Why I haven't upgraded to Vista

Let me count the reasons! Windows XP isn't really that impressive, but its vast user base has had the better part of a decade to learn how to deal with its shortcomings, and in its current state is one of the better operating systems Microsoft has produced.

1. Licensing and activation - XP was already a pain in the ass for this, and the process of calling some n00b in India to activate Windows after X installs/hardware changes could tax even the most patient person's sanity. At least corporate users don't have to put up with this bullshit.

2. Genuine Disadvantage - XP fell victim to Microsoft's lame attempt at reducing piracy, and unsuspecting customers with mass-licensed Windows installations (Dell, HP, etc) found themselves assaulted by little pop-ups with colorful logos accusing them of piracy. Vista's implementation would almost completely lock the user out of their computer. Apparently this "feature" has been recently scaled-back, but the bottom line is that Microsoft has the ability to revoke your right to use your computer at any time. No, thanks.

3. DRM - My feelings on Digital Rights Management are no big secret, and Vista bends over backwards to support invasive DRM schemes, to the point where these ridiculous schemes even affect your hardware.

4. System requirements - XP was considered to be horribly bloated and slow when it was released, and Vista is just more of the same. Sure, software is written to look good and perform well on modern hardware, but why can't it also scale well? Ubuntu looks amazing on my Athlon64 rig with 2 gigs of RAM, and runs butter-smooth with all the fancy effects turned on, but it also runs perfect on my old P-III laptop with no effects.

5. User interface - XP has a decent interface (except for the insane blue/green default color scheme), but all of the under-the-hood stuff is a bit inconvenient to access. With Vista, it feels a lot like they've just shuffled things around. Most things are no easier to access, just moved around. There is no advantage, just the pain in the ass of having to re-learn where everything is. Even something as simple as turning the PC off - the red "I/O" power icon doesn't bring up the shutdown dialog like it does in XP. Instead it suspends the OS, as if that would disguise the five-minute boot times. Once you get used to it, it's no more convenient - just different. Office 2007 pulled the same shit with their little pulsating uber-button in the upper left, that duplicated some of the functionality of the File menu it replaced.

I used to use Windows on all of my computers. Now, there are only three computers in this residence that have Windows (and all running XP at that) - my gaming rig, my brother's MacBook with Boot Camp, and my dad's PC. The only reason I still use Windows at all is for gaming. If Linux/WINE could run all of my games reliably, I would ditch XP tomorrow and forget about Vista forever. My dad's computing expertise goes as far as what button turns it on, how to use Firefox and how to read email, and I'm fairly certain that he could transition to Ubuntu much more easily than he could learn to use Vista. Not that his 5-year-old P4 rig could run Vista anyways.

While I'm at it:
6. Forcing the upgrade issue - Microsoft has ended support for Windows XP, but many businesses are dragging their feet when it comes to upgrading to Vista. Partly because it's still relatively new and unproven, and partly because in most cases it would mean spending massive amounts of money upgrading large numbers of workstations.

In an industry that moves at such a fast pace, voluntarily staying off the upgrade bandwagon makes me feel like an old codger geek, going around muttering to himself about VAXen and "kids these days" and all that. Is it so much to ask for an operating system that's lightweight, stable, reliable, and free of overly-restrictive licensing/registration/activation schemes?