For the price, that is a
very meh laptop. Try the
$599 to $999 section on
Power Notebooks.
Here's a
slightly cheaper laptop that comes with a Haswell i7 and 8GB of RAM out of the box. For just ~$750 you can get
this laptop with a Haswell i7, 8GB of RAM, 17.3" 1600x900 LED-backlit display, and nVidia Geforce GT 740M.
I ran Windows 8 Pro for about three months. The 8.1 upgrade failed spectacularly and killed the install, and I wasn't crazy about 8 anyways, so I went back to Windows 7. Smooth sailing ever since.
Windows 8 is probably great if you have a tablet, but if you're planning on using a keyboard and mouse it's really quite annoying. I installed Classic Shell which brings back the start menu and boots (almost) directly to desktop, but it's just not the same. Windows 7 is still the best Windows release so far IMHO.
Windows 8 Pro
* new technology platform (core changes, security features)
No. Windows 8 uses essentially the same core and security setup as Windows 7 does. Windows 8 has been tuned for better performance on SSDs vs. Windows 7, but that is really the only noticeable change. Both are still receiving security updates so both are more or less secure as the other. Windows 8 supports more or less the same legacy hardware and applications as Windows 7 does (not much.)
Barring that, there is always virtualization.
* somewhat faster boot time
Only if you have an SSD. Otherwise, it often takes longer to boot. Windows 7 Ultimate boots to desktop at least five seconds faster than 8 Pro did on my conventional drive. It also took about a full second for Classic Shell to kill Metro and switch to Desktop mode.
* basically the same Windows 7 desktop
Sure. Minus Start Menu, which for some people including me, makes it essentially useless. And no, 8.1's Start screen is
not a proper replacement.
* Windows + X brings up a menu of most things you'll ever need to manage the PC
Kinda like Control Panel has for the last 10 years?
* Most annoyances can be disabled
Except for the biggest one - Metro. Luckily, Classic Shell and other third-party apps can disable Metro and bring back the proper start menu.
* Windows 8.1 has the option to bring up the desktop upon login
So does Windows 7. In fact, it's the default setting
Windows 7 Professional
* broader support for older hardware, but most drivers that work in 7 may share the same architecture in Windows 8.
Windows Vista, 7, and 8 use the same driver model - WDM. Windows Vista/7 drivers are 100% compatible with Windows 8, and vice-verse. Some driver installers do an OS version check but the drivers can still be installed manually.
Windows 2000/XP drivers run on an entirely different model and are not compatible, same as Win 9x drivers were to Win 2000/XP.