So for no good reason at all, Microsoft sent me a complimentary copy of Windows Ultimate along with a box of party swag (streamers, toys, coupons, bags, etc..). I was actually going to hold off on the upgrade of my HTPC (which is pretty happily running Vista), but with Microsoft’s encouragement, I broke down and used my Amazon coupons to buy a 128G SSD drive. Went with the CORSAIR P128 after reading this review. I’ve decided to do a fresh install rather than an upgrade, this way I can simply switch back to booting Vista off the old 1TB drive. Eventually, I plan to hang that drive off of Buffalo NAS and silencing the HTPC completely, but that will be another project. In anycase, given that the rebuild of the media center is non-trivial, I’m taking the week off to do the reinstall before the party bond with my new son.
Finally, I’m going to track the whole process here for my own reference, since it’s helpful to know exactly what drivers and software I installed when, and why. Makes a great reference for my HTPC consulting work.
BTW: Yahoo has upgraded WordPress for me which at first brush looks pretty nice. I still need to figure out how to leverage FB or Yahoo identity management, so people don’t have to create their own accounts to comment on my site. If you know how to do this, please drop me a pointer.