game pc: stick with win 7 or go to win 10 ?

[sweenish]

There are alternatives to Windows Media Centre, VLC works fine on Win10.
I guess the real question is what you want to actually do with Media Centre?

Personally I thought lack of Media Centre would be an issue for me, but not the case.
As to AMD drivers if you are talking about video drivers then they have been fine with my AMD 280x card in ALL my games on 10.

You're thinking of Player. WMC is for those with TV tuner cards more than anything else.

 

[Markbnj]

There are alternatives to Windows Media Centre, VLC works fine on Win10.
I guess the real question is what you want to actually do with Media Centre?

I just used it for Netflix, but for that use it was perfect when combined with my still-functioning 2005 Firefly remote. I still haven't found the perfect replacement for watching Netflix/Prime/etc. on my PC.

 

[balloonshark]

Also, if you have older games with Securom or SafeDisc they won't run on 10.

http://www.windowscentral.com/windows-10-wont-run-games-safedisc-or-securom-drm

They may have also patched this is later versions of Windows but at least the update can be uninstalled if you absolutely need the game and can't find a workaround.

 

[DigDog]

W7 ftw.

 

[SPBHM]

I don't feel like you lose anything by upgrading to 10, and you gain some stuff that is going to be relevant soon (DX12, actually some interesting games like Forza 6 Apex and Quantum Break already require windows 10), and stuff that affects gaming now like better windowed mode support

the free upgrade offer will be over soon, I don't see the point of staying with 7...

 

[you2]

As I said I would use it with hd-homerun prime. That is a cable receiver using a cable card. vlc is fine for content that is not drm'ed (most channel); however wmc is required for drm content (hbo for example).

There are alternatives to Windows Media Centre, VLC works fine on Win10.
I guess the real question is what you want to actually do with Media Centre?

Personally I thought lack of Media Centre would be an issue for me, but not the case.
As to AMD drivers if you are talking about video drivers then they have been fine with my AMD 280x card in ALL my games on 10.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Except the new i7 6700 removes features, adds bloat, loses the ability to disable updates, spies on you, tries to sell you stuff, comes with ads, etc.

Haha...ok. Next you'll be telling us aliens are scanning our brain.

 

[cmdrdredd]

If you want you can remove a driver or update but you have a download a separate tool to keep them from installing again.


What do you mean Win10 is not trying to sell you anything? Win10 has an app store, games, programs, music and a music service, movies, cloud storage, etc.

First your claim about driver updates not being disabled is bogus. I told it not to update drivers and it hasn't not once since I installed it.

What does an app store and optional services have to do with trying to sell you something? These all existed previously as well. Your phone even has all these services, I guess Google and Apple are trying to sell you stuff too now right? Man what a childish reason not to use Windows 10, there are optional things that aren't free.

 

[escrow4]

Is it 2009? No? Then why are you using an old tired OS? Win 7:

- Has no native USB 3 support built in
- Doesn't have as much support for UEFI/GPT as 10 (or 8.1)
- Doesn't have the new WDDM (if your GPU supports it)
- Doesn't have the extra kernel security bits baked in as does 8.1/10 (ASRL, heap etc)
- Is security updates only, no extra features no nothing
- Doubtful you'll squeeze as much performance out of it with drivers as you will 10

So, why?

 

[ImpulsE69]

^^ all of that is useless bunk in comparison.

Windows 7 until MS quits making OS's. It will be another 4-5 years before the mass game companies abandon support completely. Only the exclusives that MS manages to completely botch and a handful of others will require Win 10.

 

[escrow4]

^^ all of that is useless bunk in comparison.

Windows 7 until MS quits making OS's. It will be another 4-5 years before the mass game companies abandon support completely. Only the exclusives that MS manages to completely botch and a handful of others will require Win 10.

Comparison to what? A 6yr old OS that is obsolete?

 

[ImpulsE69]

Obsolete how? Because you want it to be? Funny, I run everything I want....can't say that for Win 10 (yet).

I'm not saying I'll never go to 10, but to put it in your terms is a little alarmist. It isn't obsolete or outdated anymore than these forums and their members.

 

[BSim500]

Comparison to what? A 6yr old OS that is obsolete?

