haha, a linux thread turned into how well do vista run games thread
well i have over 50 games installed, all run about the same as on xp, some run faster. and out of 50 games only 1 doesn't work (deus ex IW)
speaking of xp, what version are you using? did you try to do your own nlite version?
if you had such a serious sound issues, you or who ever made the nlite verison, might ahve removed the sound HAL.