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Running Windows XP on a MacBook

J

John

Flightless Bird
Hello,

I will soon be getting my Refurbished MacBook which will be able to run
Windows XP. I plan to buy the home version on ebay for a low cost. How
much do you recommend I allocate to Windows XP? I was planning on giving
XP 30GB's but not sure if that can be changed once allocated. I do not
have much to run in Windows, however most apps work only on Windows, and
some job websites or online applications will not work in a mac browser
so it would be helpful to have Windows. (Although I have a job, I would
like a higher paying job and it frustrates me going to company job
applications that work only in Windows). For most of my day to day work
I will be using Snow Leopard. Also another advantage of XP is the much
superior BlackBerry desktop Manager.

For the time being I will be booting into Windows and eventually may run
them side by side, but this will require more RAM and I think Windows
may not work as well in such an environment, although I do not know.
Also can someone tell me if Windows hardware will work on my MacBook? I
may want to get a USB to serial adaptor for some hardware and eventually
dump my old 1999 Compaq Windows 98 laptop, but may keep it for the old
hardware. I have a GPS and a Jornada 720 which I use to connect t the
Compaq via Serial. Will it work in Windows XP on the Macbook?

Also where will the XP files be stored? Can I use XP to access the Mac
files and vice versa in the boot camp mode? May install Office 2003 on
MacBook (as its much nicer than the Macs Office and Outlook beats
Entourage for most uses.

Thanks for your help.



John
--
Are there errors in the Bible? How should a church
conduct its worship services? Is drinking Alcohol a sin?
If you want to learn, get answers, and be able to defend
the faith, CERM is your place. http://www.cerm.info
 
J

Jim Gibson

Flightless Bird
In article
<jwolf6589-D9B1DD.19102609022010@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com>,
John <jwolf6589@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I will soon be getting my Refurbished MacBook which will be able to run
> Windows XP. I plan to buy the home version on ebay for a low cost. How
> much do you recommend I allocate to Windows XP? I was planning on giving
> XP 30GB's but not sure if that can be changed once allocated. I do not
> have much to run in Windows, however most apps work only on Windows, and
> some job websites or online applications will not work in a mac browser
> so it would be helpful to have Windows. (Although I have a job, I would
> like a higher paying job and it frustrates me going to company job
> applications that work only in Windows). For most of my day to day work
> I will be using Snow Leopard. Also another advantage of XP is the much
> superior BlackBerry desktop Manager.


30GB sounds about right. You are right in that you cannot change this
value without redoing your Windows install.

>
> For the time being I will be booting into Windows and eventually may run
> them side by side, but this will require more RAM and I think Windows
> may not work as well in such an environment, although I do not know.
> Also can someone tell me if Windows hardware will work on my MacBook? I
> may want to get a USB to serial adaptor for some hardware and eventually
> dump my old 1999 Compaq Windows 98 laptop, but may keep it for the old
> hardware. I have a GPS and a Jornada 720 which I use to connect t the
> Compaq via Serial. Will it work in Windows XP on the Macbook?


Under Bootcamp, Mac OS X and Windows cannot run "side by side". Only
one can run at a time, as determined at boot time. Some Windows
hardware may work on a Mac, as many of the peripheral connections are
the same (USB, etc.). There is no way to tell ahead of time, unless you
can find somebody who has already used the exact same hardware on the
same computer.

> Also where will the XP files be stored? Can I use XP to access the Mac
> files and vice versa in the boot camp mode? May install Office 2003 on
> MacBook (as its much nicer than the Macs Office and Outlook beats
> Entourage for most uses.


XP file will be stored on the Windows partition on your boot drive.
Windows cannot access the Mac files on the other partition without
special software (e.g. <http://www.macdisk.com/mden.php3>). Mac OS X
can access Windows files, either read-only or read-write depending upon
the type and size of the Windows file system (see info link below).

