• The new IE is blazing fast. It'll be a serious competitor in the browser market again if they can keep it that way.
• You can use your desktop. The full desktop from Windows 7 appears to exist relatively unaltered in Windows 8. The only difference I've found is a smaller selection of backgrounds* and the windows themselves are more angular/ugly.
• The built-in apps are interesting. While I can't say I'll use most of them, I know quite a few people who would definitely find them useful. The selection is reminiscent of Linux Mint
• The learning curve isn't too steep. Users of previous versions of windows shouldn't have to spend a lot of time learning the new OS
• It's great on a tablet. While I can't say I've actually tested it on a Tablet, the configuration of the GUI leads me to believe that a Tablet running Win8 would be delightful to use.
• Task manager has gotten a well-deserved upgrade.

• Textual input seems to be bit buggy. The cursor will occasionally jump five characters ahead of where it should be, leading to a huge whitespace gap while typing.
• Some of the default drivers don't appear to be as good as those in previous versions of Windows. My touchpad has always been odd, but it's very sensitive in the new OS. Accidentally brushing it will send it flying across the screen. I've had the same problem with Linux drivers.
• JavaScript doesn't appear to be fully compatible in the new IE. I've seen several applications, including Omnom, break as in the new browser.
• Some of the interfaces aren't exactly intuitive for PC users. For example, in tile mode, IE requires the right mouse button to be clicked before it will show the menu bars and there's no apparent way to shut the browser down short of closing every tab individually.
• Integration between the Mosaic and Desktop portions of the OS is virtually non-existent. A process opened in the Mosaic will often not show up in the Desktop and vice versa. It's slightly annoying as it means that one must switch between the modes to use applications in both*
• The Mosaic panel is awkward to navigate through using a mouse/touchpad. You're required to move the mouse through the entire length of the screen to hit a narrow scroll bar at the bottom of the screen. It'd be much easier if one could "grab" the background with the mouse and use that instead.

BSOD is black:
http://windows8center.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/windows-8-bsod-will-be-replaced-by-black-screen-2.jpg

Blue speedlings of death?

Also Qwerty.55 installed Windows 8 on his computer and it wiped out the entire content of his hard drive including partitions from the IRC logs, with no warning.

Although I was sure when installing a new OS it required a new partition or formatting, just make sure to backup if you install this, since it doesn't give any warning.

Also I saw screenshots of 8 and it looks too different for me. Until I am used to mobile/ipod like interfaces, I'm not gonna use it. I prefer the standard Windows-like desktop I've been using from 95 to Seven for now.

Also any idea of the minimum and recommended settings?