How do i change from xp on booting to mac

Question

I just bought the new imac w/intel duo processor. the mac rep loaded boot camp and windows xp home on my request. (i have stuff from both mac and xp). in any event the computer starts up in windows xp.
what do I have to push that should give me the option to either default start up in mac and or allows me to flip back and forth depending on what I will be doing that session.
eventually I may go entirely to mac, but for now I just need to know how to get there.
I would also like to know--should I:
a) have known this intuitively
b) expected something in writing about how to do this since using both xp and mac on the same computer is advertised by the guys selling this,
OR
c) remebered what the apple sales guy told me in 5 seconds as a demo yesterday, when I picked up the apple today (the store is closed at this time).
I vote for something in writing, but barring that would appreciate any help you have.

Answer 1

I think you were somewhat mislead by an overzealous salesperson. Apple does not promote Windows nor the installation of Windows on Intel Macs. Boot Camp is a free product and anyone can install it and XP. A .Mac subscription retails for $99, so I'm not sure exactly what you got as a benefit except the time it took for the Boot Camp and Windows installation. In fact Apple has a promo in effect that you get $30 off the .Mac subscription when you buy a new Intel Mac.
As for switching partitions you have two basic methods:
1. OPTION boot. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the desire boot partition and click on the arrow button. This method of switching boot partitions is temporary. The next restart will return to the original startup volume.
2. Using Startup Disk. Open System Preferences and click on the Startup Disk preference icon. Select the desired boot volume from the icon list, then click on the Restart button. This method of switching partitions is permanent meaning you will continue to startup from this volume until you change it using Startup Disk. On the Boot Camp side will be an additional control panel called Startup Disk that will be part of the Windows control panels.
When and if Boot Camp or something similar is made a normal part of OS X there will be user documentation included. As of now the only documentation is what is included with the Boot Camp download. You can find all of that at www.apple.com/support/downloads/.