This is not really applicable to Linux, but I am running Windows 8 Pro dual booted with Linux Mint 14 and I encountered a bug that stopped Windows 8 from fully starting up. I found out that if you press the F5 key just after booting Windows 8 you will see the test “Please Wait” at the bottom of the screen. This will then take you to the safe mode screen where you may then access System Restore function and then repair your system that way. So write this down and remember well. Why the Drok did Microsoft change this anyway? Are they just trolling their users or what? Anyway; this does work with the final Windows 8 Pro release and this is a good way to repair your installation if it goes awry. Changing things like this is not the best way to treat your users by any measure, but at least you have me to tell you the solution. That is what I am here for after all. The Linux distributions like Mint and Ubuntu do not treat their users like this; there is instead a simple safe mode entry in the GRUB bootloader that allows you to fix problems. As well as the nomodeset parameter for the GRUB command-line that will allow you to load Linux in a safe graphics mode. That is a very useful trick indeed when you need to fix problems with the graphics drivers and you need a safe mode to do this.
But you should thank me for posting this, I love posting useful tips like this to help users of Windows 8 as well as Linux.