Quote - I had XP Pro 32 and 64 in dual boot before. I have XP Pro 32 on my other computer. The tech at my computer store who builds all my computers and is super knowledgeable said that the 64-bit version is still too much in its infancy and really not ready for use.

 

Then his knowledge does not extend into 64-bit operating systems. Or more probably he didn't want to deal with 'potential' problems that an XP64 installation could - hypothetically - create on his customer's machines (better safe than sorry :). Or he is not familiar at all with 3D rendering software, and thus does not see the need to address more than 2 GB per application.

The truth is, XP64 is not only perfectly fit to run 3D apps - and particularly Vue -  it is also lean and efficient. I use it since June 1985, in dual boot with XP32, and have done so on a dozen machines. The only problem I see with XP64 is the lack of drivers for old / exotic peripherals. As for the rest, most of the critics come from people who never tried it and repeat what they have read, or installed it without having the technical knowledge necessary to understand the implications (e.g people installing on a 2 GB system and complaining it is not faster, etc.).

As for Vista, apart from the dumbness of some functions and the DRM features, there is really one important thing that every Vue users should consider. The system itself eats several hundred megabytes of ram more than XP, so it's less memory for the apps you're running. And as a 32-bit operating system won't ever be able to allocate more than 2 GB per application, Vista 32-bit is even more restricted in this matter than XP 32-bit.

My recommendation would be : if you want to go Vista (unfortunately we will all have to go that route sooner or later, unless there is a Linux version of Vue one day), go for Vista 64-bit or wait. And if you are not afraid to try things for yourself, pick a XP64 package when you still can. Most people who did it for 3D do not regret it.