"Reinstall windows"

[Dr Unne]

If you have SP2 at least your system is broken in a specific way that MS is aware of, so that it can continue to "fix" your problems in the future. If you jump ship you're pretty much screwed, when BlasterWorm2.0 comes out and MS says "This patch requires SP2, or your computer will implode". I run stock XP Pro with plain old SP1 and no other patches, but I only use Windows once a month when I need to use Office because CompanyX won't take resumes in any other format. If I really used Windows I'd get SP2.

[Peegee]

Having windows (a 2 GiB, for me anyway) installation just to have .doc documents seems a bit bloated. Surely Linux has some sort of .doc saveable program, even if you have to run an emulator?

[Endless]

vmware + ms xp + ms office. You don't even need to have a windows partition anymore (unless you play games on windows).

[Shoeberto]

Uh...OpenOffice?

[Dr Unne]

I've had experiences where a document looked very different in OO.o than in MS Office. It's not something I want to take a chance with. I also used to use my XP partition to play some games, and I may again in the future. A few GB isn't a big deal.

There's no way I'm paying for vmware or for crossover office, and I'm not pirating them. I got XP and Office free from my college. I'd rather not give any money at all to anything dealing with MS.