Considering Win7 release, need some precaution suggestions / advice

As of late, Ive been having annoying issues with WINXP, namely my mouse drivers not installing, windows restore not working, and a screen color correction software not working at all. With the windows 7 RC being out there, and windows 7 so close to release, Ive decided to just go straight to windows 7 but... There are some things that worry me. Before any of that, here are my current system specs.

Windows XP SP2 (32 Bit)
Inter Core 2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00Ghz
4.00 GB of Ram
XFX Ati 4890 Factory Overclocked GPU
MSI P35 Platinum Combo Motherboard

I have a number of questions and concerns that perhaps you good people can help me out with.

1 - I glanced over a post earlier saying something about motherboard drivers. Do I need to worry about motherboard drivers before trying to install Windows 7 x64?

2 - Application compatibility: my current, mostly used app set is as follows : Steam, Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4, Left 4 Dead, Mount & Blade, Mass Effect, Teamspeak, Ventrilo, Adobe Photoshop CS2, RPG Maker 2k3, RMRecker, NOD32, Fraps.

I probably missed some, but I have a few uncommon apps at the end there, how can I go about confirming the compability of some of my more obscure programs?

3 - Hardware compatibility: I have one piece of hardware that is no longer supported or even made by Belkin. It is called the Nostromo N52 speedpad. http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Nostr [...] 43&sr=8-3. Im thinking its about time to ditch the crutch of this thing, but will this work with windows 7?

4 - Formatting - I have my windows installation + some basic apps installed on a C:\ Partition.While most of my games and some other apps are on my D:\ partition. Should I just clear my C partition for this new operating system, or should I Just do a clean sweep of my entire hard drive?

5 - Are there any precautions I missed here? What else can I do to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Thanks for any help and opinions.

Thanks, a few programs seem to be not compatable with win 7, but nothing major... One question.

I doubt a lot of people use the device Im asking about. Is it possible it still wont work in Win7 despite this report?

Dunno, I use a pair of old Fang keypads while Twoboxing, and they work right on through to Vista and into that beta tester. That's not really Win7, I know, and not your Nostromo.

But if its a deal breaker, do you have a friend with Win7?

Sharft6's suggestion something you willing to try? At least that's reversible.