Should I upgrade from Windows 7 to 8 on a work laptop?

Question

Windows

I want to switch from 7 Professional to 8 Pro on a x220 work laptop (with ssd, not tablet), but I understand that now this desire is mainly an urge to try a new OS.
What are the benefits of Windows 8 for workhorses over Windows 7?
Laptop use: writing articles, computer calculations, Internet browsing + mail.

PS I take offense at myself that at one time I chose not a tablet version. Then there would be no such question.

Answer 1

About 2 months ago I switched to Windows 8 on a working computer. I did not find any minuses. All the same Windows 7 (if you do not use Metro applications and do not go there at all), only faster.

Answer 2

Yesterday I upgraded my working HP EliteBook from W7 Pro to W8 Pro. At the moment I regret what I did (maybe I'll get used to it in a week). Of the obvious pluses, only a more convenient explorer (explorer).
Although I rather liked the new style (according to the screenshots), it seemed disgusting live. The color schemes are terrible: metro in one style (some colors), panels and windows in another (other colors), and individual elements live their own lives and are not stylized in any way (window control buttons, selection rectangle, various animations). I did not expect, but I really do not have enough aero transparency.
The absence of the “start” button is very disturbing, but this is probably a matter of habit (often by mistake I open the “metro” panel).
Fed up with drivers. I spent the most time on disabling automatic brightness control (power profile settings did not work, all sensor services were stopped). The brightness and sound buttons worked crookedly: two controls appeared simultaneously (built into Windows 8 and from HP).

Answer 3

For myself, I found several advantages:
- fast loading (about 10 seconds)
- you can pull out the social to the left. Appendix. (Twitter, VKontakte, etc.) because it’s just boring to work
- the new start menu is more convenient than the old one

Answer 4

And I really like metro apps. I use Skype, mail, weather, everything is very pleasant and cool.
From desktop applications, the explorer is pleasant, yes. Well, Visual Studio is also in Africa Visual Studio.

Answer 5

RC was on the desktop for about 2 months, I personally did not notice any performance increase on the same system (i7-860, SSD, 16Gb RAM), there are no applications for the metro that I often use, in general, the design of the explorer is new in W8 for me I liked it more than in W7, but in the end I got tired of switching to the desktop every time - I put W7 back. In general, the adaptation period took me about 4 days, at first it was most embarrassing that chrome launched from the metro and from the desktop is not the same thing + the fact that, for example, opening media files was thrown from the desktop to the metro (to this I and I’m not used to it), it’s more convenient for me to use the same Skype and browser in the usual interface, when you can leave many, many windows with 20-30 tabs open and quickly switch between them, and not guess which one I’ll get into now, the right left menu didn’t impress me either - I switch faster through the taskbar, but I look at the weather on the Lumia 800 before leaving) The mail is good, but the habit of looking through the Google interface has not passed. In general, you can switch, I personally didn’t notice critical problems during the entire time I used it, but I sometimes had mild bouts of claustrophobia on a large monitor, and probably won’t be on a laptop. Personally, I'm going to switch when Logitech or someone else releases a good, solid such a touchpad, no worse than those that are installed in macbooks - with a mouse, I sometimes felt like a fool in the metro interface, such as if you cut a doctor's sausage with a scalpel, on a laptop again, it's not critical. but the habit of looking through the Google interface has not passed. In general, you can switch, I personally didn’t notice critical problems during the entire time I used it, but I sometimes had mild bouts of claustrophobia on a large monitor, and probably won’t be on a laptop. Personally, I'm going to switch when Logitech or someone else releases a good, solid such a touchpad, no worse than those that are installed in macbooks - with a mouse, I sometimes felt like a fool in the metro interface, such as if you cut a doctor's sausage with a scalpel, on a laptop again, it's not critical. but the habit of looking through the Google interface has not passed. In general, you can switch, I personally didn’t notice critical problems during the entire time I used it, but I sometimes had mild bouts of claustrophobia on a large monitor, and probably won’t be on a laptop. Personally, I'm going to switch when Logitech or someone else releases a good, solid such a touchpad, no worse than those that are installed in macbooks - with a mouse, I sometimes felt like a fool in the metro interface, such as if you cut a doctor's sausage with a scalpel, on a laptop again, it's not critical.

Answer 6

It is worth putting win 8 as a second system and trying to work on it for a week or two, if everything suits you, then you can put it as the main system. Personally, I never got used to the metro style. Most likely due to the fact that the metro is stubborn and inconsistently done. Here is the subway, here is the subway, and here is the desktop. I did not notice an increase in speed, win7 loaded a little longer, but the performance of the laptop is quite enough for a bug-free operation of the system, and in heavy applications and games there was no noticeable increase in performance. I didn’t like the navigation - there is no familiar start button - it’s more convenient for me to choose from the catalog like in win 7 than to search in the “metro start”, stretched over several screens, many buttons are located illogically far away,
Skype also liked to freeze tightly, it may have already been fixed, but I already deleted win 8, I can’t check