Dittos! Mrs p6 and I were concerned when she bought a nice new laptop with W8. Both of us used XP at work. Within a week no problems. I did install Classic Shell but there is no need for it. Both our workplaces are now on 7 or 8.
In fact we both prefer W8 now.
I still have XP on an older deskktop that I used mainly for my wireless webcam and wireless weather station but XP stumbles and locks several times a month. When I run them from her laptop no problem.
Same with photoshop and several other programs we use.
Looking forward to building an up to date desktop with W8 or maybe 9.
I agree, I just do not understand the hate. I use it for 8 to 10 hours a day and like it a lot. I had almost no learning curve either.
Haters gonna hate. =)
I agree I have three computers with W8.1, and two older W7 units. I find the W8 to be faster. It took a little getting used to, and it is not as user friendly on a non touch screen computer, but I love the tiles and can always go to desktop when necessary.