Alan, this isn't a slight against either XP or Vista but your needs for this
machine sound like a perfect candidate for a PC running Ubuntu Linux. If
you are unfamiliar with Ubuntu I would encourage you to get a hold of a
Ubuntu Live CD and you can then try it out on your existing hardware before
deciding if it will meet your needs. Ubuntu comes with Firefox and
Thunderbird and for simply Internet browsing, email and assorted tasks, it
should more than meet your needs on a fairly low end basic pc. Since you
are not one to trouble shoot I would recommend a Dell or something with
Ubuntu pre-installed. The advantages to Ubuntu in your situation are lower
hardware requirements and therefore lower cost, better performance and
better security. Since you already have a more powerful XP machine, you can
continue to run your existing Windows software on it and Ubuntu will give
you exposure to another operating system and the available and included
software should meet more than all your needs.
I would not recommend Vista unless you plan to purchase a machine with high
end specs. It will set you back more money and it doesn't sound like you
need it based on your requirements unless you were going to swap your XP
machine as a replacement for your WIN 98 machine and look for a higher end
machine as your new workhorse.
XP will perform admirably on mid range hardware but is not as secure as
Ubuntu and requires a security suite subscription and more on-going
maintenance than a Ubuntu machine. With Ubuntu, automatic updates will keep
your operating system and all your programs updated automatically and there
is not a need to run disk defrag like in Windows. If you have no interest
in learning another operating system your best bet would be to stick to a
machine with XP. If you are familiar with XP though you can learn the
basics of Ubuntu with ease and having the ability to try a different
operating system and some new programs can be a great experience if you are
up to it.
I use XP, Vista and Ubuntu on pretty well a daily basis and they all have
advantages and disadvantages but for your minimal needs I would choose
Ubuntu since you already have an XP machine. Because your preference is not
to trouble shoot, I would not recommend it though unless you go with a
machine where it comes preinstalled so everything should be working out of
the box.
