I'd say stay away from 98 or ME if you are looking for stability and security. I agree with MightyPete that XP has a lot of bloat but I bet Vue runs faster on XP than 98 and the OS is a lot more secure if you are running this computer on a network or cable modem/DSL.

Plus I would imagine that XP is a lot better for plug and play as far as using newer cards and devices.

In terms of what operating systems do best (memory management, disk i/o,process, thread management etc) XP/Win2k is in a whole different class over 95/98/ME

As far as home networks... I would recommend linksys type routers like this one

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10235958&loc=7074

IMO it is the easiest, cheapest and most secure way to get a bunch of computers to talk to each other (and get out to the internet)