Backstory: My parents got my old gaming computer a few years back and it's been dying slowly (random crashes, no BSOD). They've wanted an LCD for a couple months, so I've been looking around for the best deal I could get for them that would net them a decent computer and a monitor. Dell did a "back to school special" - $400 for a decent enough computer and a 17" LCD. The specs weren't bad and the price was great, so we bought it. However, it comes with Vista Basic and all they have used for the past 5 years or so is Windows XP.
Now, I'm a Mac user, and even at work, we use Windows XP (or Server 2003). I have no experience with Vista. So is Vista Basic going to be a hard upgrade for the less tech-savvy users? We're talking web, e-mail, bejeweled, freecell, instant messenger and Office.
Would my time be better spent learning Vista to teach them the new stuff they will encounter or should I just wipe it and reinstall XP with the license from the junk computer?
Now, I'm a Mac user, and even at work, we use Windows XP (or Server 2003). I have no experience with Vista. So is Vista Basic going to be a hard upgrade for the less tech-savvy users? We're talking web, e-mail, bejeweled, freecell, instant messenger and Office.
Would my time be better spent learning Vista to teach them the new stuff they will encounter or should I just wipe it and reinstall XP with the license from the junk computer?