A way to try Vista?

[hyperasus]

got any friends/family with Vista retail?

During install, when it asks for a serial you can skip this step, install whatever version you want. you get a 30 day trial

I've done this on a few PC's now and it works like a charm. Just find a friend with a Vista install disc. If you like it and decide you want to keep it then you can buy a copy later and enter the key in to activate. This is one of my favorite features of Vista. I haven't even used my key yet on my own PC. Figured I may as well stretch it out as long as I can in case I decide to do a fresh install once I get all the little bugs and quirks figured out.

 

[davidw1134]

Also a recommendation, I'd just buy an OEM copy for much cheaper when you do finally buy Vista. And I'm sure you will...Vista runs much smoother than XP on high end PC's. I dual booted XP for awhile and then nvr really messed with it once I got familiar with vista.

 

[Oroka Sempai]

You dont really need a disc from M$, they are even selling straight serials to be used with disc download from thier site. Just use a DL and burned copy.

As for OEM and hardware changes, I remember reading that Vista (maybe only Ultimate) will be alot more forgiving than XP for hardware changes and activation.