I need some advice...

My problem:
I work as a computer engineer/programmer, so naturally I have an ass load of things installed and running when I start my computer. (Debuggers, managers, vpn crap, etc..). This is a bitch, because I also play a lot of games. (cs 1.6, cs:s, and COD4) and it runs SLOW!

I've narrowed it down to two solutions:
1) Dual-boot 2 different windows installations, one for games and one for everything else. I currently have vista, xp, ubuntu, and slackware installed using grub. Another one won't hurt, but I really don't want to sacrifice the space.
-- OR --
2)Use litestep configured for just gaming. It needs to run all games and apps like teamspeak, vent, IRC. I don't care about eye-candy. I'm looking for fast and minimal.

What are some of your recommendations, what would you do?
Is litestep good for gaming?
Has someone already done this?
How seamless and easy is shell switching?


-------
As a side question, what is the relationship of processes ran under the shell (explorer.exe) and ones ran as a service? Meaning, are services started before the shell or after? Are they independent of the shell? Do they conflict?

You should be able to accomplish what you want simply using multiple logins. No need for Litestep. Just set up your startup programs to only run for your "work" account, and nothing to run for your "game" account. That said, running a minimal litestep configuration for the game account still would help free up some resources. Just start with a blank step.rc and add in what you want to launch your games.

re: side question
services are run independantly of of the shell/startup items. They are run prior to logging in. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179365

Wow, jugg, thanks for the reply.

I got caught up with complicated solutions and I missed an easy one.