Microsoft has finally confirmed plans for the first Windows Vista Service Pack in 1Q 2008. That’s nice. But The VAR Guy isn’t going to take the Vista bait anytime soon. Here’s why.

Buying a Vista machine now and applying the service pack in 2008 would be a flash back to the 1990s software model: Microsoft ships buggy Windows; patches buggy Windows; then evangelizes next buggy Windows as a cure for current Windows. The VAR Guy prefers a different approach.

It’s called open source. I know, that’s hardly a revolutionary statement. But The VAR Guy isn’t a tech geek. And his experiences prove that open source is moving into the mainstream consumer PC market.

Since purchasing a Dell PC with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed in July, The VAR Guy hasn’t suffered a single system crash. His wife and kids (yes, he has those) quickly mastered Ubuntu with zero training. It was point, click and surf the web. The operating system is tightly written — not bloated — and the user interface is slim. It’s as if there’s no operating system standing between you and the work you want to do. Imagine that.

Ubuntu has its limitations; some printers and peripherals won’t work with it. And Dell is the only big US PC maker pre-installing it. Some smaller PC makers, such as System76 and ZaReason, do offer Ubuntu pre-installed. The VAR Guy suspects Ubuntu will land on more consumer systems sometime in 2008. And some folks are pulling together quick top 10 lists describing Ubuntu’s advantages over Vista.

So, what about Vista? The VAR Guy has NOT written off that operating system. He’s hopeful the service pack will correct many of the annoying security settings and “features” that currently annoy Vista users. There’s a chance The VAR Guy may even purchase a PC with Vista and the service pack pre-loaded in 2008. Here’s a quick overview of Microsoft’s service pack strategy from All About Microsoft.

In the meantime, there are great Vista alternatives in the market. Aside from Ubuntu, The VAR Guy continues to use his MacBook Pro every day at work. And there’s no way he’d be willing to compromise that slick machine with Vista … even if the Microsoft OS was on a virtual machine.

But don’t let The VAR Guy dominate the conversation. Surely, are thousands of satisfied Vista customers out there. We’re is always looking for case studies. If you’ve embraced Vista for some successful projects, The VAR Guy is all ears and our comment forum is open.