Virtualization on a Mac Pro

Hi,
I am looking at the options of using virtualization on a 8 core Mac Pro. Instead of the solutions like VMWare Fusion I would like to create several virtual machines running independently in the background (database server, webserver, etc) and manage the resources used by each Virtual machine seperately. In the PC world there are several option (like vmware esx or xen) but what are good and supported options for use on a Mac?

I know I've seen threads of someone using Windows 2008 Server (the RC is available for free download) and running their VMs under that.
Maybe something in these: Discussion threads "VT"
The Mac Pro is a great home server machine - twin quad core Xeons, plenty of memory capability, and very quiet. The problem is that by default, Apple doesnt enable the intel VT-X extensions, which are needed to get KVM working.
EnableVT-X_on_Mac_Pro_(Early2008)

Similar Messages

Virtualization disabled on Mac Pro?

This may have been addressed before, but can anyone else confirm that the Mac Pros, when running Parallels, give a message stating that Virtualization technology is disabled, and that putting the machine to sleep and re-awakening it might fix the problem?
Apparently this is an issue with Apple's firmware, according to the Parallels website, and I have indeed tried the sleep "fix", which seems to work.
Not a huge issue, since performance under Parallels is quite acceptable. With luck Apple will have the fix out sometime soon.
PS I did install the EFI update; evidently the fix wasn't in there.

Yes, the Mac Pros require an at-yet-to-appear firmware update to resolve the Virtualization bug.
In the meantime, if you start Parallels (but not the VM), put your machine to sleep, then wake it up and start the VM, it will be enabled. One of the odder aspects of the bug is that starting from a cold boot will disable it but waking from sleep will enable it.

Mac Pro, Windows 7 Virtual PC-XP Mode Problem w/ Hardware Virtualization

I have installed windows 7 (64 bit) on an 8 month old intel mac pro with latest bootcamp. runs great. cannot get virtual pc / xp mode to work.
confirmed latest firmware, confirmed processor has virtualization (vmx listed in processor details when boot to snow leopard).
when i run ms hardware-assisted virtualization detection tool it confirms hardware virtualization. after i install xp mode and virtual pc update i get an error message that there is no virtualization. ms hardware-assisted virtualization detection tool will now also report no virtualization. if i uninstall xp mode and virtual pc update, ms hardware-assisted virtualization detection tool will again confirm virtualization.
any thoughts? i searched forum but did not see anything - sorry if i missed it.
thanks in advance for input...

Because the hardware of Mac Pro does have Intel-VT capability, it's just disabled.
One solution (though a very lame one) is boot into OS X first, run VMware Fusion or Parallel (which enables Intel-VT), then restart into Windows.
Just hope there would be some way to enable Intel-VT on Windows...

Mac Pro as a VMware virtualization workstation

Hello all,
I've used my Mac Pro quite heavily for virtualization-related tasks, from running a couple of Windows (XP and 7) VMs for various apps I need to support on both platforms. My virtualization needs are taking a steep increase. While I'd love a beautiful 12-core monster, can't afford that...yet :-(. Thinking instead about maxing this one out. The CPUs are as good as possible I believe, Xeon X5365'[email protected] x8. Want to upgrade RAM from 12GB to 32GB, add an Apple RAID card (unless someone has a better suggestion?), 4x Seagate Constellation 2TB SAS drives in RAID-0 (I want maximum performance possible, multiple VMs, 12-14 at once, will cause very high I/O usage, capacity and performance are most important to me), I'll backup necessary stuff external via iSCSI SAN. Does anyone have a better plan for achieving max performance from this workhorse? Any opinions welcomed! Thanks.

