TechRepublic seems to have a cure for the "waiting for Godot/Vista Requirements" blues that everyone who wants a new PC (or wants to buy/make one for a friend or family member). As Microsoft sits back and continues to drive their customers toward the fruity side of the fence, TechRepublic jumps to the rescue and lays out some advice on how to build a resonably priced Vista-ready PC right now. Not only that, they also show you in painstaking detail how to make it yourself.
Estimates consistently place Windows Vista system requirements on the high side. Potentially, the new OS may require a 2GHz or better processor, 512MB RAM, a 256MB video card (to power the Glass interface) and a SATA hard drive just to provide minimal performance, but you need not spend $1,000 or more for such a PC. Build a barebones box capable of running Vista and Glass for less than $500. This gallery shows you how! [TechRepublic : Build A Vista-Ready 64-Bit PC For Under $500]
Microsoft had better be praying daily that Apple doesn't come to their senses and bump up their market share by a decimal point by doing something as simple as offering a reasonably priced desktop machine. If Apple wanted to be anything other than an elite niche player in the PC field, Microsoft would be screwed this holiday season. And not in a good way.
Do I sound bitter? Hopefully so, because I am. My mom may be getting a FrontRow-equipped machine to run her home entertainment this Christmas instead of the Vista Media Center I had planned on. That is simply unacceptable to me.