I never had the opportunity to use Windows 8 more than a couple of weeks.
In my experience, windows 10 is the worst mess I have ever used since Windows 3.1.
I am a retired Civil Engineer, I use windows 10, I.E. 11 and the usual software of the home user, MS office and some legacy simple photo editing software, Adobe Acrobat, anti-virus software, etc.
Every time Microsoft pushes an "automatic" update at least one app gets hosed; if I'm lucky I only lose my preferences.
The file system W10 uses is a freaking nightmare; after the simple, straightforward filing tree system of win 7, the unpredictability is mind-blowing.
As with every other attempt in history, designing a system that will work for every known device is a fool's errand, and has never worked for the attempt to be "all things to all devices," and failing at them all.
After 23+ years of DOS and Windows, I see Linux in my future or, if I can afford it, Apple.
To add insult to injury, MS seems determined to "upgrade" every win 7 system remaining without the users' consent. Good luck to them!
I like the classic user interface in previous editions, but has been removed from Win10. I tried the Win10 on an extra hard drive and did not like it at all. Win10 sidebars were invisible, as were most links and the window frames.
I reluctantly went from XP to 7 several years ago. Lost several hardware [scanner, printer, CD-RW drive] and software when I upgraded to XP. Similar with the XP to 7 upgrade — several software and a laser printer [no driver for Win7 64-bit].
I know with Win10 I would lose most of the productivity utilities I use with several browsers and other purposes. I am staying with 7 as long as possible. Since I am retired, I do not have heavy productivity requirements, but I do still use some older software to accomplish specific tasks. The older programs are easier to use than the newer updated crapola versions.
And whoever invented that ribbon menu system should be shot — and don’t even wait for sunrise. That is the most cumbersome and confusing invention in decades. The ribbom menu in some software programs takes up an inch or more of screen space and I have found no way to shrink the size. And I have a 24” widescreen monitor.