[Will]

I went Win 7 when I built the computer I'm typing this on. Had XP before that.

I always wait to see what the buzz is about an OS before making the plunge, and only upgrade when I really need to.

XP was really stable, never had any problems with it. 7 is just as good in that regard and better in other ways. I love the way it handles drivers, networking, and crash recovery.

I'm not hearing much positive about 8, so why bother?

Upgrading was necessary - XP wouldn't have been able to properly support the hardware in this machine (quad core processor, 16gb RAM, 1.5TB hard drive space, dedicated graphics card, etc.)

I'd think anyone who can build a car can build a computer these days. They're pretty much plug & play and you save a boatload of money. If I was to buy a machine like this from Dell or whoever I'd have spent twice as much. Just do a little research to make sure you're buying quality parts (just like for a car) and you'll be good to go.