For me personally, software/hardware compatibility and speed matters most to me. I was thinking why not Microsoft do this: Give out demo copies of the actual software, for users to TEST out if there are software/hardware issues before buying the full software to erase/ Minimize software/hardware issues? What do you guys think? Is it practical? Is it a good idea? The only bad thing I can think of would be cost (if by CDs)

Peter - In case you haven't noticed... That's kinda pretty much what they're doing with the Beta and the RC. There is a problem with this idea. In order to do what you're suggesting, you have to install it. For most people, the install goes well enough. For some, not so good. The problem is once it's installed, it's not so easy to roll the whole thing back to the way it was before. That can cause a LOT of issues - supportwise... Not a good thing.That's why Microsoft created the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - which is now in beta. you download and install it and it will check your system to see if it'll fly or flop.It's a free download available from Microsoft's web site and it does a pretty good job of spotting issues, app compatability problems and the like. They also had one for Vista as well.