Vista - Dual booting Vista vs virtual machine

I have ordered the DVD of Windows Vista Beta2, 32-bit, although 64-bit is
included. I have been exploring whether to use the Vista dual boot feature
so I can retain XP on the same computer, separate partition, or use
third-party software, such as BootUS, which is an alternative. Now I am
looking at a virtual machine from VMWare company, which has a 30-day
evaluation copy available. I have an external hard-drive and Acronis True
Image to image my current XP edition so that I can experiment a little with
the beta.

But what is the best alternative for loading the beta: Vista dual boot,
third-party (BootUS), or a virtual machine? I'm not in a position to load
onto a second, internal hard-drive.

I tried it with Acronis OS Selector installed and the program didn't
recognoze Vista as an Operating System. I created a separate partition,
logical drive, for Vista and installed on that and the boot options come up
at start up, "Windows" for Vista and "Earlier Operating System" for XP Pro.

"Lincoln" wrote:

> I have ordered the DVD of Windows Vista Beta2, 32-bit, although 64-bit is
> included. I have been exploring whether to use the Vista dual boot feature
> so I can retain XP on the same computer, separate partition, or use
> third-party software, such as BootUS, which is an alternative. Now I am
> looking at a virtual machine from VMWare company, which has a 30-day
> evaluation copy available. I have an external hard-drive and Acronis True
> Image to image my current XP edition so that I can experiment a little with
> the beta.
>
> But what is the best alternative for loading the beta: Vista dual boot,
> third-party (BootUS), or a virtual machine? I'm not in a position to load
> onto a second, internal hard-drive.