Once you get that new windows 8.1 computer, install ClassicShell and you shouldn’t have any problems using your new computer.
You can also look through this topic to gain some insight into the many things you can do with Windows 8.1.
I was one of the ones really down on Win8 when it first came out. As time went on, I decided I wanted to try it so I installed it on my older laptop that had been running XP. It’s a single core machine and Win8 is just as fast on it as XP was. As Bob3160 said, if you install Classic Shell, use the Win7 skin, and set it to skip the “Metro” screen at boot, it’s just like running Win7 but there are some improvements under the hood. It’s lighter for one thing and it boots up very fast. The boot time on the older machine is about 40-50% faster than XP had been.
Yes, reading through this thread first, will answer many of your questions.
It’s nice to see that even the most outspoken critic has seen the light. 
If I don’t upgrade to windows 8.1 do you think all the apps that will work on 8.1 will on windows 8.0?
Who knows :-\ I wouldn’t risk it though and why would you not want to update to 8.1 anyway as there are numerous fixes in the update.
My windows 8 computer is going to be delivered today and even though I’ve read a lot of posts about this OS it in this thread I’m still kind of nervous in regards to learing how to use it.
Should I upgrade to windows 8.1?
Yes you should, upgrading fixes bugs and adds new features, no different to when you upgraded Win7 to Win7 SP1.
How do I upgrade?
You must install the updates and then there is an upgrade option in the Windows Store.
As Steven said do all the windows updates, when completed go to the “Store” and the option to upgrade will be presented, start the upgrade and find yourself something to do for 3 hours while it does it’s thing
I’ve been doing seaches about Windows 8.1 and so many places show that it’s full of glitches.
Works fine on all the upgrades I’ve done, if you search hard enough you’ll be able to find glitches in everything.
Think I’ll stay with Windows 8 and once I’ve fully learned how to use it I might upgrade. If I don’t like it can I downgrade back to Windows 7?
Yep. Thats possible.
But you need to be careful with the Secure Boot.
What’s the Secure Boot?
8.1 is not “full of glitches”. It works as good or better than 8 and has some nice changes and enhancements. It is worth the upgrade, especially since it’s free.
Secure boot is a new feature in Windows 8 computers that hampers the installation of any other OS but Windows 8. It can be gotten around.
If you install Classic Shell and use the Win7 skin, you will almost never notice the difference. So there really should be no reason to want to revert back. One thing you may have to do is change the settings in Internet Explorer to always use the desktop version instead of defaulting to the new full screen Windows app version that I personally do not like at all. Of course if you use another browser, that is not an issue.
@Dch47
Thanks for the info. Guess I will upgrade after my neighbor hooks the new PC up.
Thanks for helping just 1 more question… If I start the download can I turn off the gateway pc then pick up where it left off at?