If you wish to stay with Windows I would either go with Window 7 or if you can, wait for Windows 9 which there is indication will be released in April of 2015.
Windows 8 has had poor sales and is perceived by many as having poor support for the desktop GUI, mouse and keyboard. Windows 8.1 is a little better and with service pack 8.1-1 due out in a month or two, it will get better still. But 8 still does not have a standard desktop start menu or the ability to open the new store apps in scalable windows on the desktop for example and if it gets them it will likely be in Windows 9. I am staying with 7 and will take a look at 9 when it comes out to see if warrants getting a new computer with Windows 9 or stay with Windows 7 Pro which will be supported for many years to come.
Basically in my view Microsoft panicked, saw they were being left behind in the smart phone and tablet market, the lucrative App store market and direct hardware sales, and developed a bad case of Apple and Google envy. The basic system core of 8 is good but was released early still needing work and the Graphic User ( the tiles) Interface is touch optimized and designed for a cell phone or a tablet. Not too bad on a smart phone or tablet or even a touch based PC but a panned on a normal PC which work best with a mouse and keyboard. Further many professional viewed it as weak for serious desktop productivity and serious content development as opposed to content accessing on say a tablet or phone. Microsoft gambled that even though they were late to the party that they could leap frog ahead in the tablet and phone touched based world, lucrative walled garden App store business and direct hardware device sales where a lot of growth is taking place. They tried to leveraged there billion or so desktop optimized customers with Vista, XP and 7 by degrading the long standing and loved familiar desktop in Windows 8 and forcing users to the touch based 'Modern' interface by eliminating the start menu etc.
The backlash was huge, business has not adopted it or many others and those forced to upgrade from XP, as it is reaching end of life very soon and will have no security patches or support from MS, are apparently often going to 7.
One wonders if Windows 8 sales would have been even worse had they not used their considerable clout to ensure that most new computers in the big stores came only with Windows 8 installed. Apparently a fair number of 8 computers have been downgraded to 7 or upgraded depending on your point of view.
Windows 8 also got blamed for contributing to the decline of desktop and laptop computer sales already taking a hit from the tablet and smart phone revolution and some high end MS executives have apparently been toasted or transferred over it.
Apparently they took around a billion dollar hit on one of the first version of the Surface Device but the later ones are doing better.
My impression is that the perception of Windows 8 is now so tainted that they want Windows 9 to start fresh and there is strong indication they will back track and bring back greater functionality to the crippled desktop and the use of mouse and keyboard. How well they do it will determine if 9 can overcome the perceived hole MS is in with 8. If those changes are perceived as insufficient and they have two, perceive by many problem operating systems in a row, it will get very interesting although MS has billions and can keep throwing money at it for a long time and are; notice all the TV ads.
On the other hand if you like a tablet touch interface, don't do a lot of content development and like buying through App stores then you should be able to pick up a used Windows 8 or 8.1 computer cheap. Keep in mind that some of the initial apps were perceived as not well done and the MS app store has a way to go to be perceived as the equivalent of the Apple store, but it is reportedly getting better every day in terms of numbers and app quality.
If you think debate sometimes gets hot on this forum on fishing issues you should read the battles going on in forums all over the net on this topic. I have been following it and it is my impression the Windows 8 supporters are losing and I would not be surprised that some of the supporters are paid to support Windows 8 or employees working from scripts given the repetitive nature of their talking points. That seems to be increasingly common on the net.
