[citation][nom]Gundam288[/nom]Vista wasn't that bad after SP1. Even then Vista does not even compare to the changes to Windows that Windows 8 has done compared to Windows 7.They Completely changed the way people have used Windows for almost if not over a decade.Vista, ME, 98, 95, etc. are used the same way. You have a start menu, desktop, etc. The same can not be said about Windows 8 which has changed the even the basic ways the OS interacts with the user.Yes, you can get a start menu thru a 3rd party program and desktop and etc.. But, people expect Windows 8 to be just like 7/Vista/XP/etc.. Also, not many people have touch screens with their desktops which adds another barrier to using it if you are just upgrading.[/citation]the performance problem in Vista is not fixable. But the Win8 missing startmenu is fixable.
Compared to win7, win8 does not offer much improvement, but if u are getting a new machine now, it is better to take the cheaper win8 + start8 route than buying the more expensive win7.