I would highly recommend vista over XP 64.. I just did the update myself, and it was pretty flawless, with no real issues.

The problem with sticking with xp, is that some manufacturers are now making announcements about no longer updating drivers for it.. so if an issue comes up, some of your hardware might no longer function under xp, a pretty scary thought. And some hardware coming out now ONLY comes with vista drivers. (My new 28" flatscreen monitor only came with vista drivers, and once I updated and installed the vista drivers, soem minor issues with it cleared right up.)

It would be MUCH wiser to pay an extra $20 or $30 now, then to finally buy into Vista 6 months from now, because you need to for some new application or hardware addition.

I actually had mine as a free upgrade and had it sitting around here for almost a year before taking the plunge, because I read so much negativity about vista, but in retrospect, I wish now that I'd updated at least 6 months ago.

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.