sorry if i'm going over old points but there is no way i could have read all 29 pages of this thread. personally i think m$ is continually going in the wrong direction with development. costs and requirements keep getting higher, i mean what the hell are they thinking with these aesthetics. what are we supposed to play games with if it takes a 7800gtx just to view the freakin desktop (exaggeration acknowledged)!!!! progress in my mind should mean that as the OS develops so does its efficiency. i think the goal for vista should be that it can run reasonably on a pIII. correct me and flame away if i'm wrong. from what i've seen and heard it can't be quite the revolution M$'s hype machine makes it out as.