Given the odd embarrassing faux pas or three (much to the delight of the daughter) I think I might actually be getting the hang of all this. Indeed, courtesy of wife's laptop (a "gift" from work) I've even dragged myself (or, more accurately, been dragged along) into the 21st century and invested in a wireless modem router (again, much joy and delight from the darling sprogs).

Anyway, having binned the old machine (the numerous hardware/software screw ups finally took its toll) I've now got a new machine that's based around an AMD Phenom II and running Vista Ultimate 64 bit. Not sure of all the pros and cons, but at the moment it appears to running okay (and a period of stability is something I desperately crave). So in that regard, considering all the hullabaloo and problems Vista had when it was originally launched, I think I'll be steering clear of 7 for the foreseeable future.