I downloaded 8.1 last night, and I do think it's an improvement over 8.0 (that came with the new laptop). The only problem, and it was more of a process issue, was downloading all 11 of the Toshiba files that they say are "recommended" with Win. 8.1.

The download did kill the few tweaks I had on the laptop, like suppressing the sign-in password requirement, but that was easy enough to restore. I do like the tweak to load directly to the (old style) desktop screen. To do that, and other stuff, right-click the desktop Taskbar, select Properties, and then open the Navigation tab in the window that appears.