Windows 7 vs. Vista: Should we hold off on buying a new computer?

I'm helping a friend who's new to computers. She wants to buy a new desktop. I have a question about new OS's that are on the cusp of being released to the mass public, as it pertains to buying a new computer with the paramount goal of the OS operating at top notch effieciency:

All of us know that if you buy a computer today it comes pre-loaded from a factory in China with Vista already installed on it. I don't know what that pre-load circumstance is called. I'll wait for someone to come along and tell us what the proper geek terminology is for that specific circumstance. For now I'll just call that condition 'pre-loaded.'

With the same scenario in mind, if you buy a computer today in September 2009, Windows will let you 'upgrade' to Windows 7 (upgrade online without the CD I think) when Windows releases it to the public in late October 2009.

I've overhead snippets of conversation where people claim that if you do an online upgrade that that type of OS installation is vastly or somewhat inferior to an OS that comes pre-loaded straight from the factory. Is that fact, or fiction? Cause my friend was wondering if she should hold her horses and wait until next month to buy a computer that comes pre-loaded with Windows 7 as opposed to buying one today with Windows Vista. Advantages? Disadvantages? Your thoughts, please.

 

I'm with Halo on this, wait for 7 Any kind of in-place upgrade is fraught with risks.

I've been testing 7 for about 7 months now on 4 machines, for me, it's been fast and rock-solid on all of them.