Hello, Vista.

I got it - my new computer. An HP machine from Circuit City. Very sweet! I'm still migrating files and applications and such from my old machine, but it's a pretty simple task so far.

I have to say that the sales associates at Circuit City must be trained to intimidate their customers into purchasing the $120 setup service. They're all, "Look out! Windows Vista is very complicated to set up and optimize. If you don't do it right, you could mess it up, or leave it vulnerable to spyware!"

I said, "That's okay, I enjoy tinkering and learning on my own."

"But are you Windows Vista Certified?"

"No."

"Well, you have to be Windows Vista Certified to set it up right."

And that went on for 20 minutes.

So I declined the setup service, took it home, and started transferring stuff. The process was incredibly easy. And as far as Internet connectivity goes, it was as simple as plugging in the cable. Done!

From what I hear, Office 2003 doesn't work on Vista, which means I'll have to get a hold of Office 2007. I'm sure there are other applications I'll want more recent versions of. But installing a bunch of little utilities such as WinRar, BitComet and Quicktime was a snap.

The only thing that bugs me so far is the fact that the computer doesn't come with a Vista OS install disk. Instead, they make you burn a restore disk, which has everything on it to restore it to factory settings--including the OS. What's worse, you can only burn a single restore disk. So that's the first thing I did. Afterward, I tried to dupe it using the Roxio copy program that came with the computer. It didn't want to cooperate. So later I'll try to find another way to dupe it. I don't want my entire OS backed up on a single disc that could get lost or corrupted.

Overall, I'm very happy. Circuit City isn't doing Microsoft any favors, though, by trying to scare their customers into using their services. Bad Circuit City! Bad.