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[Trev]

Windows NT has always done that. If you really want to know how much memory Windows is actually using, you'll need to forget what you've learned via Task Manager, read up on Windows memory management, and use Perfmon with a bit of statistical analysis. That's not meant to imply that Windows is hiding things from you--all the data is there. It's just sufficiently complex to warrant a bit of digging.

[Trev]

Misleading marketing aside, i.e. the Vista Ready logo, I don't see anything wrong with Vista's requirements. Disabling all the visual bells and whistles (honestly, they add no value--who wants or needs pseudo-transparent window borders?) makes it quite usable on a reasonably spec'd system. That said, I still use Windows XP. For the moment, there's no compelling reason for me to upgrade.

[Trev]

Some facts:

The maximum path is limited to 260 chars for compatibility with legacy software. Paths beginning with \\?\C\... have a practical limit of about 32000 wchars.

32-bit Windows can use more than 4 GB RAM via PAE and AWE, but it's up to the application to use it. The "3 GB" limit is used in marketing materials by third parties, so users that install two 512 MB display adapters aren't surprised when they're mapped below the 4 GB boundary to make the accessible to 32-bit drivers.

Most delays in the shell can be attributed to waits in kernel code or deadlocks and race conditions in user code.

[Trev]

@LoadWB

Yes, but I typoed the syntax. It's actually \\?\C:\... (or \\?\D:\..., etc.).

For anyone interested in Windows memory limits, check these out:

http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/07/21/3092070.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/11/17/3155406.aspx

I'll concede that the consumer SKUs of 32-bit Windows XP can be limited to 3GB. It's unfortunate. Anyhow, run 32-bit Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition or a 64-bit Windows instead. ;-)

[Trev]

You'll probably just need to streamline your setup in the same way, particularly if you're running one of the business SKUs and don't use the features designed for enterprise management. Windows XP Service Pack 3 added some of the additional management features available in Vista, so you might want to look into disabling those on Windows XP if you haven't already.

[Trev]

@jasper

I can see how it might be done on a Windows box, but the recoverable RAM disk was designed to solve a performance problem that no longer exists: running a DOS from floppy disk(s).

[Trev]

Microsoft does have issues with scalability in their desktop products, and while most of the operating environment is modular, the relationships between various components aren't well documented.

I think we also need to consider the state of the hardware market. CPUs today are pretty much the same speed they were five years ago, and not every software problem benefits from parallel processing, larger caches, higher bus speeds, and the other changes the industry has made to mask the performance cap.

Salespeople, particularly at department and electronics stores, are usually just poorly educated. They base their recommendations on marketing and sales incentives. Spending sixteen hours a day in World of Warcraft does not turn a salesperson into a PC expert. ;-)

EDIT: And the fact that everyone assumes "PC" means "Microsoft Windows running on an x86[-64]-compatible processor" is evidence of the success of Apple's attempts to differentiate themselves. "PC" used to mean all personal computers, IBM, Apple, Commodore, Atari, et al included.