'Bill Gates Signature Edition'

I like Fry's Electronics . I can't go into the place and just get what I need. No, I have to browse, to luxuriate in the wealth of techie stuff, all of those things you never knew you needed. It takes real will power not to make out the credit cards.

I also like Fry's because they pay my salary with its full-page color catalog ads. Some days Fry’s runs six-page pull-out sections. Today, Fry’s takes up the back of the business and sports sections.

If nothing else, the ads provide easy reading during those conferences in the head office. (That's a Navy joke.)

And that's what got this blog post started.

There, near the lower left corner of today’s Fry's ad on the back of the business section, is an ad for "Bill Gates Signature Edition" of the new Windows Vista. The "Bill Gates Signature Edition" is the "Ultimate Upgrade**" That ** tells buyers they must have proof they already own a copy of the Windows operating system.

The price is $259.99 and just to underline what a great price that is, the Fry's ad warns: "Limit 1 Per Customer."

Damn, and I was going to get one for every member of the family and the dog. (The cats are OSX people)

Well, OK I wasn’t really going to upgrade to Vista. You see I gave up Windows a few years ago. The last two computers I have purchased – the server this web site runs on and my laptop – run Ubuntu Linux. The server started as a Windows box, and I then erased Windows and installed Ubuntu. The laptop came with Ubuntu preinstalled.

There are plenty of frustrations involved with running Linux, not the least of which is dealing with proprietary codecs for multimedia content. But not having to deal with the costly Windows upgrades, the expensive add-on software or the requirement that you have a paid subscription for virus protection makes up for any of the headaches.

The Ubuntu operating system is free. All of the software I run on the server and the laptop are free. All of my needs – digital photography editing, vector graphics, web site development, word processing and spreadsheet – can be filled without expending a dime.

After you have lived and worked this way for a couple of years, you really wonder why anyone would pay $259.99 for a “Bill Gates Signature Edition” of “Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade**”