Hi my friends, So, the big question, whether to get Win-7 or Win-8 for my new computer? I'm very familiar with Win-7 and for the most part like it pretty well. I've managed to get some experience with Win-8 while playing around with my wife's laptop and I can't say I like it very well. Heh heh, actually kind of hate it. :) Coming from XP and going to Win-7 wasn't too bad, quite simple actually, but Win-8 is another matter. However, I've read that there is an update that will make Win-8 a little more like Win-7, is that true? My biggest concern is that I want to get the one that best serves me. Not only for using Reaper, but also for interfaces, 3rd party Plugins, Sample Libraries, and just about anything that is part of audio and video work, as well as thinking ahead down the road a couple of years. So I guess to narrow it down a little: 1. For those that have had Win-8 for a while, have you run into any snags or problems with any of the current software or hardware? 2. I do have some software that is important to me that works great with Win-7 but is older than Win-8, will I have any problems getting it to work with Win-8? I'm thinking of things like Sonny's Movie Studio Platinum Suite. 3. If you think there are any advantages for going with Win-8, could you explain what they are? You'd have thunk I would have it all figured out by now, but now that I'm on the fence, I'm still debating this OS thing. :D

i had higher latency on 8 so i'm running 7

Well I think it will be Win 8.1. In order to get 32GB of RAM I have to go with Windows 7 professional, but by just going with Win 8 regular I can get up to 128GB. Regular Win8 is nearly the same price as Win 7 Home. First of all, thanks to all of you. Also thanks Peter, those bench mark tests were very interesting and informative. And also thanks to you Ivan, you've given me some good insight. :)

Windows 8.1 here No problems with Reaper and 3rd party plugins. Some very old installer COULD have issues, usually resolved by setting admin rights/compatibility modes. Some other industry standard DAW do have issues. Latency issues: none, apart from the usual suspects (wi-fi...exc...) *** Important note: the very popular "DPC latency checker" software does not work with Windows 8, as reported in their site. It reports false readings of super high latency.

8.1 from Reddit 

I've just throw away my money for a brand new Reaper Computer. Since I'm building it, it comes without any OS so I will get a licence from microsoftsoftwareswap on Reddit. From my reading those people sell valid and legal licences. From this thread and few others I'm tempted to try Windows 8.1 instead of 7... I should receive my parts during the week, build the beast (I7, 16 GB, SSD 256 + SSHD 1TB and a nice 27" monitor) and install Win 8.1. I'll keep you informed ! Reddit source: Dali