If you are not a fan of Windows 8, you may not be happy when you buy a new computer and it come pre-installed with Windows 8. Here is a way for you to actually downgrade your operating system to Windows 7 without paying a penny or having to reformat your computer. After the debacle of Windows Vista where many people downgraded to XP, it seems Microsoft have learned some lessons. Some of the new windows 8 PCs now come with “downgrade rights” where users can downgrade their PCs to Windows 7. You can use an old or used product key to install Windows 7 on top of the existing operation system. Simply call Microsoft after you finish and they will activate your downgrade for you. If you want to try this, just make sure your new computer has downgrade rights because not all computers are on the list. Here’s the Complete Guide for the downgrade process. (Updates: Only applies if your computer is running Windows 8 Professional. Thanks for the clarification by @sandra_nz)
