My thoughts on Windows 8, and why I went back to Windows 7...

[JonathanYoung]

JonathanYoung:Update on Unreal Tournament, finally installed it with 436 patch,did not try the unofficial 451 patch anyway was running ok so no issues even in MP,all I did was not install DX7 from game CD(too old) ,don't use XP compatibility mode either,run as admin is fine.


Quite surprised to see a lot of UT servers still running(more with 451 version however).Btw mine was "Game of the Year Version".


Hope this helps.

Mem, thanks for this. It confirms that the issue was with the NVIDIA drivers (or the card, 8800GT), not Windows 8. I, too, installed GOTY edition with the 436 patch and no matter how much I messed with the settings (NVIDIA's and UT's), my FPS was stuck at ~25.

Now that I'm back on Windows 7 it runs at a constant 60FPS and I'm happy.

 

[JonathanYoung]

Also, just want to say thanks to everyone for all your comments. I'm very gratified to see my post spark such a lively discussion!

At the end of the day Windows 8 is a decent OS but it just didn't work for me, which does not necessarily mean Windows 8 is a bad product. For $14.99 or whatever it was, it's worth it just to get it and mess around with it if you're on the fence and have a spare system to test it on.

 

[Mem]

Mem, thanks for this. It confirms that the issue was with the NVIDIA drivers (or the card, 8800GT), not Windows 8. I, too, installed GOTY edition with the 436 patch and no matter how much I messed with the settings (NVIDIA's and UT's), my FPS was stuck at ~25.

Now that I'm back on Windows 7 it runs at a constant 60FPS and I'm happy.

I forgot to say using latest Nvidia drivers(official) with my 560Ti card and Asus Xonar DX sound card,not found a game yet that does not run on my PC,even oldies like BG,Icewind Dale, KOTOR,KOTOR2 have no issues etc...

Anyway YW.

 

[Griffinhart]

Windows 8 needs start8 to be functional.

Windows 8 needs 8GadgetPack to tell me the weather.

Windows 8 needs to have the defaults shifted away from those stupid metro apps.

I had to do a lot of this to make Windows 8 workable as a desktop OS for me.

It's not that I couldn't use the start screen or figure it out, I just found it to jarring and less useful. I'm one of those people that will forget the first 3 digits of a phone number as someone is telling me the 4th digit. I often do a start search based on what I am reading on the screen at the time, so a start screen that does not let me actually see running applications at the same time is a problem.

Start8 is a must for me. I also found the start screen to be an ugly mess. I don't want to see every installed application at once. We got rid of that nonsense when we stopped using windows 3.1.

I also can't live without my desktop gadgets. I keep the weather, server ping, clock and calendar gadgets up on my second monitor so I can quickly glance at them when I need to without having to obscure what I am currently working on. I was thrilled to find 8gadgetpack.

I also had to tweak the registry to change the border size of all the windows.

I just wish there was a way to get the window shadows back. Inactive windows blend in too easily without it. I also miss the window transparency, though that was more of an aesthetics thing than anything else.

Fortunately, I was able to fix a number of issues I was having with 8. I had to restore my install and re-patch to fix my backup issues with WHS. My employer's firewall was finally updated to allow me to use Win8 to VPN in.

I just have one really annoying issue still. Planetside 2 refuses to run with a joystick plugged in under windows 8.

I don't have a problem with Windows 8 itself, my problem is the Metro UI. On a desktop PC I find it to be terrible. There isn't a single metro app I care to use on my desktop. The mail app, for example, is simply terrible. Any real productivity apps aren't useful to me on a multi-monitor rig (two 27" displays) if they can only run full screen.

In the end, I shouldn't have to work around the limitations of an OS to get stuff done.

 

[WilliamM2]

I'm back to Win7. Media center is just plain broken. Won't recognize TV tuners (I've tried 2 different ones). They install drivers, etc but Win 8 doesn't know what to do with them. There were some good features and improvements but I need media center to work. Maybe MS will get it sorted out.

With mine, WMC recognizes the tuner fine, but finds no channels on a scan. I have to enter them all manually. And half the time when I launch MC, I get a message "Files needed to display video are not installed or are not working correctly. Restart Windows Media Center or restart the computer." Sometimes it will do this in the middle of watching TV.

MC was free with Win 7, now you get to pay for it, and it doesn't work correctly. Nice.

 

[biostud]

I had no problems with finding tv tuners or channels in WMC, but I use DVB-viewer as it's a far better program IMO.

 

[spdfreak]

in my case, it found the tuners and channels- the channels even show good signal strength but it won't play live tv or record. Something is broke in between finding the channels and displaying them.

 

[spar3308]

The Windows 8 proves how Steve Ballmer is stupid.

 

[Maximilian]

The Windows 8 proves how Steve Ballmer is stupid.

Strong 1st post, :thumbsup: