Triple Boot!
1) disconnect the Vista hard drive
2) leave the new blank drive connected
3) Custom install XP onto a partition that leaves 10 or 20gb free unpartitioned space
4) Reboot into XP to make sure things are fine.
5) Shutdown, power off, unplug power cord - reconnect Vista drive.
6) Boot with a Linux CD/DVD and let it create it's partitons on the free space on the new drive.
7) Nearly all Linux distros will be able to find both XP and Vista and add them to a bootloader (usually Grub) that will manage things just fine. And you get to play with alternative open-source programs :) --- if you want the hands-down easiest Linux, try Ubuntu. For something more challenging, perhaps Mandriva, Suse/Novell, or RedHat.
Virtual PCs
I suppose I should put in a word, too, for the "virtual environment" idea -- it is possible to install XP into a virtual environment on a Vista PC, using the free Microsoft software "Virtual PC 2007" --- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...c/default.mspx
I've dual, triple, and quadruple boot machines here at home, and enjoy virtual machines as well. They really aren't a big deal - it's simple stuff for the most part. Enjoy!
Best of luck
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