Windows 7 runs much better than Vista ever did. I would say wait for the official release of Windows 7. There was a free offer to download and install a beta version a couple of months back. It will run until June of next year. Don't know if it's still available. But I've installed it on an older laptop and a newer desktop and have no complaints about it. As far as transferring everything over from XP, your software probably won't transfer over automatically, if it will work at all. some older software packages have problems, while others run fine. There is an easy transfer utility and cable available to help transfer over all of your software and files, I don't know the exact price, but expect to pay around $50 for it. as for getting a mac, sorry, can't help there. most of my experience is in the pc arena. Tigerdirect.com has an offer to get a pre order of windows 7 for up to 50% off when you purchase a qualifying desktop or laptop computer.
Since you travel a lot, I'd recommend a laptop for your next computer. Especially if you plan on spending a couple of days away from home and want to keep up on email, TOTV, etc... Also, you might be interested in using a data plan from your cellular provider. Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon have data plans available where you can use your cell phone as a wireless modem for your computer. It has helped me out a lot in the past and I continue to use it to this day. it's usually an additional $50 per month for the data plan.
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