> Just left Win2K in 2007, so I was even suspicious of XP Pro. LOL

Whoa! That's intense! I find Windows XP worlds better than Win2K, so
I'm happy you at least made that leap! I really respect you for
holding out so long!

As far as Windows Vista is concerned, though, it does make business
sense to rollback to Windows XP, but it also doesn't. While you have
greater compatibility with legacy programs in Windows XP without
losing much business functionality, Windows XP has been end-of-lifed
by Microsoft, and so there won't be any more patches or updates for
any security loopholes, which leaves business computers more liable to
security issues. Also, there's no guarantee Windows XP will be
supported by the newest business applications, particularly with .NET
3.0 applications. I know there are a lot of software developers and
their clients complaining about having to upgrade, but for Pete's
sake, this is technology, and you can't work with technology and
expect it to never need changes or upgrades.

Contrary to popular belief, the difference in performance between
Vista and XP is not that significant if you turn Aero off. In fact,
many benchmarks list start-up times as faster with Windows Vista than
a comparably-equipped XP. The reason that hardware requirements are so
much higher in Windows Vista than XP is that running less than 512MB
RAM in Windows XP is just as painful an experience as it would be in
Windows Vista, and I'm sure Microsoft is just tired of Luddites
complaining that their computers are running too slowly.

Maybe I'm of the minority, but I like Windows Vista! I've been using
it since before it was commercially released, and I've had fewer
issues with it than I had with Windows XP or Mac OS X. I grant that
Networking and Display Settings were far easier to adjust in Windows
XP, but searching/running programs and setting up VPNs are much easier
in Windows Vista. I'm a big fan of the cosmetic upgrades, and I love
DirectX 10. I'm no Microsoft junkie, but Windows Vista happens to be
my favourite operating system at the moment (and yes, I've worked
extensively with OS X and several Linux flavours, so it is an informed
opinion).
______________________

Jonathon VS
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