Whoa! That sounds like it could be incredibly expensive! Let's start with the easy stuff! Activity Monitor and the Windows Task Manager inside the virtual machines can inform you of RAM usage and help you decide if that's the better first step. If you're maxing out your RAM usage within the VMs, they will start using the hard drive(s) as RAM. That's incredibly slow, because hard drives are a lot slower than RAM. You should also check the settings for RAM allocation for your individual VMs using your virtualization client (VMWare) to make sure they can access as much RAM as the system will comfortably allow. 12 VMs running simultaneously on 12 GB of RAM means that each system will be allowed less than 1 GB. That's not much for Windows 7. You also need to remember that your host OS needs RAM, too. If your RAM allocation settings are less than ideal, adjusting them can provide a tremendous gain in performance for FREE!
I predict RAM will be of greatest benefit to you, and it's cheap, so it's a good place to start. Increasing your RAM alone might give you the performance edge you want without a storage upgrade. Do keep in mind that adding additional RAM to the system will require you to revisit those allocation settings to make any difference in performance of the VMs (assuming they hit their memory ceilings, which seems quite likely). If you have 32 GB, 14 VMs can use over 2 GB simultaneously and leave plenty of room for the host OS.
As far as storage goes, I'm hearing that the Apple RAID cards are over-priced and the fact that they are internal could make things far more difficult for you. I'd recommend trying SSD, but the cost/benefit of that will depend on your budget and spatial requirements of your VMs. I'm also not sure if they can match the reliability of the server-grade rotating storage you have in mind, but theoretically, neither can the hard drive(s) you already have in the machine.
I'd also check out an external solution rather than an internal one:
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=264&type=Hard+Drive+ Controller
There are many different options for hard drive controllers and you can read reviews for nearly all of them. They're not all equal and there is something different for every budget.
External storage is probably the best solution for you because it maintains the functionality of the internal drives you already have while you migrate to the new system. In the future, you could continue to use those drives for archival and backup. Of course, you could always simply migrate a portion of the VMs outside the machine into the external system and use both internal and external systems simultaneously. When you decide to upgrade the computer, you'll be able to move the card and enclosure to a new machine more easily.
REMEMBER: If you're running a bunch of VMs with high demand for disk I/O, spreading the load over a greater number of hard drives can reduce the queue length for each individual drive and reduce latency. Try using different disks for different VMs.
This my plan of attack for you:
optimize your RAM allocations
check your performance
upgrade your RAM
optimize your RAM allocations again
check your performance
run heavy operations and check disk usage in Activity Monitor
if disk usage in Activity Monitor stays pegged at max of drive capability and you have available drive bays, add an aditional internal hard drive, or two, or three.
migrate some of the VMs to the new hard drive(s) and run them from their new locations to test performance again
if you're still not happy, consider RAID and have yourself a good cry when you see the price-tag
I predict you'll be overjoyed by the time you reach step 5. Just keep in mind, hard drives fail! Redundancy is important and off-site backup can be a life-saver in case of disaster.
Let me know if this helps! Don't forget, mark this reply as helpful if it helped or correct if I nailed it.

Enable Hardware Virtualization On Mac Pro 8 Core (Early 2008)

Hi,
Has anyone has any success enabling the Intel VT-X feature on the Xeons on the Mac Pro (Early 2008, 8 core Xeon)? The VMWare ISO indicates that its turned off on all cores, and NOT locked. VMWare confirms that its not enabled, by not allowing me to boot a 64bit guest OS.
Has anyone had any success? ive got the latest EFI BIOS, hoping that it would fix it (like a BIOS upgrade did aparently for the Mac Mini).
As the feature bit is not locked, maybe there is a way of doing it in software (normally the BIOS turns the feature on or off, then locks it, the lock holding until the next cold boot). We would need ring0 access to the processor.
Alternatively, there is a EFI exe floating around that aparently enabled it for the Mac Mini (on old firmware with the bug).
Whats the best way to report this to Apple? do they have a history of fixing user-reported issues?
Thanks
George

Interestng about firmware. Sounds odd to have cpu from different batches.
link to the thread w/o the session ID.
http://communities.vmware.com/thread/221087
One security expert uses a Mac Pro and runs multiple VMs was interviewed and up on Tom's Hardware - there have been changes since 2006 (1st gen Mac Pro) compared to even 2008. Probably nothing to help but VT -d and other stuff was news to me.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/joanna-rutkowska-rootkit,2356-4.html

Never owned a Mac, thinking of buying a Mac Pro, could use some advice...

