The way I see it, Win8 is Win7 with some polish to the core components (runs a little smoother, improved file management dialogues, etc) and some different menu design. Once you are comfortable with the different menus, there is basically no sacrifice.
The "tile" menus are actually even an improvement for my HTPC. Not perfect- HTPC never gets enough love- but better.
The "tile" menus are actually even an improvement for my HTPC. Not perfect- HTPC never gets enough love- but better.