Windows 8 on anything other than a tablet is an abomination. It is not set up for productivity. It is set up for entertainment. Speaking of which, MediaCenter is no longer included like in Windows7. Now you have to buy the professional version AND buy MediaCenter separately. I think if you're into serious gaming Windows is a must. Otherwise Linux is great. Media center apps work great and are not expensive like on windows. When we buy laptops we switch them to Linux when they start acting up. We generally buy HP because they seem to have good compatibility with Linux and provide Linux drivers for a lot of their hardware. I think more and more people will switch to Linux. I tried switching several times starting over 15 years ago. I had many failed attempts but I got farther every time and it got easier every time. Then one time I completed an installation and have been using Ubuntu for about 10 years.