<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1656>

--
Jim Gibson
 
S

Stefan Patric

Flightless Bird
On Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:10:26 -0500, John wrote:

> I will soon be getting my Refurbished MacBook which will be able to run
> Windows XP. I plan to buy the home version on ebay for a low cost. How
> much do you recommend I allocate to Windows XP? I was planning on giving
> XP 30GB's but not sure if that can be changed once allocated. I do not
> have much to run in Windows, however most apps work only on Windows, and
> some job websites or online applications will not work in a mac browser
> so it would be helpful to have Windows. [big snip]


Your best option, if your MacBook has the resources, is to run XP on a
virtual machine in OSX instead of dual booting. It's an easier and less
problematical solution.

VirtualBox is the easiest VM to set up and work with, and for personal
use, it's free.

http://www.virtualbox.org


B
 
M

Mike Rosenberg

Flightless Bird
Stefan Patric <not@this.address.com> wrote:

> VirtualBox is the easiest VM to set up and work with, and for personal
> use, it's free.
>
> http://www.virtualbox.org


The price is definitely right, but how is it easier than Fusion or
Parallels?

--
My latest dance performance <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_9pudbFisE>

Mac and geek T-shirts & gifts <http://designsbymike.net/shop/mac.cgi>
Prius shirts/bumper stickers <http://designsbymike.net/shop/prius.cgi>
 
J

John

Flightless Bird
In article <090220101637465709%jimsgibson@gmail.com>,
Jim Gibson <jimsgibson@gmail.com> wrote:

> In article
> <jwolf6589-D9B1DD.19102609022010@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com>,
> John <jwolf6589@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I will soon be getting my Refurbished MacBook which will be able to run
> > Windows XP. I plan to buy the home version on ebay for a low cost. How
> > much do you recommend I allocate to Windows XP? I was planning on giving
> > XP 30GB's but not sure if that can be changed once allocated. I do not
> > have much to run in Windows, however most apps work only on Windows, and
> > some job websites or online applications will not work in a mac browser
> > so it would be helpful to have Windows. (Although I have a job, I would
> > like a higher paying job and it frustrates me going to company job
> > applications that work only in Windows). For most of my day to day work
> > I will be using Snow Leopard. Also another advantage of XP is the much
> > superior BlackBerry desktop Manager.

>
> 30GB sounds about right. You are right in that you cannot change this
> value without redoing your Windows install.


On Ebay what version of Windows XP Home do I need to look for?

>
> >
> > For the time being I will be booting into Windows and eventually may run
> > them side by side, but this will require more RAM and I think Windows
> > may not work as well in such an environment, although I do not know.
> > Also can someone tell me if Windows hardware will work on my MacBook? I
> > may want to get a USB to serial adaptor for some hardware and eventually
> > dump my old 1999 Compaq Windows 98 laptop, but may keep it for the old
> > hardware. I have a GPS and a Jornada 720 which I use to connect t the
> > Compaq via Serial. Will it work in Windows XP on the Macbook?

>
> Under Bootcamp, Mac OS X and Windows cannot run "side by side". Only
> one can run at a time, as determined at boot time. Some Windows
> hardware may work on a Mac, as many of the peripheral connections are
> the same (USB, etc.). There is no way to tell ahead of time, unless you
> can find somebody who has already used the exact same hardware on the
> same computer.
>
> > Also where will the XP files be stored? Can I use XP to access the Mac
> > files and vice versa in the boot camp mode? May install Office 2003 on
> > MacBook (as its much nicer than the Macs Office and Outlook beats
> > Entourage for most uses.

>
> XP file will be stored on the Windows partition on your boot drive.
> Windows cannot access the Mac files on the other partition without
> special software (e.g. <http://www.macdisk.com/mden.php3>). Mac OS X
> can access Windows files, either read-only or read-write depending upon
> the type and size of the Windows file system (see info link below).
>
> <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1656>

--
Are there errors in the Bible? How should a church
conduct its worship services? Is drinking Alcohol a sin?
If you want to learn, get answers, and be able to defend
the faith, CERM is your place. http://www.cerm.info
 
J

John

Flightless Bird
In article <OkB8M1eqKHA.1800@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl>,
"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@gmail.com> wrote:

> Mike Rosenberg wrote:
> > The price is definitely right, but how is it easier than Fusion or
> > Parallels?

