On my system, using BIAB, Tracktion 3 and two other DAWS I'm currently putting through their paces as a possible additional purchase, there is zero latency (also on my XP pc). Using a Vista midi picker (XP had this but Vista doesn't allow you to set a default midi device) third party software I've now been able to replace Microsoft Wavetable with VE as my default midi player. I've found some really lovely sounds in addition to the GM presets. I have a lot of VSTis so after using VE for composing a song I'll use Sampletank for serious work but many of the VE sounds are just as good or better depending on the instrument. It's just that ST has very good sample libraries like Omnisynth, Symphonic Strings, etc.. so I have a much larger selection