Dear Guy,

Joe has concerns about outdated PC operating systems in the future, in
regard to SDR radios. I think this is a non-issue. All it means is that it
will be even less expensive to have a computer dedicated solely to operating
the radio down the road. I too am loathe to adopt Vista; fortunately Windows
XP is very usable. A few years down the road you'll be able to buy XP for
around $25-50 or so, just like you can get a Windows98 original disc for
that price now. The 1.0 GHz Pentium III machines selling at my local
computer surplus store for $50 now will be replaced with the likes of
Pentium 4 3.2 GHz PCs or maybe even 1.6 - 1.8 Ghz Core 2 Duos for $75.
Either of these setups will run SDRs OK. Today's "Cadillac" computers are
the old Chevys of tomorrow!

I was unaware that one could still buy old operating system discs new.
Do you know of places one can buy them? And can one buy a very
inexpensive (new) notebook computer with no operating system installed
so that one could install an older operating system if desired?

Do any of these SDRs operate with Linux?

I'm still not keen on an SDR (I like a "real" radio on which I can put
my hands, though I have no problems with radios with menu-driven
operating systems) mostly because, at the present time, I do not feel
these SDRs are good value for money. Some of these cost much more than
the computer to which they will be attached and which supplies most of
the processing power! The "guts" inside these SDRs do not, in my
opinion, justify their relatively high prices. But I'm sure that you
and many others here will disagree with me.

Perhaps one of these days someone is going to design an open-source
"radio program" which will do everything these current SDR models do
and, if history is any guide, he/she will put it out on the internet
for free. Maybe you'd just have to buy a USB-compatible connector for
an antenna.

Am I dreaming too much?

Best,

Joe