New Mac Pro: Second quad-core CPU?

Hello! I'm hoping for a little help figuring out which Mac Pro options to buy.

I'm mostly trying to figure out whether to spend the extra money on the second 2.8GHz quad-core processor. I don't do a bunch of video editing or the like, so it seems it might be wasted; then again, I have to assume that since parallelism is the way the hardware is going, the software will follow to take advantage of it within the three-or-so years I'd likely have the machine.

My priorities, in order:
* Quiet machine
* Instantaneous response on minor tasks
* Ability to keep many processes going at once, including Parallels (Windows emulation)

Also, any advice on getting a Mac Pro with 10.4.10, which I understand to be rock-stable, and not 10.5, which I understand to be laden with features I don't want and instability I can't afford to have?

Current machines:
* Windows XP 2.4GHz / 500 MB RAM (motherboard circa 2001) <-- to be replaced by Mac Pro
* 12" iBook G4 (circa late 2005) <-- convinced me that Mac OS X is good stuff!

Thanks!!
W

Actually the 10.5.2 update to Leopard made the OS rather stable and fixed many issues with it. I wouldn't write off Leopard just cause a few people don't like it. I am using 10.5.2 now and having not an issue at all with it.

But if you still insist on 10.4.11 I don't know why but anyways have a looky on ebay for the black discs and update it via software update. This assumes you are doing a complete erase and install of your hard drive. Cause you can't really downgrade OS's in X. And all new macs come with Leopard.

I can't quote on how quiet a Mac Pro is never owning one. But I can say for what you want you will not need the 2nd processor. Can you add it on later if you want it? If so I'd only get the one. But if you can't I'd really think if you can afford it or really want it. It'd be nice really nice. I'd even consider it no a pro. But my 2 Ghz imac can parallel windows xp + do a heap of other things just fine. So I would assume the Mac pro would do that flawlessly.

Good luck with your purchase if you choose to make it.

I am pretty sure you can't get Tiger on the new Mac Pros. The retail copy of Tiger is for PPC Macs, not Intel Macs. I haven't opened my Pro yet to see if I am getting Tiger or Leopard restore discs. If it only comes with Leopard restore discs, you won't get Tiger installed on the 2.8GHz Pro. If you want to save a few pennies, get the Quad. The two processors are mainly for video work. If you want to save a few extra pennies, buy my 2.66GHz Quad. It's only slightly slower in real world tests and it's got Tiger, plus a ton of upgrades.
I've been using Leopard on my Pro since the day it came out; I've never had an issue.

I just got a new Mac Pro with Leopard a couple of weeks ago. I can definitely tell you that this is absolutely the quietest desktop/tower machine I have ever had. In fact, it is more on par with a laptop for noise level. I here my Windoze machine across the room more than I do the Mac Pro about 12 inches from my right knee.

Responsiveness has been exceptional. This baby really hums along and bounces between tasks instantaneously. The only time I see any lag at all is bouncing between full screen Eve Online and back to the desktop. I really think this is more an issue with Eve than Leopard or the Mac itself.

I have just downloaded and installed Fusion, so I really can't comment much on the ability to handle multiple environments running at the same time. I plan on truly testing this out in much more depth over the next week or so. I will be dual heading the Mac Pro and plan on really running a lot on it to see just how robust this is with only the default 2GB of RAM. I figure this will be my biggest limitation, so I want to hammer it and see.

I'm new to the Mac world, so I can't comment on Leopard vs. Tiger. I can say that Leopard has been a pure joy to work with thus far. I have had a couple of Safari crashes and otherwise I can't think of a single OS related problem.