The only cons I can think of with respect to using XP Pro, is the necessity of installing SATA drivers to run the HDD(s) as SATA. If the copy of XP Pro is 32bit OK, but if it's 64 bit, I've been told that Vista has better support with respect to 64bit drivers. The XP may still be actually a bit faster than Vista, or so said "PC World" magazine a few months back.

So, if you already have the XP, the price is, "way more better". You know how I get into price.

At this point it wouldn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense to spring for Vista anyway, Windows 7 is just around the corner. So, use what you have.

well crank look up the difference in the drives if you dont believe me i have a machine with a 20x ide drive and one with a sata 20x and the sata transfers way faster ide is a thing of the past some mb dont even have it anymore.

@klepto" First you post that the SATA drive is "220x" and that the "ide" is "20" So it seems that you've edited the post to say that the DATA drive is "20x" and the "ide" is "20x". So,"20x" is not "way faster than "20x". Let's assume that you meant the SATA drive is "22x", So, 22x isn't that much faster than "20x". 90% plus of blank DVDs max out at 16x burning speed, so here again, what difference does it make how much faster the SATA buss is than the IDE, since the discs are slower than the newest drives, and the drive's optical system is "way slower" than the ability of either drive to transfer DATA. Look that up.

The optical systems of the newest IDE drives have improved greatly, so that when I remove one of my earlier Pioneer IDE drives, and replace with the newest model, it's "way faster". Nero want's to run the latest drives @18x versus the older ones @ 8x. Well @ 18x, nine out of ten discs are good, but when I throttle them back to 16x, >>(the speed of the DVD blanks)<< ten out of ten are good.

So, I'm sure whatever you have is better than what I have, simply because you picked it out, not to mention that the person who sold it to you told you so.

PS2 keyboards are becoming a thing of the past also. But guess what, no human being can out type the speed of the PS2 buss!

omg crank lol you need to get over your self ide drives are a thing of the past and you need to realize that. whats with the long analysis of someone else's post they are both 20x drives the reason i edited it was because i hit 2 twice which was 220. No one told me either way its the truth and i have proof to back it up with my own drives also by reading tons of reviews on the drives myself since i build systems all the time for people. IDE drives are old and slow there is no reason to use an outdated technology in a brand new build.

any basic system will do general productivity as I stated. You don't need to spend a whole lot of money nowadays to do a lot. You are getting far more bang for the buck as tech keeps getting better. $800 to $1000 will get you a lot.