I think most will tell you that Win 7 64 bit is the way to go.....

However, when you can afford the Surface Pro , which runs windows 8, it would be worth having as "It" is what Windows 8 is all about....the different result possible for a worker that is involved in collaborative , team based work.....
Part of the Microsoft concept was that in an Enterprise environment ( where teams work together routinely) , if you put 6 workers together with laptops at a table, each is essentially in a virtual cubicle, as they get behind their laptop screen, and tune out the others till each task is completed....behaviorally, the desired result of the collaboration is to have all minds plugged in together, at all times durring the group meeting...The surface pro Tablet will allow all eyes to pretty much maintain contact, and looking at the tablet is still not venturing off into the "virtual cubicle".
Work done on the Surface Pro Tablet, is easily shared in real time by all in the group, and this is the primary purpose of Windows 8 Pro. Collaborative Computing.

It just so happens that a side benefit, is that it is spectacular for entertainment purposes as well.... For at home, watching Netflix ( with 40 million other subscribers), you can have your Show playing on your 52 inch, or 80 inch big Screen, and you can have a cloned image of the big screen on your tablet....with the tablet offering clickable operation of Netflix and your Big Screen TV behavior( via the desktop PC is is connected to). Alot will be happening with this soon.

While you "could" edit with a surface Pro , I think this would be only viable as a last resort option, because you are on a trip or vacation, and need to do some editing.
It has 128 gigs of storage, and is powerful enough...but you would end up needing to drag around external drives or the new monster storage thumb drives( if you don't mind the prices). The monster thumbs make editing with the Surface practical, but the thumb prices don't for them.

I will probably get a Surface Pro for the Hypervideo Project I am working on, mostly for demonstrating the 2nd Screen potential....Once I have it though, I will try it with Vegas and also Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 for xaml editing for Silverlight.

Go for Win8, it is significantly more performant than Win 7, and you can just ignore the start screen. I use Win 8, and I never use the Start Screen, it is not needed. From the desktop interface there is no real difference between Win 7 and Win 8, and you'll appreciate the better performance.

If you're running a Q9650, I don't see any justification for Wndows 8 unless you're trying to get off of Vista and the difference in price is meaningful to you.

"Win 8 is substantially cheaper (why??)."

Microsoft is trying to get their unit sales of Windows 8 up. They would also like to get people off of XP.

He typed from a Windows XP corporate workstation...

I've had no problems with Vista 64bit Business edition. It's run like a champ from day one. :-) My reason for thinking of change is; I ran into some problems with the beta test of V12, and I notice that most folks running Win 8 with V12 seem to be getting a smooth ride. Just wondering about the interface though. I'll go for a dual boot system for a while.

Price is always meaningful to me John. Ha ha..:-)

I've had no problems with Vista 64bit Business edition. It's run like a champ from day one. :-)

If what you have is working - then you need not do anything.

My reason for thinking of change is; I ran into some problems with the beta test of V12, and I notice that most folks running Win 8 with V12 seem to be getting a smooth ride. Just wondering about the interface though. I'll go for a dual boot system for a while.

Now - if you want to actually get to work fast and with no "issues" - I cannot recommend a quick upgrade to Windows 7 Pro x64. Currently - the very best that MS has to offer.

Windows 8 is not the panacea that many make it out to be and most importantly - you cannot "shut off" parts of the UI you do not like.

That said some people use 8 and are OK with it - still others have either tried it and hated it or have played it smart and stayed with what works - WIndows 7. I am in the last group.

Bottom line - unless your current scenario is lacking in some truly critical important area - there really is no compelling reason to move to 8 at all. Especially if Vegas is your thing. Win 8 will not suddenly make your work or renders any better.

However - if it were me - and I was set on making a move - I would ditch Vista as quick as I could (but I did like Vista Business SP2 specifically) and then settle into some very stable and very comfy Windows 7 slippers and keep on keepin' on.

VP

Kind of off topic but.. if MS's OS history repeats itself..
every other OS turns out to be a turkey.
98/SE= OK
Milleninum = Turkey (big time)
XP = OK
Vista= Turkey
Win 7= OK
Win 8= ???

'My reason for thinking of change is; I ran into some problems with the beta test of V12, and I notice that most folks running Win 8 with V12 seem to be getting a smooth ride."

Full disclosure:
My rather current hardware (i7-3770k, HD4000 video) would not work with the Windows 7 driver. I loaded the Windows 8 driver. Details here. I don't know if the Windows 7 drivers have been updated because mine is working and I ain't looking.