"Obsolete". LOL. OS usage stats as of the past week (Now you know why MS pushiness is in overdrive):-
http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-daily-20160504-20160510-bar

As far as gaming is concerned, there's only one "golden rule" - Use what you feel comfortable with (and what actually runs all your games - the core purpose of any OS). Anything else is the same over-pushiness that puts a lot of people off of Windows 10 adoption in the first place. A lot of people seem to be struggling to remember what the "P" in "PC" stands for... :thumbsdown:

 

[Mem]

You're thinking of Player. WMC is for those with TV tuner cards more than anything else.

Actually I was thinking about those that use it for TV etc, some alternatives here for WMC, http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-alternatives-windows-media-center-windows-10/ .

 

[you2]

Thanks for the link. None of the open source stuff support cable drm (to comment on other types of drm would be against the policy of anandtech). I had one paid product but shortly after buying it they ceased to update keys ($50 down the drain).

Actually I was thinking about those that use it for TV etc, some alternatives here for WMC, http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-alternatives-windows-media-center-windows-10/ .

 

[bystander36]

"Obsolete". LOL. OS usage stats as of the past week (Now you know why MS pushiness is in overdrive):-
http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-daily-20160504-20160510-bar

As far as gaming is concerned, there's only one "golden rule" - Use what you feel comfortable with (and what actually runs all your games - the core purpose of any OS). Anything else is the same over-pushiness that puts a lot of people off of Windows 10 adoption in the first place. A lot of people seem to be struggling to remember what the "P" in "PC" stands for... :thumbsdown:

Since we are talking about PC's, you should filter out the mobile, tablets and consoles. http://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop-os-ww-daily-20160504-20160510-bar

 

[TeknoBug]

Most games run fine on Win 7, but some games (mostly modern games) gets a fairly decent performance gain with Win 10 with increased overall FPS, especially Battlefield 4, GTA V, Planetside 2, etc. For a pure gaming PC yes Win 10 is worth it, for daily task/work PC then it's Win 7 (pro preferably) or if you're like me, Linux.

 

[DigDog]

- Has no native USB 3 support built in
- Doesn't have as much support for UEFI/GPT as 10 (or 8.1)
- Doesn't have the new WDDM (if your GPU supports it)
- Doesn't have the extra kernel security bits baked in as does 8.1/10 (ASRL, heap etc)
- Is security updates only, no extra features no nothing
- Doubtful you'll squeeze as much performance out of it with drivers as you will 10

So, why?

my Nv driver is 350.12 because i like my mouse to respond properly.

W7 MarkC mousefixes etc.

several networking mods to lower latency, raise priority.

disable and remove a huge chunks of services alltogether, + BlackViper's services mod.

security because? i have no bloat, no loggers, no trojans, clean system as you can get. Avast, GMER, CC, MBAM agree.

I AM THE ADMINISTRATOR. do you understand, windows? I AM THE ONE WHO ADMINISTERS.

W7 Unlocker works.

W7 Soundswitch.

USB3 works fine.

HUGE mouse lag under W8.1 reminded me who M$ really is and what they can do.

W10 system updates lol.

W10 forced upgrade lol.

W10 spyware lol.

do i need to go on?
When i used to run XP, there was a world of difference between SP1 and SP2; SP1 was snappy, SP2 was sluggish, noticeably. i spent god knows how much time to tweak my SP1 with just the bits of code i needed from SP2, and i have done the same for my W7.

I did a clean install (full format) of W8.1, and i kept it for exactly one game of BLR of time (10 minutes). As soon as i tried moving the mouse ingame i uninstalled it and re-installed 7.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=8.....69i57j0l5.3380j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

i'm sure i could survive with W10, but do i really want to spend a month or more with reduced functionality, as i have to re-clean my OS, re-patch all my OS mods, and spend more time finding an alternative for the mods that do not work, just so that you can be happy?

i have ZERO reasons to move to W10 and several not to. "slightly better at some multithreading" is not something i find appealing, and from experience your description of "works really well" probably translates to "completely broken" in my language.

security scares are a joke. i have downloaded exactly .. wait, let me count ... zero windows updates since 2010. i do a deep scan twice a year and haven't done it yet because it always turns out 0 hits - Avast takes care of everything else (not that i have seen anything suspicious).

