The Help Desk is still not recording new shows (yet), but here's a question from a listener. If you have an answer, please Comment:
I have a 5.5 year old home-built PC running XP Pro. In addition I have a Vista running laptop and a 6-month old iMac.
I still have a great use for a Windows machine but don't think I really want to build again or buy a ready-made box. Instead I'm thinking about using the iMac in a dual boot mode or using software like Parallels. The problem is that I don't know which MS OS makes the most sense.
XP, while older, is tried and true and should be supported for some time thanks to its use in netbooks. Plus, there would definitely be no comparability issues because all the software I currently run works on XP (obviously).
Vista, also a known entity, is newer and more secure, but doesn't bring much else to the table.
Windows 7 is an unknown quantity, but is what I would install were I to build a new machine, so it should clearly be in the running.
So what would be the best choice for dual booting on a Mac? Dollars and cents are in favor of XP and Vista, but 7 is the future.
What do you guys think?
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1 comment:
If your iMac is only 6 month old I would not bother with a dual boot solution. Instead try VMWare's Fusion and run any OS you like. Fusion enables you to run any OS side-by-side with no need to boot when you want to switch between OS's. For example, I'm currently writing this in Safari, with only a quick "Command-Right Arrow" and I'm in full screen XP. No boot required. A few recommendations should you choose to go this route - max your iMac's RAM and consider using an external (firewire 800) drive for Windows.
Good Luck
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