Hey guys,
I know this was a lot to read, but I sincerely hope someone will take the time to answer my questions:
As the title of my post implies I've never owned a Mac in my life. I've always built my own desktops and usually gone to HP or Dell for my laptops. I'm approaching that time again where my custom-built desktop is looking outdated and I'm getting the upgrade itch. I'm looking at all the parts I need to order to build a computer and I can't help but think I'm older now with a full-time job and a one year old daughter in the house. Do I really want to go through the hassle of building a desktop from scratch again? Not really. So I started evaluating things a bit. As I get older I’m really just getting sick and tired of Microsoft’s antics (Vista was a huge disappointment for me) so I decided this could be the year for me to take the Mac plunge.
Now I’m an IT guy, so I have a pretty atypical setup at home. I’m currently running both Windows and Linux on all my computers. Rather than dual boot or use virtualization software I have a pretty intricate system in which I use a product called Acronis Trueimage to experiment with operating systems. What I do is perform a a clean install on an operating system, tweak it as needed for security and to use resources on my LAN than back up the customized OS install to a server a an image file. I have pre-built images for XP, Vista, Ubuntu and OpenSuSE that I can roll out to one of my machines in an average of 15 minutes whenever I get the urge to switch operating systems. I also serve all my data off a NAS box, so since data and OS are kept separate on the network I don’t have to worry about erasing something when I swap between Linux and Windows (as loading an image literally destroys the previous OS install).
So you can see I’m pretty highly specialized. I even have things down to the point to where I have custom images for specific purposes. For instance I have one XP image customized for development, one XP image customized for gaming, etc. Naturally if I got the Mac Pro I’d like to have the freedom to create a similar set of custom OS deployment images (Windows, Linux and OSX) for it as well. In researching the Mac Pro I have some concerns my current system might not work if I go that route. Am I correct in assuming that in order to run an alternative operating system on a Mac I’ll have to run boot camp or something like it? Or upon unboxing my Mac and tweaking Leopard will I be able to use disk imaging software to make a backup image of my preinstalled Leopard hard drive and then do a clean install of Windows XP or Ubuntu and set it up to function like a PC? I guess I’m asking if it’s possible (now that Macs are Intel-based) to run Windows or Linux exclusively on the Mac hardware?
Also I have some concerns about the proprietary nature of the Mac platform. From what I can gather in my research it seems the hardware is pretty locked in. One area that has me really concerned is gaming. I pretty much use Ubuntu exclusively at home for productivity and web surfing. However I still like to load that XP image every now and then to play some games on the LAN with my buddies. I’m not a fan of virtualizing for gaming because of the obvious performance hit you take, so I’d have to be able to run Windows XP free and clear. Also I checked Nvidia’s site and I see no OSX drivers listed there for their cards. Under the Windows platform they are always releasing driver updates to squeeze more game performance out of your card. What if I want to upgrade my video card? How do drivers work on OSX? Does Apple just integrate drivers for just a few specific video cards into the OS? Will I be stuck only able to pick from a handful of video cards approved by Apple?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer advice!
Message was edited by: ZeusABJ

