Don't use Windows 8. Not yet. Most software now doesn't support it, and wait until they get rid of metro. My family, personally, is waiting until Windows 9 comes out.

LONG POST AHEAD!

The most noticeable performance benefits in Windows 8 over Windows 7 is the startup, shutdown and restart times. In terms of gaming performance you won't notice much if at all any increases in performance. However what you may notice is that framerates in some games will be more consistent over Windows 7, meaning that you won't have huge gaps between minimum and maximum frame rates for some games like 40-60fps in Windows 7 and more like 50-60fps in Windows 8. (Numbers are just to make my point and do not imply Windows 8 gives better fps all the time).

There will be comparability issues with some programs in Windows 8 over windows 7, i've come across it a few times with some programs refusing to work properly which is an annoyance and a shame.

Advantages of Windows 8 over Windows 7 aside from the faster startup/shutdown/restart times are that it is good for touchscreen interfaces, and for some much easier to use and navigate with the tiles. As mentioned before it can offer more consistent framerates in games and is obviously the most up-to-date and recent OS meaning you'll have support for it from Microsoft for some time unlike Windows 7 which they'll stop support for in like 2015. To some it looks nicer, but for desktop users like myself with no touchscreen those touch related features are lost and to be frank i don't care about the touch stuff, last thing i want is smudges and germs all over my screen.

This leads to the disadvantages, like i mentioned before, without a touchscreen you will find the OS is not really that great for a mouse and keyboard in the metro interface. On the desktop interface however it is as you'd expect, works just like windows 7 without the start button. For some, the missing start button is a huge deal, but for myself as long as i have a way to restore it then im not going to whinge about it (currently using Classic Start that brings the start button back, the program is free to use). Though Microsoft is bringing it back in Windows 8.1. Another disadvantage of using Windows 8 over 7 is the comparability of programs as mentioned before.

Some cool features is the new ability to do multiple file transfers and pause/resume them which comes in handy if you want to stop one transfer to speed up another. Another cool feature is the new task manager which is a lot more informative and easier on the eyes, letting you know what programs are hogging the most memory or CPU cycles at a glance.

Overall though, if you already have windows 7 just stick with that if you can especially if you don't need to have the latest version of things. But if you must then there's hopefully things in Windows 8 that you like and entice you. If i was you i'd stick with Windows 7 though, Windows 8 to me is more or less just a giant cosmetic change with a decent number performance tweaks.

the exact reason why I haven't switched over yet. I will at least wait a year before an attempt.

I don't suggest it because it's not compatible with most of the software and drivers out there ( even though it has auto detect most of the time you need the driver) If you want it for casual use such as internet and watching movies and stuff yeah it's good but gaming and working no.it's faster from Windows 7 because it's much more simpler and its in an android like style and i gotta tell you working with a mouse in Windows 8 is dreadful.there are times that side the bar shows up easily and there are times that you move around all over the screen and side bar doesn't come out.it doesn't have that classic program file.for using programs you go to the side bar and type their name and then search for em.there are tons of unnecessary stuff like there is a music player And there is the media player 12 too(just like a smart phone) for pictures too there is the windows previewer and a slide show style viewer.the thing that pissed me off the most was closing programs and i still don't know how it works .some times when you close programs it's just fine but some times even when you Press Alt+F4 it minimizes them( i think the apps that are windows 8's apps are like this you know like a smart phone when you wanna get out of a program it might minimize it instead of closing them) seriously if your screen is not touch just don't go for it.it's not that much faster and doesn't worth the trouble.some times it limits my wireless connection for no reason which is probably driver compatibility.I've never had that in Windows 7.it connects to Xbox live and Microsoft.it gets news about weather using up your wireless bandwidth.and just a whole bunch of stuff that you don't need.the only stuff that are better than Windows 7 is the task manager and the Copy program (which they stole from another Program Called Tera Copy and yet the Tera Copy is better)

4 a gamer can be awesome, try to use 7.

From my point of view i think you should stay on windows 7.
Because i mainly don't trust Windows 8.

I also wan't to point out that the technical support in Windows 8 is slim these days and is still a bit new so staying on Windows 7 is more stable for now.
This was just my personal opinion.

windows 7 is much easier to handle like nickster said, i think microsoft should have wait with the windows 8 and i think that is their main problem, but maybe they will have more luck with windows 9 or 10

W8 lasted a whopping 20 minutes on my pc,which is roughly the amount of time I spent playing hide 'n seek with programs and whatnot.
Promptly downgraded back to 7.

Also,
> 1930+83
> Not programming your own OS

I doubt it's faster, I heard Win7 is still the best for gaming. Even Microsoft themselves used Windows7 to showcase the new Xbox One games on E3, and that says something.

4 a gamer can be awesome, try to use 7.

haha it's true Microsoft was using windows 7 to preview their games. Personally I don't think 8 is efficient to work with, especially when you have things to do. I don't like all the apps that come installed with it, I don't like the home screen, and I don't even know if it's faster or even the same speed. I know alot of this can be changed, but why should I change it just so it can look and feel like 7 without actually buying 7? That's silly lol. So I vote 7.