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I'm about to buy a new laptop that I intend to use primarily for software development/testing/debugging and was wondering if it is safe to get one with Windows 8 pro OS installed? Or should I stick with Win 7?

I primarily do MS based development (i.e. visual studio, .net, IIS, sql server), but I also do a lot of PHP/Apache/Mysql work as well. I dont want to get into the situation where some software tool I use works in win7 but not in win8.

Anyone know of any issues I could come across on Win 8 or any software tools that doesn't work on Win 8?

Also, does anyone find themselves less productive using Win 8, in terms of speed to get things done?

MakkyNZ
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By going with Windows 7 you're precluding doing any Windows 8 Phone or Store app development, learning, running samples, etc. (unless of course you go with a VM, which will require a separate System Builder license). Even if you're not planning to build store apps now, I'd say don't close off the ability to tinker around and keep up with the tech, etc.

As a developer, you'll probably spend most of your time in the desktop mode, which will be familiar territory. The replacement of the "Start Button" with the "Start Screen" has gotten a lot of play, and yes there is a learning curve, but it's far from insurmountable. And there are even third party offerings to give you start button functionality. I will say though, that as a dev on Windows 8, multi-monitor setup is key (and perhaps it was already for you :))

To Anri's point, if anything Win8 is speedier, faster boot times, faster network connection times, and a few other improvements for traditional devs as well.

Jim O'Neil
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  • Ok, maybe it's because i use win8 on a laptop and win7 on a desktop, which is definitely faster than laptop – Anri Jan 04 '13 at 17:07
  • still has a very poor terminal and shell, still has the silly 256 character path limitation. still promotes vague filename/directory case situations. – airtonix Dec 13 '14 at 05:29
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There shouldn't be any major regressions in terms of compatibility between Win 7 and 8. Visual Studio works without issues, but I don't know about your other tools.

The usability difference with Modern UI and no Startmenu is certainly debatable, however if you spend some time with it, you will notice that there are no fundamental differences in workflow, and the Startscreen is just the Startmenu in disguise. It works the same way, but is much more well arranged compared to the folder clusterfuck of the previous Startmenu iterations.

There certainly aren't any stability issues as Anri describes. If you get constant(!) BSODs, there is something wrong with your machine or drivers, not with Windows. The additional memory footprint (if any) should be negligible, it certainly doesn't run worse than Windows 7. Normal applications can't open in fullscreen Metro mode, only Metro apps can. There are some apps which offer both ways (such as Chrome, or Internet Explorer), but this isn't the norm yet.

Lennart
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  • Well BSOD's and hangs are not constant, but let's say if with win7 i had it once a year, with win8 it's once a month, for a different reasons. Sometimes it's sleep/hibernation problems, sometimes drivers – Anri Jan 04 '13 at 15:06
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I am using it with similar tools (ms stack) and all is working ok, I have win7 dual boot on the same machine and Win8 feels snappier and more responsive, in few months of constant usage there where not one BSOD or similar errors.

I certainly wouldn't go back to Win7, and I really don't like Modern UI on the desktop (it's great on tablet), but there are tools that can bring back your start menu back in win8 and practically there is no real difference in user interface, if you don't wont to see modern you don't have to. My favorite is start8.

And there is a few little things that I like in Win8, for example simple ISO mount, cleaner interface even on desktop, really nice Task Manager etc.

UPDATE

Just found one big drawback, with Visual Studio 2010, profiler doesn't work ! Only VS 2012 profiler works on Windows 8 and there is a nothing you can do, link :

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/profiler/archive/2012/12/10/the-visual-studio-profiler-on-windows-8.aspx

Antonio Bakula
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Don't even think about it! Go for windows 8 if you are a developer:

There are no major issues for compatibility among windows 7 and 8, and I would strongly suggest going for windows 8 for development.

The extras you can get on windows 8 for development are quite important:

  • support for developing / testing applications to run on WinRT

  • support for developing windows phone 8 applications (i.e device emulation on hyper-v)

  • hyper-V with "excellent" performance for CentOS and windows VMs (I use them for development and testing).

