xp renders at exactly the same speed as 2k, since theyre basically the same operating system (xp is just more glorified). believe me, i have tried timing a render on two identical systems, one running 2k and one xp, and the rendering time is appx the same. but i definitely would recommend switching to xp/2k from 9x. poser running on ME or 98 crashes a lot more frequently, runs slower, and a lot of things wont even render - such as extremely high res textures like stefyzz's or the daz high-res ones. it will just hang when you hit 'render' and you may even have to reboot your system. 9x has really crappy memory management, thats probably the reason. you should get 2k/xp anyways if youre serious into graphics or any work on your comp. much more stable, faster for apps, more secure, etc. and if one application crashes, your entire system doesnt hang because the applications are run in separate processes. cheers, gabriel