What is the best Win XP emulator for mac?

not sure because I don't personally use it, but you might try Virtual PC, it seems to consistently get good reviews. Even though it is produced and distributed by "you know who"...

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/virtualpc/virtualpc.aspx

Virtual PC is the only truly usable emulation software. Others exist, but they aren't nearly as fast.

I'd suggest running ad-aware and spybot on the PC, and using that.

MP

yOyOYoo said:

It runs on my office PC, but it's filled with spyware, popups, etc etc, it runs super slow and choppy...

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Please do not forget that your copy of WinXP that you install on top of VirtualPC or GuestPC is vulnerable to spyware etc. too.
Neither a Mac nor a new Dell will help against it.
The only way to avoid malware is to be cautious.

Will your program run under Windows 2000?
If so, you will get better performance with VPC using Win2000 than you will with XP.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

yOyOYoo said:

I want to get a new mac mini or G5 or some sort of Mac desktop (don't know the differences yet) for my office, but one requirement is that it must run this stock program and it must run it smoothly and efficiently, real life time.

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Well Virtual PC is the fastest as far as I know. However, emulating a whole operating system requires a great deal of computing power, so it is unlikely you will get better performance using Virtual PC (even your current desktop could be faster).

For instance, I have a 1.67ghz 512mb powerbook with Virtual PC on it. The Windows XP machine that it emulates has a processor speed of about only 300mhz (I'm not so sure about this since I haven't spent that much time with it yet...). However, if you're planning on getting a dual G5 powermac you might get much better speeds (I don't really know about this because I don't have one ).

Anyway, the only way to be certain that it will run OK is to give it a try. Unfortunately, I believe there's no trial version available so this didn't turn out to be that much help . So I guess my point is, you will probably need a very fast machine (although it also depends on the software you are trying to run) and if your software doesn't require access to the internet you can just shut off the network features on the virtual machine and you will be spyware/adware free.

mwpeters8182 said:

Virtual PC is the only truly usable emulation software. Others exist, but they aren't nearly as fast.

I'd suggest running ad-aware and spybot on the PC, and using that.

MP

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Also, make sure you are behind a firewall (either by virtue of OS X and/or a router), and then get a copy of Firefox and install it in the VPC, and use MSIE as little as possible, and not at all, if you can. This will aid you greatly. FF makes it much more difficult for spyware or adware to get on your computer.

I don't have VPC, but from other people's description and stats and benchmarks posted, it sounds like VPC is 5-10x as fast as QEmu or MacBochs or GuestPC. Those other emulators will be at the barebones of usability on a G4...I think the faster G4s will probably act at approximately a PII operating at 40-60MHz (yes, MHz! ) on those emulators, judging from usability reports, and the fact that I get 18-20MHz on a G4/800 MHz. So they won't really be usable.

My experience with VPC7 is that if you're going to pay all that money for it, why not just get the $299 dell WITH MONITOR!. Who cares if it's a Celeron? It's got a CD-RW drive and everything you need. You can downgrade the 80GB HD to a 40GB and boost the 256MB RAM to 512MB RAM according to Dell's policy!

Much more worth it than VPC.

The merits or demerits of having VPC vs a cheap Dell have been debated over and over on the board, with no real consensus. The performance would be better with a separate box, but then you have 2 computers to maintain and you have 2 footprints you have to make room for, which is a problem for some. There is a place for VPC, I use it solely to connect with my VPN for work, and it is adequate. I wouldn't want a separate PC just to check my work email, etc.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

ITASOR said:

My experience with VPC7 is that if you're going to pay all that money for it, why not just get the $299 dell WITH MONITOR!. Who cares if it's a Celeron? It's got a CD-RW drive and everything you need. You can downgrade the 80GB HD to a 40GB and boost the 256MB RAM to 512MB RAM according to Dell's policy!

Much more worth it than VPC.

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yOyOYoo wants to run the emulator on his PowerBook. It would make precious little sense for him to lug a $300 Dell to the coffee shop or through the airport.

yOyOYoo said:

thanks for all the comments now guys.

Sheesh... so you're telling me that with Virtual PC on my powerbook, I can get PC viruses and spyware and such??!?

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Yep, it's a PC, isn't it? The viruses can't get out of the VPC environment, though, unless you copy a file out of the drive image, and even then, cannot infect anything. But yes. It certainly is possible inside VPC.

yOyOYoo said:

thanks for all the comments now guys.

Sheesh... so you're telling me that with Virtual PC on my powerbook, I can get PC viruses and spyware and such??!?

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- You're not going to be reading email out of Virtual PC, so viruses are very unlikely.

- You're not going to be browsing the web out of VPC (are you?), so spyware is not likely. If you must browse the web, use Firefox.

- Keep the OS X firewall on, and make sure the MS ports (Windows sharing) are closed. That will keep the trojans off your computer - assuming you use the default shared networking settings for VPC.

- Always be sure to run Windows Update regularly.

Given how slow VPC is already, I personally think it's not a good idea to run things like SpyBot and VirusScan on it unless you have an explicit reason to (such as if you're reading your email inside of VPC, or using Internet Explorer).

Bottom line... get in and get out of VPC as quick as you can
Only do what you HAVE to do there... do everything else in your Mac environment. When you are running VPC, you are just like a Windows PC, and you are just as vulnerable. But as stated above, it only affects the VPC portion, not the Mac.

If you have a significant amount of PC work, then you probably need to go PC. If not, VPC can fill the niche (like my VPN need above). One or two Windows only programs can be run, but if you are going to browse, email, etc. then why do it through VPC? You wouldn't (or shouldn't), just do it on the Mac.

If you are gaming, then don't bother with VPC.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

Semi-off topic...an ad that appears coincidentally at the bottom of this topic (or at least it did when I viewed it and when I went and checked it again) says "Mac OS X can run Windows (click for more...)" or something...

Isn't it impossible for an operating system to run another operating system?

ClarkeB said:

Semi-off topic...an ad that appears coincidentally at the bottom of this topic (or at least it did when I viewed it and when I went and checked it again) says "Mac OS X can run Windows (click for more...)" or something...

Isn't it impossible for an operating system to run another operating system?

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this is the site it links to

ClarkeB said:

Isn't it impossible for an operating system to run another operating system?

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Uh, no... not when we are talking about emulation.
I run Windows XP on my Mac with Panther using VPC, as do others.

Never used Guest PC (the link above), but I doubt it is any better than VPC, which is only adequate under certain conditions IMHO.

Woof, Woof - Dawg