Since I got the MacBook, I’ve been using it quite a bit. The consulting work I’m doing requires spending some time in the Windows-only world of Visio, and I’m running it on the MacBook using Parallels. For a beta virtual machine, Parallels is pretty good.

I’ve had some fun getting my Windows license key accepted: please call this number, then speak a ninety eight thousand character string into the phone, repeating every other sequence, then argue with some doofus, then read off the ninety eight thousand character string to same doofus, then type in a different ninety eight thousand character string. All to install an OS I don’t even really want…

One issue I had when trying to get XP installed on my Boot Camp partition was that the CD kept ejecting – it wouldn’t read. Based on the advice here, I created a copy of the CD with Disk Copy, then installed from that. Bizarre!

If you’re going to be doing anything in Boot Camp, you’ll want enable a key as a right-click mouse button and get a delete key, etc. This is your huckleberry.

I basically use Boot Camp for two reasons:

1. Tethering to the BlackBerry for connectivity in a pinch.
2. Synching Intelligolf on my old Palm V.

I’m thrilled that I can use Boot Camp for this since Parallels doesn’t do the USB thing very well just yet, but Parallels is definitely a better choice for a Windows test environment and light work environment.