Is buying computers a strange game of screen size and hardware numbers? Or is it about looking for a solution in hardware and software that helps you get things done?

I’ve given up waiting for the next Vista update to finally fix the long pauses on my Dell desktop. I’ve given up flushing away my time on it. These days it’s always booted up in Ubuntu, where it works very well.

I’ve recently had to help a friend downgrade from Vista to Windows XP, so their laptop would “work again”. He was about to buy a new laptop instead!

Another friend just bought a gorgeous Lenovo laptop. Vista is painfully slow to start up! So, he hasn’t even been using it — instead I find him on his old XP desktop. I’ll soon have to help him install XP on the laptop, or it wil continue to be an expensive paper weight.

I’m praying that Windows 7 is good. In the meantime, Microsoft’s Lauren campaign is a great conversation starter to help people solve their computing problems by considering the costs of their frustration, and what their time is worth.

I think most people will be trashing a Windows with their next computer purchase.