So overall the consensus (apart from a few strident dissenters) is that the OP Title is correct. 

Only because there's an overwhelming bunch of wooses agreeing that XP and/or Win 7 are the best thing since minced steak for people who can't afford dentures but still love the great taste.

Orright, I'll concede on one point!  Win 7 isn't half bad, but that's all you're gonna get.

Fact is, Win 8 is a superior OS, not that I'm going to convince a bunch of old fossils who've not long released their grip on papyrus and the quill... so yeah, asking them to upgrade to something patently better when they've only just embraced something above the abacus is perhaps expecting too, too much.  I mean, someone who is used to pushing shiny button things along framed wires to make calculations isn't going to cope at all well with an OS that moved a few things and did away with others.  No, they're going to need more time, lots of it to fathom out how things work and where to find them, because Win 8 is like rocket science to them, poor sods.

then WHAT is window 8(HATE)(nt 6.2)?

harpo

ok, it sux. move on, please

Sure.. click the file explorer that is by default pinned to your taskbar. Type the file name in to the search box and drag it to your email app.

No matter how much you kick it, Win 8 is here to stay a while because it is the beginning of a long line of superior OSes.

There will always be some whinger who'll happily find a reason to whinge about it, but that don't make it a bad OS.

And let's not play the 'general consensus' card.  The majority is too happy singing in the chorus "Oh Win 8 is woeful", and they've entirely forgotten they have a voice [and mind] of their own.

It's sad how the human race has become a bunch of sheep... a handful say "it's crap" and the rest follow suit because a genuinely well-thought-out opinion is so hard to come by these days.... "like who wants to make the effort when somebody's done it for me."  Fact is, anything can be done in Win 8 that could be done in XP and 7 and more, it's just a matter of navigating around the OS and learning how to effectively use it.

i was trying to insert a bit of levity, folks. although, a "windows 8 is the best operating system evah!" thread does sound appealing.

I thought I'd seen one around (sort of):

https://forums.wincustomize.com/429294

Anyway he tried.

Yeah, sad, isn't it.  Even sadder, some of those doing it are supposedly educated, computer literate people with a better command of operating systems than is being demonstrated in the various Win 8 related threads.

I've yet to see/hear a genuine complaint about Win 8. Everything thus far has an answer/workaround/resolution and the rest is crud, in some cases just for the sake of having a bitch.  Admittedly I didn't like the Metro interface to begin with, but I've always liked the regular desktop beneath it, and now I'm better acquainted, I find Metro another extension of my PC and various somewhat apps useful to complete some tasks.  It's just a matter of adapting, but obviously some are unwilling to do that.

So if I'm in the start screen and want to drag and drop a file into say an email program or Skype I'm supposed to launch open the desktop, open an explorer window and then search for the file and then drag and drop it?  What if its say Skype for Metro? How do I do that? Or what if my email app is the default windows 8 mail app. How do I do it?

i make my living knowing how people use their computers. I have seen first hand people struggle with basic issues like this. 

Its not that windows 8 is different and one must get used to it.  It's that it's demonstratively inferior at doing common tasks performed by PC users. The office worker who is regularly sending files to people, a very common task, is Going to have to jump through more hoops to get it done. 

i can't think of any way that Windows 8 is more productive than Windows 7. Almost everything takes more steps.  

i was visiting a company this past week and they were doing a power point presentation on a projector with just a Mouse. During it, some metro messaging app popped up with an event. It took up e whole screen.  there's no quick way to dismiss it other than alt-tabbing back to the presentation (I helped him by reminding hiM he could move the mouse to e left of the screen and slide down to get back to PowerPoint). in previous versions of windows youd click have a dialog pop up in front of PowerPoint and the presenter could quickly click around it.

what amazes me in this Thread is I give specific, concrete, real world example of Windows 8 issues and they get dismissed and ignored by its proponents. I'm pretty sure I've  got at least as much, if not more, Windows 8 hours as anyone in this thread. I don't have some problem with change. I know how to use it. But it invariably takes more steps to do the same common tasks as previous versions.

You do know I'm having a lend... don't you?

Yeah, I'm the protagonist, antagonist, whatever, but just like you're enjoying kicking Win 8 to the gutter, I'm having a blast defending it with a bit of tongue-in-cheek thrown in so's I don't come across as too stiff upper lip about it.  Besides, insomnia tends to send me seeking time fillers and sources of amusement.

You gave some examples I agreed with and some I proved wrong.

Personally I think this thread (and, honestly, most 8 threads on any forum are) is overly hostile on either side of the argument.  Insulting people isn't going to win any converts...it's not a problem if people believe something you don't, it's a problem if you try to force your beliefs on everyone else.

And now I'm disappearing again.

Not me!  I'm not being hostile.  While I like win 8 and think it is a great OS, I'm mostly having a lend [stirring the pot, so to speak] of those who don't like it... but in a fun kind of way, though  Essentially it's everyone's personal preference as to which OSes they use or like and I really don't care if Win 8 isn't one of them. 

I use Win 8 because it does everything Win 7 did and more, and while it may be different in some ways, I do not find it difficult to navigate, etc.  Now Brad has stated that he has had issues with certain tasks taking more steps to complete them, and in some case I concede that he may have a point, but for me an extra couple of mouse clicks are not monumental.  They are but fleeting moments in time and my progress/productivity are not seriously hampered in any way.  However, that does not mean to say a person in a work environment would be so accommodating, as the extra clicks accumulate over a working day/working week.

Again, it's a case of each to his own... and Win 8 is my choice.

I don't have touch and I find Win 8 easy to navigate with a mouse and keyboard.  In fact, I prefer it that way for the desktop.  Reaching out to my monitor hour after hour to perform tasks would cause more problems than it would resolve, so no, 'touch' in that situation is not an option.  However, it would be excellent on a tablet and/or laptop that is closer to the body and easier to reach.... perhaps even on the desktop situation I'm setting up upstairs, where the desk is lower and the user would be reaching down more than straight out,