I would definitely go for the vista pc. I just upgraded and am very happy! The interface is cool, and I love the gadgets. You might want to go to the widescreen monitor that allows you to see the gadgets, and also see 2 pages side by side.

I invested in latest versions of my software apps to avoid compatibility issues, but do still have a problem with the printer driver for my 2 year old HP printer (!, they are working on it) and cannot use my Nikon film scanner (yet, they say they are working on it).

Graham