Virtual PC alternatives?

There is Darwine:
http://darwine.opendarwin.org/

It is basically like classic on PPC Mac OS X. Except it runs Windows programs and not OS9 programs.

And Qemu (similar to Virtual PC, but free)
http://www.kberg.ch/q/index.php?sid=80629&p=39

I'm interested in Windows emulation solutions, but don't understand this thread in light of the following from the Darwine site:

v.9.7 DP

Important Warning: YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RUN WINDOWS APPLICATION USING IT ON POWERPC HARDWARE USING THIS RELEASE.

I just installed Virtual PC 7.0 on my Powerbook G4 (1.67G/2G ram). It seems to run Windows apps nearly as fast as my Dell Inspiron 8200 (2.2G/512M ram) except for opening and saving, which are slower. It uses all the OS X (10.4.5) peripherals (mouse, printer, network, internet, etc.) without issue.

Good luck with Q, its still very alpha. I Tried windows 98 and 2000. Some people have had luck installing windows 98 on a PPC machine and then moving it over to intel. Windows 2000 I got installed, but now it won't install any applications. What does run, works fairly well though. I am hopeful that in a few months we'll see something that is pretty good.

Honestly, I think it's almost worth avoiding the hassle and frustration to just buy a cheapo laptop on ebay. Some Toshiba or HP that's a couple years old. It'll run everything XP based just fine, and cost about 500 bucks. Worth avoiding the hassle if you ask me.

/Hated VPC

kntgsp said:

Honestly, I think it's almost worth avoiding the hassle and frustration to just buy a cheapo laptop on ebay. Some Toshiba or HP that's a couple years old. It'll run everything XP based just fine, and cost about 500 bucks. Worth avoiding the hassle if you ask me.

/Hated VPC

Click to expand...

The Mac version of Quicken is barely shareware compared to the PC version, and the files will not import without major nightmares (missing info - try vetting 7 years of 8 accounts). I had hoped to use a native app, but personal finance apps written for the Mac are not great, either.

I have a Dell Inspiron that still works great ( my Powerbook is far more inspiring), but with a loaded PPC G4 & Virtual PC 7 I am now able to again accomplish all the tasks that I bought a computer for. No need to drag two of them on my journeys.

Some folks like rice, some like steak...

BB99

bigboy99 said:

I'm interested in Windows emulation solutions, but don't understand this thread in light of the following from the Darwine site:

v.9.7 DP

Important Warning: YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RUN WINDOWS APPLICATION USING IT ON POWERPC HARDWARE USING THIS RELEASE.

I just installed Virtual PC 7.0 on my Powerbook G4 (1.67G/2G ram). It seems to run Windows apps nearly as fast as my Dell Inspiron 8200 (2.2G/512M ram) except for opening and saving, which are slower. It uses all the OS X (10.4.5) peripherals (mouse, printer, network, internet, etc.) without issue.

Click to expand...

The OP doesn't have PowerPC hardware, he has a MacBook Pro, which runs intel hardware. Also, I have a hard time believing that you get near-native speed in VPC. I've used it before, and it doesn't come anywhere near the speed of my PC, but it's still useful.

mwpeters8182 said:

The OP doesn't have PowerPC hardware, he has a MacBook Pro, which runs intel hardware. Also, I have a hard time believing that you get near-native speed in VPC. I've used it before, and it doesn't come anywhere near the speed of my PC, but it's still useful.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I re-read the entire thread and figured that out (too late). I wouldn't run PhotoShop in emulation, but for Quicken it actually does perform at about 80% +. In 7.0 the amount of memory can be pumped up to 512 meg, and the tranparent use of all Mac peripherals make it a reasonable solution for me.