I'm wanting to buy a laptop to network with my desktop.Should I get the Vista or XP Home?

i suggest xp professional

XP. Vista is still beta in my opinion.

If you can - try to find an XP Laptop that includes a free upgrade to Vista. Don't know if they still offer those now that Vista has launched, but would be a good idea if you can find one. Than you can have the option of either (but only one can be installed at a time) Butr in the abscence of that I would go with XP. Michael J

Latest statistics from this article about who buy what at Dell Outlet Center indicated that small business prefer XP over Vista by 70% while consumers prefer Vista over XP by 93%. Which side are you with - Business or Consumer? i_Xp/VistaUser

I would chalk up those statistics to the fact that most "home" users are not as well informed about the quality of XP vs Vista as are the IT folks. If you were to go to Dells site and select a system in the "Home or Home Office" category the only option available for an OS is Vista. However if you select a system in the "Small & Medium Business" category they have 3 versions of Vista and 2 versions of XP. I'm sure if you really look you can find an option to opt out of Vista - but you'd have to look pretty hard. But, we all know the major manufacturers have incentives to sell Vista over XP. It's only in the business realm that you have companies that will mandate the OS they use based upon what they perceive to be the best for their situation. Michael J

You would need to tell us what you are doing with the laptop. You shouldn't purchase a laptop unless you need to transport it. A cheaper desktop would do. Also you need to tell use any programs that you might need to use. Many high tech and specialized apps are not vista ready. Most people would be more secure with vista. (unless they disable that) I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.