2020 Windows 7 upgrade to Windows 8

jec6613

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#21

Post by jec6613 » Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:16 am

Old thread but back OT: If you're on Windows 7, unless you have an ironclad reason to stick with it (3rd party extenders), you should move to Windows 8.1 now. WMC itself is slightly improved (nothing to write home about, but the transitions are smoother and some other modest benefits) but it's still in current support and will indeed support modern hardware without much trouble. You gain another 3 years in extended support for security fixes and updates, a much more stable kernel with resource utilization improvements so it runs better on lesser hardware, with no major downsides other than the lack of a traditional start menu (is that really a downside? I like the start screen, it's much better for a 10 foot UI).

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joecrow

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#22

Post by joecrow » Sun Aug 13, 2017 8:22 pm

jec6613 wrote:Old thread but back OT: If you're on Windows 7, unless you have an ironclad reason to stick with it (3rd party extenders), you should move to Windows 8.1 now. WMC itself is slightly improved (nothing to write home about, but the transitions are smoother and some other modest benefits) but it's still in current support and will indeed support modern hardware without much trouble. You gain another 3 years in extended support for security fixes and updates, a much more stable kernel with resource utilization improvements so it runs better on lesser hardware, with no major downsides other than the lack of a traditional start menu (is that really a downside? I like the start screen, it's much better for a 10 foot UI).
Where are you going to get an 8.1 pro license from? My understanding based on various posts in this forum, is that they are becomming as rare as rocking horse sh'#*and win 8x does not support the latest intel and amd cpus!

jec6613

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#23

Post by jec6613 » Sun Aug 13, 2017 8:45 pm

joecrow wrote:Where are you going to get an 8.1 pro license from? My understanding based on various posts in this forum, is that they are becomming as rare as rocking horse sh'#*and win 8x does not support the latest intel and amd cpus!
Buy a Windows 10 license and downgrade it. http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... Rights.pdf

As for support on the 7th generation chips, so far that's sadly the case. But you can at least get to a 6th generation CPU.

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joecrow

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#24

Post by joecrow » Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:01 pm

jec6613 wrote: Buy a Windows 10 license and downgrade it. http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... Rights.pdf
Interesting, I did not know that was possible, however does that include the WMC pack option for Win 8 pro?
Regardless, the bottom line though remains, sadly, is there any value in planning to keep WMC going beyond the 2020 Win 7 support deadline or might it be better to seek an alternative now, that is not on its deathbed.

jec6613

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#25

Post by jec6613 » Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:48 pm

joecrow wrote:
jec6613 wrote: Buy a Windows 10 license and downgrade it. http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... Rights.pdf
Interesting, I did not know that was possible, however does that include the WMC pack option for Win 8 pro?
Regardless, the bottom line though remains, sadly, is there any value in planning to keep WMC going beyond the 2020 Win 7 support deadline or might it be better to seek an alternative now, that is not on its deathbed.
Even keeping it today, there are major advantages to Windows 8.1 over 7. I know I'll likely have to move away sometime around the 2020 EOL for Windows 7, but for the next few years I'll be waiting until a suitable replacement comes around - there's a lot of development in a lot of different places that are 1-3 years from being completed.

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IT Troll

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#26

Post by IT Troll » Tue Sep 05, 2017 12:03 am

joecrow wrote:
jec6613 wrote: Buy a Windows 10 license and downgrade it. http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... Rights.pdf
Interesting, I did not know that was possible, however does that include the WMC pack option for Win 8 pro?
Actually, you can't. Only OEM and Volume licences have downgrade rights. The Retail versions do not. You would also need a Media Center key which Microsoft no longer sells.
Are you a Recorded TV HD user or want to give it a try? Check out the new community-made update; Recorded TV HD v2.1.1

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