Hiya,
I see that your having problems with minecraft! and im here to help you.
To start with windows 8 isn't the problem and it works fine for me and probley everyone else. Try going on to the minecraft website and resetting your password for safety issues and then wait a minute or two for it to change.
Secoundly, Try reinstalling the game as there might of been a problem with the download. Make sure you have a fresh client with no mods or whatever youd have installed along with it.
Thridly, make sure your internet connection is fast enough for the game, otherwise the connection might be too slow for it to recoqinze anything atall.
Fourth, Make sure you have the updated version of java and JDK I belive thats the right one as that might cause a problem
Lastly, Restart your laptop.
If I helped you please leave a comment telling me that it helped