Wireless in Ubuntu has been pretty darned good the last two or three versions released. I've had zero issues getting wireless to work across three different laptop manufacturers and on my old desktop with an ancient D-Link wireless PCI card. Wireless worked right out of the box so to speak with no tinkering required.

I'll say it has been better than XP and Vista on two of the lap tops and the desktop to set up my wireless networking.

Why do we need to do a low end comparison when we can compare existing models from Apple and (pick your maker) Windows based PCs now?

Personally I won't be in the market for a $299 PC or $399 laptop. They tend to be cheaply made and do not have the power that I want.

50% more than whom?

Windows still requires hardware to run (captain obvious moment, I know). Microsoft forced their way into OEMs with some crazy contracts back in the DOS/Win 3.1 days and earned an anti-trust suit from the US government over it (along with bundling IE with Windows, but Microsoft did force vendors into some interesting contracts to be the sole OS they used).

And the last time I built a PC the hardware came up to be more expensive than a Mac and I had to buy an OEM version of Windows to go along with it. Seems I still had to acquire hardware to run that OS, and an iMac was damn similar in specs (2006). That PC runs Ubuntu now and I have an iMac. And I upgraded the RAM in my iMac from 1GB to 3GB by purchasing a 2GB SODIMM from new egg that cost less than $50.

My point is while Microsoft does not produce PC hardware, they certainly work with hardware manufacturers and PC manufacturers to get the product out. Whether you chose a PC with Windows or a Mac you are still buying hardware irregardless of the source.

I'd like to know what they are thinking for 1) considering buying SCO and 2) leaving Darl McBride in charge if allowed to purchase SCO.

One would think after where the company ended up a leadership change would be the first order of business.

That would be an excellent idea if you could borrow like that - I would consider a Kindle or something similar at that point.

Or use most other e-readers. The local library is free and paper backs are cheap - I don't have to worry about someone messing with what I am reading...and if they do I can use the book to beat sense into them (please note hard covers are better for this option than paper backs).

This isn't the first time Time Warner has played hard ball and forced a group of channels off the air in the last 12 months. In Central Ohio they've done this twice now, well almost twice - the Viacom thing was averted at the last minute but the first instance was earlier in the year with the CW I think it was and their affiliated channels. I didn't care much to lose the channels, but my mother-in-law sure did and raised a big stink about it.

Then there was the highly publicized Big-10/Time Warner spat too - it seems Time Warner is in the habit of pissing off broadcasters and making it public so I don't blame Viacom for broadcasting the banners on the 31st. This one would have affected me with children in the house that enjoy both Nickelodeon and Noggin.

Have any of the other Cable carriers or satellite providers had this same crap happen? I don't remember this happening on Dish or Direct TV when I had them - but it's been two times in the last year with Time Warner that programming either has been affected or was close to being, with the Big 10 network thing being highly publicized on top of those two instances.

Be that as it may, the average consumer is going to see Xbox 360 Pro at $299 and the wireless networking adaptor hanging in the accessories beside it for another $99.

I don't understand why Microsoft bothered having wired and wireless controllers. Nintendo and Sony both made it simple if you want the OEM controllers by offering one and only one option each. I know it works out in the end for Microsoft because they can say "hey, we're cheaper" but when you compare apples to apples it's a wash.

The thing with the $299 XBox (any Xbox for that matter) is that it costs an additional $99 for wireless networking.

While the price point marketing is working for Microsoft it becomes a wash if you pick up the XBox Pro and the wireless adaptor.

The XBox 360 accessories are a nightmare to pick through too - Microsoft has way too many variations of the same thing (controllers for example) for the average consumer to figure out - they are nickle and diming consumers pretty hard after the initial purchase, but hey - it's working for them.

Their prices are in Euros - once you get done converting that to US dollars a suitable replacement (Professional with 200 users) would cost my company approximately $8,400.

For reference:
http://www.zarafa.com/?q=en/content/prices
http://www.zarafa.com/content/versions

I can get Exchange 2007 and the additional 100 new CALS I need to be in compliance for less than $7,000.

Doesn't seem like a good deal to me other than helping break the Microsoft monopoly in this segment. Sadly my corporate over lords won't see it that way and tell me to stick to Exchange since it is at least $1,400 cheaper in the US.