Hi Zeus
I may be able to answer some of your questions. And sorry in advance if this sounds like yet another of those "religious conversion" stories
I'm a software developer/architect, mostly doing Microsoft .NET/C#/Web Services coding. I'd been a loyal Microsoft guy since I started on the original IBM PC back in the 80's. Like a lot of people (or so it seems) I just got fed up with Microsoft's high-handed and self-important ways. More importantly, the company always seemed to be lagging behind technically. Looking at beta versions of Vista did not bode well for the future - it just seemed awful. When Vista came out it it was the last straw - I just could not get enthusiastic about this bloated, slow, mess of an operating system. I really hated it. Still do. Even with a top-spec machine, Vista didn't run in the snappy, responsive way it I thought it should. Nothing seemed well thought out.. yuck!
Then, by chance, I was staying for a few days with somebody who had a Mac. Now, for years and years I not even considered Macs as remotely serious machines. My only experience of them was in the late 80's when somebody at work had one. He took delight in pushing a floppy disc into the machine so that it would respond "Ah, it's so big!". Great, just a toy. Not for serious programming work. So, encountering Mac OS X Tiger on my friend's iMac was something of a shock. It was so responsive, clean and elegant. When you turned it on it only took about 30 seconds or so for the thing to be ready for use, etc, etc.
Long story short, I bought an iMac, then a newer, bigger, faster iMac, then a MacBook Pro and now I have a Mac Pro. I still have to work with Windows to do my .NET-related day job. But 95% of the time I work on the Mac using various VMWare virtual machines. I can switch between Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP in a few seconds and still be working in a Mac environment. And the performance of running Windows inside VMWare is even better than on my dedicated top-spec Windows laptop! I have a selection of virtual machines to choose from and, because these virtual machines are just files, I can back them up, revert to saved copies, etc. I've tried Bootcamp but it's much less convenient and performance inside the virtual machines is never an issue (although I don't do any gaming). So, you could keep virtual machines on your NAS box or local Mac hard drive.
With regard to graphics drives, etc. I've never had any problems whatever in this respect. For example, when I installed Windows XP on VMWare it automatically recognised all my hardware (including some obscure audio interfaces, USB-based MIDI interfaces, etc.) and made it available. I must admit that when I was new to the Mac I expected to have driver issues, but never have had... So, my guess is that you'll be able to run all your Windows and Linux distros on the Mac without too many problems.
You mention Apple's hardware as being "locked-in". I don't think that's the case. Certainly the consumer Mac models like the iMac can't be upgraded (by you or me) internally, expect for memory. The Mac Pro though is very easy to upgrade - though there may be some limitations with regard graphics cards.
Re your questions about graphics card drivers. Yes, these come with OS X in just the same as as with Windows. Because I've also used the card that comes "with the box" this has not been an issue for me. However, unless you get a Mac Pro you can't swap-in your existing graphics card. And even then I think you may find restrictions. However, other, more knowledgeable Mac users on this forum may have other thoughts.
Overall though, the experience of using the Mac in terms of software is very much the reverse of Windows - the OS is very open and well documented. It really is an IT person's dream machine - so much to fiddle around with (particularly if you know anything about Unix!). Unlike Microsoft who charge a FORTUNE for their development tools, Apple give them to you for free. And very good they are too!
Finally, one bit of advice. If you are considering buying a new Mac, join the Apple Developer Connection scheme as a Select member. It'll cost you around $400 to join but they give you a hardware discount for Apple-store purchased items that will save you a ton of $$$'s - absolutely definitely worth doing.
Hope this helps (and good luck)!
Russ

Can I use XP, Vista and Windows Server on my Mac Pro

Looking for options to have multiple Operating Systems available for bootup.
I need to have the ability to run XP, Vista, Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 server. I am currently using a Windows PC with BootCommander. I want to use my Mac Pro for its power.
I have tried to use VMWare Fusion and it works perfectly. However, Camtasia crashes regularly within Fusion and I need high resolution desktop captures and the way virtualization does (rather does not) virtualize the RAM on the video card has made it not a viable solution.
Your help is appreciated.

Format one or more of your drives as MBR and setup some partitions. Install in proper order. Or use multiple drives. Maybe someone on Fusion forum can help.
http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/desktop/fusion
Some have used multiple VMs with Fusion and Apple Pro RAID5.

Two users on new Mac Pro?

Hello, I am considering a new Mac Pro. My wife and I both have separate Mac's now. My question is with the new Mac Pro, can I have two user accounts (hers and mine) on the same machine that we can use at the same time? More specifically, this would include two different monitors, two different keyboard/mouse set ups, etc. We sit on opposite sides of the desk, but I am considering the Mac Pro as a central unit for the both of us. We are usually in the PC room together and doing whatever we do at the same time. Thanks!

Using the same Mac at different times is really simple -- just add another account and log in as one account or the other.
Using the same Mac at exactly the same time is very complex to set up. It involves using Virtualization software to simulate a second machine running on the first machine.
I recommend you NOT do that. I expect what you are doing is not CPU or Graphics intensive and you would be better served by having two more-ordinary Macs that are independent.

