Can't speak for Win 8.1, but you'll almost certainly have problems with windows 7 drivers, or the lack thereof. Have you done anything to investigate/remedy the actual cause of your BSODs? Clearly there is something wrong with your install or hardware, as that is not normal.
If I wanted to run an older OS I would buy older hardware which matched that OS. Not sure about which laptop I would go for but I'd maybe build a tower with summet like a Z77 on LGA 1155. You could pick up summet like that and get the drivers for Win 7 and Win 8.1 direct from, Asus say. But if you were dead on buying a new laptop and was dead on putting an old OS in it I would consider taking out the stock HDD, putting it safe somewhere and slinging in a different HDD. More than likely an SSD though or even M.2. Then you'll have fun and games with getting older OS's to recognise M.2 drives.
This happens on every PC I put win 10 on. It deletes my music (itunes downloads or not) and BSOD happens constantly. I download Win10 for microsoft with the media creation tool, but it always gives me problems no matter what PC I use it on. I installed it on my mom's old All-In-One and I got 10 BSOD in less than 2 hours. All I did was connect to the internet. It activated and updated then the madness started.
That makes sense. I may end up getting eBay and re-buy the ROG G752VL laptop that I know will run Windows 8.1 as well as 10. I sold mine in 2018 and now I regret it. I really want a new pc, but I cannot risk throwing away over $1,000 on a system that doesn't have the drivers. That is a headache that I do not need.
As someone that works on/builds a lot of PCs I can tell you that there are not stability issues with Windows 10. My oldest test system is a RP5700 and it happily runs Windows 10 without issue. That is a Core 2 Duo/DDR 2 system. If you are having issues with Windows 10 you are either screwing with stuff or are working with faulty hardware. I don't even have issues on my systems were I rip most of the addon crap out of the install image and modify lots of services. If you don't want to install Windows 10 but also want new hardware you will be running into escalating problems as time goes on. For now you can force 7 and 8 onto just about anything that comes with Windows 10 but I do not expect that to last forever.
@nosirrahx: So basically you can't even change a small setting like disabling cortana? @WindowsGeek: What version do you use when don't need anything that comes with 10? I have all my programs saved either on disc or my external drive. I don't need any of the bloatware that comes with 10. I installed it on my old computer and it starts deleting my files off a flash drive. I'm not understanding this. This attack on external drives (specifically deleting mp3's) makes no sense. Is this just happening to me?
I don't have Cortana on a single system, no one wants it and I sure don't. I have 0 issues after removing it from an install image before install. The only thing I don't remove is the store stuff and Defender and a few other odds and ends. I have had 0 issues doing this for a very long time.