My XP crashed a million times...just not a fan and a friend of mine with Vista...well..let’s just say he now has a Mac.
My Dell with XP purchased in July 2001 is very reliable. I can count on one hand how many times it has crashed.
I replaced W98SE (now there was a dog) with XP Home and once I found programs that were compatable I don’t think I’ve had any problems. Didn’t even know XP had a “Safe Mode” until we took a power hit.
Upgraded from a 7 year old 800MHz to a 3.4GHz last year and specifically refused to load Vista.
I’ll hang on to XP for the forseeable future until something better comes along.