Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 64-bit (Full Version) - OEM

Pros: Colorful. So much vivid color.
Sound theme is very pleasant.
Good driver support.
Snappy, faster than previous operating systems.
Can opt to have the taskbar shown on multiple displays.
Secondary volume independent soundbar appears when using a media center remote.
Can change the text size on specific items, instead of just all the items at once.

Cons: Programs and utilities are harder to find.
No media center included, has to be purchased separately.
Doesn't come in two versions......a desktop version with a start menu and a tablet version.

Other Thoughts: A speedy OS, that takes a little getting used. It has some nice features under the hood.
They brought color to the spectrum, which is usually a good thing.
Probably the biggest mistake made was that they didn't create a desktop version with a
start menu. That version probably would have flew off the shelves. Despite it's flaws,
Windows 8 is my preferred OS, and I don't think I'll look back.

Pros: Very fast, boots in under 10 seconds (SSD, i7-3770k), slick design, attractive, very little bloat, awesome system monitoring tools

Cons: Doesn't support GMT realtime clock (even with registry tweaks), periodically the system modifies file system attributes, highly unintuitive when operating with mouse and keyboard (no touchscreen), no boot to desktop, no start menu, charms bar not configurable

Other Thoughts: Invested $15 in Start8 and Metro Mix from Stardock to address some usability issues. The charms bar sits between two monitors so it's difficult to activate and difficult to select (primary monitor is on left, secondary on right, charms bar activates when mouse cursor is at the top-right corner of the primary monitor and disappears when the mouse doesn't travel carefully down into the charms bar area). I wanted to dual-boot with a Linux/Unix/BSD style OS, which I can do. However, the secondary OS requires my system clock to be in UTC/GMT which I prefer. Why doesn't Windows after all these years support this? Every computer clock around the world should be set to GMT, and the time zones can easily change and udpate the displayed time in Windows. It's not user friendly the way MS has designed it.

I was a Mac OS X switcher, but came back to Windows for gaming and because Apple hasn't offered a compelling Mac Pro. Do I regret my decision? Yes, due to Windows. I still have very slick hardware, which I like and am proud to own. If I could abandon Windows and install [non-hackintosh] Mac OS X on this machine, I would in a heartbeat.

Pros: Install went flawless! I tried to prepare by reading as much as possible before installing. It was not needed. Win 8 installed on my AsRock Z77 Pro without any issues. Did not even have to install my drivers for any of my hardware, ASUS 6670, Samsung 840.
I had no experience with Win 8 prior to the install yet I was able to navigate around pretty easily. I had some Maximum PC issues with Win 8 reviews so I referred to them for help.

Cons: I needed to use VMWare Workstation 8 and since Win 8 was not supported by it I had to uninstall and put Win 7 Pro on. Surprisingly I had to install all my drivers after the Win 7 install.

Pros: it is as user friendly as they say it is.

Cons: it just sucks. you van barely run anything on it and you loss the ability to run skype.

Pros: Windows 8 is a great update.
1. Faster
2. More secure
3. Newer interface (If you want it...)
4. Better hardware support
5. Real touch screen support
6. Faster networking
Much more too...

Cons: Not cons for Windows, but lots for so-called professionals...

Other Thoughts: Windows 8 is still the same old Windows, if you know what you are doing. Install Classic Shell and a few add-ons you'd normally install on older Windows and it will be 100% identical to Windows 7. Why do people gripe about something that's not a problem?

Pros: Faster and more secure than Windows 7, more current, and pays attention to those who need both touchscreen with the Metro interface and those who also need to use a mouse and a keyboard with a non-touchscreen high def larger monitor. People should ALWAYS use the most current version of Windows and the 64-bit as 32-bit limits the amount of memory recognized and it is not as secure or smooth as 64-bit.

Cons: None really. I am easily adaptable

Other Thoughts: Microsoft is releasing 8.1 so there will be an update to Windows 8 referred to as "Blue", and the full update will be starting this summer.

Pros: none

Cons: What a mess, they have managed to make computers more difficult.

It is also way to expensive..this mess should be free.

If it weren't for Stardock and all of the add on tools they developed to make it usable, I would say it is the poorest excuse for an operating system I have ever seen.

Garbage pure garbage

Pros: Super fast with my SSD. Can run apps. Task manager greatly improved. Fast access by Right click on bottom right, for all common management options. Looks great. Windows explorer improved, including more view options and more quick access. Still very customizable. Easy to ignore the new start screen, if you want to.

Cons: Takes some getting use to and more than average typical amount of customization on new install. Wont run some older games and programs. Impossible to only use the new start screen since programs constantly pop you back to the old desktop. Windows store not that impressive... yet.

Other Thoughts: Watch some youtube tutorials. Create destop and start screen shortcuts. Change some program defaults. Be open minded for some changes. Learn some shortcut keys.
My 75 year old mother said "its not that different from windows 7" how is it Newegg users cant figure this out?

Pros: Went straight from XP Media center Edition to 8 Pro. Fast, loaded it on to 2 32 gig Adata SP600's in a raid 0. Did I mention it's fast? For what I do which is mostly using 4 or 5 different programs it works great.

Cons: Well I use Skype a lot and the app for that just sucks in my opinion. Deleted it after trying it for awhile and downloaded Skype for the desktop and bang back to normal Skype. I deleted about half of the original apps as they were just useless. Had an issue with my web cam drivers ( Microsoft VX_3000 ) but worked around that.

Other Thoughts: I look forward to 8.1 and a normal start menu with a start button instead of a screen. As others have said for a tablet or smart phone, any touch screen ok, but for a desktop they missed the mark.

Pros: It is faster than windows 7, certainly doesn't have the issues of vista and has an interesting new style of interface for a PC. The App market makes somethings a lot easier and being able to page through your programs can be pretty awesome too, instead of having to go through folder after folder after folder to get there

Cons: It can be glitchy, and I have been getting some high disk usage from programs that didnt seem to have that issue before, though it could just be a compatibility issue. And while the app market can make things easier by default it seems Windows 8 rejects the installation of most EXE files you download, and Understandable security measure to prevent unwanted malware but it can be irritating, you have to change the registry manually to fix that.

Other Thoughts: All in all I have enjoyed the operating system, even though I have experienced some of the early official release bugs that should be expected. Dont judge it on the start menu, it is a good operating system and the start menu, while taking a bit to get used to can be easier than previous OS's . I would recommend it to other users but dont buy a download, get the disk that way if you need to restore it to base OS you can do so.