I have a newer Vista-based PC and downloaded the latest software "patches' from Pinnacle (330MB worth!). The "patches" install fine and everything appears to work. Tha hardware supplied works as advertised. It's the software that's questionable.Instant DVD Recorder works, although it's limited in what it allows you to do as far as themes and menus go. I can get it to crash reliably when using a certain supplied background music piece. This results in wasted time and a wasted DVD. The version of Studio supplied is a joke. From poor documentation(or maybe the program just doesn't do what it's supposed to do) to a poor user interface to amateurish themes, it's not worth the trouble. Windows Movie Maker + DVD Maker works a lot better.