Will Seagate Momentus XT work in a desktop?

Yes, you should buy a bracket for the Momentus XT. Hard drives have moving parts so they should be mounted securely.

Here's a link for a cheap bracket: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Yes but get an ssd I have one in the laptop im on now really doesnt do much..

Thent

Will the performance of the drive be slower if installed in a desktop? Also, are laptop drives generally slower than desktop ones?

No it will perfom on par with a full desktop drive transfering over a gig network i see 100 to 110 MB a second so that is actually a lillt better than you middle of the road drive and on par with higher end ones..

Thent