I'll take Windows 8 over the open source stuff like Ubuntu, which isn't practical for me.

I would take Ubuntu or Mint over Windows 8 any day, I'd probably have an easier time explaining them to other people as well.

The only thing I couldn't do when I was running Linux was put music on my MP3 player, which is a Zune. There were ways around that of course, using Wine or a Virtual Machine. If all you use your computer for is browsing, email, videos, and music then there's a good chance you can get away with using a Linux distro, although occasionally little things can make the experience annoying.

Windows 8 came with my computer, it blows. I want to go back to Win 7. It makes it so much more difficult to find things.

i think OS developers are catching on to the fact that most people don't want to know how computers work and generally don't want to think. thus, finding things is pretty simple with 8, via the "file explorer," which is what i believe to be windows' answer to apple's finder thingy, which was apple's way of allowing people to circumvent thinking. i think it's pretty silly too, but it seems to be where things are headed. the other way is of course to customize the living hell out of it, which is cool and all, but it makes relating your workflow to someone else's a royal pain in the ass, particularly if that someone is having an issue and doesn't know anything about computers other than how to surf the net.

I know about computers, I know how to customize thing but it doesn't mean I'm enjoying the experience.

If you have a Win 7 disk and product key, you can. Just need to download the drivers for your hardware. I have to do this every time I buy a new laptop for one of our employees, since the new stuff is coming with 8 now.

Unfortunately, most consumer-level laptops come with recovery disks or recovery partitions, which throws a stick in the spokes. Another problem is that system builders like Dell, etc. purchase OEM copies of Windows and put that on their laptops unless you specify otherwise and pay more for a retail copy to be put on. Because of this, it's likely that you will not be able to use your product key from the old laptop on the new laptop, because the OEM version ties to the hardware of your old laptop when you activate it.

HOWEVER. You can still activate an OEM copy on a new computer. You just have to follow this automated activation system when you go to activate on the new computer. I personally have only done this after changing out motherboards with the same model, and although I had to go through the process, I'm not sure if it would be possible when all the hardware components are different, versus just a single piece of hardware that makes up the GUID that Microsoft's activation servers catalog for that activation.

It's technically a breach of licensing compliance if you use your old OEM key on a new computer, so if you're willing to go that route anyway and don't want to buy a retail (or another OEM) version of Windows 7, then you also shouldn't mind just getting an activation crack off the internet, since it's practically the same thing in terms of software usage rights.

Fortunately, Microsoft doesn't go after single home users with court cases or anything. They're too busy auditing corporations that actually have money to sue for.

So. If you don't really mind about breaching your licensing terms, either try to re-activate your old OEM copy on a fresh install using an OEM download of Windows 7, and if that doesn't pan out, just get an activation crack for a full retail version.

Alternately, if you care about being in MS software licensing compliance, just go on Newegg and buy yourself a retail copy of Windows 7, then no matter how many computers you burn through, you will always be able to install your Win 7 on the replacement, no questions asked, and you'll be in compliance.
(Until, of course, 10 years and 3 operating systems later, no one is making drivers for Windows 7 anymore)

HTH

I actually don't have a problem with Ubuntu, but I need to use specific programs for school and teaching, like Sibelius and other notation software, that are only available on Windows or Mac OS. So that's why it's not that practical for me.

I'll take Windows 7 over 8 though.

Thanks Freebase, I bow down to you with your amazing knowledge. :bowdown:

Just beware of the fact that MS has jacked up the price for both OEM and retail Win 7 specifically for the purpose of herding more people toward Fail 8. If you're going to purchase a new license, do your bargain shopping. A lot of internet retailers still have a sizable backlog of Win 7 copies they got before Fail 8 came out and the prices rose, so you can still get good deals. But that window is closing faster now that people are increasingly realizing the failure that is Windows 8.

Ok I certainly will take note of that. I had Vista on my last computer and got an illegal copy of Windows 7 and I never had any problems with it. Looks like I'll be doing it again.