-----Lies we tell ourselves to make Android seem better than it is...
"which can be attributed to the fact Windows is built from the ground up for the x86 architecture"
No, in fact Windows is less built from the ground up for the x86 architecture than Android. Android starts with a x86 reference design kernel architecture. Windows (NT) is NOT an x86 kernel architecture, in fact it uses its own NT architecture that the low level HAL translates to the hardware. (It is a good design and is why Windows on ARM (WP8) or Windows on x86/x64 have great performance and less code fatigue, but they are NOT designed from the ground up for x86. )
The Windows Store Apps (Modern) run architecturally agnostic to x86, just as an Android App should be mostly agnostic to the underlying hardware. So, WinRT based Apps are running just as far from the hardware and Android Apps on a x86 CPU.
"Unfortunately, though, stability lets it down: the tablet refuses to run some apps and games, while others will crash or stutter at seemingly random times."
These types of comments are normal for Android reviews and honest conversations, even on non-x86 tablets. Android is not a hallmark of stability and pushing Android with a few too many tasks or conflicting services/processes results in App and OS crashes and errors happen especially when dealing with demanding Apps that stress the Dalvik scheduler and memory manager.
This is accepted, as Crashes and Apps failing to load are a daily occurrence with Android, on the latest and greatest 4.x builds. Android users have come to understand it is expected and how to deal with errant App behavior and the common fix of restarting the device.
The lie is that this is NOT common on all OSes, and is especially NOT common on Windows 8.1 tablets or WP8.x devices.
If you notice reviews like this one that have a 'comparable' Windows 8.1 Tablet to the Android tablet that is being reviewed, whether it is Asus or Dell, notice the reviews NEVER mention crashes or stability or performance issues on the Windows 8.1 tablets.
Performance observation: Also notice that every time, the Android version of the same tablet is using a faster Atom processor. Ironically, it should be the opposite, as Windows 8.1 is running a full desktop/server class OS on these devices, and Android is very much a 'mobile' OS that gives up a lot a feature and functionality to be 'lighter'.
I use Android tablets, but I also realize that we tell ourselves 'lies' about Android to make us feel better when our Game crashes or the browser acts up or the Camera App crashes and won't load without restarting the device.
We 'lie' that this is normal and happens on all devices and OSes, and the truth is, that it does not happen on all devices, as stability, crashes, and issues we deal with would be seen as a disaster and highly abnormal to happen on Windows 8.1. (This is a big reason WP8 users have high customer satisfaction with their devices. Just knowing that the device and Apps will work as expected 100% of the time is worth any perceived tradeoffs to using a WP8.x phone.)