I have Windows Professional xp 64 bit OS, version 5.2 with service pack 2.  I also have the Windows Vista disk. This version of xp seems to be incompatible with many standard prohrams such as Norton 360 version 2 and Ubuntu versions. I tried to install Ubuntu and failed even when the version seems to be right one for this os.

Are there versions of Ubuntu and Norton that are compatible with my current operating system?

If I replaced the xp with Vista, will have to search for all kinds of drivers and find many problems during the switch?