My first question for you is, do you have a touchscreen monitor? If not, I suggest avoiding it.
Honestly, Windows 7 is my primary OS at home, followed closely by a custom-GUI on Linux (core). From work, Windows XP is primary, though Windows 7 is rapidly taking over. School, Windows 7 with the XP thrown in from time-to-time. That isn't to say I don't use Windows 8. Quite the opposite. I make it a point to have as many operating systems/browser configurations as I possibly can (all the better for troubleshooting compatibility issues with websites).
As such, my second question for you is, do you like the use of your start menu? If so, there's another check on the list of reasons to avoid Windows 8. Instead of the "classic" start menu, which you don't even have the option of with Windows 8 (core), you get the "Start Screen", which is just the Windows Mobile menu (the actual OS interface) slapped over the entire screen. There are third-party applications, like StarDock's Start8, that restore the start menu to almost the same as that from Windows 7. Another key thing to remember about the standard "Start Screen" is that most applications are installed with two versions, the mobile version that runs from the "Start Screen", which is the default application launching location, and the desktop version which runs from the Desktop-side of the operating system. These programs are not interchangeable (unless this has changed, I mostly only use taskmgr and browsers ^^'), meaning that if you launch Microsoft Word in the "Start Screen"-side and want to move your active document to the Desktop-side, you need to save it, close the application, then reopen it from the Desktop.
What I will say in favor of Windows 8 is that the administrative tools are vastly overpowered. The taskmgr from 8, I ported to my Windows 7 machine because of how powerful it is! There are also been numerous improvements to how data is processed by the operating system, which, in my opinion, has been majorly underplayed. Between my Windows 7 and my Windows 8 OS, which share all the same applications and profile data, the Windows 8 runs a great deal faster. Launching Microsoft Word 2013 on Windows 7 takes about 30 seconds, on the Windows 8 its less than 10. If that isn't improvement, I don't know what is.
Now, back to the badmouthing...I have also noticed that Windows 8 may be better at managing CPU and RAM, when it comes to the GPU and GRAM, it's in an entirely different league, and I don't mean in a good way. With Windows 7, and even Windows Vista, I can play Dragon Age II, World of Warcraft, Mass Effect III, and Assassin's Creed III with maxed settings, all of them. I built my computer with all next-generation tech, but I was still in awe when I first realized how powerful my computer actually was. Then came Windows 8. I decided to give it a fair try and used it as my primary OS for a little less than two weeks. My goal had been a month, but the minor points I mentioned in its favor were not enough. Pulling up old-school StarCraft, not even Brood War, I couldn't even play on the default/standard 800x600! Yeah, sure, not really compatible, right? Well, what about Mass Effect (original)? It can play on Windows 8 by default, no compatibility issues, supposedly, but I still had to knock the quality down to get a resolution stable at 1280x960. Horrid!
All and all, since you're not real heavy into gaming, I suppose it's an okay OS, if you can put up with the "little things" on an endless basis. Eventually, I'll go through the hassle of butchering the OS, removing that blasted "Start Screen", reembedding the Start Menu, and disabling the Microsoft Live interface, but that's a huge project that I might never actually do. I had a decade to tweak XP the way I wanted, and thankfully Vista wasn't nearly as difficult to tear apart and rebuild.
