Out of curiosity, what is your hesitance with Windows 8? I had been running 7 almost exclusively up until about two weeks ago when I got a new system that had Windows 8 installed. To my surprise, I actually quite like it. The start menu takes some getting used to, but it has some really nice features that make it worth it. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, or as bad as I had expected it to be based on all of the reviews I had read.
Admittedly, I haven't had more than a cursory glance. For me, Metro seemed gimmicky and I assumed merging a tablet and laptop OS would result in a worse version of each. What are some of the positives? If they do indeed announce free upgrades, I'll likely give it a whirl.
I wouldn't call Windows 8 a full merging of desktop and tablet OSs, but rather a desktop OS that has been designed to be functional on tablets. I'll grant you that Metro can at times seem gimmicky, but its something you quickly get around and might even find yourself enjoying. The 'tiles' that you often hear about with regards to Windows 8 are easily the biggest adjustment and most noticeable intrusion of Metro into your workflow, but that's not necessarily bad. Some Metro apps are quite good, like the Skype or Netflix ones, and I often find myself using them more than the desktop counterparts. Heck, the Chrome metro app is a essentially Chrome OS being run from within Windows 8, which is useful if your job is browser heavy. Even with this, you can still run the normal versions of this programs, in which case your experience is very similar to using any other Windows OS. There are some other advantages to Windows 8 as well, which are less apparent from a cursory glance. Start up is certainly quicker than with 7 (something I've noticed on other machines that have upgraded. I'm not attributing my laptop's start time wholly to Windows 8, but it plays a part). Windows 8 is generally more secure than 7 as well, something that was lauded at release. In my opinion, if you can overcome the hurdle of the new start menu (I find myself hitting the windows key and typing to search all programs anyway), Windows 8 is really a pleasant experience and a nice upgrade from 7.