It is a matter of personal preference but in my family we are running Win 7 Pro on 6 machines and love it. About 5 months ago I purchased a netbook to read news on in the morning when I go for coffee and it included 8 - I hate it and would replace it with 7 if it didn't have a warranty. IN FACT I still may install Win 7 over it. I installed the "classic shell" and use the desktop exclusively, which essentially makes it "look like a Win 7". I have no need to ever use the "metro" side of it. Total waste and I forecast it will go down in MS's history books with the ME and Vista debacles. As an aside I do not own - and never will - a smart phone.