Member Avatar for RET1

I am thinking of upgrading to the 20" Aluminum 320 GB imac. My son plays some PC games; Orange Box games like Portal, Team Fortress will not play on our old PC. I hope 1 mac could run mostly mac os but when needed also run windows.
So should I get windows XP or Vista for my new mac. I think microsoft plans to stop selling XP soon, but I've heard of lots of problems with Vista. I've also heard that the Pro versions of XP & Vista actually utilize the duo core processors.
Does anyone have any suggestion or experience running either of these on a mac.

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Short take: for an Intel iMac used for PC games, run Windows natively with Boot Camp rather than inside a VM. Boot Camp gives the Windows partition direct access to the Mac’s CPU/GPU, so frame rates and driver support are far better; the sluggish Vista-in‑Fusion report from matches the usual virtualization tradeoffs. (support.apple.com)

Context about XP vs Vista (2008): XP was lighter on older hardware and had broader game/driver compatibility at the time, while Vista needed more RAM and better graphics drivers as it matured. Microsoft planned to stop general retail/OEM sales of XP on June 30, 2008 (with limited exceptions for ultra‑low‑cost PCs), and both OSes have since reached end of support: XP’s extended support ended April 8, 2014 and Vista’s ended April 11, 2017. Those lifecycle facts matter for security and long‑term use. (eweek.com)

Practical, actionable advice for : if the iMac is Intel and the priority is gaming, install Windows via Boot Camp and then install Apple’s Boot Camp drivers — that will give the best compatibility and performance. Allocate plenty of disk (40GB+ for games), keep a Mac backup before repartitioning, and install the Windows service packs/driver updates. If running Windows occasionally while staying in macOS is more important, use Parallels or VMware but expect reduced FPS and occasional device passthrough quirks (external USB webcams often work more reliably than the built‑in iSight in older VM setups). (support.apple.com)

Important note for later readers: today neither XP nor Vista are safe choices for an internet‑connected machine — both are out of support and vulnerable. For modern Macs, Boot Camp only applies to Intel models; Apple‑silicon Macs require virtualization (Parallels/Cloud PC/ARM Windows) and a different workflow. (support.microsoft.com)

Member Avatar for falcondan95705

Go with XP... I hear lots of issues with Vista

Member Avatar for Rapcom

Go with XP... I hear lots of issues with Vista

I tried Vista on my MacBook Pro with 2GB of Ram. It lagged and all the Mac software bagged to the point I had to canstantly reboot. I now run XP and it is a charm.

Member Avatar for RET1

I tried Vista on my MacBook Pro with 2GB of Ram. It lagged and all the Mac software bagged to the point I had to canstantly reboot. I now run XP and it is a charm.

are you using boot camp or the parallel sofware?

Member Avatar for Rapcom

are you using boot camp or the parallel sofware?

none of those
vmware Fusion 1.1
the only problems I have'nt solved is connecting sound and native webcam using third party webconferencing software that runs only on PCs
It works if I connect off the shelf webcams and microphones.
The Mac camera and microphone does connect with other type of one to one activities.
I will try Parallel on another Mac.
Nothing worked with Vista.
The conferencing software is quite elaborate - Globemeeting

Member Avatar for RET1

Thanks. No votes for Vista. I wonder if XP is still available.

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