Your comment (and others above it) have me thinking I misspoke or underestimated desktop Linux's current usability (I run Arch, but on a headless Raspberry Pi).

What I do find disingenuous, though, are people saying they can't be bothered to try one of the shell replacements (such as Start8 or Classic Shell), but then say in the same post that Linux is great because you can change WMs. That is a strength, certainly, but I feel it hurts their overall argument. Not saying you (or the others that replied to me) did this, but others in this overall thread have.

The best part is that the Windows 8 charms menus are hardly necessary. The only thing it's "preferred" for is shutting down the system, but you can always use Alt+F4 for that.

OS X hot corners aren't enabled by default, and, in a bizarre twist, are more customizable than the Windows 8 hot corners. Personally, I can't stand them, but I'm sure some users like the feature.

Scrolling "down" on a mouse's scroll wheel scrolls Metro content horizontally.

Pretty much this. The worst part of Windows 8, out of the box, is the interface shifts for tasks such as looking at image files. But fixing those is pretty easy. When the lousy "Photos" app opens, close it, right click the file, "Open with...", and change the associated app for all files of that type. Do it once and never think about it again. I can't remember the last time I was shunted into Metro.

If you don't like the start screen, install Classic Shell or Start8. (I actually prefer the start screen, but due to a multi-monitor issue--well, Eyefinity issue--I'm now running Start8.)

What I like is the number of suggestions to "just install Linux", as if Linux needs less configuration than the above. I think people who make that suggestion are ignorant, biased, or would always recommend Linux simply because it's their preference. The last one is fine in certain circumstances, but those people should be honest about it.

Maybe he should have provided some sources, but everything I've read indicates that his assertion is correct. See this site. Granted, you shouldn't base your conclusions on one site alone, but some of the evidence and conclusions listed there (and on other sites) is pretty damning.

My mom uses one and enjoys it. I wouldn't say she loves it, but I don't think she has loved any piece of technology ever. I love it, because I never have to give tech support for it.

I have to agree with this. I actually prefer Windows 8(.1) over 7; however, for average users, Windows 8 does present some irritations. For instance, opening image files on Windows 8, by default, goes to Microsoft's "Photos" app, which is Metro-based, slow, and terrible for quick image browsing/viewing. Now, it's trivial to change the default application in any version of Windows, including 8, but the problem is that the average user just doesn't understand that it's even possible to do so, let alone the mechanism for it.

Windows 8 is filled with little niggles like that. All told, it takes about 5 minutes to fix it back to Windows 7's behaviors, but as I said, many, if not most, people don't know how to do that.

Because "I want to do this" is not the same as "I need to do this."

Honestly, as an iOS user, I don't really see the need. I have jailbroken in the past and just didn't see much that was worth the effort or the inevitable wait for official updates. For those that do want/need/"need" root, then this is a good option (or just buy an Android device).

There are a few cool apps/tweaks on Cydia, but userland iOS also has tons of cool apps. For the vast majority of iOS users, jailbreaking isn't necessary.

This doesn't really fit the OP's requirement of running MS Office (and being Vista...), but it really is a good option for many people who are tired of tech support calls from parents. We got one for my mom, and I don't think I've ever needed to "fix" it except for one time it lost the network configuration for some reason.

There's a big difference between typing on a keyboard and typing on a phone.

Doesn't help you now (probably), but 1Password works with Opera on OS X now, and they're working on Windows Opera support. There's also an Android version coming soon-ish.

This is an interesting point I haven't heard before (granted, I don't look much into this stuff). I'm conservative and generally against most tax breaks/subsidies, but your post has me reconsidering. I think a big sticking point for me would be how the government decides who gets funding. Ideally, it should be merit-based (obviously), but I just don't trust anyone in Congress or the White House to do things properly in this area. If all we get are failures due to bad choices, then the market's going to China anyway, and we've lost a lot of money in the meantime.

I did something similar. Had the guy on the phone for over 30 minutes. I was on a Mac and did everything exactly as he said to. It took about 10 minutes before he was able to get me to open a web browser ("I don't have a button that says 'Start'" — would have worked for modern Windows as well), and then another 15 minutes before he could get me on the right website (he left out a dot in the URL, so it became "wwwscamsite.com").

At the end I told him I didn't need the scam and that my Mac was fine.

Here's a related video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjKjyMKj3n4