The new direction M$ is headed in, is garbage. Garbage UI, garbage Admin settings, and they still can't get a decent audio management panel where i decide how to route the sound coming from the applications, explorer still locks your files until you restart, you still get "you need permission" messages, and on top of all this is a MOUNTAIN of bloat and garbage.

It's like, i bought a car in 2013, spent 3 years kitting it out, turbos, carbon fiber, bling, and you're telling me to buy the 2016 model because it's got 5hp more.

 

[mnewsham]

Most games run fine on Win 7, but some games (mostly modern games) gets a fairly decent performance gain with Win 10 with increased overall FPS, especially Battlefield 4, GTA V, Planetside 2, etc. For a pure gaming PC yes Win 10 is worth it, for daily task/work PC then it's Win 7 (pro preferably) or if you're like me, Linux.

Or you dual boot with OpenBSD and W10.

 

[Mem]

Thanks for the link. None of the open source stuff support cable drm (to comment on other types of drm would be against the policy of anandtech). I had one paid product but shortly after buying it they ceased to update keys ($50 down the drain).

I think those that need DRM are most effected by lack of WMC, however there are work a rounds to get WMC working with DRM on Win10, you just need to use a good search engine.

Side Note: You would think more software companies would jump on the chance to correct the lack of WMC in Win10.

 

[TeknoBug]

Or you dual boot with OpenBSD and W10.

I prefer NetBSD over OpenBSD, I personally know Theo de Readt and eh I don't have many nice things to say about him.

 

[mnewsham]

I prefer NetBSD over OpenBSD, I personally know Theo de Readt and eh I don't have many nice things to say about him.

Isn't Theo a founding member of NetBSD too...?

I've only been getting into Unix-like OS's for a few months so I don't have too much experience, more just a hobby at the moment.

 

[TeknoBug]

Isn't Theo a founding member of NetBSD too...?

I've only been getting into Unix-like OS's for a few months so I don't have too much experience, more just a hobby at the moment.

Yes but he was booted off for being an assmunch (long story), I was part of the NetBSD supporting dev team back in the 90's for a short while before jumping on the Debian wagon but haven't use NetBSD for quite some time but it's high time I start using NetBSD 7.

But let's try and go back to teh topic. lol

 

[PrincessFrosty]

It's largely the same except it has better future proofing with hardware/drivers and a few extra features. There's not really any gaming draw backs ,most of the games that work fine on 7 will work on 10, at the very core these are extremely similar OS's

The only issue I'd recommedn you address is windows 10 spying features, install a firewall (can be a free one like tinywall) and block outgoing traffic, add any exe's that need net access to an exception list. Otherwise loads of metrics and telemetry on your behaviour is going to MS.

 

[escrow4]

my Nv driver is 350.12 because i like my mouse to respond properly.

W7 MarkC mousefixes etc.

several networking mods to lower latency, raise priority.

disable and remove a huge chunks of services alltogether, + BlackViper's services mod.

security because? i have no bloat, no loggers, no trojans, clean system as you can get. Avast, GMER, CC, MBAM agree.

I AM THE ADMINISTRATOR. do you understand, windows? I AM THE ONE WHO ADMINISTERS.

W7 Unlocker works.

W7 Soundswitch.

USB3 works fine.

HUGE mouse lag under W8.1 reminded me who M$ really is and what they can do.

W10 system updates lol.

W10 forced upgrade lol.

W10 spyware lol.

do i need to go on?
When i used to run XP, there was a world of difference between SP1 and SP2; SP1 was snappy, SP2 was sluggish, noticeably. i spent god knows how much time to tweak my SP1 with just the bits of code i needed from SP2, and i have done the same for my W7.

I did a clean install (full format) of W8.1, and i kept it for exactly one game of BLR of time (10 minutes). As soon as i tried moving the mouse ingame i uninstalled it and re-installed 7.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=8.....69i57j0l5.3380j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

<snip>

It's like, i bought a car in 2013, spent 3 years kitting it out, turbos, carbon fiber, bling, and you're telling me to buy the 2016 model because it's got 5hp more.

Its not 2005 anymore. Installing patches and fiddling with tweaks is just as obsolete as 7. The same for the all rest. Spyware this and forced upgrade that. 7 is dead in the water. Its old, its in extended support only. The rest of that rant are non-issues.