I just bought a laptop to replace a Dell I wore out. It comes with Vista, which I dislike, as it seems to steal from Linux and Mac and make a hash of the mix. I prefer Linux, and am pretty minimalist. I often use Linux Puppy. It is small enough to fit on a mini-disc and I carry one in my wallet. That way, if I have to use someone else's computer, I do not have to worry about their settings, nor is my Web surfing goiing to put a virus on their machine. Also, with key loggers being so common on public computers, like in hotel business rooms, I do not have to worry about any sensitive information being captured. Puppy is small enough to run entirely in RAM. It can read Windows partitions, but not vice-versa. I was able to retrieve some files from one of my daughters' computers when she forgot the password. All this is in a package that is about 90 megs, with word processor and browser.