Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home Premium for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

Pros: I've heard many of the criticisms of Vista out there, but have always been baffled by them. Almost every complaint someone has can usually be fixed in about a minute. I disabled UAC the first day, right through windows options. Not sure about older hardware/software, but I've had almost no problems at all with drivers and such. Any problem I did have could usually be fixed by a workaround. Keep in mind that this is for 64 bit, too, so its probably the least supported version, yet works great. Extremely easy to install. Takes 1 minute to change power options, Pete...

Another key complaint is memory hogging. The idea it's using is that unused memory is being wasted, so it reserves your idle memory for applications you run often, making them fast when you start them. When something like a game requires more RAM, Windows lets go and free's enough up. Works well.

Cons: I've had the occasional bluescreen. Not sure if its Vista, or hardware related. Be aware that 32 bit programs will take up more RAM on a 64 bit OS.

Overall Review: I have 2gb of RAM, and a E6750 cpu. For vista, more ram definitely means more performance. 2gb seems like a good amount. You'll be able to get away with 1gb, but with prices these day, it's well worth it to spend a measly $30 more for a huge performance boost. I plan on getting 8gb eventually, should be great.

Pros: Its the shiny new car on the block.

Cons: Don't buy this for your sole operating system - yet. XP is a rock solid OS compared to Vista. Microsoft is still working out the bugs. For example, one day I woke up and discovered that BOTH my CD drives were simply gone in Vista. I could see them in the device manager, but I could access them, and I couldn't use them. After a while I found a fix on line, but then another problem struck. My sound went out for no reason. There is no fix for this as of yet (besides re-installing Vista). The hotfix for this did not work on my rig.

Overall Review: Go with Vista 32 bit. Because Vista 64 bit requires ALL drivers to be digitally signed, and not everyone is doing that, it makes everything a real pain. I thought after Vista had been out for a year, all the bugs would be worked out - WRONG! P.S. McAfee virus scan will not work with Vista 64 - though they claim they are working on it (it's been over a year guys, how long do you need?).