[911ctS]

Thanks. You guys have been a lot of help.

Island, you must have 08 versions of solidworks because from what i understand it is the only one that is compatlble with vista. I have the 06 version and vista will not even open any of the files without error messages coming up. Its really strange.

So I took the laptop, which is a Sony Vaio, into a computer service store today and found out that since it is so new of a machine that there is no physical way of formatting and going back to XP. They said that the hard drive and maybe some other components are manufactured only to reccognize Vista. Apparently this is only on current laptops and only some brands at that. I think if there was a way then they would have exploited it since I was going to buy XP from them and pay for their services.

I even tried booting from CD but I cannot even get into the BIOS. Its like nothing I've ever seen. I got the short end of the stick and its getting returned to Circuit City tomorrow.

Doing some further reading into Vista I found these statements:
Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system is a giant step backward for your freedoms.

Usually, new software enables you to do more with your computer. Vista, though, is designed to restrict what you can do.

Vista enforces new forms of “Digital Rights Management (DRM)”. DRM is more accurately called Digital Restrictions Management, because it is a technology that Big Media and computer companies try to impose on us all, in order to have control over how our computers are used.

DRM gives power to Microsoft and Big Media.

* They decide which programs you can and can't use on your computer
* They decide which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment
* They force you to install new programs even when you don't want to (and, of course, pay for the privilege)
* They restrict your access to certain programs and even to your own data files

DRM is enforced by technological barriers. You try to do something, and your computer tells you that you can't. To make this effective, your computer has to be constantly monitoring what you are doing. This constant monitoring uses computing power and memory, and is a large part of the reason why Microsoft is telling you that you have to buy new and more powerful hardware in order to run Vista. They want you to buy new hardware not because you need it, but because your computer needs it in order to be more effective at restricting what you do.

Microsoft and other computer companies sometimes refer to these restrictions as “Trusted Computing.” Given that they are designed to make it so that your computer stops trusting you and starts trusting Microsoft, these restrictions are more appropriately called “Treacherous Computing”.

Im not one to believe everything I hear or read, but all I know is that this thing has been a royal pain in the ass and a waste of time. Just wanted a portable version of my desktop and the ease of using my already purchased programs on it. The whole Vista thing kinda creeps me out anyway, like my privacy and decision making privledges are in jeopardy.

Im looking into the business Dell versions now since they are one of the only companies left that are still offering XP.

Or the new Macbook Pro's look really cool since you can run both XP and the Lepard O.S. switching back and fourth at will. However, these are also $2K+ which I really cannot afford at this time.

Thanks again.