Windows 8 or 8.1 and Good Monitor Brands

[Matt4x4]

I am updating my computer, need to know which O/S is best for a casual user/casual gamer, also buying a monitor just need to know best brand to buy.

Was thinking Microsoft 8.1 Pro 64 bit and an LG 27MP55HQ-P

I guess the major hurdle I am going to have is how do I save the stuff already on my computers HD when I install 8.1, should I just buy another HD?

Been reading mixed reviews about 8 and 8.1, should I just go with 7?

[BUKI]

Can't help you with the os, I'm a Mac guy. But when I switched, I just bought an external 1tb for 50$ and just saved everything onto that.

[Matt4x4]

Im in the stone ages with my O/S

Hopefully my system can use SSD HD's will see what they say at memoryexpress!

[AstraX]

Just recently upgraded to 8.1 from Win7.  I like it.  Seems to be stable and pretty quick though the UI did take some time to get use to.

SSD's shouldn't be a problem as long as your motherboard has SATA connections on it.

As for backing up, just like Mike said, get an external drive and use that.  Easiest way.

[BUKI]

For casual gaming/using I think a ssd is a little overkill. Jmo but I think you should save your money and buy something for your jeep instead

[raf2379]

I stay away from windows 8 or 8.1. I tried it out with the surface pro and didn't like it at all. Win7 is the way to go still, Win 8 is what Win Millennium and Win Vista was. Wait for Win9 it will be refined like Win7. Microsoft always does this with their OS, they release some junk so that they can sell it and make money, its like a beta test version you have to pay for, then they release the refined version of it. I'm still on Win 7 and waiting on Win9 before I make the switch. I'm still using xp on some of my PC's lol so maybe my opinion may not matter much.

[JohnB]

8 runs faster than 7, so is a better choice.  You can make it look just like 7 if you want.

On the monitor, you need to look for one with a 2 ms refresh rate for games.  Most monitors are 5 ms and you will get ghosting on games.  You also need to have a video card that can manage things.  That is where your money needs to go.  An i5 processor is fine.  More cores are not useful for gaming.  Look for the faster speed processors, at lower cores.

A small SSD for the OS and programs makes everything run a lot quicker.

[ngrover]

You can make it look just like 7 if you want.

You can use "Classic Shell" which is legit free software that will make your windows 8 desktop look and feel like Windows 7: http://www.classicshell.net/

[Matt4x4]

Ive been reading replies about windows 8 and 8.1 and a few scary posts have popped up about security and the o/s secretly changing things around automatically. The post was a year old, heard nothing but great stuff about 7. When is Windows 9 come out?

What about "splitting" (I forget the term, probably partition or something) the HD, was thinking about just trying out a free or cheap Linux o/s.

Ive been having some serious problems with my system lately. Its slow, IE doesnt respond about 1/5 of the time, takes forever sometimes for IE to load. I usually have multiple windows open to websites, used to have Youtube going as well with music but it seems lately I am not using it. Sometimesas well, other programs will say "Not Responding" at the top of the window when opening. I think its a major o/s issue, I got 4GB of ram (have room for 16GB on 64bit o/s, but sys will take 8gb) , and 2.6Ghz CPU (not overclocked), onboard basic graphics card that seems to be working good for World of Tanks which is the most graphic intesive internet game I have ever play.

I personally think a fresh install of a new o/s, redownload IE and backup everything I need on old HD (350GB, 7200RPM sata). But before I do all of that I think I need a good inspection for Malware and Viruses of the old HD. Then set it up for dual HD's, and a new eSata graphics card, perhaps some ram but thats an extra $100-$150 which I think 4gb is plenty.

[Elver]

Your best choice would be Win7 64bits, 8+GB Ram and, if possible, an SSD drive with a secondary drive for Backup. You can also use some online backups, like Dropbox or One Drive, depending in how many GB's you need for backup. They have some free plans with up to 10GB. Since you are a casual gamer, you can pick an intermediate graphic card from ATI or NVidia, any of them can handle most of the games.

Win8 vs Win7, for a regular user (not a heavy gamer or a programmer or a designer) won't make much difference. I do prefer Win7 because I found that my system runs slightly faster on Win7 when compared to Win8. I didn't tested Win8.1 though