Any confirmations on Windows 8 working well with gaming?

I'm able to attain Windows 8 for free because me being in the computer science program at my university. So, with basically no risk other than using up my time, is it worth installing 8 in replace of 7? I really enjoy 7, but I've heard that performance wise, 8 is a lot more optimized. However, I have heard that the UAC gets in the way a lot for things like changing file extensions, having programs open by default when you boot up the system, etc. As far as metro goes, I can get used to it, it basically functions the same (i can hit the windows key and start typing and it will search like 7 for an example) as far as I have seen. Anyone care to input something about it that will help me decide? Thanks.

Yeah, it works fine with 95% of all the games that win7 has no problem with. You will see minor issues occasionally (Ghost Recon Future Soldier with dual monitors for example). 

Be prepared for the new UI and getting used to it, it's a trainwreck at first. I recommend picking up classic shell immediately, I would dread win8 without it.

I'm assuming classic shell is some program that makes everything look familiar to 7?KGB32

Pretty much, it makes the transition to the new UI a lot less annoying and frustrating.

[QUOTE="KGB32"]I'm assuming classic shell is some program that makes everything look familiar to 7?jer_1

Pretty much, it makes the transition to the new UI a lot less annoying and frustrating.

I honestly don't understand the QQ relating to the UI... You can set the start menu to list and it is literally exactly the same as every other start menu in Windows history only full screen.

And outside of the start menu I literally have never utilized anything different.  99.8% of my time in Windows 8 is spent with the same old dekstop, same old quicklaunch bar, and same old folders.

I mean... If the start menu is honestly annoying and frustrating for you, seek help.

I hate the interface. Some may like it but, most don't. It's a bad design and the only way for me to use it is to change the UI. With that said it runs better than Windows 7. It takes up less RAM and resources which helps people who have old machines or low end specs. If you got it for free go ahead and install it. See if you like the interface. If you're like most people it would probably be the first thing you change.

I've only had trouble with two game myself, and one of them had problems with windows vista & 7 too, The Movies and Fallout 3, I assume New Vegas will have troubles as well, but I haven't tested it yet. If you do go with windows 8, I highly recommend you get Start8 from StarDock or something similiar, without that Start-button/menu my productivity plummets.

What benefits are there to upgrading to Win8? Does it handle SSDs better? Do games run better...?PernicioEnigma

Its faster in general, I wouldn't say games play any better then on 7, but maybe once developers start making them for it from the ground up. Some of the tools are improved (like task manager) and some people like the new metro interface, but I think the majority of us still just use desktop. Thats about it.

I could barely get Drakensang to run in a window on windows 8.

That's the only problem I've seen so far.

I play older games and I hope that they all can run on windows 8.

I'm on my second month using it and I haven't had any issues.

[QUOTE="jer_1"]

[QUOTE="KGB32"]I'm assuming classic shell is some program that makes everything look familiar to 7?Squeets

Pretty much, it makes the transition to the new UI a lot less annoying and frustrating.

I honestly don't understand the QQ relating to the UI... You can set the start menu to list and it is literally exactly the same as every other start menu in Windows history only full screen.

And outside of the start menu I literally have never utilized anything different.  99.8% of my time in Windows 8 is spent with the same old dekstop, same old quicklaunch bar, and same old folders.

I mean... If the start menu is honestly annoying and frustrating for you, seek help.

I mostly stick to using the desktop and only use metro when I want to access files I didn't make a shortcut for on the desktop.