Earlier this year DDR2 memory prices completely cratered, so I decided to rebuild my main Windows desktop client with 8GB of memory. My main goal was ostensibly avoiding disk paging under virtually any circumstance, and this was a recurring problem when manipulating extremely large photos or video.
However, the real driver was the chance to build a blistering fast - but nearly silent - new PC. :-)
Overall, the transition to Vista64 proved remarkably smooth, with one major exception: my scanners. Not surprisingly, my older (but still excellent) flat-bed photo scanner had no 64-bit driver, and prospects were slim-to-none. However, even a very recently-purchased document scanner had little hope for a 64-bit driver. Replacing the scanners would nearly double the new PC's cost, but even with a substantial outlay I could not find a suitable 64-bit-capable document scanner at any reasonable price. $5k is not reasonable, and since I use the document scanner regularly, I needed another alternative.
My first experience with desktop virtualization left me skeptical - particularly with high-speed USB peripherals - and I considered dual-boot alternatives. But since I also wanted to play with Ubuntu and hoped for a more elegant solution than triple boot (!) I decided to give VMware a try.
Overall the results have far exceeded my expectations. VMware Workstation 6 cost far less than even one new scanner, and at almost every turn I've been delighted by a nearly seamless experience. For example, the fluid way Workstation handles dual-monitors and high resolutions was a completely unexpected surprise, and the ability to 'drill' through the guest into the host (with appropriate warnings of the security risks) or cut-and-paste from guest to host (or vice-versa) is much more useful than a multi-boot configuration.
With dual monitors I simply open the guest on one panel, and the host on the other. The virtual XP installation is so convenient and stable that I now generally only load performance-hungry applications (video & photo editing, plus graphics-intensive games) on my Vista64 host, and install almost every other program in the guest OS.
Highly recommended!
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