How different is it from the old one, Jon? Is there a learning curve or new hardware requirement?

I like XP too, Don - am just worried about the uncertain situation re their update support. I don't think it's the expense that worries them, but that they want to discourage users from clinging to XP. Reliable supply of security updates is the main reason I went for W7 when buying a new laptop. Also, it was what was being sold (if you wanted something retro you had to hunt for a source) and I had heard good (or good enough) things about W7 to go ahead. And it DOES do the job, it's just annoying in a lot of ways. But it was what I could get without hassle, and the support seems solider.

But XP still rules IMHO. That's why they have to try to kill it, I guess. Means you're not going to spend ££$$ on something new. (Vista made me spend money on something new, alright - a MacBook. Never regretted it. My Mac is now my daily brain, with the PC reserved for specialist tasks like music-scoring. So the result of their murdering XP is that I now use Windows far less, and don't plan to change back.)