I helped my 72 year old uncle get started with Ubuntu when his Windows became so badly infected that he couldn't clean it. I used Logmein to remotely control his pc to download the image. I had him put in a CD and then I burned it for him. I had the machine reboot, then talked him through the install. 3 calls later, he's cruising without viruses, doing his banking etc safely and comfortably, and easily handling his email and game needs/wants... Yes, Ubuntu and the rest can be a challenge at times. But when I can get someone who's a complete novice with computers to use it (from over 1000 miles away) and they actually LIKE it, that says something very positive.

I'm glad to see someone agreed with my post... nice to be validated LOL Of course, with 98SE the "upgrade" price (from 98) was reasonable (although I would have preferred Free). With "7", it will probably be ~$100 for a "basic" version, and much much more for "Ultimate", regardless of what version of windows you are upgrading from. Too rich for my blood.

Actually, from what I can see, Windows 7 is to Vista what Windows 98 Second Edition was to Windows 98. Yes, there are a few added features, but for the most part it is Vista revisited. And they are not releasing it as SP2 because they want to make money - and historically, service packs have been released free of charge. Since Vista sales have not been what MS wanted them to be, they are trying to make up for that with a name change - but I don't see anything that distinguishes "7" from Vista other than the name. I think that anyone with a Vista license should be able to plug their vista key into "7" and get activated instantly. It won't happen, but it would be the right thing for MS to do. At the very least, they could offer "7" as a Vista upgrade for 10 or 20 dollars, as they did with Second Edition (for 98 users).

How about... a Conscience? At least that way, he could Properly enjoy his retirement.