I would prefer that Win 8 for the desktop still had Aero and looked more like Win 7, but it hasn't and doesn't. Thing is, I like how Win 8 handles and I'm prepared to wait until Neil has Windowblinds ready to dress it up.  I could get one of those patch thingumies from over a devArt to suffice 'til then, but frankly, Win 8 doesn't look so bad [with the Start8 panel looks a lot like 7 anyhow] and I'm not that desperate.  Fact is, I have a faster, smoother OS that performs much to my satisfaction and the look isn't unbearable, unlike XP's butt ugly UI.  Now that is something that HAD to be covered up ASAP to prevent nausea and upchuck in the keyboard.

Gonna have to disagree. When it was turned on to the silver theme it looked good.

Touche........

I still use XP on a daily basis, and I only got to use 7 when DeVry upgraded to it last summer. I am about to start my last semester of my Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems. I haven't used 8 yet, but I believe I will probably end up agreeing with Frogboy. because as a programmer, I have to have a desktop environment, not a half-baked hybrid environment, otherwise I get cranky. I still plan on having a XP machine for old games that just won't work on 7, but I definitely plan on getting a 7 machine in the near future.

Yay!!!!!! I won a point....

...took a decade of debate...but it had to happen eventually...

So overall the consensus (apart from a few strident dissenters) is that the OP Title is correct. 

Yes, on various levels it's almost unanimous...

Only because there's an overwhelming bunch of wooses agreeing that XP and/or Win 7 are the best thing since minced steak for people who can't afford dentures but still love the great taste.

Orright, I'll concede on one point!  Win 7 isn't half bad, but that's all you're gonna get.

Fact is, Win 8 is a superior OS, not that I'm going to convince a bunch of old fossils who've not long released their grip on papyrus and the quill... so yeah, asking them to upgrade to something patently better when they've only just embraced something above the abacus is perhaps expecting too, too much.  I mean, someone who is used to pushing shiny button things along framed wires to make calculations isn't going to cope at all well with an OS that moved a few things and did away with others.  No, they're going to need more time, lots of it to fathom out how things work and where to find them, because Win 8 is like rocket science to them, poor sods.

Just goes to prove - never buy the dot 0 product, always wait for the dot 1.

then WHAT is window 8(HATE)(nt 6.2)?

harpo

Another example of Windows 8 suck:

I want a quick way to drag and drop a document into an email or onto a Skype (a Microsoft app) conversation from the Start screen.  How do you do this?

With Windows 7 (or with Start8) I type the name of the file and then drag and drop it.  

ok, it sux. move on, please

Nah...we still get so much joy from kicking its carcass into the gutter....

Sure.. click the file explorer that is by default pinned to your taskbar. Type the file name in to the search box and drag it to your email app.