I bought a new laptop with w8 and I dont hate it as much as I thought I would from all the crap people give it. There are a few thing's ive noticed dont run (obscure things like custom drivers for the kinect, etc..) but its still runs great for all main purposes. I can run my adobe suite, 3d modeling, games like diablo 3 and borderlands 2, IM programs. Start menu is different, but im used to it and dont really care since I hardly ever used the start menu in the first place. I care more about performance, and w8 seems to bit quick!