woah, just because i dont have Vista doesnt mean i havent tried it or experienced it, for me i found it quite hellish, were one would get unnecessary problems for some of the simplest things which would confuse me on to repair or overcome the situation, but hey maybe im just not as clever as u technical experts

Neither will run great on an ancient box, both will run great on a modern box. On average hardware, Win7 will run somewhat better.

u saying Windows 7 will ourperform Vista on both spped and performance itself?

There are 2 versions, yes.

in just 1 operating system to install? is there like a selection in the installation for which version to choose from?

regarding this, i am wanting to upgrade only from WinXP x64, but apprantly i have to do a cleam install

anyone at all may i ask?

would i hve to get a 64bit version of Vista, upgrade it to that from WinXP x64 and then do an upgrade to Windows 7 64bit?

If you want to buy an upgrade version, yes. However, OEM full versions are only slightly more expensive than upgrade versions, so consider that instead if you can.

well from what ive read, i cannot go from XP straight into Windows 7 via upgrade, but a clean install. This is where i came up with Vista being a solution, upgrade from XP to Vista and then from Vista to Windows 7.

not to forget to mention, i am running 64bit operating system here, so i cant merely straight take it to just Vista, but Vista x64, then upgrade to a 64bit Windows 7. From wat i am mentioning, am i correct on this situation?

Yes, but I would still suggest going through the (relative) pain of having to reinstall apps and drivers rather than bring something along to Vista, and then to Win7. It'll probably take the same amount of time too, technically, to do a clean install of 7 and then apps vs upgrading to Vista, then upgrading to Win7.

well, if i am correct on what u are suggesting, i already plan to install drivers and any apps back onto Windows 7, because even with the upgrade, im pretty sure those apps wont appear anymore? correct me if am wrong.

Your apps and settings would come along from XP > Vista > Win7, but not XP > Win7.

okay, ive gotten my hands on both Vista x64 and Windows x64, and to my suprise, even with Vista, it would not let me do a direct upgrade, which i find very frustrating, and now that has left me in a little predictament as i cannot upgrade directly, why is this may i ask?

anyone at all may i ask? WinXP x64 is really bothering me now

okay, ive gotten my hands on both Vista x64 and Windows x64, and to my suprise, even with Vista, it would not let me do a direct upgrade, which i find very frustrating, and now that has left me in a little predictament as i cannot upgrade directly, why is this may i ask?

Because XP is the old NT3.x/4.x style of OS, whereas Vista and Win7 have a totally different servicing and install engine. Upgrades (in the classic NT sense) aren't really possible anymore due to the rather large architectural differences.