Windows 8

[5280]

Did anybody purchase Windows 8 on release day?  How does it compare to Windows 7, what do you like about it and not like?

[John Dibble]

I didn't, but I work in my company's tech department so I hear a lot about it. I'm skeptical based on everything I've heard about it. The primary problem I hear is that it is built for tablets and as such isn't very good for people wanting to use it for PCs in terms of interfacing with it. There's no start menu for instance. The prevailing opinion in the office is that Windows 7 will be the new Windows XP in terms of the PC market, especially in the business and IT world, though Windows 8 will likely have more success than Vista did because it can be used on tablets.

[Frodo]

I didn't, but I work in my company's tech department so I hear a lot about it. I'm skeptical based on everything I've heard about it. The primary problem I hear is that it is built for tablets and as such isn't very good for people wanting to use it for PCs in terms of interfacing with it. There's no start menu for instance. The prevailing opinion in the office is that Windows 7 will be the new Windows XP in terms of the PC market, especially in the business and IT world, though Windows 8 will likely have more success than Vista did because it can be used on tablets.

So it's safe to say that one is not going to replace the other as had been the case in the past with prior Windows operating systems, but rather that Windows 7 is going to co-exist with Windows 8, each catering to different products (Windows 7 for PCs and laptops; Windows 8 for tablets).

It's a brave new world out there...  

[Simfan34]

So will Windows 9 return to the old style or shall be forced to accept the Apple-esque imposition? I hope not.

[Insula Dei]

Yeah, it looks awful.

[Oakvale]

I'll stick with Apple for elegant, stylish interfaces and keep using boring old Windows 7 for grunt work, I think.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

Did anybody purchase Windows 8 on release day?  How does it compare to Windows 7, what do you like about it and not like?

I don't use Windows 8 (which is really Windows 6.2, by the way), and from what I have seen, I don't like it. I'm still happy with Windows XP (and, sometimes, Windows Vista).

I know people prefer Windows 7 (really 6.1) to Vista, but I don't, although I prefer XP to all later releases. Go figure....