I knew it would come to this. It's my karma, after all. I laughed, I poked fun, I gave Vista the business. Column after column here, mocking the early adopters. Lemmings, I called them. Lemmings rushing headlong off the cliff into the ocean of Vista despair, paying dearly for the urge to adopt early.

Crap. Did that ryhme?

I find myself now in the unenviable position to have to eat my words. See, thanks to a larger-than-expected windfall from my tax returns, I have just enough money to dump into a new studio computer. Great timing, eh?

So now I am faced with a set of choices. The first is a no-brainer. I am in the market for a laptop. No more desktop PCs for me. Ever. I live on the go, and my recording solution must be on the go with me, period. 'Nuff said.

My real problem is which OS to buy. If I go PC, I'll most likely be saddled with Vista unless I go MacBook Pro. My 2006 interview with King Britt nearly convinced me that MacBook Pro is the way to go. KB himself had just gotten his mitts on one if memory serves, and he positively raved about it. His evangelistic zeal for the damn thing was hard to ignore.

But I have to confess a real temptation to go with a Rain Recording machine, and not just beacuse they've been kind enough to do a few interviews with me. The notion that a laptop made especially for recording, and mobile recording at that, is quite appealing. I would be willing to shell out the extra bucks for a Rain machine if it can do what I need it to do.

But with any PC purchase comes that nasty Vista dilemma. Microsoft announced more limited support for Vista than for other operating systems, which gives me pause. But if I go XP again, how long before I get left in the dust?

It's a tightrope, and I also have my reputation to think about. After all, as an "early scoffer" of Vista, how would it look for me to suddenly show up with a Vista machine? I'd be a bloody laughingstock!

On the other hand, IF I were to invest in a Vista machine, I could document ALL my trials and tribulations with the beastie right here. And how valuable would that be to you, dear reader?

So now I'm faced with an even bigger problem. Do I sacrifice my own peace of mind to benefit the Gearwire audience? Fall on my own computing sword, so to speak, just so I can squeeze out a few more pithy columns?

I bet I really had you going there for a second. There's no WAY I am going to saddle myself with Vista unless A.) I'm held at gunpoint by Bill Gates or David Hasselhof (don't ask) or B.) I get one on Gearwire's dime.

Folks, don't hold your breath. Maybe I can get Rain Recording to hook me up with an XP machine. I just bopped on over to their official site and am very pleased to see that XP is still on offer there. A very relieved Gossip columnist who doesn't like the taste of his own foot in his mouth might just be making a purchase soon.