Partition or use emulator..

I've read all of the info here on emulation, and it sounds like VM fusion is pretty much the quickest/most stable. Only question I have is this, should I install XP through bootcamp and then use VM/Parallels to recognize the partition or just install XP through one of the emulators (VM/Parallels). Is there a disadvantage/advantage in speed or stability? Tanks.

For starters, applications like VMWare fusion aren't emulators, they're virtualization programs. Instead of mimicking hardware, they're more of a box-within-a-box sort of application.

If you have no need to install Windows via Boot Camp (i.e. partition), then don't waste time and space on it. Just fire up VMWare and install Windows through that.

Unless you're a gamer and need to have Windows running stand alone in its own partition follow Kash's advice. I went the other route by first installing XP to a Boot Camp partition and later again in Fusion. Wasted a whole bunch of time and wound up having to activate again.

Regards.

Completely agree with chscag. Did the same thing. The bootcamp route was useful for comparing Fusion and Parallels (as they worked off the same XP install), but once I selected Fusion, I wound up deleting the B/C partition and reinstalling in a full Fusion VM. I think that's the way to go definitely unless you have a specific need to run your Mac in native Windows mode. Also, there are Fusion features (e.g., Snapshot, and a similar one in Parallels) which are not available to VMs based on a boot camp partition.