[max46]

>Win 8: bad

>Win 9... well, #8 was so bad they had to skip a number

If you know what to install to replace the stupid touchscreen interface with a proper start menu (eg. Stardock Start8) and disable metro ui feature, it's a great OS. You get 3/4 of the modern features of Windows 10 without the downsides (eg. telemetry, no control on updates, keyboard layout management, taskbar freezing, etc.) and an interface that's halfway between 7 and 10.

If you don't replace the start menu, I agree it's a dumpster fire and I would never use it.

[ineedasername]

I'll agree that, especially with 8.1 and some tweeks, things were much better. But I think the out-of-the-box experience-- what most consumers will be stuck with-- is a better comparison. Because you can change just about anything if you're willing to use 3rd party tools or dig into buried settings, and especially if you're willing to dig around the registry.