For those of us who don't think that Vista is ready for prime time yet, XP 64 looks like it might be the best alternative for Windows users.  However, I thought that someone might find it helpful if I shared what I discovered (when it fell on me) during my XP 64 install:

I decided to go ahead and set my PC up on an XP 64 / XP Media Center Edition dual boot this weekend -- working on the project during breaks between the hectic demands of the season.  Saturday into Sunday morning wasn't a problem, as I was doing full data backups and standard disk preparation such as running complete disk checks with sector scans, deleting unnecessary files, etc..  That part went OK, it was just time-consuming.

I experienced a minor glitch while activating the disk partition software that I'd purchased, but that one was relatively quickly resolved.  So I partitioned the drive, inserted the XP 64 installation disk, the disk went through its preliminary steps -- and then directly to a Blue Screen of Death.  The screen told me that "a problem had been detected with my system", and it recommended that I run a virus scan and check to see that all of my hard drives were connected properly.  I tried the same thing a couple of more times with the same result.

After whispering to myself "why can't these things ever be easy?", I rebooted under MCE, and did a lot of research.  That part took hours.

To make a very, very long story short: come to find out, the XP Pro 64 installation CD doesn't load the drivers that are necessary for detecting SATA/RAID hard drives (it's looking for IDE drives) -- thus leading straight to the dreaded BSOD upon an attempted OS installation.  The standard trick to get around the problem has been to "slipstream" the correct drivers in using a floppy disk to load the drivers during the installation process.  Unfortunately, new PC's are sold without a floppy drive to be found anywhere on them..........................

After a lot of googling and research, I came across a handy little free app called nLite.

http://www.nliteos.com/

NLite will take your source installation CD, and then burn a copy CD / DVD with the appropriate drivers, updates, etc. bound into and loaded automatically by the nLited disk.  The nLited disk is bootable, and works just like your original OS installation CD, along with whatever additional  material (drivers, updates, service patches, on and on) that you've added to it.

Excellent.

After locating and installing updated drivers for my motherboard's SATA Intel chipset + my DVD-RW drive's firmware -- the nLited DVD did exactly what I needed.  No muss, no fuss.  XP 64 installed -- taking a couple of hours to do.  *Hurray!

Then......I had to go looking for updated 64 bit drivers for my ethernet adapter, because XP 64 wouldn't connect to the internet without it.  So I installed that; I also located and installed 64 bit drivers for my video card, my BIOS, and for other items.  It all worked: it just took a long time to find & install it all.

Then, of course, I had to connect to Windows update to download and install a bunch of updates for XP 64.  That worked without a hitch: it just took about an hour to finish.  There were a lot of updates.

But let me tell you -- the final result has been worth it!  I now have a beautiful XP 64 / XP Media Edition dual boot that works flawlessly.  XP 64 loaded in fresh, and without all of the junk that PC manufacturers load up new machines with.

XP 64 snaps along nicely.  It's addressing all 4G's of my system's RAM, and the graphics & visuals on my LCD monitors have noticeably improved.  It's faster.  I think that I am going to like it..........

This was done partially to prepare my PC for Poser Pro when it comes out -- so that I'll be ready for the 64 bit end.

Now I'll have to start migrating my 3D applications to the 64 bit side.  I think that it's going to make a big difference, performance-wise.  I was able to open up Poser 7 in XP64 simply by double-clicking on the Poser.exe file.  But it opened up like a brand new installation of the program, with all of the factory default settings and none of my external runtimes loaded in.  Doing the same thing with Adobe Photoshop opened the program, but went to the registration dialog box -- once again, like a brand new installation.  

Certain other programs - such as AutoCAD -- won't work at all on the 64 bit side until I reinstall them there.

BTW - the 32 bit side seems to be working faster and looking better, too.  Probably because of the updated drivers for the motherboard and the BIOS.  So that was an unexpected positive side-effect.  The end result was worth all of the effort, based upon the what I've seen in the brief time that I've had to look everything over so far.  So I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's willing to take the plunge (and who has a sense of adventure).  Just be prepared to jump through a lot of hoops to get there.

I also HIGHLY recommend the little nLite utility.  I could not have done what I did without it -- at least nowhere near as easily.

Something To Do At 3:00AM