So I'm about to buy windows 7 for a computer I'm going to build, but was wondering if theres any real reason I should go with 8.1? The last system I really used was vista (ew) so that shows you how long I've not been on the pc scene lol. Also if I do go with win 7, should I get the professional or ultimate, both will be the same price.

If you get 7, get Home Premium. There really isn't any reason to get Pro or Ultimate in a home environment.

Windows 8.1 has all the features of Win 7 plus:

• Support for DirectX 11.2 and beyond (Win7 only has partial 11.2 support and won't have support for future versions)
• Free upgrade to Windows 10 when it releases
• Optimized boot times
• Native support for loading ISOs (Don't need Daemon Tools anymore)
• Longer life span (from today's date) - Mainstream support for Windows 7 ends on Jan 15, 2015
• Benchmarks faster (if you care)

With 8.1, you can also install Classic Shell (http://www.classicshell.net/) if you want to have the old Start Menu back rather than the tablet-style tiles.

I'm buying it through my girlfriends college. They only have pro and ultimate for windows 7. But i was looking and they have windows 8.1 with office 2013 for $100, I think I'm just gonna go with that since the OS is $50 by itself so for another $50 I could get office too which she will need eventually.

free upgrade to W10? that's interesting. i finally looked at a feature preview for W10, looking foward to it.

Did you create this summary or copy pasta?

If you did it that's pretty impressive that you compiled + memorized the key additions lol

Yeah, I researched it awhile ago and memorized it. People on here ask often enough I figured it would be useful.