It's possible that some of your peers were having good luck with Windows 8 because the drivers were getting more attention, it being a new product.

Or it could have been the phase of the moon.

As to MS being a turkey ..... Back in the 80's when all we had was ms dos, or CPM, Windows 3.1 then came along and was cool, and then Windows 95 rocked!
While MS has had some bugs along the way, I think they have been planning 8 for many years now....the hardware is finally here that they needed for this evolution in computing. While it won't jump the world as much as Windows 95 jumped from DOS, it is still likely to be a big jump, and a good leap frog over Apple.

> "... but Win 8 is substantially cheaper (why??)."

Not sure. Could be because it's such a drastic change that it needs to be cheap to entice customers? Could be that MS is just trying to make their numbers by making it cheaper? Could be because Mac OS X only cost $19 to upgrade and customers are getting tired of paying hundreds of dollars for Windows when they can switch to a Mac and only pay $20 for upgrades. Who knows???

> "... so more ore less back to Win 7. Any opinions which way to jump?"

By using the word "back" I assume you have nothing now? No reason not to jump forward.

If you had a working Windows 7 64-bit system then I'd say stay put. Windows 8 has absolutely nothing to offer anyone with a working Windows 7 desktop computer.

If you have nothing, then get Windows 8. It should work fine. It's basically Windows 7 with the Metro interface graphed on in place of the start menu so it's a just minor annoyance to use with a mouse and keyboard but you can just sit in the desktop all day and forget the "Hello Kitty" windows-phone interface and save yourself some money because, as you pointed out, it is cheaper.

This assumes that your hardware supports Windows 8 (i.e., there are drivers for your graphics card, audio card, etc.).

~jr

Features new to Windows 8

I vote for Windows 8 ... My new laptop runs Win8 .. Vegas runs great on it. Win7 is excellent but Windows 8 is the future. Save the bucks. Take the learning curve now. For anyone editing with Vegas Pro, learning Windows 8 should not be a problem ..

i'll probably jump to 8 when:

a. m$ gives an option to resort back to a permanent 'classic' interface (ie. no 3rd party addon required)

b. sp1 is released (would do this with ANY os on a 'business' computer)

c. the majority here validate it's use vs win 7 when used with vegas

i am tired of bleeding to death on the cutting edge ;-)

Penny just dropped that my cheapest - and probably safest - upgrade option, is to install my current version of Vista as a dual boot, then buy the Win 8 upgrade for 29.99. If Win 8 sucks, I've still got everything in place for business as usual. Sounds like a plan?
Edit. NO PLAN. :-( Just remembered that for a dual boot, the 2nd OS must be newer than the current one. Unless that's changed in the 10 years since I last had a DB system?

Arthur, not sure what you mean about the OS having to be newer. I was dual booting Windows 7 32bit and 64 bit. Both same age.

Dave T2

Where can you buy a Windows 8 upgrade for $29.99 ?

Used to be the case Dave - from my ageing memory. As I said, this may have changed now. Certainly the case for you! Q: When you boot up, what are the options (names) for the 2 versions?

Seems to me that since XP they have been actively been making it harder and less intuitive (if not actually obstructive) to get to the guts of the OS for tweaking. We'll all end up like iDiots if they're not careful....

Even in W7 to find things in Control Panel I seem to end up running around in circles before I eventually chance on the dialogue I want.

But maybe it's just me .... ?

geoff

@xberk. Sorry, I lied - it's 24.99. :-)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/buy

Just to be clear here on mention of very cheap Win 8 upgrade as per deal stated..
It's £24.99 ERP (Union Jack money) not USD $24.99 :)

Arthur,

They were both called Windows 7 so I had to just remember which was which.

Dave T2

>Even in W7 to find things in Control Panel I seem to end up running around in circles before I eventually chance on the dialogue I want.

Geoff, one thing I have found useful in Control Panel is the search field at the top right of the screen. It seems to find the correct tool for most reasonable key word searchs. For example searching on "drivers" brings up Device Manager, "power" brings up a list of power option dialogs, and "battery" brings up the appropriate subset of power option dialogs on my laptop.

/jerry

>> Seems to me that since XP they have been actively been making it harder and less intuitive (if not actually obstructive) to get to the guts of the OS for tweaking

Then I would recommend you get on Win8. It is not out in the open and trivial to find (neither should it) but Windows 8 has significantly more tools and helpers to tweak the guts out of Windows than any version before it. From the cursor blinking speed to RAM testing, it is all there in Windows 8. Sure, they are slightly hidden, but they are there, which they were not in earlier versions of Windows.