One of my friends has Windows 8, not really a problem other than the metro key.

Friend of mine has a W8 laptop and I didn't care for the interface. The interface seemed to cater more to touch screen things and I've never been a fan of those. Would probably get used to it after awhile but that probably isn't too important to you.

http://usabilitygeek.com/windows-8-vs-windows-7-speed-and-performance-testing/

Looks like it is slightly faster overall but I've heard the difference becomes negligible if you have a SSD.

I use windows 8 on my desktop. I had to get a start menu replacement because the metroUI is an abomination. Once I did that it works great, it's just like windows 7 with a different skin. That being said, there isn't really an advantage to using it over windows 7 other than some better support for newer technology such as UEFI and native USB 3.0 support. I'd probably say stick with Windows 7, unless you can find 8 for 30 bucks again, just because it's more stable.

if 8 is cheaper go for it but you're gonna have to mess around with a lot of shit because microsoft is gay.

W7 is easier to use and i like it better and when i build my computer i'm def. not getting 8 but it depends on which is cheaper for your budget.

just don't get linux *cringe*

if you can find a cheap version of windows 8, get it.

once you get it, just download Classic Shell (which gives you back your start menu) and you basically have a really fast version of windows 7 with a bunch of cool new shit

Yeah they both seem to be around $100, I'll probably hold off and see if they have another $15 deal or something

have windows 8, hated it in the begining, after some time I started to like to more and more and you learn some cool features like right click in the lower left corner and is starts really fast.

That being said skype on win 8 is the most retarded thing ever

download skype for desktop, dunder

windows 8 is windows 7 with extra features and some small performance improvements. The metro UI isn't actually bad, people are just big dumb babies who don't like new things.

The new start menu is sorta silly but its not that big of an issue. 8 works fine otherwise and there is no legitimate reason to avoid it.

Except for a bunch of games and hardware not being compatible. Some of my logitech mice don't have drivers for windows 8 and will not be supported.

Except if I have Windows 7 so the performance improvements are not significant enough to upgrade.

Windows 8 has a very poorly designed UI which basically requires more work to accomplish the same outcome compared to windows 7. For example if you want to close a program in windows 7 you simply press the "x", while in windows 8 you have to click your mouse on the top part of the program and drag it to the bottom of the screen.

You also will find that multitasking is far less fluid on windows 8 since its a touchscreen UI ported to a desktop + and inferior metro UI when compared to windows 7.

The other issue is that they basically took the start menu and made it harder to access for no apparent reason.

this is accurate

what the hell are you even talking about. only the apps operate like that, and you don't even need to use those. programs operate the exact same as any other version of windows, or any operating system really.

also: 1) how does the touchscreen-based UI make multitasking harder? and 2) the new start screen is just as easy to access as the old one, it just looks different. and aside from that new start screen, w8 operates the exact same as w7 w/ some very minor aesthetic differences and some really cool other features like the quick access menu and the charm bar.

if the metroUI is really so terrible for you then just download ClassicShell or Fast8. gratz, you now have a faster windows 7 with a couple cool new, although entirely optional, features. most FUD that people spread about windows 8 is bandwagon-y and rarely accurate (see #14)

e: btw #14 if you interacted w/ a computer running windows 8 for more than 15 minutes and still came to these conclusions then I will be amazed.

to the OP: watch some brief youtube vids on the bare basics of windows 8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E1UxI5I_jo - this one explains the start screen and charm bar. use classicshell or fast8 if you don't think you'd like the start screen even after watching the vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0EspF7mY6w - this one explains the quick access menu. it's a fantastic addition to the windows 8 OS. this alone makes w8 > w7 imo.

feel free to browse around and look at some other ones but these two were all I needed to realize that w8 is far more user friendly than people tend to let on. regardless I do use ClassicShell because the new start menu is just a little on the "meh" side and I'm more comfortable with the normal start menu. there's nothing wrong with the metroUI start screen tho

How :) ?

