<<I have never disagreed with Steve before, but it's time.  It is
ridiculous that HP holds a mature system for software.  Note:>>


I think our record is intact ;-), because I'm not saying "don't ship new
systems". My point is that shipping new systems with a known data-destroying
defect without notifying the buyer of that defect would be questionable. Of
course, we don't know if there is, in fact, a data-destroying defect; if HP
knows of one, they haven't mentioned it. As you (and Cecile) point out,
shipping with a previous OS version is an obvious work-around. But companies
have a tendency to want to hold up shipments "for a short time" while they
fix the defect, so they can deliver the latest/greatest. Unfortunately, as
we all know too well, the "short time" to fix a serious problem can end up
being a bit longer than planned.

        <<Come on, HP, give your users some credit.>>


That's the key; get the facts out, let the users/buyers make an intelligent
*informed* decision, and fix the problem in parallel.

Steve