Should i buy a 2010 mac pro quad core 2.8 never been used at the price of £1350

i know someone selling a mac pro 2010 model they say its still got 1 year warranty the specs are
Introduction Date:
July 27, 2010*
Discontinued Date:
N/A
Details:
The "Introduction Date" refers to the date a model was introduced via press release. The "Discontinued Date" refers to the date a model either was replaced by a subsequent system or production otherwise ended. *On August 9, 2010, Apple began accepting orders for this model.
Also see: All Macs introduced in 2010.
Processors:
1 (4 Cores)
Geekbench:
8673/9715*
Processor Speed:
2.8 GHz
Processor Type:
Q. Core Xeon W3530
Custom Speeds:
3.2 (4), 3.33 GHz (6)*
Architecture:
64-Bit
Details:
*Via custom configuration, this model also can be equipped with a single 3.2 GHz Quad Core "Nehalem" Xeon (W3565) processor for an additional US$400 or a single 3.33 GHz Six Core "Westmere" Xeon (W3680) processor for an additional US$1200. As requested by readers, EveryMac.com also has documented these custom configurations as their own models.
Processor Upgrade:
LGA 1366 Socket
FPU:
Integrated
Details:
Also see: How do you upgrade the processors in the "Mid-2010" Mac Pro models? How are the processors mounted?
System Bus Speed:
4.8 GT/s*
Cache Bus Speed:
2.8 GHz (Built-in)
ROM/Firmware Type:
EFI
EFI Architecture:
64-Bit
L1 Cache:
32k/32k x4
L2/L3 Cache:
256k (x4), 8 MB*
RAM Type:
PC3-8500 DDR3 ECC
Min. RAM Speed:
1066 MHz
Standard RAM:
3 GB
Maximum RAM:
48 GB*
Motherboard RAM:
None
RAM Slots:
4*
Video Card:
Radeon HD 5770
VRAM Type:
GDDR5 SDRAM
Standard VRAM:
1 GB
Maximum VRAM:
1 GB
Display Support:
Up to 6 Displays*
Resolution Support:
2560x1600*
2nd Display Support:
Dual/Mirroring
2nd Max. Resolution:
2560x1600
Standard Hard Drive:
1 TB (7200 RPM)
Int. HD Interface:
Serial ATA (3 Gb/s)
Standard Optical:
18X DL "SuperDrive"
Standard Disk:
None
Standard Modem:
None
Standard Ethernet:
Gigabit (x2)
Standard AirPort:
802.11a/b/g/n
Standard Bluetooth:
2.1+EDR
USB Ports:
5 (2.0)
Firewire Ports:
4 (800)
Expansion Slots:
4 PCIe 2.0*
Expansion Bays:
4 3.5", 2 5.25"
Incl. Keyboard:
Apple Aluminum KB
Incl. Input:
Magic Mouse
Case Type:
Tower
Form Factor:
Mac Pro
Apple Order No:
MC250LL/A*
Apple Subfamily:
Mac Pro Mid-2010
Apple Model No:
A1289 (EMC 2314)
Model ID:
MacPro5,1
Battery Type:
N/A
Battery Life:
N/A
Pre-Installed MacOS:
X 10.6.4 (10F2521)
Maximum MacOS:
Current
Minimum Windows:
XP SP2 (32-Bit)*
Maximum Windows:
7 (64-Bit)**
MacOS 9 Support:
None
Windows Support:
Boot/Virtualization
Dimensions:
20.1 x 8.1 x 18.7
Avg. Weight:
39.9 lbs. (18.1 kg)
Original Price (US):
US$2499
Est. Current Retail:
US$2499
they want to sell it for £1300 and this would be my first mac im going to use it for maschine traktor scratch pro 2 and ableton vst s plugins etc i needed to know if this would be a good buy for me or not if u coulld all please help tell me the pros and cons
if possible answer as quick as u can as if it is a good buy i need to get it today or tommorw as he might find someone else to sell to
thanks

You are due for a new build or pre-built, most definitely.
you should be able to hit score of 14k on 6-core w/o trouble.
And for what you can get for £1799 - £2099 I think you could build one, but start with quality parts and go with a solid foundation that will be supported for years. As long as you don't need OS X as it stands.
the mac pro use to shine when it came to dual processor setups. Custom built dual PCs can be another matter, and not for faint of heart.
Choose current socket support, processor, and motherboard and you really are set for years and can upgrade from there.
Take a look at this for a start:
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-LGA-2011--X79-Motherboards/dp/B006L6ZIU4/

I have mac pro i7 , 8GB RAM , 750 HDD , can i install windows 7 ultimate 64 as a parrallals desktop?

i have mac pro i7 , 8GB RAM , 750 HDD , can i install windows 7 ultimate 64 as a parrallals desktop?

