Am I right in thinking they let you do that with 7's Release preview (Upgrading from RP to Retail using a upgrade licence I mean)? Been such a long time now I cant remember.

To be honest $40 isn't really that much to ask I guess, but it all comes down to what you are really getting for your buck. I mean at the end of the day Windows 8 is just Windows 7 with the UI changed to Metro. Yes there will be exclusives but as of now, your really just paying for the slight interface change. Like back then when Windows 7 came out Vista users were panicking about DX11 only for Windows 7. Well it turned out it came out for vista too eventually. So as for me, unless something really intense comes exclusive for Windows 8 I'm sticking with 7.

Its Windows 8. With Metro (not just a UI if I understand correctly-but a different programming language).

What was exclusive about 7? Since you did get it eventually.

Lol, some guy even said that when 8 is out, he'll stay on 7 and when 9 comes out he'll switch to Mac or Linux. Like you can tell what MS will do 5 years in the future... Sure, they'll probably stick to Metro but they'll probably also improve it to a more finer degree.

I bet half of these nerds that say they hate Windows 8 and will switch to Mac or Linux will use it anyway in the end...

I think they'll be among the first to get it too (once they realise its actually a pretty good OS).

I meant exclusives for Windows 8 that Windows 7 users will miss out on if it ever occurs.

Metro, Microsoft Account Integration, Windows Store, IE10, new logon styles...

The only major improvement on IE10 is when you use the Metro version; the desktop version is almost indentical to 9 except for minor improvements... So if MS makes IE10 available for Windows 7 and you don't install it you won't miss much anyway...

You get increased speed over Windows 7, windows live integration, facebook integration, twitter integration, an app store, xbox live integration, the cool new task manager, file copy dialogs, the "refresh PC" option which is nifty as hell, the list goes on.

Read a bit before spouting your 'facts'.

Oh yes, because "a cool new task manager" and "file copy dialogs" will definitely be warrant enough to upgrade for.

You forgot the new app framework, all Microsoft services integrated, built-in reset option, performance and speed upgrades....there's plenty there to upgrade for.

Erm, way to ignore the "<service> integration", the "app store", and the "refresh PC" option. Slick integration with various services like that and especially the refresh option are alone enough to warrant a mere $40 upgrade.

Facebook integration and Twitter integration are passes, I don't use them on iOS/OS X so I don't see why I would on Win8 either (in fact, I just looked around for them in the RP and can't find any trace of them) and I don't use Windows Live. The App Store is a step forward, but was a free upgrade for OS X users via a 10.6.x update, Refresh PC is useless to anybody of our level of knowledge, and XBox Live Integration is pretty poor as of the RP.

Like I said, I'll be buying it, but I don't really see how any of those features warrant a $40 upgrade.

What was in Windows 7 that made it worth upgrading?

It wasn't Vista. That alone is a significant upgrade.

*slap*

Do we need to have this discussion again?

Actually, no we don't, because I just wrote an article on the subject.

http://retro-box.net/blargh/2012/07/02/vista-microsoft-surface-and-xp-mce-how-they-go-together/

And again, I still think the refresh PC option (which would save me a TON of time) and the speed improvements are enough alone to justify forty bucks. Your mileage and opinion may vary, however.

And there's more to it, besides UI and Metro.

Does Windows 7 boot as fast as 8? No. Does it support UEFI? No. Does it have pause support for file copy operations? No. Does it support Hyper-V on Client? No. Does it consume less system resources than Windows 8? No. Does it have an easy touch keyboard? No. Does it have native support for ISO and VHD mounting? No.

Is that good enough?

[sarcasm] No. [/sarcasm]

*BUZZER* WRONG! In Windows 7, you can mount VHD out-of-the-box...

Also, Windows has supported (x64) UEFI since Vista SP1...

And EFI for Itaniums even longer I believe.

Yeah.



VHD, yes, done it lots of times, but I'm pretty sure you can't mount ISOs without third party software in Windows 7.

Yes, but you said you can't mount VHDs and ISOs, when in fact you can mount VHDs, so the statement was wrong...

The worth of an upgrade for an individual is valued at the features I would realistically take advantage of. In order of your list -
Windows 7 may not boot as fast as 8, but Windows 7 still boots considerably fast making the difference almost negligible from what I can observe on my hardware - not worth it. I don't use UEFI on my desktop - not worth it. Pause support for file operations is cool but definitely not a selling point feature - not worth it. I own a license of VMWare Workstation, and I don't see myself switching to Hyper-V anytime soon - not worth it. Windows 7 is already plenty easy on system resources, plus I've got a machine with decent specs so I don't need to worry about it - not worth it. I don't have a touchscreen Windows-based PC and considering how happy I am with other tablet based offerings I don't see myself purchasing one any time soon - not worth it. Windows 7 has built in VHD mounting support, and ISO mounting is easily obtainable through a 30 second install of a third party application - not worth it.

Again, I'll reiterate that I -do- plan on purchasing Windows 8 despite the fact that I don't really see this as a major upgrade for me.

So, in that case, if we skip the Metro part, you're saying this is like a SP to 7?

But anyway, I'm really excited about Hyper-V as it is a major improvement over Virtual PC...