I've honestly never used on MSI board before (not cuz I avoid them, just cuz I haven't). I can vouch for ASUS and XFX (my current one). MSI makes really nice netbooks, but I honestly haven't used many of their other products so I don't want to say one way or another on anything. As for the OS's. Windows 7 will be fairly cheap. Also, if someone is really desperate, I can send them a copy of pretty much any OS they want! I get them free through MSDN Academic Alliance. Technically I'm the only one "allowed" to use them, but it's not like anyone ever checks that *bleep*. They give you a legit key and then you download the iso. So I can technically email you the file and the key!