Installed Vista this weekend. Its got new shinies, but it had a 645 mb ram footprint. At idle. MS claims that 512 is enough to run it, but what they aren't saying is that there's spill over into the page file even at 512. Its freakin scary.
(...) I couldn't find my winxp CD to install japanese. :P
The only Japanese on your computer you need is the MapQuest to a decent bar that can do unagi Caterpillar with salmon roe for eyes and avocado slices so thin you can read the rice paper on the other side. THAT'S Japanese localization. ;)