XP 64 is still available for purchase; and don't let the 'XP' fool you. XP64 is actually based on Server 2005 (or maybe 2003; I can't remember atm....), so it works a little differently under the hood. Your tech was sortakinda right. a 32 bit application can only address 2 gigs of memory. XP has a registry hack that enables an extra gigabyte for the OS to play with, freeing up a little bit more of the lower 2 gigs (but nowhere near all of it; too much of the lower memory map is committed to disc access, IO functions, etc, and those are coded in at the BIOS level and can't be changed). At the moment, I would avoid Vista as if it were genital herpes. It sets new definitions of code bloat, and there is apparently DRM schemes there that make 'draconian' seem mild. M$ requires the device drivers to have interface with those DRM protocols; if something so much as -looks- like is attempting to circumvent DRM, the driver is degraded or disabled (if you use the sp-dif out on the video card now, you ain'ty gonna be using it no more; Vista considers it unsecure, and disables it automatically). And it can be permanently disabled by MS (although they swear they would =NEVER= do such a thing.....and if you buy that, I have some prime oceanfront property just outside of Fargo I'll sell you cheap...). Plus the cost projections on hardware that would adequately support the bloody thing are astronomical. Peggy, you can kiss any 16 bit software you own goodbye with Vista; it was engineered to refuse to run anything smaller than 32 bit, just like XP won't run 8 bit code. And of the stuff that -should- run, anything that makes a call to hardware outside of very carefully defined pathways will be considered an attempt at circumventing DRM.... Personally, I'd love to see a revolt of the user base. Vista was designed for the RIAA and MPAA, not for the consumer.