To find out what Vista really means, let’s begin with a definition

1. a view or prospect, esp. one seen through a long, narrow avenue or passage, as between rows of trees or houses.

2. a far-reaching mental view.

While Microsoft (MS) wants you to think their new OS offers you a “view” to the world, it seems the view is equally designed for MS to peer into your world. Privacy buffs are already up in arms about MS’s intrusive involvement with your hardware - you know the computer *you* bought with *your* money - that MS wants to tell you how it should operate and be operated. As most of us have experienced, it took many hours of locking down XP to prevent it from phoning MS at practically every mouse click. Think Vista will be better? I submit it will be worse - much worse - when it comes to keeping MS out of your private information and from looking over your shoulder with every document you write or spreadsheet you calculate. The methods will just be more cunning and more devious.

The second part of the definition speaks clearly: using Vista means subscribing to the MS world view - a dangerous proposition, and one that will likely create more restrictions in internet usage than it will offer freedoms. Buy Vista - buy into the “narrow view.”

i have always bought from dell and have had only one bad experience with a laptop but otherwise everything else has been good.
Dell has offered XP to business customers and if i am asked to purchase a PC on a friends behalf, i advise the customer to stick with XP for many reasons.
No dell are offering XP on less and less systems and in some cases are even charging for a downgrade.
Another ploy (which is obviously pandering to microsoft, in sympathy for their problem of having a lame duck as its flagship software product), is offering XP preinstalled but only supplying the Vista disc for a future upgrade.
This is not good enough, i will not buy dell and i will never buy vista……..ever !!!!