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities!
Yes, you can install Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit in your Mac using Parallels for Mac. Just follow the instructions of the virtualization programs during the install. Should you need any assistance with the installation process, I strongly recommend contacting Parallels Tech Support (you must register with Parallels in order to have tech support).
Alternatively, you can always use Apple's BootCamp if you want to run Windows natively in your Mac. Check their support page, Apple has a lot of good links explaining this solution.
Hope this helps!

Boot Camp issues in a new Mac Pro 6 core Westmere

I'm trying to install WinXP SP2 on a drive in bay three of my new Mac Pro (with four internal drives). The boot camp instructions state that a boot camp installation should be done only on a drive in the lowest available numbered bay and that I should remove all the drives in the lower numbered bays in order to do the install. If my OS X system and the boot camp utility are on the hard drive in bay 1 and I'm trying to do an install on a drive in bay 3, this presents a problem. Apple tech support suggested that I swap the drives in bay 1 and 3 prior to the install and then swap them back, which I did. This seemed to work. The startup disk control panel in OS X seems to have no trouble dealing with setting my startup disk to either Mac OS X (in bay 1) or Win XP (in bay 3) after the drives were swapped back. However, I have problems on the windows side. The boot camp control panel in Win XP lets me set Mac OS as the startup disk but I get a permanent black screen at startup requiring me to hold in the power button to shut off the computer and then restart it. Afterwards, I can't start up in OS X unless I hold the option key down at startup and manually pick OS X. I can then reset the startup disk to the OS X in the Mac OS startup disk control panel but this never works from inside XP.
Two questions that I would greatly appreciate answers for:
1. Do you need to install windows on a drive in the lowest available numbered hard drive bay in a Mac Pro?
2. Is the hard drive swap trick I did above confusing the boot camp control panel in XP so that it can't figure how to set Mac OS X (switched back to bay 1) as the startup disk? If the disk swap trick is causing the problem, is there another way to do a boot camp install on a drive that is not in the lowest numbered drive bay?
Thank you very much!
Steve

Support for IE6 is gone. IE9 is coming in beta in Sept. And yes, IE8 can run sites in compatibility mode.
My feeling is those apps that require an old and buggy browser like 6 should be headed for the trash.
XP Mode IS XP in hardware virtualization VM. You may want Windows 7 Pro, for XP Mode but also if you have two physical cpus.
Tech support has been known to give conflicting info on a question, or throw up their hands, and seem really like they need to use Windows first, rather than gain a rep for being clueless and unable to help customers.

Can I download a program, nitro pro 7 onto mac pro when it says it's for windows? If so do I choose the 32 or 64 bit version?

Can I download a progran (Nitro pro 7) onto my mac pro notebook when it says it's for windows? If so do I choose the 32 or 64 bit version?

First, this forum is for the tower Mac Pro system. The MacBook Pro forum can be found here:
MacBook Pro
Anyway, Windows programs do not natively run on Macs. You may be able to get Nitro to run, though either via Boot Camp or one of the virtualization solutions, such as Parallels Desktop, VMWare Fusion, or VirtualBox, that allow you to run a "guest" OS under Mac OS X. You'll need to confirm whether Nitro will run in such circumstances, and if it will, you'll need a copy of Windows. Whether you choose the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Nitro will depend on what release of Windows you choose, or can, run. I'd suggest asking for advice in the Nitro forums, if the developer provides customer forums.
Regards.

New Mac Pro - Best way to get Windows XP on 2nd Internal Hard Drive?

After 16 years, I'm back to a Mac. I picked up a second hard drive for my Mac Pro that I have not installed yet and would like to solely dedicate this drive to running XP Pro. What is the best way to do this please? Thanks!!!

