John in Kansas: I'm not an expert, but note that your advice runs counter to everything I have heard, which is that XP Professional adds nothing whatsoever unless you are actually in an office and the computers are linked. In what ways is XP Professional better?

I don't use a full suite of applications; basically my job requires a word processor and very occasionally a data base. So far as I know, unless you are in a very serious business for yourself, you don't need Presentations software or a spreadsheet application.

For word processors, I've worked for several years both with Word Perfect and with Microsoft Word. My experience has been Word Perfect is approximately 120% better than Word, in every respect. Fewer giltches, fewer annoying failures, say, to let you type a full page of information on a page, less interference and fewer "Wizards" dedicated to forcing you to do everything in the stupidest possible way.   And for people using the computer for ordinary everyday use, Microsoft Works seems perfectly workable and a lot easier to learn than anybody's "Suite." Why should any private individual have XP Professional or Microsoft office on their machine anyway?