Vista is a resource hog. PERIOD. Compared to Windows XP, Vista creates twice as many background processes and uses three times as much RAM *just to boot up*. For the average user, these "features" are USELESS - they just wanna surf the 'net, type a letter, run a spreadsheet and read their e-mail!!!! The suggestion to "turn off the [Vista] bling" really suggests that you should be running Windows XP. Anthony Maw, Vancouver, Canada www.anthonymaw.com