I bought a new laptop last month. Same brand (IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad) but a much later model. I've had Thinkpads since they first appeared on the market, and never (yet) been disappointed with them.
The new one came with XP Pro and nowt else of importance. I installed all the other software I had for the old machine, connected both to the home network, and transferred over all my "stuff". I'd guess that took me a couple of hours in total (I have a lot of aviation and ecclesiastical stuff on it). Then I wiped the old one back to "XP Pro only" and presented it to my daughter and her husband to be the "onboard computer" for their catamaran.
They're very happy, I'm very happy, and everything works OK. I doubt it would have been as easy moving hard drives, since the new one has a lot of detail spec differences from the old one.