I am in the market for a new computer and want to avoid the main problem I have had with Windows 98 2nd: over time (12 - 18 months max) the os files become corrupted and the os therefore slows down and frequently freezes the operation of other programs, especially Outlook and Internet Explorer, but less frequently Word, causing me to have to either open only one program at a time, reboot frequently, or take the more drastic step of reformatting and reinstalling the os and all other programs and backed up files. (I hardly ever get the "blue screen of death" - just this other problem, which is probably related.) Norton System Works doesn't correct the problem, but does manage to keep the OS hobbling along. I could use a program like Ghost and make a dvd copy of whatever new os I select, plus my newly installed and updated programs and settings before I install the backed up files, so that it's easier to reformat and reinstall when it again becomes necessary, but I'd like to avoid that or increase the time period before I have to do that. For my purposes, I'm looking at Mac OS X and Windows XP only. (Mac's have sufficient programs for my purposes.) Consequently, I am looking for any studies (not just annecdotes) comparing Mac OS X and Windows XP on this one issue. Has anyone come across any such studies? Thank you.