The Windows 10 that was forced on me is so bloated it has no performance and updates will not work - can I get 8?

Maybe you are just willfully choosing to misunderstand.

The Windows 8 that came with your machine is not something you purchased from Microsoft, It is something that ASUS purchased from Microsoft and installed on a whole RAFT of different machines all produced at about the same time. Though each copy of Windows is geared to the particular device it is on and cannot be transferred to a different one.

That is the OEM (Original Equipment MANUFACTURER'S) part of the deal. We as end user's of the individual computer receive a license to USE that copy of Windows on that machine but we do not OWN it. We own the machine, Not the OS.

And we didn't pay Microsoft anything for it. We paid the computer manufacturer (or, actually, the retail store we bought it from) not Microsoft.

The Manufacturer paid Microsoft.

IF you buy a retail copy of Windows FROM Microsoft like, say, from the Microsoft Store:

THEN you're paying Microsoft.

As for the upgrade, no, you didn't ask for it but it will soon be the only fully supported version of Windows out there. Windows 8.1 Mainstream Support has already ended.

I do not misunderstand anything

Please just re-read what you just said

"And we didn't pay Microsoft anything for it. We paid the computer manufacturer (or, actually, the retail store we bought it from not Microsoft."

followed by

"The Manufacturer paid Microsoft"

Don't you get it?  Our money ends up with Microsoft. This is how Microsoft make money

I think the whole business of licensing is confusing you. It is really just a commodity for sale like anything else. I buy the license to use Windows from a store who buys it from the manufacturer who buys it from Microsoft. Surely you can see that? You even just said that yourself 

In your world, If I buy a new Mercedes from a dealer, Mercedes will not receive my money. This will mean, of course, every auto manufacturer going broke overnight. Not good for the economy

I really can't think of any easier way to explain it to you. Perhaps somebody else can help?

Again,     Microsoft have received a lot of my, and my companies' money, the last of which was the copy of Windows 8 under discussion. I stopped buying Microsoft products after this nonsense with Windows 10. Unfortunately Windows software is now aimed squarely at what I call 'the kids market'. You just have to look at the rubbish that is included in, and can't be deleted from 10. Windows is no longer a proposition for businesses, it is full of 'bloat-ware' They are following the mobile (cell) phone marketing philosophy of  'fill it with apps to make it look pretty, even if you will never use them'

Microsoft, without my permission, and for their benefit not mine, changed the Windows 8 system, the license for which I had purchased from them through their distributor, to Windows 10. The system is no longer fit for purpose (a UK legal phrase)

Let me try to explain to you what is wrong with what they did in a way that may be easier for you to understand.

You buy a Mercedes AMG 65 Sedan. Actually you buy from a dealer who buys from the US Mercedes importer who buys from Mercedes in Germany. see how this works? Most of your money ends up at Mercedes in Germany, This is how Mercedes make money

After 6 months you wake up one morning to find that Mercedes-Germany have taken away your 65 Sedan and left you with a C 300 just come off the assembly line in Tuscaloosa. You complain. But "Hey!,", Mercedes tell you, "this is a newer, more up to date model, you should thank us for exchanging it for free"

But this is getting way off topic, and you would really need a thorough understanding of the general and legal differences of "agent", "distributor" "representative" "onward seller" "OEM" "dealer" "seller" and "buyer"

I am at the advantage of having once ran an international IT software distribution company which is why I can absolutely assure you, regardless of what you seem to be convinced of, that when you buy a PC with Windows pre-installed, then the revenue for the license goes to Microsoft and nobody else.

So if you don't mind, Janey, we will agree to disagree and I will wait for the answers to my original problem

Thanks again and I wish you well

I don't know answers to your questions other than to return to Windows 8. If the device still has the Asus recovery partition then you can use the process from Asus. If not then you may be able to download a bootable image from Microsoft for Windows 8.1, you will need your licence key I believe.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/home

Remember both options will wipe all data from the device.

No. YOUR money ended with the store. Microsoft already got paid long before you ever saw (let alone bought) the computer. The Manufacturer (Asus, Acer, HP,  Lenovo, Dell, etc) pays Microsoft in order to install Windows on the machines they make. They pay a wholesale price for the OS and the OEM License).

YOU don't pay Microsoft anything when you purchase the device from the manufacturer. (Or the Retail store...Best Buy, Amazon, Microcenter, whoever.)

You pay the store what they paid the manufacturer plus a profit for the store.

Just as the manufacturer collected the cost they paid Microsoft for the OS plus manufacturing costs, plus a profit for putting it all into a box and shipping it to the store.

ONLY the store gets any of YOUR money.

And, as it happens, sales to government entities and major corporations world-wide are where Microsoft really makes their money. Not from the individual customer who may (or may not) buy the actual O/S directly from them.

As it happens, the OP's problem isn't with Microsoft. It's with that cheap 32 bit Chinese Import he bought that is incompatible with modern computing needs.

Oh dear

Let me have one more go at trying to explain to you as simply as is possible.

Lets say a copy of OEM Windows is $75.  I reimburse the manufacturer the $75 that they paid to Microsoft. 

I have $75 less in my bank account - Microsoft has $75 more. (In reality, market forces dictate that there is little or no profit for the shop and manufacturer in Windows, they mostly make the profit on the hardware)

I recently bought a new car. The dealer ordered it from the Manufacturer. I gave my money to the dealer who then paid most of it to the manufacturer. I know it wasn't the same physical notes, but it was the same money. My money went to the manufacturer !!!!   Please tell me you can follow this?

Or how about I bought a tin of beans from the supermarket. With most of my money the supermarket paid Heinz for a replacement tin. My money went to Heinz

This is book 1, page 1 for economics students which I had previously considered it to be pretty simple for anybody to follow, although you seem to be struggling with it. But I really don't have time to start teaching you the economics of supply chain.

And do try to keep up..... I am the OP's whose 'problem isn't with Microsoft. It's with that cheap 32 bit Chinese Import he bought that is incompatible with modern computing needs "

Just a tiny thing wrong with that statement.....a) It was not cheap   b) It is not a Chinese import (mine was made in Europe) and C) it has the current spec for its type and use of PC. Apart from that you were spot on.

For your enlightenment, the hardware for Apple, Dell, Sony, HP and yes ........ Microsoft is  manufactured in China (..the original Macbook was manufactured by Asus). So I guess that makes them all cheap Chinese imports.

Take a look at the underside of you laptop (or accompanying paperwork) where it should show you the country of manufacturer  (mine says Czech Republic) There is a 99% chance that if you are in the USA it will be Taiwan, China. (although some of them stretch the law and use 'place of assembly' or similar)

So yes, the problem is most certainly with Microsoft. If you had read previous posts properly you will know that the Asus is still compatible with every single operating system that we have tried it on except Windows 10,.

But, you have given us a good chuckle with your hilarious misunderstanding of supply chain economics. According to your model, where only the stores end up with any of our money, all the manufacturers will go broke.