Beyond these objective points, I think you should not be afraid of windows 8. But here it is about personal preferences: Being a developer I find the new start menu far more convenient (the same number of clicks / keystrokes for the same thing, out of the box organizing my tools in handy places), and, combined with a good launchbar (e.g. freelaunchbar) it all comes into place.

After using windows 8 for 2 months, I miss nothing from my windows 7 machine, apart the extra click of the desktop.

Don't take me wrong: windows 8 are not perfect and they do bring in some certain amount of confusion. Windows 7 was more "consistent", but it was also "less". But that's another topic.

gkakas
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Well, I'm probably the only one here, but I really dislike Windows 8 as a developer myself. I worked with XP for years, skipped Vista and worked with Win 7 for many years. From the management we got new computers with Win 8 and got in trouble with it every single day (for the last 2 months).

Mainly the lack of access to your own computer (files, folders, registry, etc), the annoying start screen, the features like Peek that couldn't be disabled properly anymore, and the lack of color schemes in the desktop OS (or the lack of any colors at all in Office 2013).

In windows 7 you could disable the UAC and finally get some control over your system back .In Windows 8 the slider still exists, but it's not doing anything. You're still are not the owner of your own computer. Everything is blocked, access denied, grayed out, I couldn't place files in folders I want. VPNs are not working anymore. It slows down my work so much.

I've to run everything as Adminsitrator giving me all sort of other problems (like missing network shares).

For network adminsitrators and housewifes I can imagine it's nice that users can only start or close an app, but for developers they should have put an option in there to disable all that security crap. If I wanted a computer which you're not allowed to do anything at all, I 'd have bought an Apple, but this is a Windows machine. Please let me do my work here!

I haven't found a single feature in Windows 8 that I liked above the functionality in Windows 7. Especially the Start Screen. If like my computer was a 30" phone? Extremely big buttons spread out over the whole screen and extremely colourful. Do they think we're mentally disabled or 3 years old kids who are too stupid to control a computer?

I'd give a lot to get back to a better OS. Maybe Windows 8 is a skipper just like Windows ME and Windows Vista were. Something new that isn't finished yet.

Mark
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I use all the stuff you listed on win8 pro, no problems yet, except horrifying win8 usability issues. Productivity wise, i would recommend to stick with win7 (wich i still use too on a different workstation, so i have a chance to compare) if you don't plan to develop metro apps.

Anri
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  • can you elaborate more on what usability problems you have? – MakkyNZ Jan 04 '13 at 13:29
  • 1. I hate the fact Start button is absent, substitutions are not working so well, they are either too slow or lack of features. – Anri Jan 04 '13 at 14:21
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    2. Metro was not designed for mouse, and i doubt someone develops with touchscreen. It takes so much more steps to do smth with metro ui – Anri Jan 04 '13 at 14:22
  • 3. sometimes even simple apps unexpectedly open in full-screen metro mode. It's configurable but you'll have to lose time on that – Anri Jan 04 '13 at 14:24
  • 4. win8 feels slower and more greedy about RAM, not sure if it's true – Anri Jan 04 '13 at 14:25
  • Downvoter care to explain what problems did he find developing on win8? – Anri Jan 04 '13 at 14:42
  • I only every use the metro interface as a start menu, and I have the exact opposite experience in terms of RAM as you. Win7 felt slower and more greedy on RAM, im now using about 1GB less than before i swapped. I never miss the start button, but im used to just pressing the windows key, instead of using the mouse. I wouldnt consider going back to win7 after win8. – ruffen Jan 04 '13 at 15:27
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I prefer to use Windows 8. Almost all development tools works fine on windows 8. For performance, I think windows 8 is faster. If your machine is 64bit then install the 64bit version. I don't have any problems with my development in windows 8. About start screen, I think it's more easy since if you're looking some app, just pres 'win' key then type the app name e.g. 'visio'. The start screen will automaticaly find the app and list them. If you working with multi display, windows 8 give you some easy with ability to place the task in screen where window open.

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Nanang El Sutra
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