Just downloaded free trial of Parallels desktop 5 for Mac

Hi there,
I just wanted trial it first before buying. After download I went thru the steps. Got as far as setting up the windows version for the virtual machine. Here is where I got confused. Do I have to download a windows 7 or windows xp to set up the windows for virtual machine or can I use my existing windows xp on my laptop. By way of setting my mac to network with my laptop. I thought that with this software everything came with it including the windows setup. Not a computer savvy you see.

 

Parallels Desktop costs $80. Windows costs $130. Therefore it doesn't include Windows.

Parallels Desktop is a virtualization product which means it emulated the hardware of a PC. No operating system is included. It will allow you to migrate an installation of Windows from a PC. It will also allow you to boot a virtual machine from a Boot Camp partition on your Mac that contains a PC operating system.

Read the pdf documentation at:
http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/resources/documentation/

If you want to use the Windows XP that is on your laptop then read the Parallels Transporter User’s Guide. I don't think it's legal to keep Windows XP on your laptop after you run it on your Mac though unless you buy another license from Microsoft.