Our quick take

Windows 8 - 4.0 / 5

  • Windows 8.1 tips and tricks: Here’s what your PC or tablet can do now Windows 8 beginner tips: Where’s the Control Panel and more A brief history of Microsoft Windows

Design

You can’t turn the “modern” interface off

On-screen keyboard and handwriting

Boot time

Modern apps

Multi-monitor craziness

Multi-monitor awesomeness

There are keyboard, mouse and touch shortcuts that can help

Task switching

Smartglass

As good as new

If you can’t cope…

Windows RT

To recap

For all the complaining about the new look of Windows 8, there’s one crucial thing to remember: you don’t have to upgrade. The OS itself in 8 is an incremental improvement over Windows 7, there are some nice features here in the way file copies are managed, how the task manager operates and how the OS runs on a day-to-day basis.