You know that Windows XP was a big success for Microsoft and Windows 7 is yet another. But Microsoft has announced that they will no longer able to provide support after April 7, 2014 (You won’t get any official support from April 8).
What does XP support end mean?
In simple line, you will not get any technical support from Microsoft. No security update will be released to protect malware. Your PC might be compromised and you won’t get any official support from April 8, 2014.
I think this is the right time, when you need to upgrade your PC if you haven’t done it already. When you are upgrading your PC in these days, you should upgrade to either Windows 8 or 8.1.
Why should you upgrade to Windows 8 or 8.1 instead of Windows 7?
You know that Windows XP has been with us for more than 12 successful years. Microsoft ended mainstream support on April 14, 2009 and Windows 7’s mainstream support will be ended on January 13, 2015. You will get official support for more 5 years though.
These days, most of the Windows gadgets are running on either Windows 8 or 8.1 . Most of the Windows developers are creating applications for these two advanced operating systems. On the other hand, there are lots of new and great features in these two OS, what might be attractive for you.
Windows 8 vs. 8.1 – what should you use?
For my opinion, you should use Windows 8.1. This is the simplest and one line recommendation. Why? Read on to know more the reason why I am suggesting you to upgrade your PC to Windows 8.1 instead of Windows 8.
Why Windows 8.1 is better?
Although there are so many similarities, but at first, I would like to familiarize the benefits of using 8.1. All these points are written from a user point of view since I am not a developer at all.
Multi-Monitor Support:
Although both OS support multi-monitor but Windows 8.1 is pretty improved and used by tons of new upgraded devices. That’s why Microsoft improved it for multi-monitor.
Skip Metro Screen, Disable Hot Corners:
Windows 8 and 8.1 both have Metro screen where you will get all your install applications, option to sign out from current account and lot more. But this is a real fact that some people do not use this screen for any purpose and would like to skip it after logging in.
Windows 8.1 has the inbuilt option to skip Metro screen when you won’t find such an option in Windows 8. You can simply do so by navigating to desktop Properties.
But in Windows 8, you need to edit Registry key or install third party software and something else. The same thing happens with Charms Bar as well.
Less Annoying:
Some people said that Windows 8 and 8.1 both are pretty annoying. But I would say, Windows 8 is more than Windows 8.1. One good reason is it creates app shortcut on Metro screen automatically right after installing a new software. Although you can disable this by installing a yet another software but you don’t have to do anything on Windows 8.1 because it doesn’t create any shortcut on Metro screen.
There are also some other features, which are really less annoying than Windows 8.
Auto OneDrive Integration:
Both operating systems have OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) integration by default. But Windows 8 doesn’t synchronize files automatically when Windows 8.1 has the option to integrate files.
So, there are also so many features that you might like on Windows 8.1. If you want to know more about some essential and new features of Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, you can read following points.
Similarities between Windows 8 and Windows 8.1:
Start Button:
I guess, you are thinking that I am wrong. But no, I am right. Although Windows 8.1 has a button that is known as Start button on the left bottom of your screen but that is not actually the start button. It redirects Metro screen when clicking.
On the other hand, Windows 8 has no such button. You have to install third party software to bring back start button in Windows 8.
Metro Screen:
This is the newest feature of Windows 8. The same thing is also there in Windows 8.1. It looks really great and it is less annoying on Windows 8.1. You can separate software in different groups.
Windows App Store:
Alike Google Play on Android, Windows 8 and 8.1 has an app store, Windows App Store. You can download tons of software from this app store. Some of the available applications are paid when you can download tons of free software and games as well.
Better Media Player:
The audio and video players of both OS are really great in terms of view. It looks something like Windows Phone 8. You can also do more with the help of these players.
Windows Live Account:
You know that Windows XP, Vista and 7 doesn’t offer any option to log in to your PC using your Windows Live account. But if you use Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, you can set up your Windows Live account to log in to your PC.
Faster Internet Explorer:
You know that there is a quote as follows;
Internet Explorer is being used to download Firefox and Chrome on a new PC
But that era has been passed away. Now Internet Explorer on both OS is really awesome. This is faster than any other versions of IE. You will get more features like Enterprise Mode on IE 11.
Task Manager:
Windows 8 and 8.1 has such a Task Manager from where you can check running Processes, Performance, App History, Startup apps, Users, Details and Services. Even Windows 7 has no such task manager.
Refresh PC:
If your PC is not running well due to any kind of problem that you don’t know, you can simply Refresh your PC to get rid of that issue. You don’t have to enter any product key or anything else because Windows 8 and 8.1 stores your key in hard drive. To do so, just press Win + I, select Change PC Settings >> Update and recovery >> Recovery >> Get Started under Refresh your PC without affecting your files.
There are also so many similarities between these two operating systems but today I mentioned what I experienced.
The last thing is price. You should check Windows 8 price at here and Windows 8.1 price at here.
Final Word:
So, you have seen a detailed difference between Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 hope this guide will be helpful to choose one of them. Do remember that, you should also upgrade your hardware configuration along with operating system.
Feel Free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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