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Which windows should I buy?

B

Bonstrick

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 13, 2009
10
0
I would like to install Windows XP on my new IMAC. At Best Buy I was told there was a special Windows XP program just for MACs and they were out of it. On line I haven't been able to find Windows XP for MAC. Is it because Windows 7 is now out or was I misled? Is Windows XP for both MAC and PC computers? I of course know I need Boot Camp or VM Ware or Parallels to run Windows.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have an expensive embroidery system that requires XP and my Windows computer is really old. I'd like to get rid of it.

Bonnie
 
There is no special Mac edition of windows. Plus they don't sell windows xp anymore, you need to purchase windows 7.

To run it on windows, you need to either run it in bootcamp, which is like running windows on any other computer. You need to reboot the computer, so you'll not have access to your OSX programs and such. The other option is to run windows in a virtual environment, either using VMware Fusion or Parallels. Personally, I prefer VMware. This gives you the ability to run windows and OSX stuff at the same time. No need to reboot out of OSX and into windows.

The downside to this, is performance. Its really not designed to play games or anything that will need direct access to the hardware. For most users, Vmware is more then enough.

I suggest you pickup Vmware Fusion, and Windows 7 (Home Premium) and see how that goes, if you feel you need better performance then you can always create a bootcamp partition and install windows 7 there.
 
There are numerous threads about this. If you search, you will find a lot of them. Reading the threads that come up as a result of the search will be helpful and allow you to see the advantage/disadvantages of installing Windows and what version you need.
 
Thank you for your quick response as I want to buy it asap.

I need to find Windows XP because I have $3000.00 worth of embroidery software that is not compatible with Windows 7. Do you think I can find it some place or am I out of luck?

I know about the other programs I need to run it. I just have to decide between the three. At the moment I am leaning towards Bootcamp because I was told there is a chance I could get a virus running XP on VM Fusion or Parallels.

Thank you.

Bonnie
 
Shado I must not have used the correct search words because I did do a search and couldn't find an answer about Windows for MAC not being a different operating system than Windows for a PC. Besides my "Expert Best Buy Salesperson" told me Windows for MAC was a totally different program.

I do however thank you for your response.

Bonnie
 
Bonstrick said:
Thank you for your quick response as I want to buy it asap.

I need to find Windows XP because I have $3000.00 worth of embroidery software that is not compatible with Windows 7. Do you think I can find it some place or am I out of luck?
Click to expand...
You have two options, first check out newegg.com. I think they still offer windows XP oem disks for sale. You can also look at ebay for windows xp.

Another option is to buy windows 7 professional, that has an XP compatibility mode (home premium doesn't have this) and basically its running windows XP in a virtual environment. Its available to any and all windows 7 professional users. The cost for this option is a little high ($299 for win7 pro) so I'd look to picking up the windows xp disk at newegg.
 
You can always find Windows XP on Craigslist/eBay. Just make sure you have the discs/install code
 
Bonstrick said:
Shado I must not have used the correct search words because I did do a search and couldn't find an answer about Windows for MAC not being a different operating system than Windows for a PC. Besides my "Expert Best Buy Salesperson" told me Windows for MAC was a totally different program.

I do however thank you for your response.



There is no special XP for MAC but you do need XP with SP 2(service pack) in order to install on bootcamp.
Click to expand...
 
I would get Windows XP then. As previously mentioned, there is no Windows XP for mac, there is just windows XP, which you install via Boot Camp or VMware or Parallels. This link will help.
 
I am so thankful for all the great information I have received on this forum. Thanks to all of you.

I can understand Best Buy employees being uniformed but when I bought this IMAC (It's the 3rd Apple for me and I've bought 2 for my daughter) the salesperson in the Apple store couldn't answer any questions about Windows. Perhaps that is Apple's policy I don't know. But it is sure better to say nothing than to act like you know it all and really know nothing.


I found a Windows XP Pro Full Version with SP 2 Retail on Ebay for $129 and just bought that. Now I have to decide between Boot Camp and VM or Parallel. I will only be using Windows for my Embroidery machine and it's software. I don't know when else I would use it.

This is off the subject but I have an IMAC that is 3 1/2 years old and a month after the warranty expired my hard drive went bad. For the price that Apple wanted to repair it, I bought the new version . I think I am going to try to have an independent Apple repair person look at it. What are your thoughts. Should I chuck it?

Bonnie
 
Bonstrick said:
This is off the subject but I have an IMAC that is 3 1/2 years old and a month after the warranty expired my hard drive went bad. For the price that Apple wanted to repair it, I bought the new version . I think I am going to try to have an independent Apple repair person look at it. What are your thoughts. Should I chuck it?
Click to expand...

Hmm... have you ever worked on the inside of a machine before?
 
brendu said:
Hmm... have you ever worked on the inside of a machine before?
Click to expand...


Sewing Machine yes computer not really. Once I had a Gateway and I thought I would add my own memory after reading about it on line. So I bought extra memory and opened up the computer. It looked really different from a sewing machine so I changed my mind and paid someone else to do it.

In many ways I am usually determined to get things done myself. I'll wallpaper, paint, drill holes, use a saw etc. Once my ex husband said I wasn't strong enough to hammer a huge spike into a railroad tie with a mallet. You know what? I did it. That's dumb sheer determination but computers...all I'd have to do is touch one wrong thing and that would be it...

And yet the computer doesn't work any way now does it ----so what did you have in mind?
 
Bonstrick said:
That's dumb sheer determination but computers...all I'd have to do is touch one wrong thing and that would be it...

And yet the computer doesn't work any way now does it ----so what did you have in mind?
Click to expand...

Desktop PCs are actually quite easy to work on if you have determination, and Macs are actually fairly easy too compared to your random notebook since the fine folks at iFixit have guides for most repairs online. http://www.ifixit.com The guides make working on your Mac quite straightforward since each step is well documented.

With respect to your original question:

Once upon a time, before Intel Macs, the only way to run Windows on a Mac was Virtual PC which was a separate product for Macs only. Now you just need the same Windows for PCs.

This http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116716&Tpk=32-116-716 is the current mainstream version of Windows licensed for end users. The OEM version is functionally equivalent, cheaper, but is NOT licensed for end users. Since you don't seem too comfortable with all of this I would suggest you spend the extra $ to make sure you have as much support as possible and stay properly licensed.

Since you have older software you may need to make use of the "XP Mode" compatibility layer that comes with Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, both also available at NewEgg, or as an "Anytime Upgrade" from within Windows once you have installed it.

If you are uncomfortable with any of this I would suggest that you consult with your local independent Apple repair shop and have them purchase the right copy of Windows and install it for you. I suspect they'll charge you somewhere around $100 to do the install (~ 1 hour of work) and about that to replace an HDD in an older iMac too.

B
 
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