Also, Mumble doesn't work with Windows 8 so you have to get the Mumble beta or something. I have it and agree with what everyone above has said. Use the $14.99 for a 3 month subscription to tf.tv's twitch.

just download the actual program. you're probably using the built-in app and those things are kinda dumb tbh. download skype as a program and put it on your desktop, just like any other OS. ignore the app that comes w/ the OS and is displayed on the start menu.

apologies if I'm misunderstanding your situation but as far as I can tell you're using the app on the start screen and it's bad. just downloading the program and sticking it on your desktop ala other versions of windows should work the exact same as ever.

no idea what you're talking about. my mumble works fine.

I've only been working with windows 8 for, like, 2 weeks. idk how people have so much trouble w/ it.

e: for clarity, I downloaded the windows 1.2.3a(stable) for windows from sourceforge. works a-ok.

e2: did a little digging. seems like 1.2.3 had issues w/ windows 8 but this was back in january. 1.2.3a likely fixed the issue. try uninstalling and redownloading?

quick source: http://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/126966/mumble-and-windows-8

e3: little more info on this. a thread posted here on tf.tv provided info on this matter. 1.2.4 beta, as you said, fixes this issue. however 1.2.3a stable does as well.

you understood it exactly as it was, thank you so icredibly much for that tip, I hate the app and it never occured to me that I could download it regularly.
Do you have any tips on mumble overlay?

none that I can confirm as functional, but I found this thing with a google search.

http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Mumble#Overlay_not_showing_in_Windows_8.2FWindows_Server_2012.

might be worth a go. apparently it only works with the 1.2.4 beta so take that as you will. aside from that I just found a thread on the ugc forums about why windows 8 is shit or something, so this is all I have.

no overlay isn't a biggie for me personally so I haven't set out to find fixes aside from just now. hope this fix works alright.

ALSO. make sure you start mumble before steam. I've got a weird problem where the overlay won't pop up unless I start mumble before steam. if you're like me, steam opens on startup and mumble needs to be manually opened so that may be a problem.

The mumble overlay works fine in the 1.2.4 beta in Windows 8. As someone who is currently using it. I think by default it might be set to just show people talking though, so you might have to change that if you want all the names up all the time.

Get whichever one is cheaper. They're basically the same thing.

It takes more clicks and mouse movement to do the same thing. Gestures are unintuitive with a keyboard and mouse. Metro is objectively bad and a failure in desktop UI design. Works fine for tablets but i dont own a tablet.

don't get windows 8 if you run in borderless windowed mode on an AMD card because iirc you can't disable the compositor (which asks for vsync) or force disable vsync via drivers (on AMD cards)
I read about issues with an emulator running on windows 8 (higan/bsnes) because it has its own special vsync and can't operate properly under a video card's vsync
can't comment on anything else unfortunately

windows 8 is great. install the old start menu with this: http://www.classicshell.net/ and make the start button open up your new start menu.

you'll have a better version of windows 7 and be able to avoid metro entirely.

Doesn't look mentioned here, but I've had a number of compatibility issues with Windows 8, which is my main gripe. Had to reinstall .net and Visual C++ twice for Street Fighter 4 and xTekken, had to reinstall Flash a few times before it worked (and it still doesn't work with Firefox, so now I use Opera), and I've got sign in issues with a couple sites that I never had on my old computer, depending on what browser I use.

Despite that, probably the only thing I haven't been able to work around is that GTA4 doesn't work at all, whatever I do.

I try to see the good in it, but really I don't think there's much reason to get it over 7 for a desktop apart from some performance improvements, and even then I don't think its worth the hassle of relearning Windows and the aforementioned compatibility problems. Maybe it'll get better when the service pack rolls around, but at the moment I feel like swapping back to 7.

that feel when minesweeper has embedded stream ads, inline ads, requires an xbox account, and makes my new laptop get hot

Windows 8 + classic shell. Faster OS >

Not worth upgrading if you use win7, but if you're buying a new OS, getting anything but 8 is stupid.

This and also minor security additions (the biggest one being related to dynamic memory allocation stuff.

This seems to be the conclusion just about everyone I know has reached.