Windows 7 vs Windows 8(.1)

[Marseee]

Both were after the 3rd patch. Some people have seen massive improvements after upgrading during the first and second patch. Not sure if they would of had the same gains after the 3rd though. Windows 8 is quicker than 7 so it's worth it even if you don't get a massive increase in fps.

[Jokerle]

prices

win 8
germany: 119 euros
US: 119 dollar.... euro=dollar as usual, ok whatever.

win 8 pro
germany: 280 euros
US: 199 dollar...... Wait what? SERIOUSLY?

I dont even...

[cairdazar]

prices

win 8
germany: 119 euros
US: 119 dollar.... euro=dollar as usual, ok whatever.

win 8 pro
germany: 280 euros
US: 199 dollar...... Wait what? SERIOUSLY?

I dont even...

Usually US prices are ex VAT and German/EU prices ink VAT.
But still that is a big difference, are you looking at the German version?
The Nordic versions are 30% more expensive then the English one.

Just find some one with a MSDN Academic Alliance account and have them "lend" you a copy

[Jokerle]

The german version costs the same as the english.

My student account with MSDNAA access expired last year
If I want to upgrade (not fresh installation) my win7 pro version I have to buy the win8 pro version.
The OEM version is cheaper, and it seems they changed the private use license so that you can re-install it on a new PC.

[Necromancer]

used MSDNAA to install both 8 and 8.1 (each has its own serial).
but unless you are already upgrading and formatting the system, i wouldn't upgrade to windows 8.
i don't think the hassle of re-installing everything worth the little to none performance gain.

[Sarantini]

On my university account I had keys for 5 different win7 and win8 variants each for "free"
I unfortunately already used/gave them away already

[A Docile Sloth]

I was going to reinstall anyway as I want to upgrade to the 64bit anyway. I can get copies for free through my Uni so I'll probably grab 8.1 and see how it goes. Thanks for infos

[.Sup]

does anyone have an extra 64bit....?

[gomimin]

There are still lots of offers for Win8 pro upgrade packs (from Windows XP, Windows Vista und Windows 7) for about 60Euros - with that you can update to 8.1 for free...

With a trick you can even do a fresh install and activate after editing the registry - go to

Code: Select all

HKEY_LOCAL_Machine\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\OOBE

Look for DWORD named

Code: Select all

MediaBootInstall

- set it to 0 (zero)

Now win+X -> prompt:

Code: Select all

slmgr -rearm

When you get informed that it's been done, restart Windows

Activating should be made automatically when connected to Internet

[Jokerle]

There are still lots of offers for Win8 pro upgrade packs (from Windows XP, Windows Vista und Windows 7) for about 60Euros - with that you can update to 8.1 for free...

where?
I though those offers that ended around spring 2013?

[gomimin]

There are still stocks that get saled as long they last
i.e. german amazon
http://www.amazon.de/gp/offer-listing/B ... dition=new

btw. a good thing with W8 /8.1 is that you can install language packs again

90 days trial version 8.1 Enterprise ISO (urls for english and german language versions)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/eval ... 99156.aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/de-de/eval ... 99156.aspx

[Marseee]

There are still lots of offers for Win8 pro upgrade packs (from Windows XP, Windows Vista und Windows 7) for about 60Euros - with that you can update to 8.1 for free...

where?
I though those offers that ended around spring 2013?

I bought my Windows 8 upgrade from Tescos for £60. Saw a couple a few pounds cheaper on Ebay too.

[.Sup]

i am re-trying enterprise build 9200. With a custom start button and minor adjustments I like it. I caught an veiled announcement on Microsoft forums that they took down the .1 update due to some install issues some users experienced.

[Silent331]

i am re-trying enterprise build 9200. With a custom start button and minor adjustments I like it. I caught an veiled announcement on Microsoft forums that they took down the .1 update due to some install issues some users experienced.

8.1 broke some installations (ie cannot boot to OS) so they took it down, such problems have been fixed and 8.1 is available again. As far as performance with BF4, many have seen little change but for some reason I have seen a very large change. I think it has something to do with BF4 and SLI compatibility on windows 7. On Win7 I was on high settings SLI with both GPU usage % at ~50% and CPU usage < 50% with only ~40 FPS. After upgrading to windows 8 I am getting >70 FPS on ultra while recording.

Again I think my performance changes have to do with the compatibility of BF4, Win7 and SLI. If you dont use SLI I dont think you will see much of a change.

In 8.1 everything you needed from the start menu besides programs is reachable using the right click context menu on the "start" button. Program access is the pain in the ass in 8.1. There are also some programs such as Start8 that will return to you the basic start menu if you do not like the metro interface.

The meat of it all is that games are going to be designed for the latest version of windows and the latest version of DX (Direct X is the big thing here) Windows 8 and 8.1 are not coding and software flops like Vista was, it is an amazing OS under the hood and it has a lot to offer, it is just the UI is crummy on a desktop environment.

I would ALWAYS advise AGAINST doing an in place upgrade of an OS. I would always clean install any new OS.

[sushi]

Windows 8.1 short advice: don't!!!

I got PB-error messages in BF3 after updating and BF4 loaded in the gameblackscreen with blinking rectangle only to exit the game back to the desktop. EA hotline confirmed that if the PB-updater does not the trick as was the case for me, the only resort is to go back to Windows8. He suggested not to update to win8.1 unless EA officially declares that BF4 is supported under that version.