No, people still report huge problems with Vista stability--it ain't just drivers, though I will say that the Business and Ultimate Editions seem better regarded. F the BSofDeath.

Yep, a fast VideoEditing/CAD/Animation capable Windows XP laptop costs about $2500--that price includes MS Office--and for a 17 inch LED illuminated screen the price is up near three grand, ironically about the same as the biggest Macbook.

I never said Windows users were ignorant, though I think that's true of Vista defenders and those laptop hunter ads in particular; I'll go so far as to say the ads are basically lies--wouldn't be lies if they involved Netbooks running XP though.

Windows 7 had better be nearly perfect else Microsoft and that idiot Ballmer are in serious trouble, because this time around, unlike 15 years ago, those making mass purchasing decisions know a thing or two about how terribly expensive it is to struggle with awful software for years on end--witness, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, ME, and Vista. You can bet a lot of big company's IT departments are testing out Mac and that IBM supported Linux.

You're right Microsoft works with all sorts of vendors and that is a strength, additionally I don't like Apple's dictation of what software and hardware will work with its machines, and I don't think that a cell phone without a field swappable battery should be sold.

By the way, off subject sort of, the Second Law of Thermodynamics is only universal in a closed system, and closed systems only exist in labs, not reality. Macs are a bit of a closed system. See the work of Prigogine, for further explanation of how to get something from nothing.

As I wrote, Get back to me when Vista/7 works with AVID. And I'll believe the resource claims and stability claims about 7 when they are well documented.

IMO confusion8, you are a little confused, but thanks for stepping out of the absolute Job’s religion of how great Macs are. It’s refreshing.

Lies from your first post on this thread:

1. Basically, the “Vista is crap” lie. No, it’s not crap; yes, there were driver issues when it first came out, but that was a one-time problem that has been long since solved, it was for a good consumer-serving reason, and it won’t recur with Windows 7 either. I personally wouldn’t run Vista with less than 2GB RAM, but that kind of hardware is very cheap these days and widely available. Vista release is when Microsoft took some really big steps beyond what Apple is doing with security, even today. This is a good thing for consumers in general.

The “Vista is crap” BS was widely spread with childish, mendacious lies directly from Apple (and indirectly too, I think) but it’s generally not true. Remember also that unlike Apple, Microsoft is not a closed shop, it supports many vendors, it takes backward-compatibility seriously and it’s business-friendly – so, it’s attempting to do much more than Apple with its OS.

2. “Vista is a ‘resource hog’” – see above. Windows 7 is also an improvement in this area.

3. “Microsoft users are ignorant.” Not really, and as I pointed out, technically competent users are better off worrying about whether their personal information is being stolen, rather than whether their computers are pretty, i.e. they should be running Windows 7 RC 64-bit, or Vista 64-bit. Not XP, not OSX.

4. “Vista does not work.” C’mon, we’re way past that one.

5. “A fast Windows laptop running XP still costs at least $2500” Huh? Nope.

6. “Microsoft is screwed.” LOL funny! I remember about 10 years ago, a colleague who loathed Microsoft said to me “Microsoft has had it.” She was WRONG. Check back with me in year 2019, to see which one of us was correct about Microsoft having a bright future.

I don’t think there’s anything else useful or informative to say here. Can we close the thread?

What lies did I tell? Be specific in your claims.

That Vista is known to be unstable and a resource hog, true.

That you compared a Toshiba laptop running Vista to a MacBook Air, instead of comparing the Toshiba far more aptly to a $1400 MacBook, true.

That even lesser Macs edit video better than low powered laptops, true.

The lie you told is that the Microsoft ads are basically correct, they aren't and there are numerous examples that no one has raised yet. Microsoft could do ads for Netbooks, then the ads would be close to the truth, but many Netbooks run XP and of course won't cut video.

Yep, you're correct, there are some problems with Macs, but the virus point is still basically academic and they aren't huge resource hogs like Windows Vista machines. If you don't like the superior tone of Apple's ads, fine, I suspect you're not alone, but stop the Microsoft stenography.

Get back to me when Vista runs Avid, it didn't run AutoCAD until late last year either, and when Microsoft Office converts docs to the PDF format, something Open Office has done for years.

Yep, Apple was wrong to avoid right click for so many years.

I can buy a Chevy for less than an equivalent Toyota but end up spending more time with the car in the shop for repairs and refueling it more often due to poorer gas mileage or injured sue to poorer crash protection or handling for crash avoidance, then the Chevy is not really less expensive. The same applies to PC's running Microsoft's operating systems, and I been working with these since DOS 1.0 in 1982, where one spends an inordinate amount of time and money both dealing with bugs, buggy patches to bugs, malware such as viruses and worms, and even just trying to install or uninstall software which with Windows can be a multiple hour event with frequent queries posted at user help forums. I have had to rebuild 3 Windows PC's from scratch to get them working again and my brother has 2 Windows PC's that have not worked properly for several years and has decided to buy a new computer for $500 rather than invest any more hours in these computers. Apple computers are for people who see the computer as a means to accomplishing their work or hobbies or communicating and not as a fun thing to hack around in like a shade tree mechanic who enjoys spending their time repairing old cars. Where Microsoft has benefited is with its better distribution channel. To buy an Apple one must go to one of the relatively few Apple stores or buy on the Internet. Wintel PC's can be bought at any office supply store, computer stores, and even Costco. Apple is not and probably will not compete at the bottom end of the market for sub $700 computers and most likely Microsoft is doing so only to buy market share at a time when Vista has not been adopted by 95% of corporate America as a viable replacement for XP.