<html> Well, I have to disagree. I have been using XP since last November here at home. I have since installed it on 3 other computers (my work computer and 2 others at the office), and can say without any hesitation that this is the best Microsoft OS ever made.  I have never had any settings changed after an update. The fears about changing hardware are unfounded - you have to change much more than one hardware item for it to notice.  It in no way "locks" you hardware.  I have changed sound cards, network cards, and display cards without it saying anything.  If you changed all three at once, or bought a new motherboard and processor, Windows would ask you to re-activate it, and will give you 30 days to do so.  If the on-line activation doesn't work, they have a special toll free number to call for activation. I am not at all fond of the whole activation concept, but it has not proven to be intrusive at all. "Spyware" is software that comes from web sites or from other applications you install.  These programs gather information about your computer and how you browse the web and such.  There are free utilities you can download which scan your system for Spyware and clean it out, such as "AdAware" from <a href="http://www.lavasoftusa.com/" eudora="autourl">www.lavasoftUSA.com</a>  This one is highly recommended, and they distribute a free version Windows XP is by far the most stable operating system I have ever used, and that includes Mac OS 8 and 9.  No computer is crash proof, but XP is as close as I have ever used.  At the office I normally run 6 or 7 large programs at the same time, some of which are not known to be very stable (Lotus Approach, and Word Perfect 10, for instance).  I very rarely have to reboot that machine.  I leave it running for weeks at a time sometimes, only rebooting if I have done an update or something.  I used to have to reboot Windows 98 SE at least twice a day!  If I didn't, it would get locked up and force the reboot. Don Mannino </html>