"Wall Street Journal" columnist Walter · Mossberg (also known as Dr. Mo) published a paper saying that through his own practice, found that the old computer is not suitable for upgrading Windows 8.
Dr. Mo believes that if a computer is used for 1-2 years, even if it meets the minimum installation requirements of Microsoft Windows 8 from the configuration point of view, it will be disappointing after the upgrade. Dr. Mo upgraded the Lenovo ThinkPad X301 (2008) and HP TouchSmart 30 (2009) products, but the upgrade process & nbsp; pain & rdquo;. Both computers run Windows 7 smoothly, meeting the minimum requirements of Win8, but the performance and features are greatly reduced after installing the new system.
For example, after the upgrade, the two notebook touchpads are not working properly. Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard did not include these two products in the scope of Win8 upgrade, Microsoft's upgrade assistant software can not alert. At the time of installation, Windows 8 only tells the user that Bluetooth may not be compatible. Microsoft reminds users that it is impossible to know the performance of specific products. Users are advised to check the PC website and solve it on their own.
Dr. Mo also said that it takes about 2 hours to install Windows 8, but it takes a day or more to adjust various functions, upgrade patches, and install built-in applications.
The article believes that the PC industry hopes that users will use Windows 8 on new computers, and users who are used to it will naturally support it, but users who do not want to upgrade their hardware are advised not to upgrade the system.
Dr. Mo's article is translated as follows:
If you want to upgrade your PC to Windows 8, be prepared to face trouble and disappointment, especially: If your computer has 1 or 2 years of history, even if it meets Minimum configuration requirements to run the new system.
I know this because I spent a lot of time upgrading the two big-name, well-received PCs in the past week: one is Lenovo's 2008 notebook, and the other is a 2009 HP touch-screen desktop. The process is painful. Many functions fail after installing the new OS. Both PCs run Windows 7 well and meet the minimum Windows 8 configuration requirements.
Indeed, if the user has upgraded to the latest PC, its manufacturer believes that Windows 8 or the patch is ready to match the PC hardware, which may lead to a better experience. But from my personal point of view, none of the two PCs I upgraded are in the list, and the vendors did not provide patches. It may be because the PC hardware is not good enough to meet the requirements of Windows 8.
For example, after upgrading Windows 8, in the new Start Screen environment, the touchpad of the Lenovo ThinkPad X301 notebook could not be scrolled, and the gesture function of Windows 8 could not be used. There is also the HP TouchSmart 300 desktop. After the upgrade, the touch screen is inaccurate and insensitive, and it is impossible to reliably perform Windows 8 touch gestures. The microphone doesn't work either. In order to get the HP computer back to normal, I had to clean up most of the installed software, including HP and Microsoft programs.
Old PCs can't fully play the functions of the new OS. This is not a rare thing. Windows 8 is a big change, but my two PCs can't run the new system completely, and the difficulty still surprised me. I thought the Microsoft installation assistant would tell me, but not.
Part of the problem is with me. If I look at the Lenovo and HP websites, I may find that my model is not on the upgrade list. For example, when I talked about TouchSmart on the HP website, I entered the product number and the website prompts: “HP did not test this PC. Because of this, HP is unable to provide Windows 8 upgrade instructions. Some features may not work or are unstable if you try to upgrade. & rdquo; really miserable, I did not know until after the upgrade.
A Hewlett-Packard spokesperson explained: "For any PC, hardware and software matching is critical. There are some old PCs in our products, including the TouchSmart 300 launched in 2009, which cannot use the new Windows 8 features.
A Lenovo spokesperson told me: "X301 is five years old, and Lenovo decided not to support it to upgrade to Windows 8." The trackpad hardware really doesn't support all of the Wndows 8 features. “In short, it’s harder to raise these two PCs to Win8 than expected.