[citation][nom]Maxor127[/nom]I'll get crappy Windows 8 if I can find a retail copy for under $45. That way, if I can mod it, then I'll have a cheap Windows 7 substitute, and if I hate it, I'm not out a lot of money.[/citation]
I have two PCs. The newer one is running Win7 Ultimate, and I saw no reason to change. The old one was still on XP, with 2GB memory, so the $40 upgrade to Win8 Pro x64 so I can install more than 4GB, plus a win7-like desktop was worth it.
What Microsoft has done a terrible job explaining is that all the edges and corners of the desktop now can do stuff. This works really well with a touch screen, but is still handy even with a mouse, once you learn how it works. I followed online instructions to make a replacement start button, and learned if you put the Desktop tile on the Start screen on the top left, then "enter" will take you back to it. With tweaks like that, it's really not very different than Windows 7 with a few changes and improvements.