[BruceIV]

I'm not the parent, but I do run Win 8.1 on my main laptop. I don't use Metro apps (Netflix and a couple games excepted), because there are better apps to do the same thing on the desktop (and before 8.1 not being able to run Metro apps on more than one monitor was a pain). For the specific case of Skype, I use the desktop client (my laptop doesn't have Windows 8 drivers for its webcam, and the Windows default puts the video upside-down), and it works fine.

My basic experience with Windows 8 (and especially 8.1) is that it's an improvement over 7, so long as you just use desktop apps - it boots quicker, and there's a number of useful UI tweaks (Windows Explorer and the Task Manager are notable here). Also, I like the Start screen - being able to comfortably arrange a couple dozen apps for easy access means I almost never have to go digging in the menu.