Andy, most of your XP apps will run just fine on W7 x64 if you choose to install that on your laptop.
However... if you utterly rely on one or more apps that absolutely must run, you might want to list them here, and others may be able to offer specific ideas or suggestions in case any apps have minor issues.
Older, specific, 32-bit apps may cause W7 to run in "Basic" visual mode, which looks really ugly but usually allows them to run quite fine, but it depends on the apps. The only other major catch is the installer not running properly, but there are alternatives and workarounds.
Thanks for posting separately, it might just help someone else in the same boat!