Ok Fella's ...here's my opinion on Vista versus XP after having Vista installed for just about a week...keep in mind...I was EXTREMEMLY skeptical about switching to Vista, in fact, so skeptical, that I dual booted. Here's what I think:
Ease of Use: Vista 8, XP 7
Performance: XP 8, Vista 7
"Prettiness": Vista 10, XP 7
All in All: I'd honestly have to give them a tie..
Ok, all in all...Vista has become a hit with me. Once you get somethings disabled like UAC and get used to the new Windows Explorer layout and mapping, you'll be just fine. I'd say that "ease of use" might actually be better than someone on xp...usually you'll get a pop up box if there's more than one option (such as copying a file to a folder that has the same file..vista will ask to replace, not replace or append!) Actually, loading into Vista is actually probably 5-10 seconds faster than XP..and yes, they are both fresh installs. I think Vista is a resource hog, and would only recommend it if you have 3GB of RAM or more...otherwise I'd go XP which is still top on my list, as some older programs don't work in Vista (well, the 64bit version for me anyways)....it's a toss up for me..I just thought you'd like my opinion, but as someone mentioned, go with what your Uncle is comfortable with...
Zac
Performance: