Buying Win 7 to replace Win 8 - anyone done this?

Wondering, as if I buy a new laptop, that's my plan......how easy/hard is it? Seeing and hearing some nightmare stories (eg the Win 8.1 thread here). Can you simply insert the CD and follow the instructions? Do you have to do a "format C:" first?

via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=271893&goto=newpost