Does the pre-installed software on the purchased computer include Windows Vista, and is that something you actually need?

I bought a laptop, and it came with Vista... I wanted to reinstall it right away, but they said it's better not to touch it. There would be a lot of problems later... so I'm stuck with it :( Half of everything is incompatible... :(

I sympathize. If you want, feel free to ask, and I'll tell you how to switch to XP with the fewest problems, usually even without any problems at all, by taking the easiest path, because I have experience. It's not that difficult, actually ;)