@rdave13 Thanks very much. I think Microsoft really should have made a series of their own videos showing how to use Windows 8. It would have made a huge difference to its acceptance.

Because it works in a way most people wouldn't naturally expect it to, people have fumbled around with it, become p'd off and stayed with Windows 7. Had they known from the start how to use it properly, I can't imagine anyone wanting to go back to Windows 7. Windows 8 is just Windows 7 with a ton of improvements and the ability to open convenient mobile apps.

coolbox - my posting was not aimed at you in particular (although it rather seems like you may have taken it that way). If anything, it was meant more for the OP.

The problem with performance comparisons is trying to find meaningful objective tests (as opposed to more subjective views that are often expressed). The two performance tests I posted links serve to to illustrate that one may get different conclusions from different sources even when the tests are seemingly objective. It is for the reader (esp. the OP in this case) to draw their own conclusions (you will note that I did not express an opinion one way or the other).

With regard to start-up / shut-down times, as I understand it, Win8, by default hibernates and restarts from that point rather than a full re-boot. If comparisons are being made with Win7 on that basis, surely it should be against Win7 set-up to use the same approach?

You are right that the IE related article does not, in itself, make a comparison between IE10 on Win7 & Win8. But it does not take a genius to realise that "current" comparisons between Win7 (with IE9) and Win8 (with IE10) will become outdated and, given what the articles expresses, browsing (with IE) on Win7 is about to get quite a bit better. And that should be borne in mind when considering Win7 vs Win8 (which is what this thread is, surely, all about).