Ok, here's the deal. I am in the process of building a new computer. This will be the first time I've built one on my own, and am currently acquiring all of the parts. I will be installing a SSD + HDD and running the OS from the SSD. Basically, I am not sold on the new Windows 8. Currently I am running Windows 7, and this I got as an upgrade from XP that I had some student deal from university for special pricing with, and was just a downloaded upgrade, not full version install. Therefore, because of the way the upgrade was, I am not sure I will be able to use it again, i.e. install xp just to upgrade to windows 7 the way the deal worked. Therefore I may just have to buy a full version of the OS no matter what. In any case, is Windows 8 better "under the hood" than Windows 7? Obviously, I can see the differences in the UI and am not impressed with Windows 8 but is it that much better to spend the extra money on buying a full version of Windows 8 vs. Windows 7?