There really is only one major issue with W8: the UI...now, for the people that don't like the W8 UI, that is a huge issue, but it is the only major one....so, for the sake of argument....
Let us first assume that the W8 UI is in fact truly terrible and wrongheaded...from that we could say W7 is the best (or near best) UI for meeting the needs of most PC users (otherwise, why would W7 be so popular and acclaimed?)...logically it would seem then that Linux (since it also deviates from the W7 UI) would not be any better than W8 unless a certain Linux distro had a near identical UI to that of W7...
Now, let us instead assume that the W8 is in fact a significant improvement and a fantastic UI, but most people are too stupid or too lazy to learn or understand it....if that is indeed the case, they sure as hell aren't going to be any more willing to learn a Linux UI (unless it is near identical to W7)...
The main reason why W8 turns off people is because of its UI...as far as I'm concerned, Linux distros don't solve that issue because they too have different UIs from what people are expecting...it doesn't matter whether it's because W7 is the ideal UI or because people are too stupid to adapt (or some combination), no matter how you spin it the UI of Linux is also going to be a major roadblock for people dissatisfied with W8...as someone said earlier, if someone doesn't like the UI of W8, they will turn to W7 before turning to Linux...
Now to be fair, Linux distros do have start buttons and traditional start menus and so one could argue Linux (or at least a certain distro) is closer to W7 than W8 is...but beyond the start menu/screen, W8 is nearly identical to W7 so I don't really buy into that argument....
Even if we completely ignore the UI issue, there are a host of problems with Linux...a big one (for many, the biggest) is thattoo much software is only available on windows (or windows and MAC, but not Linux)...because of this, most people need windows regardless of whether they like it or not...going along that line is driver support...in many cases Linux users simply cannot get the most recent versions of graphics card drivers (NVIDIA is the big problem) and cannot get the most optimized chipset drivers (in general, Linux systems run hotter because the driver controlling cooling and what not is more optimized for Windows)...that is, of course, assuming there even is a Linux driver (in most cases there are, but new tech often has problems until someone develops a Linux driver)...
Then there is the "out of the box" aspect...windows in general has more "built in" features that are needed by the average user...even simple features like playing audio files is not doable by all Linux distros without going out of your way to download extra software....it is true that most nearly every task that can be done in windows can also be done in Linux, but Linux users in general are going to have to go to much more trouble ensuring they have all the software and drivers they need (Linux Mint is helping in this regard but still no where near Windows when it comes to proprietary drivers)....
I will end with the issue of conformity...there are so many different distros of Linux that it would be very difficult for most people to become well acquainted with even most of them....in short, Windows makes things much easier for businesses and users by offering one "distro" at a time...if I know windows, I can pretty much guarantee no matter what job I take, I will at least understand the OS I'm working with...that could not be said for Linux unless major efforts were taken by industry and PC producers to adopt only one or two versions of Linux...
