Windows Vista and XP SP3

In the past year I've bought three new computers for either work or home. In all cases I specified Windows XP Pro, avoiding Windows Vista. IMO Vista offers few added features, and adds bloat and incompatibility with a lot of hardware.

All is not perfect in Windows XP land though. On the first system I tried to install SP3 on I ended up with the BSOD during two attempts. The SP3 install process will back out any changes after a failed install, so I didn't lose anything other than my time. So I've decide to block the SP3 install on the five Windows computers that I take care of. (See Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit.)

More and more I'm thinking of moving to Linux as my desktop/notebook OS of choice. I already know Linux well, I just need to find alternatives to some programs, or run Windows versions in Wine on in a VM. At this point it look promising.

Update: In the end Windows 7 came out, and it just worked. I never bought or used a computer with Windows Vista on it.