"Jorge R. Frank" writes:

That's not unique to the space industry. The mantra among software
customers is "never buy a dot-zero version of anything." The cynical among
us suspect that's the main reason why Microsoft started getting cute with
their version numbers starting with Windows 95.

I stuck with Windows 3.1 then made the jump to Win 98SE, which I'm
still using at home. I've considered jumping to Win2k (to avoid
WinXP), but have yet to find a compelling reason to "upgrade".

Personally, I am skeptical of buying first-model-year cars, as well.

Me too, but that won't stop you from getting a "lemon". I skipped the
first year Escape bought an '02 Escape with the 4WD, V6, auto, and
etc. and got burned because the ZF transmission in the thing wasn't
"beefed up" enough from the previous version (used in previous cars).
The torque converter started to shudder, and I came to find that this
was a design defect that Ford (and ZF) couldn't fix. They glossed
over the issue by changing the transmission fluid, and later coming
out with a different program for the transmission (don't lock the
torque converter until a higher RPM).

By then it was too late. We traded the thing for an '04 Pontiac Vibe
(a Toyota Corola Matrix in Pontiac drag). Pity, the Escape was very
fun to drive. The Vibe just doesn't have the torque (especially at
low RPM's) or the horsepower to make feel as responsive as the Escape.

Jeff
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