Vista - How much pain?

[King Car]

Background : I recently bought a Macbook Pro and I am going to partition my hard drive using Bootcamp in order to run a Microsoft OS. Like others on this board, the only reason I need a Microsoft OS is to run FTP, Stars, PT/Hold'Em Manager, and PA HUD. All other computing activities will be done in the Mac environment.

Many people I have talked to recommended that I install XP as opposed to Vista. I have heard that Vista is a resource hog, and not very user friendly. However, I have obtained a free copy of Vista Ultimate.

Question: How much pain am I going to cause myself by using my free copy of Vista? Am I better off just shelling out for a copy of XP?

Thanks in advance for your help.