Software

I would like t let you know that my vast level of technical knowledge does not support your question, could you rephrase?? =))

the first time that I can remember is Win 98 (original) and Win 98 SE.
Anyone who bought 98 had to re-purchase for second edition, and MS stopped supporting the original release early.
At that time, I figured MS would lose some customers -- but people gladly opened their pocketbooks ?

I have been using Vista since it came out and have even put it on teacher laptops and computer labs in a high school. We have no problems. We like it better than XP. More stable, faster, etc.. Not quite sure what your problem since you did not state any in your question. Do you even actually have a question? You know there is always Mac as long as you don't mind paying alot more, being less secure, sending it out for repair and paying an arm and a leg because the warranty is awful. See we have macs here at school also and spend quite a bit more on them every year than we do the PCs. PCs can normally be fixed inhouse, Macs normally can't or even be upgraded with new hardware. But who knows you may be happier with a Mac and the OS that comes on it.