Upgrading to Windows 8 and my 3D programs

FractaL

Has anyone upgraded from Windows 7 to 8 and had any problems with their 3d stuff?

I don't want to just dive in and install this new OS without knowing how much I'm going to have to reinstall. I asked a friend who did it and he told me he had to install almost everything that changes the registry.

It took me a long time to install and configure ALL of my 3D utilites, programs, texturing stuff and etc. last time I did a fresh install off of a format.

Any person who'd be willing to share their experience with upgrading would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks guys!

James Ordner

When I upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 8 I opted to do a clean install and install everything manually. I can tell you though, that I haven't had any problems running any programs on Windows 8. I use Max 2013, Blender, UDK, Unity, GIMP, and xNormal and they all work perfectly.

BARDLER

Well just a general computer tip is you should ALWAYS do a clean install. Upgrades can sometimes cause weird driver issues and problems.

FractaL

BARDLER wrote: »

Well just a general computer tip is you should ALWAYS do a clean install. Upgrades can sometimes cause weird driver issues and problems.

I know, I just don't wanna spend an entire week getting my stuff all configured up! It's so much work, and Im busy trying to get good at art!

James Ordner

If you really want to upgrade, take the time to do it properly so that you won't have problems later on that may take much longer to fix than the time it takes to do a proper clean install.

fade1

i did an upgrade on top of my windows 7, which worked fine. i just needed to download a new nvidia driver and i could get back to work (i use mudbox 2013, maya 2013, photoshop cs4, corel x5, etc..)

jogshy

stay with Win7. Win8 is a piece of **** !

WarrenM

I agree. If Windows 7 does everything you want, then Windows 8 isn't worth the upgrade. It's not worth the hassle for the incremental improvements to things.

I'm a firm believer in not shaking the jello ... if it works, leave it alone!

DavePhipps

I upgrades to Win8 64 Pro this week and there were no big issues. Backed up data, wiped reloaded. The thing that actually took the longest was reinstalling games from Steam.

Win 8 so far is using less RAM than 7 and seem to use less CPU. The only exception is the google talk plugin. It runs better on 32 bit. So far 8 has been great on my desktop and laptop. My laptop is from 2006 and could barely run 7, but 8 runs great.

Take the leap if you can afford it. Make a complete system image for 7 and if you don't like 8 put 7 back on.

passerby

really if it ain't broke don't fix it, what is win8 offering you that win7 didnt? really on a desktop platform I see really no advantge of win8 at all.

Bek

passerby wrote: »

really if it ain't broke don't fix it, what is win8 offering you that win7 didnt? really on a desktop platform I see really no advantge of win8 at all.

Some performance increases and some other misc features (better native multi mon support) seem to be it.

Mark Dygert

My wife's laptop has been through Vista, XP and Win7 and now Win8. Always a fresh install.

Win8 runs the best out of all of them With Win7 and XP tied for second and vista a distant, bloated memory.

I'm running Win7 on my main machine and I don't think I'll hassle with jumping to 8 anytime soon. The laptop has always been a guinea pig and so far win8 is great and worth the upgrade from Win7 but only because its so old and starting to show its age.

cryrid

really if it ain't broke don't fix it, what is win8 offering you that win7 didnt? really on a desktop platform I see really no advantge of win8 at all

Speed, security, the potential for better support and compatibility in the future. W7 may not be 'broken' in any sense, but that's no reason for them to hang up their coats and end all progress towards newer and better things.

fade1

little note: the best part for me is that win8 boots really fast. i'd say 5 times faster then win 7. but if you're happy with win 7, you can stay. imho, i would get the cheap upgrade now. you can install it anytime later, when win8 evolves. it's not making things worse, but it does just few things better for users of (win7) desktop apps.

FractaL

Ive heard completely mixed reviews, what happened was my dad bought a copy of win8 pro for his computer, didn't like it so he gave it to me and installed windows 7 on it.

My first impression of it when we installed it on his machine is that its just two UIs slapped together, but maybe its different with 2 monitors. But seriously, there are 2 different ways to open a tablet version and a normal windows version of IE for example. Its unnecessary.

I think I'll just back my stuff up, and try to go for an upgrade.
If things suck, I'll do a fresh install.

