No. Windows 8 had little to no spywhare, is actually faster than 7 but it has the dreaded start screen, nothing that you could not fix with start8. Windows ME crashed often, but was shotlived and replaced by XP, which is a much better windows in itself.
Windows 8 was uninspiring but it was fine / worked. It was just overshadowed by how great Windows 7 was. Windows ME seem to be just unstable for most people - I was using Windows 2000, which was far superior. The two best versions are Windows 7 and 2000