aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Um.

Slowest SSD boot time is like 10s

Fast HDD boot time is like 30s.

Just by having an SSD your boot time (excluding POST) is infinitely improved, and SSDs are still rare, you have to seek one out to get it.

Dell and HP pay less than $40 for Windows. Likely a lot less.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I've passed up Windows 8, it doesn't offer anything that Windows 7 offers for gaming. I often get tempted to buy it when I'm in stores, but walk out without it. I don't know if I'll ever get it.

It would be nice to have more choices when it comes to the OS on a computer. I don't like the way Windows just has the market so locked down. It means when an OS like Windows 8 comes along that you don't want, MS have already started pulling back Windows 7 from major retailers and you're left with no real alternative for a few years unless you go for an expensive Mac or know how to run Linux.

I want some real competitors to enter the market, maybe bring over the OS from smartphones and use open office or something. I mean why can't we just buy a PC version of android? I just want more options and more choice in this area.

I have yet to understand how it's confusing. The start menu is replaced with a start screen, which has the same things in it as the start menu. If you want to find something but don't know where it is, go to the start screen and start typing to search (or move the mouse to the top-right and click search), it's instant search as soon as you start typing. Super fast, easy to use, I don't get why people get confused. Don't know where to change your power settings for example, go to the start screen and type 'power', everything related to that appears under the 'settings' entry almost instantly. Or, if you are just not interested in learning the new interface (which is actually quite good once you get used to it and set it up with your favorites), google and download the start8 utility to add an old-school start menu. Non-existent problem solved! :/

It's really, really awesome on a good touch screen. I'm planning on getting a portable all-in-one before the end of the year. Besides that, my wife has it on her 6 year old non-touch laptop and it runs a bit faster than 7 did on the same machine. She went with the Start8 app to add the option for the old-school start menu, but it ends up she uses the start screen too (she likes to pin her websites to it). Sleep mode and boot time are much faster, and it's lighter on RAM usage overall. Explorer is improved, network file transfer is a bit faster, and the copy progress window is much more informative - just for starters.

The mac like pop up tool area on the right hand side of the screen that comes out of nowhere is flipping annoying. Netflix is always turning on on the upper right hand side of my screen. I hate pressing the Windows insignia to go to a Xbox menu  (which has replaced the start menu). My computer is pretty much like the macs but more confusing and less intuitive. I can go on and on just tell me where to stop.

windows 8 has only been out for only 6 months, it's too soon