<p>Windows 7 was largely well received from the moment it was released. It looked and felt a lot like XP and Vista, but with some noticeable and useful tweaks including everything from Snap (aligning two windows side by side in a matter of seconds) to Snipping tool and decent SSD support. It's little wonder, then, that Windows 7 sold very well indeed.</p><p>With Windows 8, however, Microsoft has made the most significant visible changes to the OS that we've seen in over a decade, and most reviews have been far less glowing. So when ordering my new laptop the plan was to install Windows 7 on it as soon as it arrived. But, not one to blindly take other people's word for it, when the laptop did arrive I thought I'd relent on my original plan and actually give Windows 8 a go for a week. Here's how I got on.</p><p>As usual with new laptops, the OS is pre-installed so all you have to do is type in the usual blurb such as account name and WiFi password and away you go. Except it wasn't quite that simple with Windows 8. With Windows 7, you can skip various steps such as Windows update settings and the like and just get to the desktop useful if you know what you're doing.</p><p>Windows 8 demanded that I jump through numerous hoops first, including entering my Hotmail account username and password, before it let me log on. Then, having set my preferred background colour, it decided to cycle through the full spectrum of other colours whilst completing the install. Pretty, but wholly unnecessary.</p><p><a href="http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2013/04/28/a-week-with-windows-8/">Keep reading...</a></p>