There is a backup and restore tool with Windows 7 for data and a few things like bookmarks and such for those moving up from XP. I didn't use it as it wasn't going to save me a lot as any important data was already backed up to a USB HD.
If you don't mind backing up your data and reinstalling your apps (something I like to do every couple of years anyways just to clean things up) then the install is relatively painless. It does a great job of recognizing all your devices and peripherals and for the first time ever, I didn't have to go to a hundred web pages looking for new drivers for all my peripherals. They just worked.
I really like Windows 7 and think it's worth the effort. Vista for me lasted about 2 weeks and then I turfed it. Yes, they are very similar but the difference is, Windows 7 works correctly fresh out of the box, not months or years down the road.
