Can LW 1.7b and 2.1 be installed together?

I have 2.1 installed right now. It runs fine and all the new features sound great, however the simple fact is that I don't get nearly the same amount of good hits per search as I used to with version 1.7b.

Even with six Ultrapeer connections I get far fewer results. Usually if I want a fairly recent and popular mp3 I can find it, but If I want something a little bit more obscure then 2.1 lets me down.

Can 1.7b and 2.1 be installed together? How about run together (so I can compare search results)?