The only reasons Vista is selling:
1. Halo 2 PC
2. 64-bit compatible
3. It's "hip"
4. Halo 2 PC
5. It has a lot of shiny features
6. It's new
7. Bill Gates "fixed" ME
8. Halo 2 PC
9. It has a lot of shiny features
10. a) Halo 2 PC
b) It has a lot of shiny features
<sarcasm> (for those whose sarcasmometer has been overloaded or drained of battery power)
You're all wrong there, and I'll
prove it to you! Those can't be the real reasons it's selling because:
-Halo 2 works on Windows XP
-XP Pro is available in 64-bit but it isn't much use yet anyway so no one except professionals who need the fullest use of 64bit processors bother with it
-Hipness is arguable so I can't say anything on that, but I have serious doubt of Vista's hipness after trying it for some time.
-XP is shiny too if you really want it to be, and it doesn't require 2-3GB RAM to do so... but most people have no need for shininess of that magnitude so no one wants to bother with it. Also, Linux 3D desktops (Compiz/Beryl) are way more shiny than Aero. And unsurprizingly, they don't need 2-3 GB memory to work well.
-It's not newer than latest Linux distros! Ha!
-Gill Bates fixing ME is like George Bush junior single-handedly fixing Iraq, and just as useful for the rest of the world.
</sarcasm>
I shall now reveal the only reason why Vista "sells": Microsoft sells only that for OEM PC manufacturers, and when normal people buy computers, they buy OEM boxes and they cannot buy them with anything else than some version of Vista any more.
Damn de facto monopoly/cartel conspiracy between OEM manufacturers and Microsoft... Microsoft being the only commercial PC OS manufacturer, and OEM manufacturers consenting to pre-installing crap and semi-ready operating systems on their boxes.
I suspect that those who build their own rigs will install and use XP as their primary Windows OS for a rather long time to come. In fact I think that DX10 might be about the only reason why Vista might be worthwhile for people who want to play DX10 games, but even they would likely keep XP around for playing those games that simply don't work yet with Vista drivers.
I'm personally thinking of skipping Vista entirely and using XP/Linux combination until Microsoft either somehow makes Vista more appealing with service packs, or until they release the next Windows. And perhaps this time they will really make a new OS like they claimed Vista would be, instead of just re-naming and hiding things that work just as stupidly as before.
Hunter - It doesn't surprize me that Vista is running without
problems; it's just that
so does my XP, and it does without wasting as much resources as Vista. And honestly, the "features" offered by Vista aren't really much of an improvement from XP. Certainly not what M$ hyped Vista to be.