Personally I find Virtual Box to be the most user-friendly but if you
are needing USB support then don't get the one in the Ubuntu Software
Centre - go to the Virtual Box web site and download from there. Note
that you'll need a valid WinXP COA to install WinXP and it's also
going to need AV protection but for the envisioned use any of the free
ones will be sufficient.

Alternatively - there are ways of working Apple music devices without
iTunes :-)

About the USB part I never got the USB to work I went to the Virtual Box
website and downloaded the USB extension pack and added it. Still no USB. If
you have better luck please let me know.

if I'm out of order please let me know.
I have two foster children who have ipods. This made it necessary to run itunes
(yuck). I tried wine and it was lacking. So I now run Virtualbox 4.0.4 w/the USB
extension. I have Windows XP running in that and itunes installed. It runs
flawlessly and the teenagers are now happy.

If you get stuck let me know, I night be able to help.

I never could get the usb to work. I uninstalled virtual box and reinstalled
added the usb extension pack. I thought it was going to work because usb
root found popped up in Windows xp virtual but when I plugged up my external
hard drive it was a no go.

I found that when I plugged in my usb Hard Drive, I had to unmount it
from Ubuntu FIRST. Then, I could "find" it in Windows XP and install the
drivers and Windows would see it. Then I had to unattach it from Windows
before exiting, so Ubuntu could mount it again.

They will not both use it at the same time, at least not for me.

I have 3 external USB hard drives accessable and used in both Kubuntu
and XP on VirtualBox simultaneously. The setup is not very intuitive.

The USB extensions and the Guest additions must be installed and the
USB devices must be shared by (K)Ubuntu on the network. They must be
mounted using the "shared drives" section of the VirtualBox main
screen. The drives mounted in Kubuntu are then available for XP use.
The "network" drives are actually on the same box, but can be accessed
on the virtual machine.

Sorry to be kind of vague but I'm not at the computer with VirtualBox
in use now, but it can be done. Rather awkward but possible. Others
may be able to explain it better... and I invite them to do so.

You used to have to add yourself to the plugdev users group and unmount
the USB device in Ubuntu and specifically mount the device in the VM and
jump through all sorts of other hoops to get USB working with VB.

Now, it's quite a bit easier. You install the USB extension, go into
the VM's settings, add each device you want the VM to be able to see
under the USB tab and go.

At least, that's all I did and I have all sorts of USB devices (although
not, I have to say, an iPod or iPhone, because I don't have either)
working very nicely in my XP VM.

Thanks for all the advice. I think I will need itunes because this is
an iphone and I believe you have to connect the phone through itunes to
apple before you can start making calls.

I also have an ipod, but I use rhythmbox in ubuntu to manage that.

If anyone out there has an iphone, can you tell me if I really need
itunes or not? (I don't like itunes myself).

if I'm understanding right,
a WinXP COA is the long number on the label
and costs at least £15 on ebay.
And that is needed to run windows on a virtual machine,
to update and patch it and go online?

Can this COA be shared between different virtual machines?

I believe we cant share it between different physical computers
because it looks at the hardware and checks that its the same as when
registered.

Am I understanding correctly?

I believe you are understanding correctly.
I have Windows XP Professional SP 2
in a box which I bought years ago.
I installed it under Virtualbox 4.0.4 from
Oracle website. It runs on my Ubuntu 10.10 desktop.

I thought I would put the whole thing on my laptop.
So I installed the Virtualbox on my laptop
and copied the XP files from virtualbox desktop over to my laptop
and Windows XP runs just fine. Both update perfectly.

Of course I think Microsoft gave up on me because I activated
this Windows XP so many times in the past running VMware and
Virtualbox and dual booting and just playing around. :-)

you need to add your user name to the virtual box users
group. Or something similar to that. A web search or a search of this
mailing list can probably turn up some step-by-step instructions, but
if you continue having difficulties, someone here can probably help
you best if you start a new thread specific to your issue.

My wife has gotten several of these iphones over the years, and has always been
able to make calls walking out of the store with them. I dont know if it would
be any different if you have one arriving in the mail, but i would think not. I
recently gave one of her old iphones a hard reset and used it while mine was in
the shop. Everything worked fine after popping in the sim card. I know you do
have to have an itunes *account* to download any apps from their store. If I
recall corectly, i was able to set that up directly on the phone. I am fairly
certain I had the device fully functional without ever going near itunes. The
only thing that left me puzzled using ubuntu to manage content was in making
playlists. But i guess if you have been using an ipod already, you probably
have that figured out. hth...