* I am mystified as to the problems people have with Vista. I have been using Vista intensively on a variety of desktops and laptops for a couple of years and have had no problems at all. I have found no way in which it is not superior to XP. It has been completely stable and fast. It looks nice. I think most of Vista's bad PR is spin and misunderstanding and, yes, user error. And no, I do not work for MSFT.

DP says: I agree with you! I've made a few jokes about Vista in my time, but I've never felt that it deserves the vitriol. There's something else at work here.

I think it's the religious war. Whenever the subject is Apple or Microsoft, the religious war rears its head, and Vista was the anti-Microsoft population's chance to pile on.

* You mentioned in your article "I found a couple of smaller, older programs that wouldn't work in Windows 7." How about a little detail here? Can you give us a list of programs that will and will not work with Windows 7?

DP says: Well, for example, CBS News has a special online app called TREX, which employees like me use to file our receipts for reimbursement. It doesn't let me log in from Windows 7. (CBS confirmed this.)

To check compatibility with a particular app, you can try Microsoft's Windows 7 Compatibility list here: http://bit.ly/1gW6Ns. And for regular desktop apps that have trouble, you can usually get away with using Windows 7's "XP compatibility mode" to make it run (Google it for instructions).

* Real operating systems don't provide email support, or web browser support, or document editing support. When you start bundling these applications into the operating system, you create bloated software with poor performance. Sure, it makes sense if you want all your customers to use just your software, but you also open yourself up to antitrust litigation, and rightfully so.