Bootcamp gave Mac users the ability to make their machines dual boot OsX and
XP.

Products such as Parallels and VMWare now make it possible to run an XP
Bootcamp installation in a virtual machine with OsX as the host.

I have a couple of questions:
1. What sort and quantitiy of license(s) do I need from Microsoft to allow
me to switch back and forth between running my XP installation native and
running my XP installation in a virtual machine?

2. How do I set up this licensing arrangement?


At present I have one XP license for my XP Bootcamp installation and another
XP license for a separate virtual installation of XP that runs under OsX.
However, this results in having two logically different XP installations.
(ie. the documents in the "My Documents" section on the virtual XP machine
are not the same as the ones in the physical XP machine. I would much prefer
to be able to virtualize the bootcamp partition. As it appears today, all the
software is in place except for MS XP licensing ...)

Thanks for your help.

PS - And what about trying to do the same thing with Vista instead. (ie.
install Vista in bootcamp and then virtualize that install using VMWare or
Parallels, then switch back and forth between running that install in
bootcamp and running that install as a VM.)

pbarnes wrote:
> Bootcamp gave Mac users the ability to make their machines dual
> boot OsX and XP.
>
> Products such as Parallels and VMWare now make it possible to run
> an XP Bootcamp installation in a virtual machine with OsX as the
> host.
>
> I have a couple of questions:
> 1. What sort and quantitiy of license(s) do I need from Microsoft
> to allow me to switch back and forth between running my XP
> installation native and running my XP installation in a virtual
> machine?
>
> 2. How do I set up this licensing arrangement?
>
>
> At present I have one XP license for my XP Bootcamp installation
> and another XP license for a separate virtual installation of XP
> that runs under OsX. However, this results in having two logically
> different XP installations. (ie. the documents in the "My
> Documents" section on the virtual XP machine are not the same as
> the ones in the physical XP machine. I would much prefer to be able
> to virtualize the bootcamp partition. As it appears today, all the
> software is in place except for MS XP licensing ...)
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> PS - And what about trying to do the same thing with Vista instead.
> (ie. install Vista in bootcamp and then virtualize that install
> using VMWare or Parallels, then switch back and forth between
> running that install in bootcamp and running that install as a VM.)

You need to be very specific about the exact TYPE of licenses you have/plan
to get as well.
OEM, Retail, Upgrade, MSDN, Volume?

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

These would be retail licenses (such as the type we MS employees can purchase
from the company store.)


"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> pbarnes wrote:
> > Bootcamp gave Mac users the ability to make their machines dual
> > boot OsX and XP.
> >
> > Products such as Parallels and VMWare now make it possible to run
> > an XP Bootcamp installation in a virtual machine with OsX as the
> > host.
> >
> > I have a couple of questions:
> > 1. What sort and quantitiy of license(s) do I need from Microsoft
> > to allow me to switch back and forth between running my XP
> > installation native and running my XP installation in a virtual
> > machine?
> >
> > 2. How do I set up this licensing arrangement?
> >
> >
> > At present I have one XP license for my XP Bootcamp installation
> > and another XP license for a separate virtual installation of XP
> > that runs under OsX. However, this results in having two logically
> > different XP installations. (ie. the documents in the "My
> > Documents" section on the virtual XP machine are not the same as
> > the ones in the physical XP machine. I would much prefer to be able
> > to virtualize the bootcamp partition. As it appears today, all the
> > software is in place except for MS XP licensing ...)
> >
> > Thanks for your help.
> >
> > PS - And what about trying to do the same thing with Vista instead.
> > (ie. install Vista in bootcamp and then virtualize that install
> > using VMWare or Parallels, then switch back and forth between
> > running that install in bootcamp and running that install as a VM.)
>
> You need to be very specific about the exact TYPE of licenses you have/plan
> to get as well.
> OEM, Retail, Upgrade, MSDN, Volume?
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
>
>