Biggest problem with all NLEs is people trying to run the code on buggy hardware. That includes FCP. Buying a turnkey system with solid vendor support makes a lot of sense if you're seriously in this business.
Vegas doesn't push the hardware that hard so it fares better than some. I've run Vegas for years on hardware I know is on the fritz without a problem, well up until 7.0e but that I think is really the code.
My feeling is if you want to roll your own system the look at server grade hardware. So much of the stuff out there today seems so badly designed and built I can't see it running at 100% for days without something going wrong. The average PC has next to no error detection and even less error correction. It only takes one bit being flipped in RAM or as it screams accross a buss to bring the whole show to a halt. With video and moreso HD we're moving massive amount s of data around. The wonder is we don't have more problems. Nothing stressed hardware like running a NLE.

Bob.

I haven't personally experienced any Vegas bugs, but Premiere is quite a bit more than just a "spot of bother."

In my experience, they ALL have bugs. What makes the difference is how fast they get the bug patches out, and Sony is pretty good at that. When i was with Liquid, I waited for an entire YEAR for a promised bug patch.

Let's not forget the granddaddy of instability, Pinnacle Studio.

=P

Actually, studio isn't too bad now. Avid sees studio as a bit of a cash cow and has done a fair bit of work on it.... still lots of smaller bugs, but you can get things done now.