I've been using Windows 8 (W8) on my new laptop for a few months, an upgrade from a desktop running Windows XP. While there are quite a few changes from XP (I haven't used any of the versions of Windows between XP and 8), after getting used to the differences between the two I've found W8 to be usable, not a disaster, but usable. The increased power of my new laptop doesn't hurt either.
The initial difficulty I had when using W8 was working without a touchscreen. Due to that, I had to figure out the new ways of doing things (such as pulling down the edge of the screen to close some applications rather than the traditional "click the X in the corner"). I haven't found lack of the Start Menu to be much of an issue since I use the Start Screen as it's main replacement (putting the applications/files I often use on the Start Screen and also on the Desktop and Shortcut Bar).
I haven't completely explored W8 yet so I'm sure there's more configurations options that I just haven't come across yet or haven't needed to change (yet). I also haven't explored any third-party applications for configuring the look and feel of W8. Still, I'm able to effectively use my system and I'm able (with one exception, the Palm Desktop) to use just about all of the software on this system that I used on my previous system.
After my first few days of using W8, two things I wish Microsoft had included with it are:
- An initial configuation wizard, that would allow you to configure W8 for the specific hardware that you are using and also based on your personal preferences. As an example, if you choose you can have the traditional "click the X in the corner" option for closing all applications.
- Provide a tutorial video to guide users moving from previous versions of Windows and show them the changes introduced in W8 (I purchased a book for this but it would have been great to include this information in a video on the computer itself).
I haven't found W8 be the disaster that I've heard about, but I also haven't found it to be a "Wow!" upgrade either. I've simply found it an improvement over Windows XP, but not the big change that going from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 was.
On the subject of the death of the desktop computer, I think the desktop computer will still be a major player overall. However, other types of computers will continue to grow in importance. It's possible that the final evolution of the portable computer and the desktop computer is that they will be two parts of the whole (you work on your desktop computer which continually syncs with your portable computer and vice versa).