The bMighty Blog -- Hardware & Software

Apparently, smaller businesses are quite passionate about Windows XP. But the reality is if you are in the market for a new machine, chances are you're going to get Vista -- whether you like it or not. Help, though, is just a few clicks away.

Yesterday's post on the Save XP petition inspired more passion than one would think Windows users have for their operating systems.

Among the comments were this one:

"Vista is a disaster, especially on laptops. Any company that sells a Vista laptop with only 1GB of RAM as a "functional" machine should be brought up on consumer fraud charges."

And this one:

"I was a Vista Beta tester. When I put the Beta version of Vista on my computer and all hell broke loose. My printer didn't work, my scanner didn't work and half of the internet sites I use didn't work. When I finished the Vista test program I got a free copy of the finished product. However, instead of loading it on my computer I removed the Vista Beta and re-installed XP. The Vista CD is in my desk drawer collecting dust. Vista is a disaster!"

And this one:

"Vista simply is a failure its time for Microsoft to admit it.. It sucks up system resources like vampire on a feeding frenzy of what? bells and whistles which simply or not worth it. Then there are the endless crashes If Microsoft is going to force me between giving up XP and going to VISTA or else! I'm going to Mac."

Now that last one is just crazy talk. Before you PC users give up and run to your nearest Apple store, wait. InformationWeek has a handy little how-to guide called, "Ditching Vista: How To Downgrade To Windows XP."

The process is made simple and users are offered the option of a full downgrade to XP or a "sidegrade," which is installing XP on the side. Then each time you start your PC you can choose which operating system you want to use.

Of course, there are other options. Maybe it's finally time to go Linux.

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