Can I run the legacy wallet and the new format wallet on the same computer side by side?
Yes. You need to change the P2P Port and the RPC Port for one of your wallets in the bitcore.conf file, like:
#bitcore.conf 1
port=8555
rpcport=18555
#bitcore.conf 2
port=8556
rpcport=19555
Also, while starting those wallets you want to specify what the Data Directory for those wallet has to be, like:
#Wallet one:
$ bitcore-qt -datadir=/home/user/.bitcoredata1
#Wallet two:
$ bitcore-qt -datadir=/home/user/.bitcoredata2
You can save the custom configure files in those Data Directories, when you launch those wallets it will read the bitcore.conf from the custom Data Directories.
felco
** HODLing !! **