Upgrade, clean install, or dual boot?

Alright, so I have a few questions.

Firstly, would my computer run Vista well? By run well, I mean not barely cut it, or need optional items disabled (i.e. Aero), or run sluggish, or need any hardware upgrades.

My computer is a Sony Vaio VGN-FE670G, specs as follows:

Processor:
Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2300 1.66 GHZ

Hard Drive: upgraded to 320GB SATA

Memory: upgraded to 1572MB RAM (1.5GB)

DVD DL burner drive

Cache:
2 MB L2 cache

Graphics card:
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (128MB shared)

Audio card:
Sony Sound Reality - Audio Enhancer

My second question is, IF Vista is a decent option for my computer, should I upgrade, do a clean install, or dual boot with XP? I'm currently running XP Pro MCE on it right now.

 

I've seen numerous forum comments saying 2GB of RAM is needed for a smooth running Vista system. However, I think this depends on what you normally do with your computer. I have a Compaq Presario Notebook running Vista Home Premium with 1GB of RAM and it seems OK to me. Typically, I will have IE and one or more Office 2007 components open, and maybe Windows Mail at the same time.

So, your system might be fine with 1.5GB but, again, performance is relative to what how you use your computer.

I believe your processor is similar to my Compaq Presario, which has an AMD Athon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor TK-53, at 1.7 GHz.

The part of your hardware specs I'm most unsure of, due to lack of knowledge, is the video part. Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (128MB shared) may be a weak link in your sytem, for running Vista, but, again, it's going to depend on what you do with your computer. Perhaps someone more familiar with the graphics part of your system will post a comment on that.

BTW, why to you want to install Vista? If you decide to proceed with installing it, I think a dual-boot configuration would be a good option for you. You have plenty of drive space. However, if your hard drive is not partitioned, you really need to partition it and put the two OS on separate partitions. Unless you have some drive partitioning software that will allow you to partition your drive without formatting and reinstalling your current OS, you would have to format and reinstall, meaning everything on your drive now would be erased. Were you aware of that?

Edit: Ah, I see MarkTrent posted the obvious first step. Wish I had thought of that.

 

Also, if you have older peripherals like printer/scanner etc. there may not be Vista drivers for them.