The move from Vista to 7 Was trivially simple.

I haven't heard any horror stories yet, but as a general rule you're always better off doing a fresh install instead of an upgrade, if you can spare the time.

The good news is that Windows 7 isn't a radical shift internally from Vista, like Vista was from Windows XP. In fact, internally it identifies itself as Windows 6.1, where Vista was 6.0. So as long as all your hardware devices and applications are working correctly on the Vista install, there's a very good chance that they will upgrade seamlessly.

Yes, the upgrade path is very simple. Microsoft designed it that way, because they want to enable its prime function:

As soon as you finish the install and connect to Microsoft to activate the install, a newly-designed virus is pushed onto your system. This is the first known bio-code virus. Anyone using the system, apparently through contact with the keyboard, will have their brains "downloaded" (sucked out) to Microsoft HQ.

The victims then begin to wander about with a shuffling gait, posting stories about how easy the install was and offering to provide technical support to ease the transition.

To avoid becoming a MicroZombie(R), it is imperative that you NOT upgrade to version 7.

It is possible that only using your keyboard while wearing condoms on your fingers MAY prevent this infestation, but that has not been confirmed as yet.

Windows 7 is better than Vista.

You will see very little difference between Vista and 7. Some fancier graphics and some operations are streamlined but there's not a huge difference. The upgrade should be seamless but I would still make sure you have a full backup if important files. Oh and make sure any app you have now that uses an online activation scheme (like Acrobat etc.) you deactivate it in Vista before you upgrade.

*Windows 7 is better than Vista.*

Could you set the bar any lower?

....BRAAAAAIIIIINNNNSSSSS....

I got one of the student download copies that came as a .exe that would not install. Instead of waiting another week for my disc I had to turn the install pack into an .iso and format a flash drive to install it. Otherwise it was a breeze to install reinstall all my programs.
So far I like the new taskbar and the sticky note function has been usefull.

I'm still running Windows 2000 on the box I'm typing on and NT4 on some other file server machines. They work fine and do everything I ask of them.

A friend of mine has been a beta tester for W-7 for the past few months and has very good things to say about it. For those who are silly-stupid fans of XP, W-7 has "virtual XP" that is kind of cool. It also has "virtual vista" but what's the point, it's because of Vista that MS was forced to expedite W-7 anyways but the option is there.

The whole Beta testing campaign for W-7 is really appealing because a lot of regular users and nerds were given W-7 first to iron out bugs ahead of time to roll out a optimal system. I'm looking forward to it but as usual, I'll wait to make sure before purchasing as I did with Vista. This is why I'm still using XP. Good luck with it but I think you'll be better off than with Vista.

I've been running the release candidate of windows 7 64 bit for several months now. first off- it's really stable, I had so many problems with Vista (32 bit) that I was always doing work arounds to get it to work. I had to trick vista into working, and windows 7 has worked flawlessly so far (not including the initial upsets with beta drivers not being available until recently). I actually was unhappy going back to XP on my work machine after using 7 for so long! It runs every program i've thrown at it and I've really liked it. I like it better than Vista and XP- I'd consider myself an advanced user. I am most impressed by the small day to day stuff (like MS paint is very much improved). I am a happy future buyer of 7 (once my RC runs out). Good job for once Microsoft!

Hope it helps Bob!