Windows Vista and XP - Dual Boot?

[iamtheblues]

Hi Guys,
Given all the PC problems I've had this year, I have decided to bite the bullet
and shell out for a nice shiny new PC. I've decided to opt for quality this time rather than the pick 'n' mix approach I used before. This way I imagine that all the components stand a better chance of working with each other.
For that reason I have virtually decided on a Dell Inspiron 530. I shall be buying online through the Dell website, and I have the choice of either Windows Vista Home Premium or XP Home which come as standard.
Bearing in mind whichever I choose they will be Spanish editions, and I have no prior experience with Vista, is it that different from XP, or as a long time Windows user (13 years) will the language pose me no problems?
I do have a good grounding in Spanish, but technical words and phrases are not my forté as I just about cope with them in English.

My other option would be to buy a Spanish copy of XP which would probably be easier for me being familiar with the OS, but would Vista (which will already be on the new machine) permit a straightforward installation of XP on the same hard drive and thereby offer me the choice of system at boot time? The new Dell will have 2 drives so would it be possible to put XP on the second drive and still choose which one to boot from?

I'm not being luddite about Vista, as I'd like to see how it performs as my new Dell will be more than capable of running it. It's just that a lot of my programs and I suspect, peripherals may not work under Vista, so the dual option would be cheaper than updating both hardware and software.
Saludos,
Bob.

[ScottF]

I don´t know about the dual boot option. I can say that I recently bought a new Dell system online (Dimension 9200, 4 gigs of ram, and host of other stuff )

I can tell you that I´ve had absolutely no problem with Vista Home Premium. Most importantly for here, Xara loads as it should, as do all the other programs that I use including a Wacom tablet. I´m an American living in Argentina--and that meant getting the Spanish version of Vista. There are some differences, but I´ve managed to sort them out so far. Some features are different from XP, but nothing that should cause you problems. I like Vista.

Just a comment, FWIW.

[zaphodeist]

...would Vista ... permit a straightforward installation of XP on the same hard drive and thereby offer me the choice of system at boot time? The new Dell will have 2 drives so would it be possible to put XP on the second drive and still choose which one to boot from?

When I was thinking of buying a new PC from PCWorld last year I was told that I couldn't do either of those options as the motherboards are geared up for Vista. Might just have been sales talk [talked themselves out of a sale if it was ] but surely there must be a way.

[masque]

Vista will be replaced in a few of years time. XP will be supported for a few years yet and is known to run. Vista is resource hungry and I've read 40% slower than XP, and I've experienced it with my daughters laptop which plods along next to her friends that has had Vista downgraded to XP but is otherwise the same machine. If you can do without the semi transparent window frames and direct X10 (for games) I'd go with XP. If it ain't broke don't fix it and you know whatever printer, scanner or whatever else you buy will run.

[Soquili]

Bob if you want to setup dual boot I recommend installing XP first then install Vista.

If Vista already resides on the system XP will refuse to install as a secondary OS. Unless you are using a second hard drive, then you can disconnect the Vista drive until after XP is installed on the other.

[steve.ledger]

Bill is correct.
Though it is possible and I have done it, it a requires a bit of messing around.


John (neodeist) Yes, that sales cr*p talk.

Bob & Derek.
I have a dual boot PC running XPPro or Vista Ult.
For most people, the differences are mostly cosmetic, though Vista does include additional security measures. UAC is the most obvious and, is often disabled by end users as being a bit of a pain to put up with.
Older hardware and software which was (of course) not developed for Vista may have some issues. Though PaintShopPro 6 (the first version I bought) runs beautifully on Vista (even with Aero). Hardware manufacturers 'could if they chose to' write some new drivers for Vista, but they are in the business of selling *New* hardware. Don't blame Vista for compatibility issues.

Some new PC's and Laptops which include Vista now, run very poorly initially for a number of reasons, the most common being the bundled cr*apware.
All laptops I buy in these days are totally chocked with uneccessary software which reduced their performance to slug-like workability. This is the fault of the manufacturers. 60 day Office 2007, 90 day Norton plus all the additional Acer/ASUS/Toshiba (etc) utilities are simply bogging these systems down.
So people cry foul, reformat the HDD's and install XP which of course runs much better becuase none of that bundled cr*pware exists now.

Some cheap laptops will run poorly because they are just cheap laptops.

My position is to embrace the new OS because it is a measure more stable & secure than the ol' trusty XP, it is nicer to use ( and we do have to look at the screen while we use it) and, while indeed (as always) there will be another Windows version in the future - Vista is the new eXPerience .

Finally, if you really need to have access to Windows XP for something specific, then you can always install Microsoft VirtualPC 2007 and install XP into that.
It runs perfectly fine (even with Xara Xtreme 4)

[zaphodeist]

...John (neodeist) Yes, that sales cr*p talk...

In that case, would it be possible for me to buy a new machine with Vista installed and swap over my current XP HDD to that new machine - i.e. with my programs intact - because XP was pre-installed?

[steve.ledger]

In that case, would it be possible for me to buy a new machine with Vista installed and swap over my current XP HDD to that new machine - i.e. with my programs intact - because XP was pre-installed?

If it were only that easy. Short answer - no.

Your XP is installed with all the relevant hardware drivers for the hardware it is currently running on.
XP is pre installed on 'that' hardware and licensed (activation) with that hardware.
Also note, that OEM versions of XP (that which comes pre installed with a purchased system) are not transferable to other machines (with different hardware) - they are licensed to *that* PC only.
If you have a retail version of XP, (the licensing for retail versions allows you to transfer the licensed installation to another machine provided it is only installed on one machine at a time), then you can format the new machine (to remove Vista) and install XP onto that - you will of course need to install the hardware drivers that XP needs.

[zaphodeist]

Ah, right, I get it ... thanks Steve

[iamtheblues]

Thanks for all the replies, guys.

Scott, I'll probably go with the Spanish Vista then. I was toying with buying online from the UK site and getting it delivered here,
but the 3 year home warranty would have been awkward. I imagine the techs might have been a bit miffed traipsing all this way to look at the pc.

John, probably Steve's idea of running Microsoft VirtualPC 2007 would be a good solution, especially as it 's free I believe.

Derek, I'm inclined to agree with the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" approach, but as there is no financial gain from not having Vista installed, it would seem churlish to not give it a go. Anything that improves stability is good in my book, and may even be worth sacrificing some performance. I may not notice it on the new machine which with 4 GB of memory and a dual core processor it would be streets ahead of what I have at present.

Bill, thanks for the advice on how to go about installing XP and Vista. I'd forgotten that I had the option of disconnecting the one drive. Of course, this way I could install XP first on the spare drive, then install Vista to run alongside it on the same drive, then format the original Vista drive and use that purely for storage.

Steve, I'm keen to use Vista for the reasons you stated, and agree about the bundled software being a cause of the problem.
As my new Dell would come bundled with Spanish software, it will be given the old heave-ho in any case.
The drive with Vista on it will only have a few essential programs installed on it and all work will be saved to the storage drive and external drives for backup. So the speed issue shouldn't be apparent.

All in all there seem to be plenty of options in case Vista causes any unforeseen problems so I shall proceed with the purchase
after the pension gets paid into the bank account later this month. Thanks again, chaps.
Saludos,
Bob.