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I ordered my MacBook Pro last week and got it shipped to me from china. I had it in hand on thursday and ive been playing around with BootCamp and Parallels to see which works better.
 
For the uninformed:
 

Boot Camp is a software made available by Apple Computer that assists users in installing Windows on Intel-based Macs.Boot Camp is not a virtualization tool, which would allow the Windows and Mac OS X operating systems to run concurrently; instead, the computer must be rebooted to use either operating system. Apple does not officially support Boot Camp, the technology is currently beta but scheduled for inclusion in Mac OS X v10.5, “Leopard”.
( via Wikipedia , download Bootcamp )

Parallels Desktop for Mac is the first solution for Intel-Macs that give you the flexibility of running Windows on a Mac OS X simultaneously without rebooting. You can use Parallels Desktop for Mac on any Intel-powered iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook, MacBook Pro, & Mac Pro Towers.
( via Parallels Inc. )

Question 1: XP Virtual Machine [Parallels] or Natively on laptop [BootCamp]

I considered Parallels first for easy ability to switch back and forth (see demo)
BUT…. No sound, No Airport. USB support questionable. Graphics still emulated. Still not full Native speed, as it will always be running on top of somthing else meaning things like Memory is limited (you can only assign certain amounts)… Software is going to be hit and miss, forget gaming and until sound works, anything to do with audio is out of the question.
OK i need all that to work, Hence I need BootCamp.
 
(read a full Parallels vs BootCamp guide at MacRumors)
 
 

Question 2: How to get Max performance from BootCamp

OSX will only let you allot a max of 32GB for windows, this is due to the Fat32 limit. But what about all the space my 120Gb HDD has, id like to be able to access files back and forth between the platforms. Also OSX can read files you write in XP, but cant edit them or add to the XP partition when using NTFS. You can use Fat32 but that is slower.
 
Here are some easy fixes to get the best funcionality , better performance and cross-platform file sharing
 
1) Install BootCamp Right - Boot Camp Installation Tips - Paul Stamatiou
 
2) Remove Useless XP Services - Guide to Services - TechTree
 
3) Install Macdrive - Access OSX HFS Partition in XP. latest version v6.1
 
If you followed along, you have a fast NTFS partition for windows on which you keep ur XP OS + Programs.
You have a large OSX HFS partition on which you store your files and media (can be accessed by both systems).
This completes the BootCamp journey.
 
I am still gaga over the parallels switch and coding on one platform, testing on both excites the web designer in me. So i decide im going to install Parallels. I downloaded the latest version from the website.
 
A Tale of two XPs
I already have a fully-functional XP on this system. Installing another with Parallels will give me 3 OS’ , XP Native, OSX Native, XP Virtual. Thats too many to easily manage.
 
The Revelation
Tiny XP. This stripped down version of XP is barely 300 MB after install, boots up inside parallels under 12secs. lightning fast and wont eat my RAM or bog down my performance in OSX. an easy choice. After setting up TinyXP i followed these easy guides to share files between tinyXP and OSX.
USB drves in Parallels
Share folders betwen Parallels and OSX