Unsigned / Old Device Drivers in Vista

I need to get a new laptop, but have never liked some of Windows XP's
"features" - mainly

that it often thinks it knows what I want better than I do! I'd like to find
out about some

things in Vista before going with that though, in case it's even worse than
XP (which it may

be if some of what I've heard is true). I currently use Windows 2000, as
that was available

at the time and I much prefer it to XP.

One problem I have found with XP is that it doesn't like installing unsigned
device drivers,

preferring to install a signed driver even if an unsigned one is
specifically chosen. I have

heard that Vista is even worse, usually not loading unsigned drivers at all.
I have seen on

these forums that Vista can be made to load unsigned drivers by booting into
a different

mode, but is there a way of setting it up to always boot into this mode
without having to

select is each time? Would there be any disadvantage of always booting into
this mode? (I

don't consider being able to use unsigned drivers to be a disadvantage!)

Also, I have several USB devices which I want to continue to use. Should
Vista be able to

use the Windows 2000 / XP drivers for these until such time as Vista drivers
are released? I

think I recall correctly that 2000/XP could use 98 drivers to enable old
hardware to be

used? The devices I think are most likely to cause a problem are USB-enabled
MiniDisc

recorders (Sony MZ-N510 and MDS-JE780), Printer (Canon i70) and Camera
(Canon Digital Ixus

IIs). The rest should be able to use standard drivers from the OS (keyboard,
mouse, various

storage devices). Is there any easy way of finding out if devices will work
under Vista? I

might find time to look into dual booting a demo of Vista on my current
machine to try

things out.

Thanks,
Mark.