Do not go with anything other than XP. Microsoft has stopped supporting 98 and ME, which means so security updates. You will be leaving yourself open to all kinds of security problems with older operating systems.
XP Pro is worth the extra money simply because of its networking capabilities.
And how long will it be before they come out with a new op system and we are going to face the same probs with XP?
Then what older programs will not be compatible with it just like I ran into when I got a new computer with XP pre-installed? It won't support my genealogy program, my laser writer unless I can find the drivers off my old hd, may not even install right, cannot install a printer/scanner/copier right that I paid a lot of money for so I have to work around that as plug 'n play.
I have liked XP overall compared to Win 95. It is generally more stable, but is so complicated that unless you are a guru, you don't know what it is doing behind its facade and you don't want to know. You just pray that your updates for everything won't blow you out of the water.
They came out with some new Active X upgrade. Then I start getting windows in my face about controls when I visit websites. Then I find a temp fix on MS, dl and install it. It works for awhile. Now I am getting the Active X controls messages again. It is never going to stop.
I'm spending way more time trying to keep my system clean and stable than I like, dl'ing updates, keeping NAV up to date, it never ends.
But this is where I'm at and I do not want to rock the boat by switching to anything else now. Other platforms may have advantages, but most new software works only and best for the biggest, and that would be XP.