I have been running Windows Vista RTM since it was released to MSDN a little under a week ago. So far, it has been bliss. Nothing major, or even close to major has made me want to switch back to XP. I have had to make some adjustments, but most have been the fault of those who have not made their software compatible (cough Zune) or who have compatible version coming out shortly. But I digress . . .
I filled up my 20 GB C: partition pretty quickly once I migrated all of my data over. And there sat my lonely D: partition with not much data on it. In the past I would have fired up Partition Magic or Acronis Disk Director and shrunk the D: partition and then expand the C: partition. As happens with new operating systems that introduce a new version of the NTFS file system, disk partitioning utilities are slow to update official support on their products. It might work, but push come to shove and you are not supported. My next thought was to use the cool new ImageX from the Windows Vista WAIK (also now RTM) and image the installation up, re-size the drives, and then image it back down. Of course, I was looking at an hour-plus to get that done.
I then decided to Live Search (it just doesn't roll off the tongue like Google does) for partitioning tools that were Windows Vista ready and my results led me to a post by Microsoft UK employee Matt McSpirit. He chronicles the new built-in ability for Windows Vista to re-size its own partitions. Built-in! Free! No reboot needed! Amazing! Its a good thing Symantec is diversifying as Windows Vista has now taken a large swipe at three product lines: Symantec Ghost (ImageX), Symantec Anti-Virus (OneCare or ForeFront Client Protection) and now Symantec Partition Magic (Computer Management -> Disk Management).
Did I mention I was able to shrink my D: volume and expand my C: (system no less) volume on the fly without a reboot? Rock on Vista, rock on!