Advice Needed: Moving iTunes/iPhone from XP to 7

Hey all,

I currently sync my iPhone on my work computer (XP 32bit), but my employer is cracking down and I will no longer be able to use iTunes at the office. I will need to move my iTunes/iPhone syncing to my home computer (Windows 7 64bit). I am not concerned about the music library, really, as I only have a fraction of my music, with my entire collection stored safely on an external drive. I am more concerned about my applications and contacts. I have a TON of contacts (approx 1400), which are not centrally located, other than on my phone, due to an accidental merging of my exchange contacts with my personal contacts when i was a scared iPhone newbie a while back. Anyway, i don't have to luxury of a daily sync with a single contact list. But what i would like to do is transfer my iTunes from my XP 32bit computer to my Win7 64bit computer.

I have seen others on the internet suggest to simply copy the itunes folder from one computer to the next, but does anyone know if this will work going from xp 32 to win7 64? I have encountered reviews when going from 32 to 32 bit OS variations, but not from 32 to 64. I dont really feel like risking it blindly before I ask for some opinions of others. I'd also like to know if i am going to have to be spending a bunch of time in front of my computer while backups are restored, music is copying, etc.

May i also follow the same logic and copy the iPhone backup folder from (XP) app data\apple com\mobile sync\backup to my new win7 machine? If so, should i create the folder structure in Win7 as it existed in XP? A mobile sync folder doesnt currently exist on my Win7 machine, presumably because i have yet to sync my phone there.

Please let me know if i can include any more detail or have left anythig else out that may make this easier to answer. Thanks again for any and all advice, I GREATLY appreciate it.

G