Preinstalled vista for running software or XP Pro?

I am to buy a dell inspiron T5600,1.83Ghz,2X512 MB of RAM, comp with preinstalled Windows Vista,Home Basic!!!

My problem is that i am a student of software and have to use servers like Apache,SQL server etc.

1)Shud i go forward and buy it or shud i get a system with XP Pro????

2)And can i put XP Pro in another partition on a system with preinstalled vista?meaning can i make a system with vista dual booting with installing XP Pro in another partition?

Urgent help needed, thnx in advance.

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Before you buy vista read this -

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/13/vis...

Dual booting is not a problem. If you are looking for another operating system why not try UBUNTU linux , it's free and you can get it at ubuntu.com. I have multi booted with all windows from 98 to xp

Preinstalled vista for running software or XP Pro?internet explorer download internet explorer

i dont think it's advisible to install two operating system on a disk..