Quote - For me, Vista Ultimate  64 bit (Ultimate comes with both 32 and 64 bit installers iirc) :)
Despite folk's moaning, Vista works brilliantly for most people.

I must disagree with you in some regard there.

As most tech guys know that have followed this disaster, known as Vista, from the start there were deep problems with this OS version. It has nothing to do with personal choice, but rather the computer code behind it. The Windows OS Kernal has been inferior for some time and Vista didn't help at all. It has been a huge nightmare for Microsoft and is something they wish never came out. Some of that due to mishandling of the product, but mostly due to sloppy code and how the various OS component APIs and such work.

Does Vista 64 bit work OK for most users now? That depends greatly on what you call fixed. I certainly would never say it works "brillantly" though. Yes, they have cleaned up the code some and finally thanks to their service packs it is at least a usable OS for the time being. But it's like trying to fix a car that was considered totaled, you can make it function but there are still issues lurking despite appearance.

This is why Windows 7 is what Microsoft is hanging their collective butts on because they know it can't be the failure Vista was if they want to save their OS from becoming a 3rd rate platform. If you notice one thing, which is what others like Maximum PC, Toms Hardware, TWIT podcast, Tekzilla, etc. have stated many times now and that is Windows 7 is stripped down. Many of the features and components that caused headaches under Vista are not yet implemented in Windows 7. Yes, it is still in beta right now, I'm using the most recent build, but industry insiders are saying it most likely will not ship with most or at least several of them that were deemed problems before. They want Windows 7 to be STABLE and to get that they are stripping it down and slowing adding things to it over long periods of time. This is a smart move for MS as that is the only way to start over and make a better foundation. However, as most have observed, just how stable and useful Windows 7 will be once those components and features start being added is anyones guess. It will have to be done over time even when Windows 7 ships to avoid the Vista issues of the past.

Hope that helps some.

Jeff

Development on: Mac Pro 2008, Duel-Boot OS - Snow Leopard 10.6.6 & Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon , 10GB 800 MHz DDR2 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT.