Boot Camp, Parallels, And Xp Pro Or Home? Options

[rcross73]

Hello all.

I'm going to be getting the 15.4" 2.33 GHz MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo, with 2GB RAM and a 160GB 5400 rpm HD. I'll be running Logic Express 7.2, Reason 3.0, Line 6 GearBox, and NI Guitar Rig 2, and I'll be wanting to record at 24-bit level.

But I also want to be able to run Windows on the machine. I understand that, for gaming, Boot Camp is the only way to go - and running PC games would be nice. But Parallels is also attractive to me for various foreign-language dictionaries and other little programs that only work on Windows, and for which I wouldn't want to start the computer up again every time I want to use them.

My first question is: will installing either Boot Camp or Parallels affect the computer's performance negatively in any way when I am NOT running them (i.e. while I am recording in Logic and simultaneously working with Reason and/or GearBox)? Simply put, will their simple existance on my machine hamper its performance for my music apps?

Secondly, whichever I choose (Boot Camp or Parallels), which version of Windows XP should I put on it? Pro or Home? I have been running XP Home on a Sony Vaio for years and I'm very familiar with it, and I understand that Pro isn't really that different. I'm not going to be networking with other computers, and I'm not a business guy. But I understand that it supports dual processors, while Home only supports single ones. Does that include the Intel Core 2 Duo? Or is this treated as a single processor, despite having two cores on the one chip? Again, simply put, do I need to get XP Pro in order to maximize the power of my machine, or will XP Home work totally fine?

Any help on either question would be greatly appreciated.