Vista vs XP and upgrading PC

[vestanpance]

I'm sure this has been asked before but I'm thinking of getting a new PC with a very high spec, I'm not sure though what operating system to use, I'd like to use the advantages of direct x 10 but I need Vista for that and I've read some bad things about it. What are peoples experiences with using Vista so far.
Also I plan to keep my current pc but make some upgrades so that I can still play the games that you can't run on Vista, I also have a lot of software on my current PC that I need.
My specs on that are:
Motherboard: ASUS A8N SLI SE (PCI-Express)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3800+
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 7600GS (256MB)
RAM:1024 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
Does anyone know what are the highest possible upgrades I can do with my current system eg best graphics card that the motherboard will run.
Any help on this will be greatly appreciated.

[REAPERofWAR7]

i have vista and my m8 has just got and we both think it is well worth getting if this helps

[SlackAlice]

I've been using a Vista O/S and have not come across many problems. This was on a new pc. Would'nt upgrade an old pc to Vista, because I think thats when you start to get problems.
If you 'Google' your motherboard you get quite a bit of info on its max configuration.
Generally on your setup think you need to upgrade your GPU to the 8800 series with the top card being an 'Ultra', although you will need deep pockets for that one!
Your Ram's ok but you can go to 4Gb. Worthwhile upgrade is to 1.5Gb Corsair Ram