Take Offline

their OS to provide better data management and security. Is that the real reason? I don't know. They are in the business of making money. They are not a non-profit organization.
What I do know is that all of the programs I used on Windows 7 work and most work faster on Windows 8. None of them are slower on Windows 8.
I have had success running Windows XP business programs on a VM or remoting into an XP desktop from Windows 8 but I know at some point I will upgrade the XP legacy programs to Windows 8 compatible versions.