Gaming on Windows 8

[Blade3dge]

So recently I bought myself a new laptop as a somewhat portable gaming rig, I got it at a fantastic price because they were clearing out all their old Windows 7 laptops for the release of Windows 8, naturally I was pretty exited at getting what I believe to be a better operating system for a discount.

Anyway long story short a month or so has passed and the laptop has been nothing but trouble, clearly I got one of the faulty ones so the other day we took it back to the store we bought it from and as a sign of fantastic customer service rather than a repair (which is the standard for such an expensive laptop) they offered to replace it with the exact same model, one problem though, the new laptop would be running Windows 8.

Now I was also offered the option of repair but I know how these things go and if one thing is wrong with the laptop chances are something else will be wrong so that option is out, plus I'm after a resolution sooner rather than later and a repair could take 4-6 weeks.

So I come to you to ask how Windows 8 performs in comparison to Windows 7 especially with regards to gaming? My limited experience with Windows 8 interface makes me think of it as a downgrade, I hate the interface and want no part of it, but at the end of the day if I can use all my gaming programs and word processing it shouldn't be an issue. So what do you think, should I take the "upgrade"?

PS: Wow, my captcha for this post was "no way" talk being sent signs :/

 

[SnowyGamester]

I paid for Windows 8 to put on my gaming PC (and not on a whim, I tried the preview and everything), so it's a yes from me. Other than a different start menu everything else is an indisputable upgrade, and I personally prefer the new start UI anyway. It is a little different, but what is in many ways a normal start menu is but 2 clicks away, with the first screen of the new UI essentially functioning as a large quick launch. It's all completely customizable in that you can still delete any shortcuts from the full apps list and put whatever you want on the start screen...looking at it as it comes by default I can understand how it would be easy to decry, but cleaning it up is as simple as right click->unpin or right click->uninstall for every bit of guff on there (I personally don't use a single 'Metro' app, though I'm kind of hoping for a working ticker for Gmail and Google Reader unread messages to be released).

It's also in my experience by far the most stable new release Microsoft has ever done (not to say it's perfect, but it's more-or-less on par with 7 in it's current state)...I think they're finally getting their shit together in that sense.

 

[Total LOLige]

I'd say go for it, I upgraded from 7 to 8 and I'm delighted with it. It's a much quicker OS, don't believe the negative comments it has been getting they're from people that have never used it because anyone that has can see it's great. The new start menu does take a little getting used though.

 

[Andrew_C]

After extensively testing Windows 8, I personally won't upgrade from 7, but I wouldn't turn down a new computer with it on. Apart from the missteps of Metro and the Start Screen, Windows 8 has many under the hood improvements that make it a worthwhile OS.

You can easily avoid the Start Screen and Metro by installing one of several programs like Classic Shell [http://www.classicshell.net/] which can make Windows 8 look and feel like Windows 7, XP or even Win2k. And you don't actually need to create a Windows Live account (or whatever they are calling it these days) to use Windows 8, you can still create a standard user account not linked to Microsoft services.

Any game that works on Win 7 should work on Win 8.

 

[thesilentman]

snip

I see no issue. Like the other posters have said, all in all it's just another brick in the wall it's just Windows 7 with a wonky interface that stays on there for about 5 seconds if you know what you're doing. Steam and my games work really well back when I had the Release Preview (actually, still do; I'm upgrading to Pro tonight), and I see no harm in turning down Windows 8 over Metro alone. Just install Classic Shell, like [user]Andrew_C[/user] said, and you'll be good.