Need advice on Win7 and Win8

[Chrome]

Hey there.., im a proud owner of m14x first gen.., but lately i am in want of more gpu and processing power and thinking of upgrading to this year's aw14 or next year's.., dilemna is i have noknowledge to win8's experience to gaming and as a whole.., and the has both positive and negative feedbacks.., but lets just say that i get one with win8 and end up not being happy about it..., is it possible for me to install the win7 that came with my previous unit and still install aw's software; specifically command center, alienrespawn(and set a restore date/this is impt because i do respawn at least once a year) and likewise be able to install the new drivers;functions keys, trackpad and whatnots...?

It of course will be easier to just get a new unit with win7 but considering they only offer win7 in a foreign language.., the upgrade to ultimate will be around $110, where an order with win8 in english will have no extra cost...
Btw.., would you also know if all win8s are multilingial capable.., ive check the net and it says yes.., but a confirmation will always be good...
Thanks

 

[forJAT]

Since Dells sells upgrades to the OS I am sure there is a way to dl the AW software. I am running win8 on my AW17 and I have not had any problems gaming with it. Well other then Entropia Online I have to run it in compatibility mode (Win7). The new UI took a little bit of getting used too but after almost a month I like it. I still use Win7Ult on another rig as well.

 

[Maelstrom]

If your ordering from the U.S. they still offer Win7 with new Alienwares. In fact if I remember correctly it costs the same to get Win7 or Win8.

 

[forJAT]

If your ordering from the U.S. they still offer Win7 with new Alienwares. In fact if I remember correctly it costs the same to get Win7 or Win8.

Win8 Pro (+70) was $20 less than Win7Ult (+100) when upgrading the standard Win7Home Prem


You can exchange Win7HomePrem for Win8Standard for zero upgrade cost

 

[shankc]

Windows 8 is cheaper than windows 7 in the UK go figure. I think their trying to get everyone onto windows 8. But at least Alienware gives you the option to choose a lot of manufacturers don't give you that choice

 

[ejohnson]

Not sure how it works going from 8 to 7, but I know I can use any of my win7 discs to install on any of my aliens and they dont ask for cd keys.

So, you could try it, but make a backup of your original win8

 

[shankc]

Yeah I found that with my past dell laptops as long as you use a dell OEM disc it just activates I've updated my old dell laptop from vista to windows 7 no problems at all but don't always count on it as ejohnson says backup your original first just incase

 

[DDuB420]

*Thread moved to the correct forum*

 

[Sarah]

Two good ways to try out W8 before deciding are 1. Install it on a spare machine or 2. Install it into a VM. Then try it for a few days and see if it suits you. It's easy to go W7 -> W8 (via upgrade) but not so easy to do the opposite! Personally I have W8 Pro and have seen no issues at all in the games I've played or the applications I use. The only game I have that supposedly doesn't install is Borderlands, but I have that on an older machine anyway and I'm pretty certain I could get it to play nicely inside a VM on the 17 anyway.

 

[Ochimo]

Honestly I have systems with both windows 7 and windows 8. Windows 8 is definitely faster than 7 but in order to have the same user experience with windows 8 I use a program called start 8 that gives me the start menu back. Its funny. On my desktop pc windows 8 with the Metro UI since there is no touch screen. But on my MS surface Pro, the Metro UI is great on a touch screen