I'm still going to say that I personally believe Windows 8 is better than XP and 7. I bought Windows 8 Pro within a couple months of launch, while it was still $40. I never had an issue with 8 Pro though I felt like 8.1 was a nice update, but only when I had to update my mom's new computer that came loaded with regular 8 and was touch screen. I then got my touchscreen laptop for college and have been using the standard version of 8.1 since then. My only gripes would be that the profile options like logout and the such are not on the desktop, but that is a minor issue. I also am not a huge fan of the color scheme with the tiles and find that the Windows Store app takes forvever to load but I rarely use it. Other apps work fine although the pictures app was annoying for importing pictures until I adjusted some of the settings.
As for stability, I have never had any issues, unlike XP or 7 machines I have dealt with. Too many BSODs on those.

__________________
Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.