What is the smallest Parallels Desktop image of Windows XP that will fit corporate needs?

August 14, 2007 10:11 PM

What is the lightest, meanest, most-secure image of Windows XP Corporate I can install onto my MacBook Pro that will allow me to use Corporate MS Exchange Email, Visio, and IE-only intranet?

I have a Macbook Pro that I use in a corporate environment via Parallels desktop. We use Exchange 2k3 for email and groupware. All the software I run is (and must be) legal and licensed. I am looking for the lightest, quickest, legal image of XP SP2 with all hotfixes and NO BLOAT. There are a lot of parallels users here in the green; I ask the hive mind: what image should I use? Bonus points if it won't crash the LinkedIn.com toolbar and is Google Earth Professional friendly.

posted by crazyray to computers & internet (1 comment total)

I use TinyXP Rev06 in vmware/Parallels, with my own XP Pro key. I had previously used a more stripped edition (including my own edits with nLite) but it rendered certain drivers unusable, among other problems. There's a boot option to install it without drivers and the junky Microsoft default install software, which is the option I select. Very fast boot (about 3 seconds) and low memory footprint.
posted by tumult at 1:53 AM on August 15, 2007