Vista RC users here? Got a few questions

[SteveMcQ]

I'm getting sick of looking at the XP interface. Wanna try something different for a bit.

If I download this, does it give me the option to choose which OS I boot at startup, or do I have to take off XP?

Any major problems you're having with basic software running under Vista before I switch? Mainly Firefox, iTunes and Yahoo Messenger are what I'm wondering about.

If I can dual boot, do you suggest I partition a new area for Vista or is a cleaner install than XP is typically?

Thanks.

[2poor]

You don't have to upgrade to Vista to change the look.

http://cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108262

[Liquid 2]

I have yet to install RC1, but with the Beta 2, I just partitioned a second HD and put it on there. I suggest you put it on another partition because its still not a final product and there's always a chance, however small, that it'll mess up you computer if its there with everything. It should have its own little section.
When you boot, a plain black and white screen will as you to boot Windows or an older version of windows. For XP, you'd choose the older version option.

I know FF works for sure, but I don't know about itunes and yahoo messenger, but there's no reason that they shouldnt.

[Gojtron]

Yes, new partition for safety. Yes, it gives a boot menu. I was running RC1 for a bit and liked it more than the Beta2 version. Reinstalled XP solely so my girl can play Sims 2, as a clean install of Vista couldn't find my sound drivers for some reason. Other than that, no problems at all, I really like it.

[Mid Boss]

Definitely create a new partition for it; dual booting shouldn't be a problem. There's always the chance of problems with pre-release software and it'll be a hell of a lot easier to get rid of if you can't get it working properly.

You could run into problems if you have a Creative sound card. I have an Audigy 2, and had to jump through a bunch of hoops to get it working. Seems like there were quite a few other people with some of the same problems too from some of the posts at Creative's help forums, mainly with Audigy and X-Fi cards. If you have this problem though, they can probably help you more than I can. I'm still not exactly sure how I did it, honestly.

Most software I've used hasn't had too much trouble in Vista. I know Firefox and Yahoo Messenger work fine, but I'm not sure about iTunes. I haven't been able to get Yahoo Music Jukebox working on my computer with Vista though. That's really probably the only reason I switch to XP now, so I can play the music I've gotten through my Yahoo Music subscription. Damn dll file :bomb:

[menikmati]

Definitely create a separate partition in case anything goes wrong. I have Vista RC1 running on Parallels on my MacBook Pro, it's some eye candy, but slow under virtualization.

[SteveMcQ]

I'll finally give it a try and install tonight.

15GB is the system requirements, I'm giving it a 20GB partition. Are there any system files after installation that I need to be aware of or will the extra 5GB be alright?

Just to be clear I'm going to get a prompt that says "clean or new install" right? This sucker isn't gonna install over my XP installation automatically. That'd really piss me off.