In a shocking amount of time, not only did I get a reply from Gateway regarding my BIOS issue, but it was not complete bullshit, either, as Matt suggested and I expected it would be.

Hello David,

Thank you for your e-mail. From what you have described, I see that you need the BIOS upgrade for Windows XP.

Gateway has started shipping systems which are Windows XP ready or have Microsoft Windows XP pre-installed. At this time, Gateway is still in the process of testing and certifying existing Gateway hardware device drivers and BIOS upgrades to make them Windows XP compatible. These drivers and BIOS revisions will be posted to the Gateway Web site as soon as they are available. Please watch gateway.com for the latest Gateway-related Windows XP announcements.

I have documented this correspondence in Service Request Number ***** in our contact tracking database. Please use this number in the future if you need to contact us again regarding this issue.

Please reply to this message if you require further assistance with this issue.

Thank you,

Maggie (Badge *****)
Gateway Online Customer Support Team

No, not the answer that would help me, but certainly better than what I expected. Maybe this sort of service and support is a result of their having ditched local Lake Mary outfit Convergys as their outsourced global support provider.