Clean Vista installation on T400

I just got a new T400, and I would like to do a clean installation of Windows Vista Business in it (I heard performance is similar to XP for business apps, and it has better GUI and features). I want to get best performance for business apps and some home entertainment. Can anyone help me with:

1. Is there any installation guide for Vista (I read the ultimate guide for XP installation on notebookreview, but didn't find a similar one for Vista)?

2. What is the best way to do it? do I need to reformat the hard disk (as you can tell, I am not a computer expert...)? should I use the manufacturer's installation CD? any ideas of a step-by-step process?

3. I heard Thinkpad's Access recovery and some other tools are useful (although I've never used them). Will they still work after I reinstall the OS on my laptop? which features are good to have and which are bloatware that I should get rid of? how can I select which drivers / features to have?

4. Finally: should I consider using XP instead? I heard it is faster and has less problems but XP can't switch between discret and integrated graphics and can't use the Intel turbo flash memory... any light on this topic?

Thank you so much!


My system: Lenovo T400, P8600, 3GB DDR3 ram, 250GB 5400 rpm HDD, Intel 2GB turbo memory, ATI graphics card, LED screen, 6-cell battery, DVDRec 8X Maxdual, Wifi Link5300, Buetooth, Windows XP

 

There you go.

 

Thank you, Silas, and sorry for my late thank you note (I was traveling abroad over the last day). In any case, the Vista installation guide is about 2 years old - is it still updated?

Another question: you're suggesting installing Vista 64-bit. Is it a problem with softwares out there? Is it possible that some of my software won't work with 64-bit, and if so, is there any way aorund this problem?

 

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