Bootcamp Windows XP

Depending on what model of MBA you have, it will not be supported to install Windows XP via Boot Camp.
You can however use Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion to run Windows XP.

tudyniuz said:

I have the late 2012 model of Macbook Air. I would prefer to use bootcamp as it's easier and faster when switching between the two operating systems.

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As you can see from this guide, it is not for the faint of heart to do that on a 2011 MBA, thus I deduce it will not be for the faint of heart on a 2012 MBA.

As you have an SSD and hopefully 4 GB RAM or more, using Windows via VM at least is faster in starting Windows and switching is easy and fast.

What applications are for Windows XP only, maybe we can find a way to circumvent Windows XP?

tudyniuz said:

But since I only have 120 storage, I wouldn't want to lose 20GB to W7.

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More the reason to use a VM as opposed to Boot Camp. The VM software can dynamically use disk space, while Boot Camp is fixed.

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If it is only for accessing some "HDD", then a Virtual Machine of Windows XP or 7 should suffice. My Windows 7 VM is 15 GB in size, my Windows XP VMs were always around 5 to 10 GB.

Each VM software provider has their own guides.

Personally, I use VMWare Fusion. e.g. http://www.vmware.com/pdf/desktop/fusion-getting-started-50.pdf

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tudyniuz said:

I'll give that a go. Is there any place to find a good guide for using VM? Thanks!

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Can this help?

Booting Windows on the Mac

If not, depending on what VM you want to use (VirtualBox by Sun for example is free), you will find plenty of guides.

Normally you install the VM software (VirtualBox, VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop) and then create a new VM in there and insert the install medium for the OS you want to install. The rest goes like with a normal computer and after the install finishes, you install some additional tools for the VM (via Menu Bar).

I am running Windows XP Pro under Parallels Desktop on my mid-2011 MBA, and also the 32-bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate via Bootcamp.

I set aside 25GB for Win7 Ultimate with applications and at the moment this is about half used (any unused capacity is effectively lost to me as I can't use it for OS X or anything else). Bootcamp switching between OS X and Win7 isn't at all immediate, you need to close down OS X and load Windows, then load the app, do the work, close down Windows and reload OS X. No fun if it's more than once a day.

My Parallels virtual machine with Win XP is currently just under 8GB with applications (the size of the VM is dynamic and can expand and contract as needed, so no wasted storage space). Thanks to the speed of the SSD, loading Win XP apps under Parallels is faster on my MBA than it ever was on my desktop Windows boxes!

If Parallels isn't already running, loading Photoshop (including loading Win XP first) takes 17 seconds. If Parallels is running in the background it takes about 7 seconds if it's the first load since the VM was started, otherwise it's under 3 seconds.

Best of all, you can carry on using other Mac applications whilst running the XP apps.