Ask Slashdot: Buying a Laptop That Doesn't Have Windows 8

First time accepted submitter Sagan's Pie writes "I'm starting to look for a laptop for college, and the only thing I seem to find are laptops or tablets that have Windows 8. I have used Windows 7 for a long time now, and would not have a problem giving it up, but not for Windows 8. After visiting many major online retail sites, I've found that finding either a Windows 7 laptop, or even a laptop without an operating system is nearly impossible. So where should I go if looking for laptops sans os, or at the very least sans Windows 8?"

Comments

MacBook Pro

[DaMattster]

I honestly think that you should go with a MacBook Pro because Windows runs very well in a virtual machine on it. You have the best of both worlds at your finger tips. I really like my MacBook! I have a VHD with Windows 7 installed and I use VirtualBox to run it. No problems and very fast.

Re:Do you use the start menu often?

[Praedon]

Here's the link for installing a Windows Start Menu into Windows 8. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-windows-8-suck-less-with-classic-shell/

I never do.

Really, the biggest change in Windows 8, is that I have to press the windows key when I login. Nothing else really changed in the OS for me. I still just hit win+r for the "Run" prompt, or click a shortcut in the number of places I've aggregated them that make much more sense than Win 7's start menu layout. I got Windows 8 because it was just $15 for a valid windows license.

I'm in full agreement that there's no reason to upgrade from windows 7 to windows 8. But if you get windows 8, it's not the end of the world (unless you're really married to the start menu). Or hell, if you really need the start menu, just go download it and install it. If you're on slashdot you should know how to do this. This askslashdot is kind of a no-brainer.