The main problem lies in the fact that a lot of people have this operating system with a traditional PC (non-touch screen). The first few days can be really, really bad. This is solely because of the redesigned start menu (a touch screen menu) and learning to shut it down. There is nothing that clues you in on how to shut it down; you have to move your cursor to the top or bottom right and it mysteriously pops out. You basically are forced to live with it. If you have a surface touch screen then 8 would be decent in this regard...I would suppose.
I've learned to live with it, and get around it. It really depends on how tech savvy you are. It became intuitive after a week or so. But if I can upgrade for free I'm going to do it. It still doesn't change the fact that it's a poor design for a traditional PC/laptop.
I think you have until April of 2014 to move on from XP because they will stop supporting it. I still use XP on my work computer and will have to get it replaced soon.
“Stop supporting it” doesn’t mean it stops working