I'm looking to get either windows xp or windows 7 to run through bootcamp so I can play games. I'm looking to play games such as Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Starcraft 2, and Diablo 3, as well as a few of my favorite oldies. So should I get XP to run these or when these games come out will they only be compatible with Windows 7 (the ones they won't make a mac version for)?
Because of the huge installed base of Windows XP users, I somehow doubt any of these games will be made exclusively for Windows 7.
Also I'm already running bootcamp so if I have to run emulation software to run these games through windows 7 I don't know if it will work?
Are you referring to the compatibility mode that Windows 7 is reported to have (i.e. Windows XP running in a virtual machine within Windows 7)?
Typically virtualization technologies don't work well or at all with modern 3D games (including virtualization software for the Mac). Regardless, I'd imagine any game written since Windows XP was released will likely run just fine without the need to drop into compatibility mode.
And if you guys do suggest windows 7 should I go with basic or premium? (do i need the xp emulation software or can I just save that $100).
I'd go with the Home Premium version, not Professional. No, you really don't need the XP compatibility mode unless you're running really old applications (and as I said before, games likely won't run within it due to hardware abstraction).
As I said i'm looking to play older games that were made for XP when it first came out, as well as games that have yet to come out and probably won't till sometime in 2010 (hopefully). Thanks for your help!
I think you'll be fine with either Windows XP or Windows 7. The only reason I'd consider Windows 7 is if the games you want to play require DirectX 10+ (the Steam games don't, not sure about Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2).