ARCHIVED: Should I upgrade to Windows 8.x?

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Windows 8.x is designed for using touch, mouse, and keyboard together, on hardware ranging from touch-enabled tablets and laptops to PCs and all-in-one computers, including those without touch capability.

To decide whether to upgrade, consider details surrounding system requirements, versions, features related to your own use, and support at IU.

On this page:


System Requirements

Computers currently running Windows 7 should not have problems running Windows 8.x. For Microsoft's minimum hardware requirements and further UITS recommendations, see ARCHIVED: Windows 8 system requirements.

Versions

For details about versions, see ARCHIVED: Versions and upgrades.

Features

  • For details about differences in navigating, see ARCHIVED: Get around in Windows.
  • Another noticeable difference is the requirement of a Microsoft account to download apps from the Windows Store and access apps such as Calendar, Mail, and Messaging.
  • By most accounts, Windows 8.x improves performance in areas such as speed, memory management, and power efficiency, resulting in faster boot times, smaller memory footprint, and more free memory for the programs you run. Windows 8.x also suspends apps and desktop programs when a device is put into sleep mode, allowing the CPU to drop into a lower-power state for battery savings.
  • The Task Manager and Explorer have been enhanced, allowing easier views of system resource use, and more useful and functional file management.
  • Windows 8.x comes with improved recovery options, including restoring a device to a clean install state, or performing the equivalent of a factory reset while keeping installed apps and preferences. Both these functions can be performed from a built-in recovery menu.

Support at IU

UITS fully supports Windows 8.x, and continues testing with certain IU services. See ARCHIVED: Known issues with Windows 8.x at IU.

More help

Also, see Is Windows 8 for you?

This is document bcsj in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2021-09-07 17:18:45.