 one more year of support, Windows 11 getting new taskbar settings in preview updates, Steam Machine prices, higher XBOX prices, and many more. Quick links: Windows 10 and 11 Windows Insider Program Updates are available Reviews are in Gaming news Great deals to check Windows 11 and Windows 10 Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions. On June 24, 2026, Windows 11 turned five. The controversial operating system was released half a decade ago, and during these years, it received a fair share of criticism (such as poor Windows Search and its web results), which Microsoft is now actively addressing with regular preview updates that deliver missing, long-requested features. With Windows 12 nowhere to be seen on the horizon, it will be interesting to see if Windows 11 can stay on the market for as long as Windows 10 did. Speaking of Windows 10 and staying on the market, this week, Microsoft quietly prolonged the Extended Security Updates program for Windows 10, allowing users to get one more year of security updates if they do not want or cannot upgrade to Windows 11. Finally, Microsoft released this month's non-security update for Windows 11. KB5095093 arrived with a traditionally long list of new features, including point-in-time restore, new Windows Update settings, quieter Windows Widgets, new accessibility features, File Explorer updates and performance improvements, and more. Windows Insider Program Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week: Builds Canary Channel Build 29617.1000 and build 28120.2374 These builds bring new accessibility features, new Windows Update controls, audio improvements, and more. Dev Channel Build 26300.8758 This build includes redesigned taskbar settings, File Explorer improvements, and more. Beta Channel Build 26220.8754 and build 28020.2366 This small update fixes the OneDrive bug in File Explorer, tweaks system sounds in dark mode, and more. Updates are available This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties. If you use AI-powered browsing history search in Microsoft Edge, the company has bad news. A new update on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap revealed that Microsoft is discontinuing the feature. Despite using on-device models for natural search, some users found it creepy, claiming that Microsoft lacks trust in features like this. While the ability to find pages without using 100% precise words may sound cool, customers argued that it was nothing but another feature to bloat the browser with more AI. Good riddance? PowerToys received several updates this week. For one, Microsoft released version 0.100.1 with several improvements and bug fixes for the recently arrived version 0.100. A couple of days later, Microsoft dropped another update, this time fixing memory leaks in Command Palette Dock. In addition, the company is working on a new module that will make it easier to switch between windows within one application using the Alt + ` shortcut. The new module should make it to the stable release somewhere soon. Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting: New Ventoy update adds Windows 11's mandatory update support and more Microsoft updates Visual Studio Code with chat cost tracking and multi-agent chats Microsoft is building an AI datacenter that "uses less water than a fast food restaurant" Microsoft adds new AI study and teaching tools for free to Microsoft 365 Education Researchers claim Microsoft's quantum breakthrough is flawed by basic Python errors Microsoft is bringing a much-needed Recap app to Teams Microsoft's fast coding model, MAI-Code-1-Flash, comes to Copilot Business and Enterprise Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week: AMD Radeon Software 26.6.2 with FSR 4.1 support for RDNA 3 graphics card. However, the driver contained a bug, which prevented installations on Windows 10 PCs. AMD fixed that with a quick hotfix update. Reviews are in Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week This week, Steven Parker published several reviews. He shared his experience with the Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe, a high-quality sound card with a headphone amp, low-latency communications, great build quality, and DSD256. However, it is on the pricier side of the spectrum, and it lacks EMI shielding. Check out the full review here. The second review is about the TerraMaster F4-425 Pro, an octa-core Intel NAS with a stand-out feature: built-in AI (OpenClaw). We also published a few Hands On reviews, which you can view below: We check out the SKG PS700 Neck Massager SKG Hand Massager with Heat OS500 hands on Hands-on with BOOX Tappy: cute little reading accessory Hands on with the ProtoArc EM25 affordable ergonomic mouse On the gaming side Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more. If you plan to purchase a new Xbox, it's time to act now. This week, Microsoft announced yet another Xbox price increase. Starting August 1, 2026, all Xbox Series X|S models with 512 GB of storage will cost $100 more. As for the 1TB models, they are going up in price by a whopping $150. Finally, Microsoft is discontinuing the 2TB Xbox Series X. To make up for that, Microsoft announced a few programs to make its consoles more accessible. Those include BNPL, interest-free financing, pre-owned consoles, certified refurbished consoles, and more. Valve also shared some not-so-welcome news. The company has finally announced prices of the upcoming Steam Machine console, and if you plan to buy one, get ready to spend a whopping $1,049 on the 512GB configuration. The Steam Machine is now available for preorder, with shipments scheduled for June 29, 2026. Grand Theft Auto VI also received its official price tag. Rockstar Games announced that the long-anticipated game will launch at $79.99 for the base edition and $99.99 for the ultimate edition. The latter includes an exclusive collection of premium vehicles, weapons, apparel, and action threaded across all aspects of Jason and Lucia’s story." Those who preorder the game will get extra bonuses, including a Vintage Vice City Pack of cosmetic items as well as a free month of GTA+. NVIDIA announced new games for its GeForce NOW streaming service. Those include Dark Scrolls, SAND: Raiders of Sophie, Deer & Boy, EMPULSE, and more. Steam is running its annual Summer Sale, during which you can purchase plenty of various games with big discounts. It runs until July 9, so in case you missed it, you can still get some games at a lower price. Also, you can get two games for free in the Epic Games Store, plus more deals are available in this week's Weekend PC Game Deals issue. This link will take you to other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing for extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option.
    • Text extractor hasn't been working great on 0.99.1 but I am now updating to this version, hopefully it's better!
    • Yet you did exactly what they wanted you to do - is it better now without "Europrats"? BTW, UK had joined EU (EEC back then) and was one of the leading member states, it never joined Schengen Zone though 😉
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Woland13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Woland13 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      bernmeister earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      502
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      226
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      156
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      75
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!