This the best place to start for documentation on EAC:
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Exact_Audio_Copy
And the main hydrogenaudio wiki page for related info:
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
As far as Vista goes . . . it does have a much better kernal mixer than XP, and WMP is much more advanced in the Vista version as well. But both XP and Vista have some inconsistencies in the way they handle foreground/background tasks and the way these seem to affect USB audio drivers, and in the testing I've done each is sporadic and unpredictable to the extent that I can't tell which one is "better".
The best-performing setup I have for EAC (in terms of consistent error-free rips) is in fact a 2000-vintage Tyan server with Teac and Plextor CD-R drives, running Windows 2000 Pro. For ripping, newer is definately not always better.
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Exact_Audio_Copy
And the main hydrogenaudio wiki page for related info:
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
As far as Vista goes . . . it does have a much better kernal mixer than XP, and WMP is much more advanced in the Vista version as well. But both XP and Vista have some inconsistencies in the way they handle foreground/background tasks and the way these seem to affect USB audio drivers, and in the testing I've done each is sporadic and unpredictable to the extent that I can't tell which one is "better".
The best-performing setup I have for EAC (in terms of consistent error-free rips) is in fact a 2000-vintage Tyan server with Teac and Plextor CD-R drives, running Windows 2000 Pro. For ripping, newer is definately not always better.