Really I think it boils down to most people being against switching to something new. They go into some kind of mode where one tiny issue keeps them from wanting to consider the OS. Everything is suddenly blown out of proportion.
I know I tend to vista bash a lot. But there ARE problems and those problems, while mostly specific and incidental, can very often be completely crippling to the person who relies on the computer. Things like drivers are not as much of an issue if you have mainstream hardware. Lots of people use nvidia cards including me, so putting out working drivers for vista and 64 bit is a high priority.
But peripherals and software in particular can run into problems. I read a post a long time ago written by a graphic designer who dumped vista in 3 days simply because he couldn't get it to work with his Wacom tablet. Since then the problem has very likely been fixed. But with computers meant for work its not a matter of things being fixable, things don't work RIGHT FRICKEN NOW and I can't put up with your buggy OS.
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For a power supply don't skimp and get a cheap one. I have an antec 650watt PSU and it serves me pretty well. The high end CPUs and graphics cards are the major power generators. Peripherals such as hard drives and the like don't use much power. However you will want to have a PSU with a comfortable margin. All PSUs, the cheap ones in particular, degrade over time and the capacitors inside wear out and transfer less power.
Couple tips:
- If you can afford one, get a PSU with modular cables. You can remove the ones you don't need instead of packing them into some empty corner of the case.
- If you have a case that mounts the PSU on the bottom like the antec 900, then check to see if the PSU has right angle Sata connectors. Right angle connectors assume that the PSU is mounted at the top and if you mount them at the bottom they will face the wrong way.
- High end graphics cards require very specific power cables, make sure that the PSU you choose has them available if you plan to buy one or upgrade to one in the future.
For a motherboard there are some important things to look for: (with simplified terms)
- CPU socket, decide on a CPU first and ignore all motherboards with the wrong socket.
- FSB or front side bus speed. This is the inner "highway" that the components of your computer use to talk to each other. This usually supports a selection of speeds like 800 1066 or 1333. Its very important to pick a board that supports the same speed as your CPU
- RAM slots: Most motherboards have 4. What you wan't is 4 slots to support two pairs of DDR2 ram. To start with a pair of 1gb sticks is enough, if you run into performance issues then just pop in another pair. Its helpful to match the ram speed to the FSB speed but not critical. Newer DDR2 modules are clocked at 1066, but 800 will work just fine even if your motherboard runs at 1333. The difference between the two is almost insignificant.
- Peripheral slots: Generally you will have a plug for the old IDE cables, a plug for a floppy drive and about 4-8 SATA slots for newer hard drives. Make sure you have enough for the hardware you plan to get.
- Expansion slots: These are the big slots you put things like graphics cards into. Unless you plan to do something like SLI you will only need one or two of the long slots.
- The formfactor of the motherboard. ATX is the current standard. BTX is designed to be more efficent but is poorly supported and considered "Abandoned". ATX comes in 3 flavours, normal, E-ATX or extended and Micro-ATX. Most cases support ATX and MIcro atx. IF you get a micro ATX case then you need the smaller formfactor. E-ATX boards are generally super performance or meant for server use.
That should help with general questions. For specific stuff you should ask around some better tech heads than me. I would recommend NCIX.com. They have helpful forums and you can post questions about hardware on the same product page.
! This is why i love DF.
Mwahahahaha.