Understood. My point is that the best thing for an XP captive can be to run an instance of XP under a multitasking arrangement. If XP gets corrupted, you have a clean XP image which can be quickly replicated to replace the corrupted original working copy.But you’d need a Mac - at least a Mac mini - which would run you at least $500 (for $700 you get over twice as much machine as for $500: 2.6 GHz dual core I5, 8 GB RAM, 1T disk). Any Mac can run Windows XP directly under “Boot Camp.” Swordmaker would tell you how it’s done, and the pros and cons. He would recommend “Fusion” I think it’s called, to allow the use of OS X simultaneously with XP on a multitasking basis.
I’ve never done it and I’m not 100% on the details. But if you are left hanging out in the breeze because of lack of support for XP, and fear corruption of your OS, it could be worth considering. Even if Tim Cook is an [expletive deleted]. (other vendors are little if any better in that regard).
Later versions of Windows have gotten more bulletproof than XP. But AFAIK nothing is more robust than the multiuser, multitasking OS which is Unix - which is what is under the hood of OS X. So there is an increment of safety involved in interfacing with your modem mostly thru OS X, and minimizing XP's contact with the outside world.
The same thing can be done with a Win7 computer and a copy of VMware Player, which is free for personal use and nominal cost for commercial/business use. If the transition to a Mac is daunting, moving up from XP to 7 is a very viable option.
Moreover, if you get Win7 Pro, Enterprise, or Ultimate edition, you can have a copy of XP for free as part of the deal. No extra XP license, no cost for the virtual host software either. It runs on Microsoft Virtual PC, which runs on Win7.
It's nearly as flexible as running a separate copy of XP under VMware or similar, so it's worth considering. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC#Windows_XP_Mode and http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/windows-xp-mode