I agree Pete, Windows 8.1 is good. I've always felt people bashed it without even giving it a chance... to the point they don't even know what they're bashing - as per a post on this thread. The Metro UI has inspired, or could say, been completely ripped off by Google. Just take a look at their marketplace and their last keynote. For a moment I thought I was watching a Windows presentation.
I'm running 8.1 on both my Surface and PC. It's great for the Surface with the touch UI and my laptop merely boots to desktop while I still have the option to access apps I use. I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about.