I recently bought a new custom-built computer from CyberPower PCs, and with it I bought a copy of Vista Home Premium 64-bit.

I wasn’t terribly keen on buying Vista given all of the problems that people have had with it since it came out, but after breaking down the alternatives, I wound up with several reasons why it was the best choice:

• The main reason I didn’t choose to go straight to Linux is because I am still a PC gamer - I was really building this new PC specifically for this purpose. Otherwise, I would love to have an Ubuntu install of Gutsy Gibbon out of the box. Also, while I use Linux on my laptop and my backup desktop, I still feel that I need one copy of Windows for those rare occasions where software isn’t available for non-Windows platforms (like with my Logitech Harmony remotes), and I don’t want to struggle with the technical (and potentially legal) issues of using WINE.
• I didn’t buy XP (even given its superior performance and compatibility over Vista) because it is a terminal technology. Plain and simple, barring critical design failures, Microsoft will not roll back to XP licenses. If I buy XP now, that license will have a much shorter shelf life than my Vista variant.
• I didn’t buy a 32-bit OS simply because it’s going to become a huge problem, particularly for gamers - I plan to cover the scary future of 32-bit operating systems for gamers in a follow-up, but for now I recommend reading A Messy Transition over at Anandtech.com.
• Vista Service Pack 1 is coming out very soon, and should alleviate many of the Vista headaches people are having.

In short, Vista was the best option to meet my needs, and for the first time I feel fairly lousy buying it, and having to deal with the headache that is a proprietary OS.

However, despite the fact that I have set myself up for problems, having bought a 64-bit copy of an OS known to have many bugs and compatibility issues, I have so far had nothing but pleasures with this computer. It is very fast, particularly with the new Vista hot-fixes. It plays games phenomenally well (Bioshock at 1680x1050 all settings to maximum is a real treat).

I also feel much better for myself for biting the bullet and going 64-bit. I know I will have headaches with it as time goes on, but I feel better for incrementing the counter, and letting the driving industry players (such as the game makers) know that I want 64-bit copies of their games available for install.