Hi and welcome to Discussions and also welcome back
for running Windows XP you can use the BootCamp Assistant which is part of OSX Leopard (in the Applications/Utilities Folder).
Print out the Installation Guide found either inside the BC Assistant or from here http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/ and follow it to the letter.
While maybe not neccessary but advisable, make a backup of your OSX volume.
The BC Assistant gives you the choice to use a secondary harddisk fully for installing Windows (page 7 of the guide).
Make sure that during installation of Windows you re-format the destination with the Windows Installer (page 9+10 of the guide).
Also be aware that with XP you can only use the 32-bit version, since the 64-bit XP version is not supported.
Only with Vista you can use the 64-bit versions, when you have a 2008 or later model of the Mac Pro.
Once you have installed your XP, insert the OSX Leopard DVD while in Windows in order to install the BootCamp Drivers.
And download the appropriate BC Update 2.1 from here: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/windows/
Other possibilities to run Windows on a Mac are the Virtualization apps like Parallels, VMWare Fusion or VirtualBox.
http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/
http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/
http://www.virtualbox.org/
And the specialty Crossover Mac http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/
When running Windows on a Mac be sure to use a decent Anti-Virus solution.
Hope it helps
Stefan

Re: Will OS X Lion 10.7 run on 2006 Mac Pro?

I came across this thread searching for a solution to my problem. I was happily running Snow Leopard on a Mac Pro 1,1.   Then I got this year's Turbotax, which inexplicably requires Lion or later (dunno why they keep doing that, not the first time it's happened).    It sounds like Lion runs ok on this machine, BUT I have a couple PowerPC apps I'd like to keep (mainly, I don't feel like ponying-up to upgrade Photoshop to a non-PowerPC version).
So I think the answer is dual-boot Lion and Snow Leopard.   Fortunately, my HD already has a second empty partition, though it's only 100 GB.   I wonder, should I just put Lion there, or do a clean install with Lion on the main partition (with my home directory), and then re-install Snow Leopard on a second partition ? I thought I'd heard that it could be problematic to not have the OS on the same partition as one's home directory, and whichever way I do it, that's gonna be the case when I boot up in whichever OS is in the second partition.   Thanks !

Your screenname sounded VERY familiar to me and then...
Did you ever get SheepShaver/Chubby Bunny working?
Without answering your partition questions (I will leave that to the partition experts), here is my "canned" answer to continued use of PowerPC apps in the modern day:
Unfortunately you got caught up in the minor miracle of Rosetta. Originally licensed by Apple when it migrated from the PowerPC CPU platform that it had used from the mid-1990's until the Intel CPU platform in 2006, Rosetta allowed Mac users to continue to use their library of PPC software transparently in emulation.
However, Apple's license to continue to use this technology expired with new releases of OS X commencing with Lion (and now Mountain Lion). While educational efforts have been made over the last 7 years, the fact is that Rosetta was SO successful that many users were caught unaware UNTIL they upgraded to Lion, Mountain Lion or Mavericks.
Workarounds:
1. If your Mac will support it, restore OS X Snow Leopard;
2. If your Mac will support it, partition your hard drive or add an external hard drive and install Snow Leopard into it and use the "dual-boot" method to choose between your PowerPC software or Lion/Mt. Lion/Mavericks;
3. Upgrade your software to Intel compatible versions if they are available, or find alternative software that will open your data files, modify them and save them;
4. Install Snow Leopard Server (with Rosetta) into Parallels or VMWare Fusion. Apple is now selling Snow Leopard Server for only $19.99 + sales tax & shipping; call 1.800.MYAPPLE (1.800.692.7753).    This solution will give you concurrent use of your PowerPC applications and access to Lion, Mt. Lion, Mavericks or Yosemite.
                              [click on image to enlarge]
NOTE: Computer games with complex, 3D or fast motion graphics make not work well or at all in virtualization
More information here:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1365439
Installing Snow Leopard Server into Parallels for DUMMIES!:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=17285039&postcount=564
Parallels free 14 day trial download (do not activate until your copy of Snow Leopard Server has arrived):
http://trial.parallels.com/index.php?lang=en&terr=us

Best way to get Internet Explorer 6.0 on Mac Pro

I need Internet Explorer 6 on my Mac Pro in order to copy write literary works through the US Copy Write Office. What is the safest and best way to do this?

Hi...
Microsoft has not written IE for Mac for years.
In order to run IE on a Mac you would have to install Windows using BookCamp located in /Applications/Utlities or by using virtualization software such as VMWare.
You can enable the Develop menu in Safari > Preferences > Advanced then from the Develop menu click Develop > User Agent but even at that, only IE 7, 8, or 9 are available and there's no guarantee that will work.

Virtualization on a Mac Pro

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