Hi, I have a quick question concerning macbooks and os's in general. If I was to purchase an Apple laptop, could I partition the hard drive to have Windows Xp, or Ubuntu, or both, or is that kind of impossible/stupid. I have been a Windoes user all my life, would like to branch out. Thanks for the help,

You can format the Hard Drive with out problems. Usage depends on the processor (x86 or PPC). I am unsure if windows has a PPC version. Ubuntu does though

The newer Macs now run on intels and with OS/X 10.5 boot camp has come pre-installed which will allow you to run Windows and Mac OS/X on the same machine.

-Steve

I also want to install both (Win XP, Ubuntu). But i don't know how to do it.once i have installed Ubuntu. but i got sum problems in my hard disk.so is there anyone to help me on dis problem, coz i really wanna install both.

regds.....!

You can install other operating systems on an Intel-based MAC. Try using virtualization software. Examples include Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMware Fusion.

Well BootCamp will walk you through installing XP. I dont know if you can install a third OS or not. Ive been meaning to try it, but want to get a bigger hard drive first.

In a related note:

1. Can an external hard-drive be used instead of partitioning? I've one that's 250GB, which is about190GB bigger than I need but it was a good deal to use for backups (Time Machine/Leopard), but wonder if I couldn't use some of that space for something else.

2. I've got Windows XP (home) on discs that came with my old Compaq Presario~can these be used on another system? (yeah, I bettin' fat chance on that one

I know its possible to boot off an external firewire drive with OS X, but I haven't tried it with other operating systems at all.