[OP Update] Windows 8.1 compared to Win7 - user experience

I think the real issue here is the age of your mother, not which OS is better. My 100 year old dad is still on XP. Even though most of the functions on different OS's are the same, MS moves them to a different location. That is the problem especially with very senior seniors. They have trouble tracking these sort of things. Several years ago I tried to get my dad on MS Outlook, but he could not even make that change from Outlook Express. So, try to get her something she is familiar with. Good luck with helping her.