windows 8.1 or windows 7

Go with both. Buy a laptop with 8.1 pro. That allows a free downgrade to Windows 7 thru a quick phone call to obtain a license key. You'll need to borrow a Win 7 install disk. I bought a replacement hard drive cheap. I removed the laptops Win 8 hard drive, installed new one and loaded Windows 7. Now I can change back to Windows 8 if for some reason I need to.