Windows XP Pro, Windows XP Home, Windows Vista?

[jacksonaustinvicksburg]

Which one would you buy and why? Also, what is the cheapest way to by a legal version with a CD?

[inconclusive_conjunction]

Windows Vista. No sense in investing in a soon-to-be outdated version of Windows.

The cheapest way is to purchase a copy from Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/

Some of their OEM copies are only $99 for Vista Home Basic.

[MathisaorTy90012]

You should go for xp mdia or home if you have 128 - 512mb of ram.

You should go for xp pro if you have 512 - 768mb of ram

And finally- you should go for vista if you have 768mb - 4gb of ram.

If you decide on vista:

Get home premium. It has all the features you'll need.
Get 32- bit.

To buy vista cheap go to ebay and search:

"vista home premium oem"
*Without the quotes.

or

go to:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=32&from=R40&s atitle=vista+home+premium+oem&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=ZIP%2FPostal&sabfmts= 1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&f sop=32%26fsoo%3D2&fgtp=

[bigguyinthesky]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=33&catid=20

check them out for os systems very cheap