Downgrade from Vista to XP Required?

[Ian in Oxford]

I've just finished installing Vista Business under Parallels on my MacBook and am really impressed by the speed it runs at.

However, the two keys apps I want to run do not run under Vista (manufacturer had not tested them so I had know way of knowing). My university has licenses for XP and Vista but could not supply me with a full XP package, only an OEM which would not install.

One of my IT people (who I really don't trust) said that I could install Vista Business (which they do have full packages for) and then downgrade to XP with my OEM disk. Under Parallels, in Vista, the XP installation from my XP installation disk is blanked out and not available.

Is there any way of downgrading from Vista to XP under Parallels or failing that, Boot Camp?

 

[HoleInTheSky]

Good morning Oxford,

You don't need to downgrade. You can simply install XP, using another VM disk. Then, if you decide to go back to Vista, it's still there. I believe, you can have as many VM disks as you have space.

I've been using Vista/Leopard/5160. After working through some kinks, and some whining, I'm pretty happy. grins: Vista has some weird issues like UAC, but there's work arounds (turning it off). In general, I dig Vista much more than XP, and I've been using Windows since the beginning.

I'm running pretty stable now, haven't had any trouble getting any of my Windows apps to run.

All the best,

 

[Ian in Oxford]

The XP disk I currently have won't allow me to install XP in Parallels or Boot Camp as its not a complete package disk, just an OEM/upgrade.

My Vista disk allows me to install Vista but I need to downgrade to XP to run the software I need.

I'm new to this, so its possible that the specific media and license arrangements of my institution are making this harder than it should be.