Real Experiences: Windows 7 vs WIndows 8.1??

About to buy a laptop. Will be used in addition to my desktop to edit clips, make shorts, transfer files, record music, etc.

Might "Hackintosh" it so I can render ProRes.

But for general use, I'm wondering if anyone has stories good or bad comparing Windows 7 to Windows 8. I don't care about the startup time thing. I hear the file transfer in Win8 is slower. Render times are slightly faster. And I don't need all that fancy touch this and web that and such.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks.

I'm using Win 8.1 and have learned how to use it effectively. At first it was a little learning curve but 8.1 gave a Win 7 like interface.

Thanks - for what it's worth I've got a little utility that makes my Win7 more like XP, if that means anything. I'm most alarmed by transfer speeds being longer. In some of the test results they were testing "large" files almost 1 GB. Well, as you all know, when transferring several hundred 4K ProRes clips, that's gonna add up fast, and I didn't even mention the 500 GB for one little shooting session in RAW.....

Still considering.

Just been to a seminar by Microsoft. Windows 10 should be out later this year - anyone with Windows 8 or 7 will get a free upgrade to 10. (will have a year to upgrade).

With a little learning Win 8.1 is actually as easy as 7.
10 will be even more so with plenty of useful extras.
I struggled with 8 until they brought out 8.1
Everything can be done with a mouse - no need to touch the screen

Install the $5 Start8 app and Windows 8.1 will feel just like home, if your home is a Windows 7 machine.

8.1 gave the start back that was removed in Win 8.

I've got win8 on my laptop and win7 on my desktop, Windows 8 isnt all bad, doesn't deserve the flack it gets but I still prefer win7 over it.

But the 8.1 "Start" menu doesn't behave -exactly- like Windows 7's, right? Start8 makes it -exactly- like Windows 7's.

Well gee, if that's the case, then I could load Classic Shell which makes Win7 look more like XP. Golly.

I'm not so much asking about the interface as much as I am the actual OS and how it PERFORMS. Or not.

Upon more reading, I kinda find myself repulsed by the whole touchy-feely-consumery BS that seems so integrated into it all, and I feel a bit suspicious about Win 10 too. None of these companies do things for you because they love you....

I think I'll not waste my time with 8.1, as I know 7 works for me, even with all updates OFF for years and see what happens with 10 and get some real life reports.

I setup a few MS tablets for some of the service guys. I really don't like the interface and some of our programs don't work well in WIndows 8
But I do put this free interface on them to make it look like 7

http://www.classicshell.net/