XP will still be available after June 18, but at a PRICE

[RealBlackStuff]

You can still get XP on new machines, but you have to pay the PRICE.
This is for Dell, but others will surely follow:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=252&tag=nl.e622

[Superego]

50$ for a "downgrade"... . I'm sure it's in the Bible somewhere that this is one of the signs of the apocalypse (ok, maybe not). And yet I can't get a refund if I ask to not have an OS installed (since I'm just going to blow it away and put Linux on). I love the reaction of some salespeople when I ask that one, even though I know it will never happen.

[jdhurst]

From my point of view (and my opinion only) - YMMV - Windows Vista 64-bit Business is a massacred, botched mess that should never have been born. Microsoft has its company finger stuffed up its collective butt doing nothing about: broken Windows explorer, broken search, broken offline files, terminally slow Briefcase, broken wireless structure and broken VPN applications. SafeNet is trying to do something about the VPN and only time will tell.

I will gladly pay money to stay with XP Pro, because the cost of trying to make Vista work is even higher.
... JDH

[mgo]

You can still get XP on new machines, but you have to pay the PRICE.
This is for Dell, but others will surely follow:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=252&tag=nl.e622

XP is still a good operating system for me, especially on my older R50p, but Vista isn't all -that- bad (snicker-snicker)

I do like the way it handles the dual core setup on my T60 machines.

It's interesting that Microsoft is already leap-frogging over Vista and hyping Windows 7.

Yet another MS operating system to revile if and when it ever gets out into the world!

For me, Vista has always worked pretty well, and it was more finished even in release candidate 1, than XP was in the final version of Home years ago.

I notice that open suse is a 4.5 gig DVD, which is pretty huge, even when compared to the Vista DVD.

[qviri]

I notice that open suse is a 4.5 gig DVD, which is pretty huge, even when compared to the Vista DVD.

Contains GNOME as well as two versions of KDE for you to choose from.

[Superego]

I notice that open suse is a 4.5 gig DVD, which is pretty huge, even when compared to the Vista DVD.

Plus, with openSuSE you get to actually choose what goes on your machine .

[mgo]

Plus, with openSuSE you get to actually choose what goes on your machine .

That's what I understand. Lots of choices with that distro. In the near future, I may take another shot at this Linux distro. Others over the years have run from awful to quite good, but not good enough for daily use. Maybe ver 11 will make the grade for me.

Heck, I've got the hardware, might as well experiment for the heck of it!

[icantux]

From my point of view (and my opinion only) - YMMV - Windows Vista 64-bit Business is a massacred, botched mess that should never have been born. Microsoft has its company finger stuffed up its collective butt doing nothing about: broken Windows explorer, broken search, broken offline files, terminally slow Briefcase, broken wireless structure and broken VPN applications. SafeNet is trying to do something about the VPN and only time will tell.

I will gladly pay money to stay with XP Pro, because the cost of trying to make Vista work is even higher.
... JDH

Well, I'll add my opinion to yours. You're absolutely right in what you said.

Vista 32, on the other hand, does have some nice update functional features, which MS could have added to XP in SP3 - but didn't, but I find myself turning off so many other "features" (including aero) that I might as well just use XP ... which is faster on my X61, longer battery life, offers more compatibility with existing software, more versatility ....