I never really got this...

You might get away with it if the MB chipset is the same, but odds on it won't be. This will mean you may have a different chipset on your new motherboard, such as VIA, NVidia, INTEL etc. In which case to prevent problems it would pay to re-install as your drivers have been installed for a particular chipset.
 
There is a way to swap motherboards without losing everything, you would need to carry out a Repair Install of Windows. Visually the setup would look very similar, but what it's actually doing is keeping your programs, files etc and redetecting all the hardware and drivers. You would get a prompt for a driver install or two throughout setup, but with the accompanying cd you could easily get it to boot successfully. Any further issues could be detected and fixed using the Device Manager.
 
the hard drive is what stores all of your information even when the computer is turned off. The memory gets erased everytime you shut down your computer. A new motherboard is probably the only computer part that should involve a new operating system install. It may not though like others have said.
 
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