I'll be getting my iMac when Leopard is released and want to take full advantage of boot camp/parallels (is there a difference) but my Windows CD with XP that I use on my old PC is unlicensed. Will I be able to install it on my iMac? If I can, will it void my warranty in anyway?
If this topic is against the rules, please delete it.
What you install in Bootcamp will not affect the warranty of your Macintosh. The question is whether installing a version of Windows XP is legal or illegal, and that is a question that matters to Microsoft, not to Apple.
If you purchase a full retail version of Windows XP, it is entirely legal to install it on _one_ computer. So if you installed it on a PC, it has to be removed from that PC before you can install it on the Macintosh legally.
If you purchase an OEM version of Windows XP (intended to be installed on a home-built computer) which is a lot cheaper, it is a bit dubious whether installing it on a Macintosh is legal. Anyway, these versions may be installed on one computer only and (important) may not be moved to another computer, ever. So you can't use a copy that was ever installed on another PC. And if you replace your Macintosh with a new one in three years time, you can't install it on the new Macintosh legally, even if you remove it from the old one.
The same for Windows XP versions that came with a PC that you bought: They cannot legally be installed anywhere else, including on a Macintosh. Usually they wouldn't work anyway; the version that came with your Dell computer will most likely only work on that Dell model, not on a Hewlett Packard computer, not on an iMac with Bootcamp.
If by "unlicensed" you mean that you made a copy of someone else's Windows XP CDs, especially if that someone else is still using it, installing that would be clearly absolutely illegal.
