I have been thinking about what computer to use next, which OS is another interesting question. I have a Mac Book Pro as my main machine right now and love it, but I don't travel much and want media so I got an HP Media Center, which has one big problem, Vista. I haven't warmed up to it after 3 weeks, it works, kind of but so many UI problems and just plain crashes at times make me wonder about the economy of some really great features with a pretty low price. I paid $699+tax for the machine, and can return it, I just may, just like Windows ME, Vista has its shortcomings. I don't think it is as bad as ME was, however I want to try the same hardware on Ubuntu and see what happens. Maybe MS should become a supporter of Linux and port Office to it and just forget about the kernel. OS X is certainly a great contender too as is now Open Solaris for the desktop, but Windows has it too loose. HP sells this computer with the promise of Windows 7 as a free upgrade. Should I wait? Probably not, why go through the pain of upgrading, where I have to deal with driver issues? Seems like just buying a computer later is easier, let HP deal with the driver issues.

Chrome OS may be a big contender next year as well. I am writing this in Chrome into a Google blog, so if I am using all these Google properties, perhaps getting the layer on top of the Linux Kernel from Google seems a pretty compeling choice too. MS clearly has to reinvent itself. The old Windows Office monopoly is destined to get competition, what the antitrust hasn't achived in so many years has been done by MS saving Apple when it was in dire streights by investing in them, and what a great investment it was For MS, it sure paid back, Linux and OpenOffice by creating a really good alternative that runs on the same hardware. I should probably reinstall the Mac clean now that I have a working Windows system to tide me over. Who knows what crap the Mac has accumulated over the years, not that it doesn't work great, it does.