I'm a long-term Win XP user and I've installed the Win 7 beta as a dual-boot. I chose to install it on my second hard drive rather than set up a partition, and thus far I've had no real issues except it didn't like my SB Audigy 2 ZS sound card (lots of crackling and distortion with the default driver set up). I switched to using the onboard Realtek sound, and it now works fine.
If you have a 64-bit processor in your PC, then of course you should install the x64 version of the Win 7 beta to take advantage of it. I've been pleasantly surprisedby Win 7 so far, and it does seem faster loading applications, rendering web pages, etc., over Win XP. I don't know if that's due to using a 64-bit OS now over my 32-bit Win XP Pro, but there is a noticeable difference.
The only thing I'm not fussed on so far is the revamped Windows Explorer, which feels less intuitive to me.
I managed to copy across my Steam folder to Win 7 as well, and after some initial hiccups when it didn't want to play ball (didn't like the Steam installer, but then after fiddling with compatibility and switching it off again, it worked), I managed to get Steam working and accessed some of the games I have installed. Project Snowblind, STALKER: SoC, Prey, and Rogue Trooper all ran without issue via Steam.
Other games I copied over (which don't need to be reinstalled to run) are Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth, Tomb Raider: Legend, Ghost Recon (original) and then some games I got from GOG.com including Shogo: M.A.D. and Gothic.
Shogo actually works better in Win 7 for me, because I was getting some mouse freezing under Win XP. Maybe it's partly to do with the sound driver used.
I haven't installed any other games on Win 7 yet because I'm a bit cramped for space - my second drive is also used for data backup. I think I'll get an external USB hard drive instead for backup purposes so I can free up more space and install more games under Win 7 to see how they run.
BTW, I had to copy the games over using Win XP, because for some reason Win 7 cannot detect my other hard drive where Win XP is installed, at least not through Windows Explorer. When I've looked at the system info, it does recognise there is a second hard drive, but I just can't access it from Win 7. Not a big issue because I can still use WinXP to transfer data across, but it does seem a bit odd. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.
Win 7 (x64 version) seems very stable for me so far - no crashes or problems other than those already stated, and it performs well.
System Specs: AMD Athlon x64 x2 4200, 3 GB DDR RAM, Nvidia 7800GT with 256Mb, SB Audigy 2 ZS, on-board Realtek audio, ****** ethernet card (which I use instead of the Gigabit LAN built on the mobo), Viewsonic VP191s 19" LCD monitor (1280x1024 native res), Logitech Keyboard and MX518 mouse.
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