Windows 8 is okay if you can get a class for it. Check out Best Buy; they have become pretty good about offering free classes that you just need to sign up for. I hated Windows 8 until I learned a few tricks for using it. Such as (1) how to get to the desktop and (2) that in the tiles window all you need to do is type what you are looking for anywhere in the window and it will find it for you.
Have you worked on a computer before? If not, you really need to be able to take a class for whatever laptop you get (or have someone who ***really*** likes you show you how to do things).