HELP - OSX & Vista/XP dual OS questions

[NickM]

I got my new and first Mac today.
MacBook Pro (MB471LL/A)

So far I love it, but I am going to install either XP or Vista on it also...mainly for playing some games. (I actually enjoy Vista very much, unlike most it seems)

My question is this...
If I install XP/Vista on another partition, using either Boot Camp or whatever... will I be able to reinstall OSX whenever I want to, without having to reinstall Windows?

I hear a lot of different opinions on which is better to use. as far as Boot Camp, Parallels, VMWare Fusion, etc. goes...

I've done a little research, but still feel like I can't really lean to one or the other for any strong reasons.
I assumed that I'd just use Boot Camp since it came with the Mac... and no, I don't mind having to actually reboot to load up the other OS.
I'd like to use one of the other options, that would let me open Windows INSIDE of OSX, but does that use THAT much more resources? Running one OS inside the other? What about when I'm trying to run graphicly-intensive games?

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated...

 

[MacDawg]

Running with Parallels or Fusion isn't really a viable option when gaming
You will definitely want to run under Boot Camp
Most prefer XP in that scenario, but Vista will perform well

Max out your RAM

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[NickM]

Running with Parallels or Fusion isn't really a viable option when gaming
You will definitely want to run under Boot Camp
Most prefer XP in that scenario, but Vista will perform well

Max out your RAM

Woof, Woof - Dawg

Cool...thanks for the input. The RAM is maxed out already.
I'm guessing that it would be possible to have Boot Camp so I can actually boot into Windows for gaming, but also be able to use Parallels/Fusion to pull up another Windows install from inside OSX?

Parallels or Fusion? Which Is better?
Or is it just a matter of taste ?


Kinda out of place question... but do you know if XP sp3 included DirectX 10? That would be my only reason to want to use Vista for gaming over XP.

 

[J&JPolangin]

...Kinda out of place question... but do you know if XP sp3 included DirectX 10? That would be my only reason to want to use Vista for gaming over XP.

Here's an answer to this question...http://www.techmixer.com/download-directx-10-for-windows-xp/

I can't help on the other questions as I have the same myself...wanting to switch to a Mac as well.

 

[MacDawg]

Yes, if you install through Boot Camp you have the best of both worlds
You can reboot or you can use Parallels or Fusion

I prefer VMWare Fusion, but it is personal preference

Booting Windows on a Mac

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[panzer06]

I got my new and first Mac today.
MacBook Pro (MB471LL/A)

So far I love it, but I am going to install either XP or Vista on it also...mainly for playing some games. (I actually enjoy Vista very much, unlike most it seems)

My question is this...
If I install XP/Vista on another partition, using either Boot Camp or whatever... will I be able to reinstall OSX whenever I want to, without having to reinstall Windows?

I hear a lot of different opinions on which is better to use. as far as Boot Camp, Parallels, VMWare Fusion, etc. goes...

I've done a little research, but still feel like I can't really lean to one or the other for any strong reasons.
I assumed that I'd just use Boot Camp since it came with the Mac... and no, I don't mind having to actually reboot to load up the other OS.
I'd like to use one of the other options, that would let me open Windows INSIDE of OSX, but does that use THAT much more resources? Running one OS inside the other? What about when I'm trying to run graphicly-intensive games?

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated...

There's a lot more info on this topic here.

Cheers,