New PC - Vista

Hi there, today I bought a new PC, it's coming in 5 days, I've been out of the scene for a bit but from the reviews I've read this should be good:

I purchased a:

Maxdata Computer System:
* Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86GHz
* 1024MB DDR2 533 Memory
* 250GB SATA II Hard Drive 7200RPM
* DVD-RW 16x Dual Layer Optical Drive
* Intel® 82945G Graphics Media Accelerator 950
* Card Reader
* Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
* 2yrs RTB Warranty

Also got a couple of upgrades for it too:

Point Of View 7600GT 256mb DDR3 DVI HDTV TV Out PCI-E Graphics Card

And a RAM upgrade - Ebuyer 1GB DDR2 533MHz PC2-4200 240pin Extra Value Ram

Now my question is Vista, a lot of people that have got this Rig have set up a dual boot with XP, but I really would prefer to just run with Vista and see how it goes, I DON'T really want to mess with the system too much (I tweak and mess about like crazy normally) but I am a bit worried about security and also keeping my rig "new" and not cluttered with crapware.

I'm going to be using it primarily for Photoshop, web design (dreamweaver & fireworks), video editing, and fairly low gaming.

I'd like a good virus checker/firewall that wont slow my system down, I read that zone alarm doesn't work on vista?

All tips, discussion and help will be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

Drivers arent totally mature yet--which is one of the main reasons to dual boot with XP, aside from software compatibility (which shouldnt be too bad). As for security, Vista is considerably more secure out of the box, and also includes a firewall w/ bidirectional filtering--it monitors inbound and outbound.

 

Great! Really? No splashing out on a firewall programe for me then?!

What about virus checkers?

I don't know why though but I don't fully trust Microsoft to run an OS without a firewall, it'll feel odd. People are always trying to hack Microsoft and find problems and loopholes... I am just a bit worried about past problems.

 

While there is an outbound FW in Vista, you'd have to be an expert to configure it IMO. I use Avast as an AV and Vista Firewall Control which works much like ZoneAlarm. Also, both have free versions.

 

All OSes should use firewalls. That includes Linux and OS X.

 

What about the hardware, does that look up to spec?

I had a bit of a go with Avast, wasn't too impressed. Seemed a bit "bulky" ? Maybe it was just a bad install?

 

Hardware looks fine, with the additions you are making to it. Should be an overall enjoyable Vista experience

 

Trend Micro anti virus works ok on my Vista, but I cant get Soldier of Fortune 2 to run "Couldn't load sof2mp_default.cfg" error comes up Battlefield runs flawless, Vista is a nice new toy

 

Yeah i'm looking forward to it! Just wanna keep it nice and new and "crapware" free if you know what I mean.