Should I buy windows 7 or windows 8?

Here's the deal: Windows 7 will have support for plenty of years to come, probably past Windows 9/Next/Blue or whatever they want to call it. NO school or business will be going to Windows 8, and in NO WAY are you obligated to switch over to Windows 8 unless you are just itching for something new. Like I said in my first post, desktops/workstations/gaming desktops/desktop replacement laptops/regular laptops should stick with Windows 7.......if you want to put 8 on your brand-new shiny Ultrabook, or you want to buy some tablet or other touch device with 8 on it, go ahead........Microsoft don't get a crap either way honestly. They will brand this is a success no matter what and will quietly put it down like the family dog if it is as big of a flop as most people think it will be.

I say start bitching when you don't have a choice, but as of right now, you still have a choice. If you choose to invest any time/money/effort into Windows 8 and you realize its garbage.....you were warned. If it turns out to be the best thing since sliced bread, congratulations.

Myself, I will not even entertain the idea until SP1 comes out.....and then, I still don't see me putting it on a desktop. Can you imagine how freaking irritating it will be if you have to disconnect yourself from the mouse and reach out and touch the monitor for anything? For me, it's either/or. Either buck the system and use a mouse/keyboard for everything, or adapt to using touch/gestures for everything. I still think touch/gestures belong on a small laptop type device, tablet, or phone.

Hmmmm..........

RTM builds of Windows 8 reveal Microsoft blocked any bypassing of the Metro desktop

Quoting the above:

Prior builds of Windows 8 allowed the user to create a shortcut so you bypass Metro and go straight to the Explorer desktop.

Rafael Rivera, co-author of the forthcoming Windows 8 Secrets, confirmed to Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet that Microsoft does indeed block the boot bypass routine from prior builds.

He also believes that Microsoft has blocked the ability for administrators to use Group Policy to allow users to bypass the tiled startup screen. There had been hope that Microsoft would at least relent and let corporate users have a bypass, if only for compatibility’s sake.

I cant find the windows 7 version do you guys think I should pay $200 for windows 7?

Do NOT believe this BS about Win 8 being 'unusable with a mouse', or
'needing a touch-screen' or being 'unproductive'.

NONE of it is true.

Not ONE word of it.

Oh, and the new UI is EASY to bypass/ignore if you don't
like it. Just install Classic Shell, problem solved.

This FUD about it being 'another Vista' is simply rubbish!

And yes, I did hate it at first, but rather than bitch about
it, I installed it and LEARNED it.

You really DO have to spend some time with it before you
diss it, because the amount of wrong information out there
is staggering!!.