[Computer Spec]

I was just wandering what are the cost of other operating systems? I have only used Windows XP so don't really know what is out there & what costs they are?

If someone could get a list of operating systems and there average sale price that would be fantastic.

[B!ll]

Windows XP is the best in my mind. It's not worth your time finding and learning how to use another. I'm not to sure of the price of Vista as it's new. I think it's best to stay to windows.

[Reuben]

Stay with Xp for now. When Vista is released, there are bound to be some bugs. Until these bugs can be fixed, I suggest you tay with XP and move over to Vista probably 6 months or so after it's been released.

[quinda]

The only real choices are XP (which will reach end of life a year after Service Pack 3 comes out), wait for Vista, or use Linux.

Linux can be downloaded for free, or you can buy the discs very cheaply for most different distributions.

You could also maybe look at using a Mac and OS X instead of a PC and Windows.

If you are using XP now, why do you want to change? Or are you getting several new computers and want to save on license fees?

Vista will come in several different 'flavours' to suit different needs and pockets. Home Basic should be fairly inexpensive, but if you want to run a network you may need one of the more expensive, fully featured versions.

[LCD Monitor]

Vista will be a welcome improvement, though the costs may be a little on the high side, especially if you need anything beyond the basic home user level. If I were you, I would stick to XP now as it is probably the easiest OS to use with a wide level of support for hardware and software alike.

I'm a Penguin convert and run Fedora on my work and home machines, and whilst it is fantastic that it is entirely free, takes a lot of getting used to and you can't just go into a shop, pickup the latest game or office suite and install it. I found Linux frustrating at first, though now I'm getting to grips with it, I'm learning to like the fact it never crashes and does pretty much everything XP did.