>
> I love VirtualBox.
>
> On the macs though, I go Fusion, hands down.
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP


I have no idea. But with 2GB of RAM I may be limited to boot camp.
--
Are there errors in the Bible? How should a church
conduct its worship services? Is drinking Alcohol a sin?
If you want to learn, get answers, and be able to defend
the faith, CERM is your place. http://www.cerm.info
 
S

Shenan Stanley

Flightless Bird
John wrote:
> I have no idea. But with 2GB of RAM I may be limited to boot camp.


512MB memory set aside for Windows XP should be good for what you said you
would be using it for... At most 1GB - and you won't be using that much
memory on your system so you have it to spare.

Go with VMWare Fusion. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
 
E

Erik Richard Sørensen

Flightless Bird
Jim Gibson wrote:
> John <jwolf6589@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>> I will soon be getting my Refurbished MacBook which will be able to run
>> Windows XP. I plan to buy the home version on ebay for a low cost. How
>> much do you recommend I allocate to Windows XP? I was planning on giving
>> XP 30GB's but not sure if that can be changed once allocated. I do not
>> have much to run in Windows, however most apps work only on Windows, and
>> some job websites or online applications will not work in a mac browser
>> so it would be helpful to have Windows. (Although I have a job, I would
>> like a higher paying job and it frustrates me going to company job
>> applications that work only in Windows). For most of my day to day work
>> I will be using Snow Leopard. Also another advantage of XP is the much
>> superior BlackBerry desktop Manager.

>
> 30GB sounds about right. You are right in that you cannot change this
> value without redoing your Windows install.
>
>> For the time being I will be booting into Windows and eventually may run
>> them side by side, but this will require more RAM and I think Windows
>> may not work as well in such an environment, although I do not know.
>> Also can someone tell me if Windows hardware will work on my MacBook? I
>> may want to get a USB to serial adaptor for some hardware and eventually
>> dump my old 1999 Compaq Windows 98 laptop, but may keep it for the old
>> hardware. I have a GPS and a Jornada 720 which I use to connect t the
>> Compaq via Serial. Will it work in Windows XP on the Macbook?

>
> Under Bootcamp, Mac OS X and Windows cannot run "side by side". Only
> one can run at a time, as determined at boot time. Some Windows
> hardware may work on a Mac, as many of the peripheral connections are
> the same (USB, etc.). There is no way to tell ahead of time, unless you
> can find somebody who has already used the exact same hardware on the
> same computer.


Unless you boot into OS X and then for example install 'VirtualBox'
(freeware), Parallels Desktop (commercial) or VMWare Fusion
(commercial), then they both can run at the same time. XP is then run as
a virtual system.

>> Also where will the XP files be stored? Can I use XP to access the Mac
>> files and vice versa in the boot camp mode? May install Office 2003 on
>> MacBook (as its much nicer than the Macs Office and Outlook beats
>> Entourage for most uses.

>
> XP file will be stored on the Windows partition on your boot drive.
> Windows cannot access the Mac files on the other partition without
> special software (e.g. <http://www.macdisk.com/mden.php3>). Mac OS X
> can access Windows files, either read-only or read-write depending upon
> the type and size of the Windows file system (see info link below).
>
> <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1656>


Indeed you can. XPHome/XPPro can access the Mac OS X partition as a
'shared disk', and it's even possible to drag&drop copy to/from the
Windows partition. Just remember to add the OS X diskpartition as
'shared disk' in the Windows network setup. - I can access any of my
internal and external disks directly in XPPro without problems.

So I'll recommend to let the Windows installer initialize the Windows
partition in NTFS and install XP as normal. Then download VirtualBox and
install VB on the OS X and assign the Windows partition to VB. Also
download and install the NTFS-3G driver on OS X to make it possible to
drag&drop copy directly to the Windows partition from OS X.

VirtualBox 3.1.2 (freeware)
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/32363
NTFS-3G 2010.1.16 (freeware)
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/10913782

Setup in this way you can boot from XP or OS X and you can run XP from
within OS X.

