Windows 8

[Gordon Steadman]

They all have their faults (and right now Microsoft has a shit-for-brains boss who has finally done the right thing, or been made to)

Now, there we do agree. What on earth possessed Gates to let that maniac take over?? He must have done untold harm to the company, taking it in strange directions and then trying a bit late (again!!!) to play catch up. Watching Balmer on YouTube is enough to call for the white coat brigade.

[MartinT]

For example I staunchly stuck with Win ME for years until XP was sorted properly

Yep, I know people who have had no problems with Vista, too. Personally I think Vista was a pile of poo until at least SP1 was released. I got blue screens on test machines so often that we never rolled it out, jumping straight from XP to W7.

As for the cloud, it's really just remote storage under a new name. Some corporate clouds, like Amazon, are trusted by some very large multinationals. The same for SkyDrive Pro. I think you need to be careful about your cloud provision choice, is all. For instance, at work we have just selected LiveDrive for our corporate backup service. Frankly, any cloud provider who slips on security is likely to be so litigated against that they would go under rather rapidly.

[synsei]

Yep, I know people who have had no problems with Vista, too. Personally I think Vista was a pile of poo until at least SP1 was released. I got blue screens on test machines so often that we never rolled it out, jumping straight from XP to W7.

As for the cloud, it's really just remote storage under a new name. Some corporate clouds, like Amazon, are trusted by some very large multinationals. The same for SkyDrive Pro. I think you need to be careful about your cloud provision choice, is all. For instance, at work we have just selected LiveDrive for our corporate backup service. Frankly, any cloud provider who slips on security is likely to be so litigated against that they would go under rather rapidly.

It's not general security that's an issue for me Martin as that should be well sorted, it's the fact that the US security agencies can browse my data on a whim. I've nothing to hide but I do take exception when my private files are not private. It's like coming home to find a complete stranger going through your drawers...

[Yomanze]

Straight from XP to 7, a very familiar story Martin.

[MartinT]

it's the fact that the US security agencies can browse my data on a whim

I think you'll get nods of empathy from Merkel and Hollande.

[MartinT]

...has come through this evening via Windows Updates. Even better integration, with Modern apps now showing (and pinnable) on the taskbar (it leaves you with the Store already pinned), and including a top bar with close box. Internet Explorer now has a choice of modes: full clean screen, or with tabs showing. Many small additions are visible throughout, such as the power button and search next to your login name and icon. Oh, and it seems even swifter, especially IE.

There's nothing not to like here; if you're running any flavour of W8, get it as soon as you can.