Windows XP?

You will firstly need to install the Boot Camp beta software…

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

Make sure you read the system requirements and you have a copy of Windows XP SP2. If you don't you will run into troubles. Please note that installing Windows under Boot Camp is exactly the same as installing it on a PC so the same licensing will apply.

You need to two things.

a) Apple's Boot Camp: http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

b) a full copy of Windows XP SP2

iFelix

Oh Ned you beat me by seconds...

😉

Lucky me… I'm sure you've done it to me more than once as well so let's just call it evens. 😉

If you prefer greater convenience and the ability to run different OSes including all versions of Windows (not just XP-SP2) in a separate window rather than having to dual-boot, then you might try Parallels Desktop for Mac - virtual machine software. Although not quite as fast as boot-camp, it is nearly as fast although not well-suited for games requiring really high frame-rates or hardware-based video. You can download the current beta version at www.parallels.com for testing. If you purchase prior to release the cost is $39.95 ($10.00 off regular price.)

Having tried both, my preference is for Parallels.

iFelix

Mine, also. However, I did not install Boot Camp. It was more effort than I needed in order to use Windows maybe once in a month. Also, I did not have XP-SP2 to install. I had W2K, which I generally prefer for its stability and cleaner GUI.

I've been using Parallels since Beta 1 and also paid the money as soon as they announced the $10 off opportunity. It's worked without much incident for me. A couple of network glitches, but they're ironed out now.

Try Activity Monitor (Applictions > Utilities). If you show all processes you hopefully can find something that doesn't look right.

I am brand new owner of MacBook, updating to 10.4.7 right now, have paid version of Parallels and paid full version XP-Home SP2. How do I install XP to the Mac? The CD is recognized but autorun and setup.exe do not work via mouse click. I am brand new to Macs and clearly in over my head. Help with elementary steps will be sincerely appreciated.

Elaine

Elaine,

firstly run parallels/install it on your Mac. With this complete, start up parallels. Click the button at bottom - New VM - follow through the wizard which is fairly straight forward and most defaults should be left the same. Insert the XP Cd when the VM boots and it will run through a "normal XP install"

Will take bout 40mins and after that it will be as easy as starting Parallels and pressing the play button to start XP.

Goodluck

Thanks, Kev. Boot Camp worked perfectly after three blue screen quit-fits before finally moving past whatever Windows didn't like finding in the way of hardware. It appears to be functioning fine, firewall and anti-virus are in place, windows picked up 47 (I kid you not) updates and they are installed. I had hoped to avoid the reboot between systems but the Parallels program installation (as I did it) did not result in the Windows CD being recognized. I will try again tomorrow after wiping out what I did earlier with Parallels. Is all the Boot Camp work for naught if I go on to use Parallels? Maybe I should have saved the money and learned to live with the option key <grin>.

Thanks again for your help.

Elaine

macbook Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi Kappy,

newby question pls...does vmware work on mac or is parrallel the defacto standard for mac?

thanks

will

VMWare is not yet available for Macs. For Intel Macs the choices are the Boot Camp beta from Apple or Parallels Desktop for Mac. The former involves a dual-boot system on which you can boot either into OS X or into Windows XP SP2. The latter is a virtual machine in which you can run any version of Windows, OS/2, or several *nixes concurrently with OS X. Both run at native speeds although Parallels is a little slower. You can learn more about Parallels at www.parallels.com. Learn about Boot Camp at www.apple.com/bootcamp/.