As far as drivers....... The very newest hardware will always require a driver disc or download since there's no time to add them to the OS dvd. That's just the way it is.
I did test Windows 7 RC on my 2005-era Athlon X2 4200+/GF 8600GT or ATI X800XL pc. Windows update found all the drivers on the first try including the printer/scanner/twain drivers for my HP C4100 All In One printer.
I'd imagine hardware support have improved since.
Plus, worse comes to worse, Vista drivers should work with Windows 7 which is what I used when I tested Windows 7 RC on my Toshiba laptop.
Last edited by Jun aka Pekto; November 2nd, 2009 at 11:20 AM.