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I have a desktop and a laptop, both run Win 7 64 bit. I keep them both updated and only had one problem with an update wrecking an application.

IMHO the best DOS version was 3.3 from the standpoint of capability vs memory footprint, but 6 for all the bells and whistles. For Windows, 2000 was the best version for capability vs memory footprint. A fresh install without patches would use 35 meg total and run like a scalded ape. But most modern apps won’t run on it and no drivers available for modern hardware. You apply all 6 patches and it’s as bloated as XP and s-l-o-w.

For people who don’t mind fiddling with the OS and apps, I thing Linux or BSD is a viable option to Windows.

I've been doin computers since 1984 and a 12mhz 286. I have grown up on windoz the whole time. You people keep saying that we should just switch to Linux and troubles would be over. I have loaded Linux on so many machines it would make your head spin. The problem is, the moment it loads, I'm completely and totally lost. I can't even upgrade the browser. I can't update to the latest driver. I can't even install a program that doesn't come with the updater. I don't understand files that don't do anything when you click on them. I don't know what folder/partition the files go in.

Why don't they convert to some sort of .exe files or a one click and it does everything it needs to do? When I ask a question they start with the command line crap like I'm some sort of code writer and get angry if I say "What you said didn't work". Linux will NEVER take the desktop till they make it more user friendly. It's beautiful software, but who can do anything with it beyond a boot up and writing a letter? Not many.

Just as an example, I recently went BACK to XP from Win7 due to a driver for a video card that would push 4 monitors not working in Win 7. I decided to try Linux again because, allegedly Linux had a driver for this card. I loaded Ubuntu, and Mint and ended up quiting because I had NO video after boot and don't know how to get to "Safe Mode" to load the driver after intalling Linux. Worked on it about 2 days and quit again and went back to XP. Anything that isn't quite vanilla and I'm lost as a goose. I don't even know if the Linux Driver would have worked if I could have loaded it, but it would have been nice to know just a little bit about Linux before trying to do Terminal mode. The "fix" I got off a Linux board was about 2 pages of command line crap that didn't work anyway. Did I do something wrong or did he not know diddly? We won't ever know, but I'm betting both. The Catalyst program that comes with the driver doesn't work in Windows or Linux.