How long do you wait to upgade to a new Windows version?

How long do you normally wait to upgrade to the latest version of Windows after it gets released? I'm considering the upgrade to 8 since I can get a free legal copy of the Pro version. How long does it usually take for the main bugs to be fixed in both the OS and general drivers such as for the GPU and motherboard? I need a stable system for my course work and can't really afford to have software compatibility issues. I'm quite happy with 7, but I thought I might become an early adopter for a change.

It took a long time for driver support to catch up with Vista because it was a pretty big change (from XP). Windows 7 was Vista Part II, so despite some subtle device related changes the release wasn't as dramatic or problematic. Win 8 is still based on the primary Vista backbone with some more mods. It appears driver support for Win 7 is applying to Win 8, so that will llikely aid in the adoption from a software/hardware standpoint.

If you want to upgrade (and it's not costing you anything) then I don't see any real reason to wait. I had Win 8 trail running on my netbook with 1GB of ram, and it ran well. It detected all of the most important components at install, so no need to hunt for drivers. I've seen/read similar stories. Performance wise it's on-par or slightly faster than Win 7. Still waiting to see some solid objective side by side comparisons, which are starting to appear with more frequency online.

Personally I'm passing on Win 8. Just isn't a big enough step forward to justify the time it would take to reinstall everything I use (music production requires a lot of software, and unknowns would be introdued as well regarding ASIO support, etc). I think as a tablet OS Win 8 will likely be a hit, just because it's going to offer an improved windows interface for tablet use along with windows app functionality.

I don't have a set time, but I usually try it out early in the RC period, and then move over when i feel it's matured enough

In the past, I have waited until around the SP1 time to move to a new OS unless I've had a valid reason to switch. I have a feeling that this will be the case at the very least for Windows 8. I don't see enough in the way of benefits for me and at work, we are just migrating to Windows 7 and skipping Windows 8 so there isn't much incentive to switch to Win8 for me. Also, I do have a free copy of Win 8 but that still doesn't make me want to switch at the moment.

I don't think it's ever a good idea to abandon an OS for people like us.

Install it on its own separate partition and dual boot alongside your existing setup. If something goes wrong, you simply reboot into your previous operating system.

With hard drives being cheap, I kept all of them:

I usually wait until I need a new OS or the new one has features I'd like. I first started custom building after XP SP2 was out so I didn't use XP much before that and I grabbed Vista pre SP1 but after driver support had improved as I wanted DX10. I just upgraded to 7 yesterday as Vista did everything I needed and 7 didn't offer anything new for me. I only upgraded as I needed another OS so I get 7 and my old pc gets to keep Vista.

I normally wait for SP1 but I feel Windows 7 will be a very solid OS for a very long time and I will be sticking to it.

+1 to c627627 for keeping all your old OS.