Installing issues Vista ultimate 32 bit AND SharePoint 2007 or 2010 Help Please...!

i have win vista 32 bit ultimate. i have tried babo solution for installing sharepoint 2007 on  vista, useless, the home site gives a 404 not found error after i put in my usename and password, i cannot install 2010 coz its 64 based, i dont want to install vmware coz it slows my lap top to hecks, then crashes wen i power vm on! its heavy...i made a normal html hello page placed it on the desk top and wen i open it its ok, but wen i place it in:
c:prog files/inetpub/wwwroot/......virtualDirectories/17459 then launch it its giving me that page not found 404 error. but wen i installed it usinf teh vista helper it was configured successfully
i even placed the set up file in the directory above.
i literally downloaded everything that has to do with sharepoint and office sharepoint SDK, sharepoint server i tried and failed and i now im nuts, i am a lecturer, i want to do a sharepoint site for our staff to organize our work. My questions are:

- What is the default home site for sharepoint? pc name is admin, my log in name is amor..
-is the default port assigned at configuration wrong or should i use another (80 or 8080 is crap gives me java)
-any work around this? do i need to install win server 2008 on other drive? or use office 365?
-is that a real challenge for u guys?
Thank u so much.