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>Today is the big day. My new desktop will arrive from Amazon -- this one.
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>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00318CO9I/ref=oss_product
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>I didn't spring for quad core but other than that I am not denying myself much.
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>By a fortunate accident it's only costing me $242. I have had an Amazon Visa card for years, with Amazon credits for usage. After a (long) while it dawned on me that I was not getting any awards certificates. I called them up and it turned out they didn't have the right address for me, or so they said. (Somehow they manage to deliver all the stuff I order from them to the right address). Not only have I not paid for anything from Amazon in several months, the remainder paid for most of the cost of the desktop. Sweet! I think I am about to finally see Visual Studio fly. VS has caused every machine I have had up to now to bend over and wheeze.
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>What amuses me is that only a few years ago a machine like this, if it had existed, would have cost thousands of dollars. Probably five figures. Now, 800 dollars.
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>A trip down memory lane -- my first PC was an IBM XT. It had a 10 MB hard drive, an ultra low res display, and a clock speed so low I can't even remember what it was. I paid an extra $2000 for an NEC Spinwriter printer. Oh, let's not forget the floppy drive that used real floppies and sounded like a lathe. Total cost: over $7000. And I was still delighted to have the power of a computer sitting on my desk. I'll take now <g>.

Hopefully you have Windows 7 pro at least that you can install before you get too much else on it. Good job on such a great deal.
Tim