Quote - I know that PC users will eventually be forced -- kicking and screaming in some cases -- to go over to whatever Microsoft cares to feed the majority of us with.

Not necessarily - depending on what OSX and Linux do over the next year or two, MSFT may find themselves in trouble. Dell is already starting to sell Linux-loaded machines, Ubuntu is starting to gain a HUGE number of converts, and a Mac Mini is rather inexpensive these days for what you get. > Quote - 2) If I happend to obtain a computer with Vista pre-loaded, is it possible to a) Make a safety copy out to a DVD, which can be used to reinstall at some point and b) once I wipe the drives clean from the new computer, could I then install Win XP Pro 64? I ask this because I heard it is no trivial thing to de-install Vista and then install XP.

2a) Yes. You can also get a "restore" DVD from the manufacturer. 2b) Yep. You can install any OS you want to on an OEM (pre-loaded) machine. I do it all of the time. The drivers might be, well, "interesting" to get hold of with some models, but if you trace down the parts and their makers (vid card for instance), you can do it easily enough. Me, I'll stick with OSX and Linux @ home, with a little XP laptop for compatibility testing, and not much else. At work, I prolly won't have to see Vista (or its server equivalent) for at least another year (for the Server version, prolly much longer). MSFT is making noises about an "SP1" pack for Vista, but it would really have to fix a lot of bugs and crud before I (and employer) even bother to consider it. /P