Finally. Service Pack 1 for Vista seems to be on the horizon. Now I can put my ailing XP fossil out to pasture and jointhe 21st century.

Like many other would-be Vista users, I've avoided taking the plunge so far. Why? Well, because Microsoft haslargely painted me into a corner. Buying a boxed copy of Vista is utterly pointless to me, for three reasons.

First, the operating system's problems with legacy peripheralsare well documented. Second, I really can't be bothered updating a system that'salready working pretty well. And third, a standalone copy of even the entry-level Vista Home Basic is going to cost me close to £180.

At the same time I can go out and buy me a new laptop with Vistapre-installed for as little as £400 (although Vista is so system-hungry it will struggle to run it). To me, the maths really isvery simple.

So I was never going to go out and buy Vista for Vista's sake. And I can assure you, I won't be upgradingfor Vista's sake either. But if I am going tobe herded into the new OS by " the under-performing sheepdog" that is Microsoft, it'sgoing to be on my terms.

And my terms are that I want an operating system that worksquickly, that's reasonably safe and that my existing hardware can talk to withoutproblems. If Service Pack 1 addresses these issues, I'll be buying a new PC.

Of course, I'd also like an operating system that's a realstep forward in usability and performance. But I don't believe in miracles.