Cheers, Erik Richard

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erik Richard Sørensen, Member of ADC, <mac-manNOSP@Mstofanet.dk>
NisusWriter - The Future In Multilingual Text Processing - www.nisus.com
OpenOffice.org - The Modern Productivity Solution - www.openoffice.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
E

Erik Richard Sørensen

Flightless Bird
Mike Rosenberg wrote:
> Stefan Patric <not@this.address.com> wrote:
>> VirtualBox is the easiest VM to set up and work with, and for personal
>> use, it's free.
>>
>> http://www.virtualbox.org

>
> The price is definitely right, but how is it easier than Fusion or
> Parallels?


Don't know whether the new VB 3.1.2 is easier or not, but the ver. 2.x
was rather hard to get to work properly in the networking part. - For me
Parallels runs just fine along with XPPro...

Cheers, Erik Richard

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erik Richard Sørensen, Member of ADC, <mac-manNOSP@Mstofanet.dk>
NisusWriter - The Future In Multilingual Text Processing - www.nisus.com
OpenOffice.org - The Modern Productivity Solution - www.openoffice.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
D

Dan

Flightless Bird
In article
<jwolf6589-107028.20120109022010@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com>,
John <jwolf6589@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:


> On Ebay what version of Windows XP Home do I need to look for?


Forget XP Home. Professional is the same price on eBay - about $50 -
$60.

You want at least SP2. Discs with SP3 are a little more, around $75.
You can download SP3 and install it yourself if you need it. I
personally have not bothered with SP3 on the ancient laptops that I have
that are still running XP.

All of my main Windows machines here are 7 now. Just deleted my last
remaining Vista partition. I would take either Vista or 7 over XP on
new hardware. Running XP on new hardware is like running OS X 10.2 on
new hardware - pointless.
 
J

John

Flightless Bird
In article <ucEFiEfqKHA.4604@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl>,
"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@gmail.com> wrote:

> John wrote:
> > I have no idea. But with 2GB of RAM I may be limited to boot camp.

>
> 512MB memory set aside for Windows XP should be good for what you said you
> would be using it for... At most 1GB - and you won't be using that much
> memory on your system so you have it to spare.
>
> Go with VMWare Fusion. ;-)
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP


How much does that cost?
--
Are there errors in the Bible? How should a church
conduct its worship services? Is drinking Alcohol a sin?
If you want to learn, get answers, and be able to defend
the faith, CERM is your place. http://www.cerm.info
 
M

Mike Rosenberg

Flightless Bird
John <jwolf6589@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:

> > Go with VMWare Fusion. ;-)

>
> How much does that cost?


http://tinyurl.com/yjq7rpg

--
My latest dance performance <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_9pudbFisE>

Mac and geek T-shirts & gifts <http://designsbymike.net/shop/mac.cgi>
Prius shirts/bumper stickers <http://designsbymike.net/shop/prius.cgi>
 
A

Alan Browne

Flightless Bird
On 10-02-09 19:10 , John wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I will soon be getting my Refurbished MacBook which will be able to run
> Windows XP. I plan to buy the home version on ebay for a low cost. How
> much do you recommend I allocate to Windows XP? I was planning on giving
> XP 30GB's but not sure if that can be changed once allocated. I do not
> have much to run in Windows, however most apps work only on Windows, and
> some job websites or online applications will not work in a mac browser
> so it would be helpful to have Windows. (Although I have a job, I would
> like a higher paying job and it frustrates me going to company job
> applications that work only in Windows). For most of my day to day work
> I will be using Snow Leopard. Also another advantage of XP is the much
> superior BlackBerry desktop Manager.
>
> For the time being I will be booting into Windows and eventually may run
> them side by side, but this will require more RAM and I think Windows
> may not work as well in such an environment, although I do not know.
> Also can someone tell me if Windows hardware will work on my MacBook? I
> may want to get a USB to serial adaptor for some hardware and eventually
> dump my old 1999 Compaq Windows 98 laptop, but may keep it for the old
> hardware. I have a GPS and a Jornada 720 which I use to connect t the
> Compaq via Serial. Will it work in Windows XP on the Macbook?
>
> Also where will the XP files be stored? Can I use XP to access the Mac
> files and vice versa in the boot camp mode? May install Office 2003 on
> MacBook (as its much nicer than the Macs Office and Outlook beats
> Entourage for most uses.


