First off, black friday deal from office depot. Toshiba 15.6" 6GB RAM 500HDD with an i5 for $415 after tax and rebate. It's for business, finance specifically, but my personal laptop running a pro core duo with XP finally crapped out after 7 years, hence the purchase instead of a PS4. Until I sit down and build my tower to plug up to my PS 3D display for steam games, this is it. So I think I made the right choice for price, performance, and work: this is a Windows 8 jump from XP for me. So I'm not fond of the metro style app start screen. I hate the look mostly and my laptop is not a touchscreen making navigation more of a challenge in that regard. I'm utilizing the scrolling options with decent success.

Upon start up MS is asking for a lot more Info and an account, it's quite different ecosystem now. I see the advantages but also the nuisance. Having an app store is a welcomed addition, offering me ample access to software quickly and effectively. The desktop is as expected, I don't need the old start screen. File explorer is right there, pinning to the toolbar, and creating icons is easy enough. Taking advantage of key navigation like the Windows button and alt + tab is a lifesaver. I'm thinking hotkey customization is the beat advice one can get with W8.

For antivirus I'm trying out ad aware 11, feel free to judge that decision or to suggest other software or ones that play nicely together. Now I said this is for business and I'm just getting started so I'm trying to cut costs wherever possible, also I don't have the money. I'm a little ticked MS doesn't have Office as standard anymore as that is essential. So I'm looking to acquire software I can't afford otherwise and could use some advice in the torrenting department. (ip masking, security, etc) If it's better to pay for a legit version and it's not out of my budget I will, just looking for guidance.

So as I get use to the new features what do you recommend to get me started off right?

8.1

they just closed off the Office Depot stores in my country ):

8.1 ruined my computer. it started treating my printer as a USB storage device...I havent had the time to look into it so if you dont either, I would recommend not upgrading to 8.1

Move your mouse to the lower left corner and right click.

You should probably get a proper licence for Office. I had problems with just the trial version of Office, lost a few bits of work after it kept crashing and compatibility with older versions of Word made some things a headache. A torrent or cracked version might prove to be troublesome as well (although admittedly I've never tried it). Personally, for ease of mind, especially if you're working on important files, I think it's better to just get the full version, even if it is expensive. OpenOffice could be an option if you have no money, but compatibility with formatting and losing information like formulas etc. is the main problem.

I just find W8 a pain in the ass.

How much space is there on you printer ? :D

Maybe you made a good trade-off

8.1 is ok. I'm a Linux guy so I generally hate everything related to MS OS. 

XP will always be the king.

I got stuck with Windows 8 when I bought a new laptop for work early this year. Its not the worst thing ever but some of it's attributes I find really annoying....
-The fact that apps are always running in the background is just...uhg. My laptop is not a touch device and doesn't need these kind of attributes, its just slows me down. Why these new touch OS systems don't have a simple "close window" button baffles me. I've had a video that I accidentally initiated using the W8 player running since I got it. I use VLC :/
-It took me the longest to figure out where things are. Particularly the "Control Panel"
-I hate that when you start up, it shows all the apps sitting there first. One such app is the Pictures folder wear it begins to parade all my pics(including the naughty ones) in a slide show. When will MS learn that people still want privacy even when they share a laptop. I am mortified to let anyone use my computer just for this reason.
-every now and then I accidentally swipe and flip to an unwanted app
-Constant warning windows are just cumbersome. Every 2seconds its telling me I need to update virus/spyware blockers etc. I'd rather not as every PC I have ever had was killed by those programs.

Instant loading and booting up is nice tho.

Windows 8 in itself is okay, it just has a shitty standard interface setting. When I'll be forced to upgrade, I'll simply remove the worst features and look. I don't know why they chose this design for desktop Windows though, it's not what I would intuitive on non-touch devices.