XP, Vista, and similar operating systems.

Alternative OS! (Linux, MacOS)

Hmm, yes, they really came up with a good name – "alternative"! In my opinion, the time is not far off when you will all be using the "alternative Linux OS," and you will already be writing about Windows as "alternative," because Windows is the limit of what Microsoft could create; it won't get any better. Although, I repeat, this is just my opinion, and I may be wrong, and perhaps the release of Windows 7 will save them.

But I can say with certainty that the old Windows will be the last OS from Microsoft that I use.:smile38:

Regarding Windows 7 – if it comes out sometime in 2011, then 400-500 MB of memory is not very serious.

Yeah, and hammering in a decorative nail with an eight-kilogram hammer is also normal. (This is about Vista and some simple application running on it.)
When you can take a complete set of necessary (and not only) tools weighing a couple of kilograms and do everything you need with them.
P.S. Sorry if the analogy didn't work out...