My surround sound stereo is a bit dated, but it does the job.  I have a Sony 5.1 receiver, a DVD player, a vcr, Tivo, 4 small speakers, a center channel, a bass speaker.  I also have an old big screen that isn’t HD.  So this is probably typical of what most people have.  My system is probably 10 years old, but the newer systems are essentially the same.

What I want is a computer based entertainment system.  I want to store movies and mp3s on my system and simply access them via remote control from my couch.  Isn’t this what the media center version of the Windows XP OS is supposed to be?  Just add some gaming, a big monitor, speakers, wifi and whatever else you like and you’re good to go.

So why aren’t we doing it?  Why are we putting our computers in another part of the house, along with all of our mp3s, and playing our DVDs on a DVD player instead of saving them to a hard drive?  Why isn’t our computer being used as our Home Entertainment System?  Simply because stereo receivers keep on working, sometimes for many years.  Whereas computers don’t.  After 2-3 years they get so clogged up with memory hogging junk like old device drivers and new running processes that they take forever to complete any task.  Plus, new peripherals will mean new software drivers and or new hardware upgrades, which means more slowdowns.  Within 4 years your once speedy machine becomes a dinosaur incapable of even the most menial task.  You’ll be sitting on your couch waiting 10 seconds for the channel to change!

I’m not capable of upgrading my "home entertainment system" every 2 to 4 years.  I don’t have the funds or the desire.  So I hope Vista can better manage its resources and memory, because my older computers are turtles.  And these turtles won’t be winning any races.  That’s just my opinion.