I'd go Pro, or even consider doing a dual boot.

Here is a great article comparing 98 to XP.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p...wxpvswin98.asp


Also with SP1 now available XP seems to be getting more stable by the minute. To be honest I haven't had a problem with XP ever since installing it. Setting up networking, running software, etc.. have been more than simplified with XP pro.

Couple of downsides, the Xp installation can take over 1.5-2.0 ghz. They have integrated windows messenger much more. You have to tweak the registry to get rid of it auto opening every time you open outlook...

XP takes a powerful PC,
128MB ram minimum.. 256 preferred!!! 500Mhz CPU minimum(though I have seen it run on a 233mhz PC) and so on.

Hope that helps,
BB