Decaflon

Is it just me or did it just get smugger in here?

Alday, what are you springing for? What benefits do you get out of the cost? I was sick of microsoft years ago I'll admit, but I'm having a very hard time seeing a reason for anyone to upgrade.

My wife has been a staunch MS supporter and she's already decided to switch to mac when her current pc is getting to old or she can't run the latest games.

One reason all XP users should upgrade to Vista: Zombies.

Do you realise how many zombied XP PCs there are on the Internet? Analysts put the figure at somewhere between 30% and 50% of home computers. In other words: a shitload.

Now I'm not saying Vista is completely user-proof (in that people can still install crapware if they want to) but they get a fresh start.

I'm not saying that Vista is their *only* choice but people *should* move off XP. It's in everybody's best interest.

My wife has [...] decided to switch to mac when her current pc is getting to old or she can't run the latest games.

So she can play none of the latest games? Gaming is one of Windows' best arguments.

Ubuntu for me with fluxbox. I'll be getting a free Vista key from my college, but I doubt I'll use it. Vista doesn't provide anything new that I want or need. I have a legitimate copy of XP that I could use if I wished, but even XP is a little bloated in terms of gui resources, and it's not even that good looking. I want functionality, not useless eye-candy.

Some eye-candy is necessary, since I'm staring at the screen several hours a day, but that's more to do with colors than 3-D effects, and the resource friendly fluxbox does just that with a little bit of gtk theming mixed in. Even in ubuntu, I moved away from using Gnome because it was using up system resources just sitting there, even though I basically get the same look and feel in fluxbox without the use of those resources. I do my file management from the terminal, so I have no need for fancy icons or anything of that nature.

I'm not a gamer, so I don't need directx or anything 3-D, and I'm not a professional artist, so the gimp is fine for me. With Microsoft finally getting their act together with web standards (for the most part), I'll give them credit for that much, I doubt it will be very necessary to check how things look in any ie greater than 7 (when Microsoft stops upgrading ie on older systems) and since I am able to use my older Windows XP box to check my designs on ie 5, 5.5, 6, and 7, I highly doubt I'll ever purchase another version of Windows ever again.

I kind of have the feeling that Microsoft is focusing too much on xbox360/premium content/eye-candy to the detriment of functionality improvements. Point in case, they are already in planning for VistaSP1 with the additional load of having promised Vienna will be out the door in two and a half years. I will re-evaluate my stance on Microsoft Windows when Vienna comes out, because that will take place before my next hardware upgrade. Perhaps Vienna will be the XP to Vista's ME, but I won't keep my hopes up (on it coming out as scheduled and it being an improvement).

Just about everyone I know downloads on torrent. So i'd say for sure that they won't ever pay for it. Me on the other hand, i'm gunna wait for a year and buy it when all of the hardware and driver issues are resolved. Then i'll buy the upgrade and do the upgrade trick.

for peeps who don't know it. You install the upgrade as a clean installation. Windows will then ask for a key but it won't work because it wants a "full" windows key. Forget that, you re-install the upgrade over the original upgrade, and then it asks for the upgrade key, and then it works. For people who are worried about upgrading and stuff, it doesn't actually change any files because they already exist on the system. Microsoft already know about this and have said it's fine as long as you have a previous version of XP.

So instead of spending £250, I can spend £150

This question holds even more relevance now that it has been proven you can't make a worse operating system. SP1? Please.

10 minutes with Vista were enough for me to put an XP installation disc in dvd-rom.

Never!!!! HAHAHAHAHA! Even new boxes we order @ work are ordered with XP on them.

Well that says it all right there.

@RightOn - yeah, that's comfortable situation. As normal client for computer stores (i'm talking about Poland), you have to buy an laptop/pc with Vista - about 1% of offered now computers have XP in package :U

Just using it is so painful it's payment enough.

Knysha, that's why you custom mail order or keep an XP cd nearby for the new box.