I allocate 60 GB (of 500) to WinXP (under Fusion). With 2 GB of ram it
worked fine. I now have 4 GB. In Fusion I allocate 748 MB (or
thereabouts) to WinXP which is fine for my use of it.

I could have gotten by with 40 - 45 GB of HD in the end. No big deal. I
still have over 100 GB free on the SL side. Will be a while before it's
an issue.

With Fusion I can move files from WXP to SL space by dragging or via
folders in the other environment visible to the other (via shares /
permissions). The same as if they were on a network.

Again, all this with VMWare Fusion, not Bootcamp. The WinXP has to be a
valid licensed WinXP. I personally wouldn't bother with bootcamp as you
can't run SL in parallel.

Once the partitioning is done, you would be prudent to backup the WinXP
stuff, de-install WinXP and Fusion, re-partition then re-install. MO.

Note that if you use TimeMachine, it is important to disable backing up
the VMWare Fusion folder since the slightest change in the WinXP
environment (logging in will do it) will result in the entire partition
being backed up in TM. You just add the /Applications/VMWare Fusion.app
to the "don't back up" list in TM.

--
gmail originated posts are filtered due to spam.
 
A

Alan Browne

Flightless Bird
On 10-02-09 23:22 , Alan Browne wrote:
> On 10-02-09 19:10 , John wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I will soon be getting my Refurbished MacBook which will be able to run
>> Windows XP. I plan to buy the home version on ebay for a low cost. How
>> much do you recommend I allocate to Windows XP? I was planning on giving
>> XP 30GB's but not sure if that can be changed once allocated. I do not
>> have much to run in Windows, however most apps work only on Windows, and
>> some job websites or online applications will not work in a mac browser
>> so it would be helpful to have Windows. (Although I have a job, I would
>> like a higher paying job and it frustrates me going to company job
>> applications that work only in Windows). For most of my day to day work
>> I will be using Snow Leopard. Also another advantage of XP is the much
>> superior BlackBerry desktop Manager.
>>
>> For the time being I will be booting into Windows and eventually may run
>> them side by side, but this will require more RAM and I think Windows
>> may not work as well in such an environment, although I do not know.
>> Also can someone tell me if Windows hardware will work on my MacBook? I
>> may want to get a USB to serial adaptor for some hardware and eventually
>> dump my old 1999 Compaq Windows 98 laptop, but may keep it for the old
>> hardware. I have a GPS and a Jornada 720 which I use to connect t the
>> Compaq via Serial. Will it work in Windows XP on the Macbook?
>>
>> Also where will the XP files be stored? Can I use XP to access the Mac
>> files and vice versa in the boot camp mode? May install Office 2003 on
>> MacBook (as its much nicer than the Macs Office and Outlook beats
>> Entourage for most uses.

>
> I allocate 60 GB (of 500) to WinXP (under Fusion). With 2 GB of ram it
> worked fine. I now have 4 GB. In Fusion I allocate 748 MB (or
> thereabouts) to WinXP which is fine for my use of it.
>
> I could have gotten by with 40 - 45 GB of HD in the end. No big deal. I
> still have over 100 GB free on the SL side. Will be a while before it's
> an issue.
>
> With Fusion I can move files from WXP to SL space by dragging or via
> folders in the other environment visible to the other (via shares /
> permissions). The same as if they were on a network.
>
> Again, all this with VMWare Fusion, not Bootcamp. The WinXP has to be a
> valid licensed WinXP. I personally wouldn't bother with bootcamp as you
> can't run SL in parallel.
>
> Once the partitioning is done, you would be prudent to backup the WinXP
> stuff, de-install WinXP and Fusion, re-partition then re-install. MO.
>
> Note that if you use TimeMachine, it is important to disable backing up
> the VMWare Fusion folder since the slightest change in the WinXP
> environment (logging in will do it) will result in the entire partition
> being backed up in TM. You just add the /Applications/VMWare Fusion.app
> to the "don't back up" list in TM.


I meant to add to all the above, that the amount of disk you assign to
the Windows partition really depends on what you need it for and how
much storage that requires.

I'd guess 30 GB as a minimum with little storage or future growth.

