Microsoft will support XP for another 7 years possbily 10 depending on how Vista and SP1 sell over the Holiday.  Most businesses did not make the changeover to Vista and MS took a big financial hit.  So, at the moment they are trying to figure out how to promote Vista and are hard at work cleaning up the code.

If you are to buy a new computer with Vista installed from a good retailer you should not have any troubles in general.   

The Blue Screen of Death is usually not a bother in Vista as it was in XP.  It usually signifies there is an incompatability with a driver or a piece of hardware.  This is very common for those who update over XP and or on an older computer.  No e-mails, I am not bashing old comps.  

Vista is geared for the newer hardware, prefereably systems that were put on the market in the last 2 and better if one year.  If you have a little tech knowledge Vista is easy to work with, but if you are to buy so that you can run 3D software then Vista is a memory hog, and so you want at least 4 gigs of fast ram, and if you can swing the cost get a Quad Core if you are running Vue Inf.  

If you are concerned about Vista you can buy a computer with XP installed and then install Vista later when you feel the need.

jankeen.com