"When M$ no longer supports XP (a few years into the future), you will no longer be able to reactivate XP should the need arise." That's what cracks are for. I'm not a fan of pirated stuff, but I do have a crack handy for the day when my legal copy of XP Pro decides to not activate itself anymore. ('course, once I can get a Linux version of a compositor, then XP will rapidly become irrelevant, and I won't need it for anything.) "So, long after your XP has expired... you will still be able to run Win98." Err, not if you can;t find 32-bit x86-based hardware anymore, or the drivers to support everything on it. (which is why I tend towards Linux and Open Source for my vital stuff - if ever I need to adapt an app to a whole new hardware environment, I only have to recompile from source and hammer at any sticky points that arise.) /P