T&T: MS Vista, A marine PC train wreck?

[Michael Liddle]

Good morning listees!
It is a train wreck and probably going to be worse than we think as we get
to know more about it.
I'm in the market for a new computer, probably small form factor, but maybe
just a small off the shelf from Dell, etc.  My understanding is that all new
computers will have Vista pre-installed very shortly.  Is that the case, and
if so will it be easy or even possible to uninstall Vista and reinstall XP?
I don't see Vista working on board, and especially for long range cruisers,
in the foreseeable future.  We are not likely to have regular, and certainly
not continuous, Internet connectivity.  I want to be able to use my computer
at all times and with whatever has been working with it so far, as well as
with all those wonderful gadgets and utilities I haven't added to date.
Where do we go with this?
Best regards to all,
Michael Liddle
captmike@SharetheCruise07.com
 
SNIP
<One issue for the marine enviroment is that VISTA needs an internet 
connection to validate the installation.
There are also reports surfacing on the message boards, that if VISTA loses 
connectivity to the Net, it will start to shutdown after a period of time.>


Mike Eedy
North Bay ON