Since I can’t use VPN, Network Printing or PalmOS USB Synchronization with Vista, I decided format my drive and start from scratch with an XP/Vista dual boot. I still plan to use Vista as my primary, but I’ll occasionally boot into XP when the need arises. I saw a few posts on the subject of dual booting XP and Vista, but nothing that seemed official, so I asked Hans Anderson at Microsoft how he normally does it.

It turns out that the process of setting up the dual boot is very simple:

• make a primary NTFS partition
• install XP
• run XP
• In XP:

• make another primary NTFS partition

• run the Vista installer

I’ve been using Vista now for a week and I don’t think I’m going back.

• 3D-Flip is amazing.  I can page through quarter-scale screenshots of the 20 or so app windows I have open to find the right one.  The fact that they are live, active windows, not just screenshots is gravy.  Please turn this into a screensaver.
• Pin to Start Menu lets you right click on an app and add immediately add it to app list  that comes up when you hit the start button.  I used to have to drag shortcuts around to do that in XP.  They should add Pin to Send To Menu.
• Glass is really cool.  Titlebars and window outlines are translucent(you choose the color, shade and alpha level).  It’s not useful, but it gives you apps a feeling of … um … realness.

My new favorite, though, is per-application volume.  I had no idea about this feature until Scoble mentioned it today.   WOWOWOWOWOW!  I guess NOW I don’t have to turn off email and IM notifications and system sounds if I want to turn up the music.  Nice touch.

Anyway, that’s why I read his blog and ask him questions.  He knows which features of which products are special.  Maybe that makes him an evangelist and maybe it just makes him awesome.