Windows 8 after a year: 21 hardware hits and misses

Summary: Over the past year, I've used Windows 8 (and Windows 8.1) on at least 20 different PCs in a broad range of form factors, ranging from a Vista-era desktop to an amazingly light Haswell-powered Ultrabook with a Gorilla Glass cover. Here's a quick tour of these devices, along with my lessons learned from each one.

This was one of the very first Ultrabooks to reach the market, and I bought one shortly after it became available. The Series 9 did a good job of matching the portability and sleek design of a MacBook Air without ever feeling like a clone. Its illuminated keyboard was a key selling feature.

It originally shipped with Windows 7, and it upgraded easily to Windows 8. Eventually I found drivers that allowed the trackpad to work with Windows 8 edge gestures, which made it much more usable.

My biggest gripe with this model is the same one I have with many early Ultrabooks. The 1366x768 screen resolution is just not enough to get serious work done. After a year of faithful service, this PC was replaced with an even lighter touchscreen Ultrabook.

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications.