My first post, os I hope it's a good one.
In regard to Vista and XP, I've used both, and Vista is absolutely a lot more stable then XP, I've never had any crashes in Vista (used it for a year), and a lot of BSOD in XP, but Vista is worthless when it comes to recording. Audio and Asio in particular is really a big issue in Vista. Microsoft knows this but it's no top priority at the moment. That's why I switched back to XP.
As to the specs of the bozobreath's computer. You really don't need 4 Gb of memory. All 32 bit Windows OS, can't use more then 3 Gb of memory. And since you're going for XP, you save another Gb of OS memory usage
.If you have a choice in HDD, try getting an 7200 rpm one. It's better for recording.
And finally if you're looking for a great pcmcia soundcard, and not wanting to go the Soundblaster way which is fine because Audigy 2ZS drivers really suck, try Echo Indigo IO. It's really a fantastic and professional soundcard with the benefit of using a pcmcia socket instead of an USB or FireWire connection. Not to expensive and available secondhand on ebay and such.
best regards,
Andrik
