To windows 7 or not to windows 7, that is the question?

So I have an XPS M1530 that's a bit over a year old. I take good care of it so it's still very fast after a long startup process. I'm currently running vista 32bit home premium, but I'm also dual booting windows 7 RC. My question is, do I upgrade to windows 7 32 bit (upgrade, not clean install), leave vista and clean install windows 7 professional over the RC on the other partition (I got the professional version for free from my school and the upgrade for $30 if I want), or do I just forget about windows 7 and wait for the RC to expire?



Also, I COULD clean install the 64bit version just because my processor can handle it and I already have 4 gigs of RAM (is this a good move or will 32bit do just fine?), however I want all of my files, settings, applications, saved game data, and everything else on my hard drive to come back (I have TONS of programs that are crazy expensive to replace). Would this be possible? I back up regularly, but can these backups restore everything on top of a new OS? If that is possible, how does it work, can someone break it down as much as possible? Ideally I want get rid of my other partition so I can put that free space back onto my main partition.



And if I were to do a regular upgrade, can that be reversed through a backup like a system restore or do I need the vista disk? I am usually very good with computers, but I haven't had to deal with OS changes so I am pretty clueless when it comes to the risks of data loss and would appreciate any and all help



Computer specs:

XPS M1530 : Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

Processor: 2.4GHz core 2 duo

RAM: 4 GB

Video card: nvidia 8600 GT

Hard drive: 250 GB (which is why I want the other partition gone)To windows 7 or not to windows 7, that is the question?
been using it since beta 1.

no issues but was a machine i built for vista, so it's capable...

i did an upgrade, which i had to hack the rtm i'm presently using as it isn't supposed to upgrade from the beta i was using, and it behaves peculilarly. however, when i clean and re-install, i'm sure it will be fine.

i use a seperate drive for all data nad programs i download or install.

feel free to email if you need more input/info.

if you don't have the ability to buy and install a drive, you can run the drive manager in the computer manager in the admin of the control panel to resize your primary partition and create a new storage partition and move these files.To windows 7 or not to windows 7, that is the question?
Try it and prepare yourself to be blown away. It may look like vista at first but it's nothing like Vista or anything you've seen before in Windows. It's just awesome. By the way, your specs are perfect for it!
I'm running Window7 Ultimate 64bit signature series

right at this moment. Nothing but the best for me.



Motherboard: Asus PP5Q3 Deluxe WiFi-AP @n Edition

Q8200 2.33mhz, Ati radeon 4670 graphics card, 4g ram, 2 hard-drive

500g each Raid0...
Your computer can easily support Windows7//

it's nice and fast in speed than vista..

change to windows 7 then you will fell better
Vista and windows 7 are a lot alike except for a few differences
I think you should run microsoft tool to check if you have the needed performance, but I think you are ok about that



The problem is, Windows 7 is still a experimental, beta version



So, if you`d like to give it a shot, go ahead, but you may receive some errors etc...



Cheers
I would upgrade to Windows 7. It will run faster because its load on the hardware is less. As proof, Vista won't run on netbooks (that is why they come with XP), but Windows 7 will (I'm running the professional version on a netbook with 1GB of RAM, and it runs fine).



You can't upgrade the RC to the release version; I have no idea why Microsoft did that.



You can upgrade Vista to the equivalent Windows 7 version (home to home), or to Ultimate, but not from Home to Professional. Again, I don't know why Microsoft did this.



You will have to do a clean install to upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit. Some 32 bit programs don't run well or at all on 64 bit versions of Windows, whether Vista or Windows 7, but most will run OK.
Ok holy hell that's a lot of questions.



If you're going to install 7 over your vista partition, I would suggest wiping the hard drive first. it's just cleaner. I mean i guess if you really want to keep all of your stuff you should just do the upgrade. But most companies that give you expensive software will renew your license if you tell them you're wiping your hard drive. also, if you DO do the upgrade, you would need a vista disk to go back, and perhaps not even then. If you want to keep everything on your vista partition, i would suggest installing 7 over your RC.



If your processor can take 64-bit, you should do that. it's where everything's going.



in terms of backups, back up to an external hard drive. I'm unsure as to whether it restores over a new OS. I don't think it probably does, which means you can't do the clean install over vista AND have all of your stuff. Which means you need to go with the upgrade.



just my thoughts from playing around with stuff a lot. good luck on this.
Dont get windows 7 its just a vista with a 7 badge on it and your computer will become really slow