Rght windows OS for .NET web services

Question

Hello,

I'm an ASP.NET newbie who's just raring to learm more about web services.  But first things first,
I have a laptop running Windows XP Home Edition SP2, w/ VS .NET 2003.  I know I can't use IIS on this machine, would the so-called Cassini web server work on this box?  I just want to know as I'm getting an error about having to install web components when trying to create the web service (after running Cassini first), but couldn't really install them since the installer is looking for IIS :-(

Also, would VS.NET, IIS and whatever other requirements I need for web services work on a machine running a WIndows Media Center OS?

'Appreciate your immediate feedback!

Thanks!