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Why (not) upgrade to Windows 8.1?

By Codrut Nistor

Posted in Windows-8

"The second Microsoft takes Windows 7 away and tries to force Windows 8 down our throats yet again. I will no longer be a Microsoft customer." - this is a comment on an article published 3 days ago and most comments are far from being positive towards Microsoft's operating system. After all you don't have to be a Microsoft hater to figure out that an operating system designed for touch devices simply can't work as it should on desktop computers/laptops/any other devices that don't have any touchscreen...

Windows 8.1 arriving in mid-October Can Windows 8.1 provide enough to make people leave Windows 7 behind?

... so why would anyone move from Windows 7 to Windows 8.1? After all Windows 8.1 brings back the lost Start button but is that enough? Here we have a few reasons that are making me keep Windows 7 around for now and will do the same even after the 18th of October the day when Microsoft will introduce Windows 8.1:

  • The Start button - In Windows 8 it was gone. Now there will be a Start button but not the one we were expecting for since it's going to point to the Start screen without bringing up a list of programs/any kind of search box.
  • As long as new hardware offers support for Windows 7 there's no solid reason to drop it. Moving from Windows XP to 7 after adding one SSD made a lot of sense since XP does not offer TRIM support but why leave Windows 7 behind now? Are they going to play the DirectX dirty trick once again as they did with Vista/DirectX 10?
  • No Skype integration in Windows 7? Come oooon this one's for kids! If I need a program I install that program it's as easy as that! It would be plain stupid to move on and upgrade to Windows 8.1 just to have Skype integrated into the OS!
  • No more Windows 7 support of any kind including updates AND Microsoft trying to force Windows 8 down your throat in every possible way? Linux won't do any of that for sure.

I guess that's all for now. If you have any other reason for staying with Windows 7 and not move to Windows 8.1 please go ahead and share it with the rest of us!