Parallels: WinXP or Win7?

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So I'm waiting on my copy of Parallels 6 to arrive and got thinking, which OS do I load up?

I really only need Windows on my Mac for a few "geek" apps like my D&D character creator (its for my nephew...honest!), perhaps a few graphic programs I'm familiar with, and a few older games that prefer Windows.

The big question, do I load Win7 to stay "current" (and so it'll actually recognize the 12GB of RAM I have on my Mac) or do I load WinXP to save space? Win XP will only recognize 3GB of RAM. Whatcha think?

EDIT: Oh, and is it possible to have a 2nd monitor hooked up to my iMac with Windows running on one (in Parallels) and OSX running on the screen of the iMac?
 
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I would definitely go for W7 at some point XP will not be able to keep up IE9 is one example and sure why would it not in a virtual machine.
 
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Windows 7 actually runs smoother than XP does (for me anyway). And yes, you CAN run Parallels on a second screen hooked up to your iMac - just move the windows over to the second screen.
 

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The big question, do I load Win7 to stay "current" (and so it'll actually recognize the 12GB of RAM I have on my Mac) or do I load WinXP to save space? Win XP will only recognize 3GB of RAM. Whatcha think?

Keep in mind that you will need to install Win 7 64 bit in order to utilize your 12 GB of memory. Windows 7 32 bit like all other 32 bit operating systems will only address 3.3 GB of memory.
 
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I will be installing W7 64 bit tomorrow. I only have 4 gig of ram. I am using 64 bit in hopes that I'm be adding more ram in the future.

I'll let up know how things go

Monty
 
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I will echo the above and say W7. Simply cause WXP is old technology and will be eventually phased out. And things like IE9 and DX11 won't run with WXP. Plus W7 is not a bad OS. It's ok. Much better then the POS that Vista was.
 
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Another vote for win7, bear in mind games suck on a vm much better of with bootcamp for them
 
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I have tried both. XP runs quite nicely - but it is quite old. I've noticed no problems running Windows 7 64 bit under Parallels or Bootcamp.

Note - when I don't have a second monitor attached I use Spaces. Basically I have 1 space dedicated to the Windows VM, 1 space dedicated to the Linux VM, and use hotkeys to move around. Both VMs are running full screen.

Screen shot 2011-04-01 at 10.15.23 AM.png
 
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So I'm waiting on my copy of Parallels 6 to arrive and got thinking, which OS do I load up?

I'd go with XP. If your Windows requirements are modest -- and I admit that I have no clue how significant the D&D Character Creator is -- and you can get by with 3GB or less of RAM, then that's what I'd do. Why take more resources than needed away from OSX?

ETA: If you don't already own an XP license, then you might opt to go with W7. XP Licenses seem to be drying up, which is inflating the price. You can get Windows 7 Home Premium for a little over $100 http://www.viosoftware.com/Windows+7+Home+Premium/
 
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I actually own two licenses for XP, but don't have one for Win7 yet, but was considering trying it. Granted $100 is an expensive trial. My old computer had 1GB of RAm and ran my geek programs fine.
 
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So far so good.
Parallels is installed. WIn7 installed and Autocad 2004 is installed

screen shot
 
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Coherence Mode?

So far so good.
Parallels is installed. WIn7 installed and Autocad 2004 is installed

screen shot

Congrats. I was surprised to see you running in Coherence mode with AutoCAD. How's the performance compared to Window or Full Screen mode?

Personally, I hate the lag that comes when moving WinXP/7 windows around in Coherence.
 
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Congrats. I was surprised to see you running in Coherence mode with AutoCAD. How's the performance compared to Window or Full Screen mode?

Personally, I hate the lag that comes when moving WinXP/7 windows around in Coherence.

Yes, I am no longer using Coherence Mode. THe computer is much quicker windowed. I haven't really done much work in AutoCAD yet. That (unfortunately) will come.
 
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Keep in mind that you will need to install Win 7 64 bit in order to utilize your 12 GB of memory. Windows 7 32 bit like all other 32 bit operating systems will only address 3.3 GB of memory.

Rats. I screwed up when I installed Win7, I installed the 32 bit version. Looks like I'll need to re-install the 64 bit version. Thanks for that bit of info.

Tom
 

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