> The interface is so heavily designed for a tablet, it ends up feeling very forced and clunky as a desktop

I don't use the tablet interface as a desktop. I use the desktop interface as a desktop.

> there were at least three times where I would reboot the machine and get the dreaded "Preparing Automatic Repair" endless loop of death, resulting in a re-install.

Sounds like a hardware problem. I've never seen this and this is the first I'm reading of it.