--
gmail originated posts are filtered due to spam.
 
A

Alan Browne

Flightless Bird
On 10-02-09 20:13 , John wrote:
> In article<OkB8M1eqKHA.1800@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl>,
> "Shenan Stanley"<newshelper@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Mike Rosenberg wrote:
>>> The price is definitely right, but how is it easier than Fusion or
>>> Parallels?

>>
>> I love VirtualBox.
>>
>> On the macs though, I go Fusion, hands down.
>>
>> --
>> Shenan Stanley
>> MS-MVP

>
> I have no idea. But with 2GB of RAM I may be limited to boot camp.


VMWare Fusion runs fine with 2 GB of ram under OS X 10.6.

--
gmail originated posts are filtered due to spam.
 
A

Alan Browne

Flightless Bird
On 10-02-09 20:12 , John wrote:

> On Ebay what version of Windows XP Home do I need to look for?


WinXP home, SP 3 is fine.

--
gmail originated posts are filtered due to spam.
 
S

Shenan Stanley

Flightless Bird
Alan Browne wrote:
> I meant to add to all the above, that the amount of disk you assign
> to the Windows partition really depends on what you need it for and
> how much storage that requires.
>
> I'd guess 30 GB as a minimum with little storage or future growth.


30GB is a decent number - although you can easily get away with 20GB as long
as you use network/mapped directories for your files. Windows XP is just
small, even if you install MS Office and assorted full versions of Adobe
products (why you would do that on a mac in Windows is weird to me) and
autdesk products and corel products and the likes - you might make it to
10-12GB used space.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
 
J

John

Flightless Bird
In article <#9rZS9gqKHA.4492@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl>,
"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@gmail.com> wrote:

> 30GB is a decent number - although you can easily get away with 20GB as long
> as you use network/mapped directories for your files. Windows XP is just
> small, even if you install MS Office and assorted full versions of Adobe
> products (why you would do that on a mac in Windows is weird to me) and
> autdesk products and corel products and the likes - you might make it to
> 10-12GB used space.


Well the MS ofice versions are much superior to the Mac versions, and
Windows has much software that Mac does not, and usually Windows
software is better with more features.

If you know of any steals on ebay for a WinXP Home edition (I really
could care less about Pro if Home is cheaper) let me know.


Thanks,


John
--
Are there errors in the Bible? How should a church
conduct its worship services? Is drinking Alcohol a sin?
If you want to learn, get answers, and be able to defend
the faith, CERM is your place. http://www.cerm.info
 
M

Marc Heusser

Flightless Bird
In article <me-CFBF8A.21042909022010@news.supernews.com>,
Dan <me@here.net> wrote:

> In article
> <jwolf6589-107028.20120109022010@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com>,
> John <jwolf6589@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> > On Ebay what version of Windows XP Home do I need to look for?

>
> Forget XP Home. Professional is the same price on eBay - about $50 -
> $60.
>
> You want at least SP2. Discs with SP3 are a little more, around $75.
> You can download SP3 and install it yourself if you need it. I
> personally have not bothered with SP3 on the ancient laptops that I have
> that are still running XP.
>
> All of my main Windows machines here are 7 now. Just deleted my last
> remaining Vista partition. I would take either Vista or 7 over XP on
> new hardware. Running XP on new hardware is like running OS X 10.2 on
> new hardware - pointless.


Get Parallels 5 unless short of cash
http://www.mactech.com/articles/special/1002-VirtualizationHeadToHead/ind
ex-001.html

If you can, get a corporate edition of Windows XP - no activation.
Otherwise get Windows XP SP2 at least (so you can boot XP as well under
BootCamp - it is possible to use the same partition also in Parallels,
ie parallel to Mac OS X).
And certainly update to SP3 immediately, to cover the most glaring
security holes.

And certainly do not get Vista, if not XP then get Windows 7, much
cleaner.

But Windows XP is still compatible with more software, so unless you
need Windows 7, or absolutely want it, then go with Windows XP. It will
run faster.
You'll find yourself using Windows less and less anyway.

HTH

Marc

--
remove bye and from mercial to get valid e-mail
<http://www.heusser.com>
 
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