Off the top of my head: it boots faster, it operates faster, it's more stable, the interface is less bad (I hesitate to write "better"), and it dials down the panicky Cancel or Allow dialogs.

If I recall correctly, it system requirements are actually lower than Windows 7's as well. Way to go against the grain.

But that said, Windows 8's improvements are pretty much all under the hood: they're not user-facing. It's no wonder people don't see them, because the improvements are not designed to be seen. Unfortunately, that also means they can't really be marketed except in very niche scenarios.