I have an Hp a730n that's been upgraded to 2.5 Gb RAM and upgraded with a GeForce 7900 GS. It hauls. It's MUCH faster than it was with XP on it, and I have all of the visual settings set to their highest. Including a 22" widescreen HD monitor with 1680x1050 res. I have had very few problems with software issues, and at this point, all of my software works, except for my copy of Nicci, which is supposed to be Vista compatible. I've followed all the suggestions on their site and no dice. Not a big deal though, because how often do you need to rip pictures?


You think MS made Vista Manager? Are you serious?

I got my copy of Vista Home Premium, a copy of Norton Internet Security 2007 (the 3 license one), TaxCut, a printer (I actually returned that, because it sucked), and a copy of OneCare for 80 dollars. Circuit City has deals on Vista all the time. You're obviously on XP, and therefore don't need a full version of Vista. Even if you plan on doing a clean install. The Vista upgrade has the full version of Vista, but is just cheaper as a way to reward those who already use Windows. Although I've never tried it, apparently you can install Vista on a fresh HDD so long as you have an old windows disk.

Vista works perfectly fine for most users. Power users need tweaks, as has already been stated. I wish I could tweak my now aging processor, but no dice due to BIOS.

MS puts out a terrible OS? *AHEM* Leopard? Barely runs... but Vista is the problem. The first system on a completely new kernel, with entirely different software, an entirely new set up, and some revolutionary ways to do things is a terrible OS? Yeah right. If/When WinFS is placed with Vista (they upgraded Fat32 and NTFS with Windows 98, they can do it with Vista), then Vista will outperform Macs once again. And Linux isn't even a viable option. It's free... but virtually useless without WINE and too many configuration options.