Hey all. I'm looking to (finally!) getting an Intel Mac in the near future. My kids (heathens!) still have a bunch of kids games that require Windows, though. I figured Parallels would give us the best of all worlds. But I don't have a full install disk for Windows, so I'd have to get that too.

Any suggestions as to the easiest/best/cheapest way to get a *cringe* copy of WinXP along with Parallels?

Thanks in advance,
-KC

Do you need parallels? The Boot Camp comes with OSX. I think you can simply just boot windows separately for the games when needed.

As for getting WinXP, I'd like to know where to obtain a cheap Winxp home copy as well...

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All I ever really needed to know, I learned from watching Star Trek.

Get an OEM copy of Windoze XP SP2 at Fry's (~$80).

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Best place for a copy of Win is probably going to be Newegg. Get the OEM version. Not sure who has the best deal on Parallels these days, but you might want to give VMWare's Fusion a look. It's not as big of a resource hog as Parallels. I have both and prefer VMWare myself. It doesn't slow the rest of my Mac down like Parallels can.

@wowzer: I'd really rather not double-boot my Mac if I can get the performance I need with Parallels (or VMWare?). For an extra $70 or so, being able to stay in MacOS and just let my kids fire up their games is worth it to me.

@Carthaigh and/r Chupa: Can the OEM version be installed under Parallels or VMWare? I thought one had to have a full retail version to get it to work.

-KC

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KCoram
@Carthaigh and/r Chupa: Can the OEM version be installed under Parallels or VMWare? I thought one had to have a full retail version to get it to work.

An OEM version of XP will work, but it needs to contain service patch 2.

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Carthaigh
An OEM version of XP will work, but it needs to contain service patch 2.

Cool beans. Thanks for the heads-up!

-KC

lots of places offer deals where Fusion/Paralells + XP is free after rebates

like this [www.macconnection.com]

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The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs [fakesteve.blogspot.com]

Windows XP Home SP2 OEM will run your $85.99 at [www.newegg.com]

For gaming, Bootcamp is the best option because it will give you the best performance. For non-gaming Windows programs, the free VirtualBox works great and it runs alongside OSX [www.virtualbox.org]

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Forrest
Windows XP Home SP2 OEM will run your $85.99 at [www.newegg.com]

For gaming, Bootcamp is the best option because it will give you the best performance. For non-gaming Windows programs, the free VirtualBox works great and it runs alongside OSX [www.virtualbox.org]

That looks great. Thanks for the links.

VirtualBox. The first computer solution for the single guy!