Yes it is. Lots of new features, faster, and uses less battery.
The start menu is of course different, and some people find it annoying.
But to be honest, Windows 7 is good too. I don't miss the start menu in Windows 8 much, but what I do miss, is Aero. The glass interface looked so cool, but MS decided to drop it. 8, 8.1, and now even 10, does not support the Aero glass any more.
But if you're not using commercial productivity software like MS Office and Adobe creative suite, I suggest don't use a Windows, use a Linux. A Linux system can do EVERYTHING a Windows system can do, gaming being an exception. LibreOffice/ openoffice gives you a powerful office suite like MS Office, but keeps the classic look of the older office products (NO STUPID RIBBON), plus they are free. Gimp's scripting abilities are even better than Adobe Photoshop (and it's free too).
People who say software isn't available for Linux, are simply wrong. They could say Windows software is not available for Linux, that is true to an extent, but there a lots of Linux alternatives which are free, and are better than their Windows counterparts.
Since Linux is "Unix like", you'll need to learn some unix commands to explore the true capabilities of Linux. But even if you don't, you can still keep using it as Windows, just clicking on stuff. It will behave like Windows, but you won't realize the true power of a UNIX CLI.
If you decide to try Linux, PLEASE stay away from Ubuntu. I'd suggest openSuse. It's a distribution from Novell, a very well known software/solution provider with professionals/ sysadmins. It looks better, supports x11, and is much more customizable.
https://en.opensuse.org/Main_Page