Figuring out what to do with this computer

As I sit here and write this, I'm working on a computer that I recently purchased from a friend. Technically I haven't purchased it from him yet because I haven't paid for it, but I do plan to pay the price we've agreed to at first opportunity.

Neither of us is certain how old this machine is, but for only 650 MHz and 256 MB of memory, it seems pretty spry. It's a computer that my friend built a few years back, and he's selling it to me now because he no longer has any use for it. He built a newer, faster machine, and now also has a sweet Compaq laptop on which to work.

There have been a few things, however, that I've had to do to this machine to get it up and running again. But I understood that when I agreed to buy it. As my friend said, the hard drive (a 120 GB Western Digital unit) had gone bad, so I replaced it with an 80 GB 7200 rpm Seagate drive that seems to be working nicely. With my friend's help, I initially installed Windows 98 SE as the machine's operating system. I've since installed an upgrade to Windows XP Professional. If I decide to keep this machine to myself (my original intention has been to get it running again and then give it away), I may eventually repartition the hard drive so that I can make it into a dual-boot system. That way, I could boot into either Windows XP or Red Hat Linux 9.0.

Now I'm getting all philosophical again. Especially considering the relatively small sum of money that I've put into this machine, I'm now debating whether I should give this computer away as I had originally intended or keep it. If I do give it away, there are a few different parties that I'm considering seriously right now. On the other hand, if I keep this machine, it would give me a decent Windows computer on which to work when I needed it. There's no question that I love Macs, but there are some rare instances where it's useful to have a Windows box on your desk. For instance, in the Web design work I do for South Dakota State University, the interface for the templates with which I work seem to work best when I'm using a Windows machine. There are also instances where software that I'd like to use (e.g., Adobe Audition, formerly Cool Edit Pro) is only available for Windows machines.

Oh, well, I suppose the answer will come in time. Also, I'm feeling pretty tired right now, so that probably has something to do with why I can't make a clear decision right now about what to do with this computer. As with so many other things, the solution will present itself when the time is right. In the meantime, I'll enjoy this machine while it's still in my possession.