Pros: Lets get one thing straight, THE START BUTTON IS THERE, RIGHT CLICK ON THE WINDOWS LOGO TO BRING UP OPTIONS. People are complaining about how it just takes them back to the metro screen, well they should of read the simple instructions after the update before writing bad reviews. I didn't really care for the start button anyway. Faster than my mac and (use to be) windows 7 pc before I but windows 8 on it. I find it way more productive/easier than any other windows os from gaming, writing papers, multitasking*, overall faster. I never experienced any crashes or bugs on 8/8.1 on both of my computers. To anyone looking to choose an os get windows 8.1, don't listen to these people that complain and want to purposely give this operating system a bad rep. If you like the desktop screen you can bootup straight to it and never touch the metro screen, but give the metro screen a try and fully customize it to your liking, you'll learn to love it. It functions perfectly even if you don't have a touchscreen computer. If windows 8.1 crashes or you experience bugs, I'm 99% sure its due to your computer/drivers/ or software from 3rd parties that you installed.

Cons: I prefer the internet explorer version on the desktop than from the metro ui (user interface). It doesn't give me an option to use that one from the metro ui. If you use google chrome this isn't an issue, its the same from the desktop and metro ui. Not really a con but a nit pick.

Overall Review: I prefer producing music with windows 8.1 than os x mavericks, ableton live 9 works excellent, easily connect my usb keyboards and more. I'm thinking of uploading a video review of windows 8.1.