This friend is delighted with the new 8.1 system with Classic Shell. Start8 is fine if you prefer it, although Classic Shell is free & Start8 costs $5. Either will give you a system that looks & feels like XP, Vista, or Windows 7 including a Start button with everything the older versions of Windows had. The only consideration is compatibility of your devices and apps, so be sure to run the upgrade advisor that you can download and run free from the Microsoft web site. One other thing - Windows 8 is a little faster than Windows 7 and will be supported longer.
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Good luck.
This question is "sort of" covered in many threads, but the more I read the more I get confused. The issue:
I will soon be getting a Windows 8.1 Laptop to replace an old Windows Vista Laptop, and want its useability 'out of the gate" to be as much like my Windows 7 desktop computers as humanly possible. I could still buy a Windows 7 Laptop instead, but have read that Windows 8 has benefits.
If this is what you wanted, how would you set up your Laptop? It doesn't matter if small $ are spent for added software IF there is a true benefit.
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