Main reason why I want to upgrade: I have Win 7 home premium, and I have the max of 16GB of ram which I hit frequently. I can drop another 70 bucks and get 32GB, and I'll be worry free! But I need that win8 pro so I can use all of the extra 16GB of ram I wanna buy.

I've also heard that boot times are faster, (experienced it too when I helped my dad build him computer over the past weekend). Also, its got that nice new sleep mode which takes up no power almost. To be honest, as much as I hate the way the UI functions, it is pretty :P

I'm gonna do it.. Just not today hehe.
But let me just clarify with EVERYONE who upgraded, do I need to re install my programs? Seriously, I can't sacrifice the time!

fade1

FractaL wrote: »

I'm gonna do it.. Just not today hehe.
But let me just clarify with EVERYONE who upgraded, do I need to re install my programs? Seriously, I can't sacrifice the time!

no. everything works straight ahead. it even keeps a "windows.old" folder with all your old stuff for backup. you can delete it later, if everything you need is there.

and you are right. the win 8 ui is not really any use right now. if you use little tools like noMetroPlease or similar, you can boot straight to desktop and turn off the touch features. then you have a better windows 7 and still can use all the win8 features when needed or good apps will make use of it.

FractaL

fade1 wrote: »

no. everything works straight ahead. it even keeps a "windows.old" folder with all your old stuff for backup. you can delete it later, if everything you need is there.

and you are right. the win 8 ui is not really any use right now. if you use little tools like noMetroPlease or similar, you can boot straight to desktop and turn off the touch features. then you have a better windows 7 and still can use all the win8 features when needed or good apps will make use of it.

So I don't even need to backup my shit? Okay, convinced! My friend who upgraded, upgraded from win7 to the very first public release, thats probably why his shit had to be re-installed.

Thanks a lot for the insight man, I appreciate it!!!

fade1

i'm not a pro in setups, but as far as i could see win 8 does not do anaything to your programs folder or other folders on your boot drive. it duplicates your personal folder, which is backuped in windows.old. so if you're missing something look there. of course it will alter the registry and add stuff, but to be honest i don't care. as far as my system is running fast and stable i'm fine. and for the few problems and things i didn't like(like automatic login, etc..) just google and there is almost always a simple solution to make it comfortable the way you like. one thing that helped me, was to get used to hotkeys, like win+d for desktop, win+[app name], win+i etc.

r_fletch_r

James Ordner wrote: »

If you really want to upgrade, take the time to do it properly so that you won't have problems later on that may take much longer to fix than the time it takes to do a proper clean install.

+1

JohnnyRaptor

If you can do your art perfectly fine on win7 why are you even considering wasting time on installing a new OS? Sounds like a waste of time that you could spend making art dude!

Cube Republic

I put windows 8 on my productivity machine which was an X79 system. After a few weeks it totally trashed the system and I'd get constant freezes for no reason. This was after using the system with W7 for a year with no problems. What's more, drive access times are much slower with W8. What used to be a quick click and open with 7 turned into click>progress bar>wait with 8.

In a nutshell its a bag of crap and they've done a vista, 7 perfect.

Cube Republic

dustinbrown wrote: »

I would be extremely dubious about upgrading my workstation to Windows 8 for at least one year. Give the graphics software manufactures time to work out the kinks with the new OS. Not to mention drivers, and all the little third party tools we use in this field. There is just a lot that can go wrong, and I don't need that headache.

:thumbup: still a bit dizzy now, but getting over it

JohnnyRaptor

I just don't see the reasoning. Unless there is a specific benefit its all just wasted time to upgrade your OS.

OBlastradiusO

I'm sticking with Win7 until Win8 releases a service pack

throttlekitty

OBlastradiusO wrote: »

I'm sticking with Win7 until Win8 releases a service pack

posts like this always make me giggle.

cryrid

Sounds like a waste of time that you could spend making art dude!

Unless there is a specific benefit its all just wasted time to upgrade your OS.

It's really only wasted time if life requires you to be in front of a computer 24/7 and you don't have any other devices to use during this time. Otherwise it's not like its a quicktime event that requires constant attention; it can largely run in the background while you draw, read, cook, watch tv, play on a console, etc.

poopsterspappy

A tech at Boxx strongly suggested that I not upgrade to Window's 8. Kinda crappy OS 7 is much more stable for our Apps.:)