Performance in Window XP or Vista

Hi to everybody!

I'm considering the option to by a new Mac Book Pro but since i need a computer to work with powerful sofware under Window XP like as MATLAB (MATLAB - The Language of Technical Computing) or the FPGA development tool Xilinx ISE (http://www.xilinx.com/ise/logic_desi...foundation.htm) and Xilinx XPS (http://www.xilinx.com/ise/embedded_d...orm_studio.htm),
i would like to know if:

1) Performances in MacBook Pro using a Dos partition where a Windows XP or Vista is installed, are such good like as brand-new INTEL PC?

2) Drivers for peripheral for windows XP works well (in the Windows XP partition) since i need it for the cable to programma the FPGA electronic-board?

Thanks so much!
Jack

1) Its probably the fastest XP or Vista (stick with XP) machine you can buy, even under a virtual OS (vmware/parallels). I highly recommend you stick to XP if you want to have a good VM experience and get the most of your machine under boot camp.

2) Everything will work just as it would on any other XP machine. Just make sure you can get by using modern peripherals (meaning not anything with old standards like serial and parallel ports)