Another Virtual PC question

[masterjedi73]

Will VPC 7 allow me to access websites that only work in Windows? My wife is a realtor and can't access the MLS website through our Mac (G5). We called the MLS and they said that it's not Mac compatible. I've tried several different browsers and none of them work....including debugging safari.

 

[brap]

Have you tried using Internet Explorer 5.x, on OS X?

IIRC, it doesn't come with new Macs anymore.

[edit] But yeah, sure it would. Buying an expensive piece of software and an OS license for a single website, though, seems a tad OTT... care to give us a URL for the offending site?

 

[mad jew]

VPC should work as Windows does when it comes to accessing certain websites however don't take my word for it. Maybe check it out at your local Apple Store first.

 

[masterjedi73]

I have IE for OSX, and it doesn't work. I'd give you the URL, but you would have to sign in and everything before it wouldn't work, and I obviously can't give out that info...lol.

Does a browser come with VPC, or would I have to download IE for it too?

 

[mad jew]

There are different packages that you can choose. Generally, most people buy VPC with an OS as well (XP/2000 or whatever) which is, for all intensive purposes, simply Windows in a window on your Mac (or fullscreen if you want ). So to answer your question, yes VPC comes with IE just as Windows does and it will probably (99% sure) fool the website into thinking it's a real PC.

See here for more.

 

[masterjedi73]

If I buy the stand alone version, will a windows XP Pro recovery cd with code work?

 

[NeoMayhem]

Will VPC 7 allow me to access websites that only work in Windows? My wife is a realtor and can't access the MLS website through our Mac (G5). We called the MLS and they said that it's not Mac compatible. I've tried several different browsers and none of them work....including debugging safari.

Yep, it will work fine in vpc. I know somebody who has the same problem with an MLS site. The site actually worked fine, but the menus at the top didnt. I just made a basic html page with the links they needed, and now they can use the site with safari

 

[taeclee99]

Have you tried using firefox for osx? Firefox is how I access our local mls listings on my mac beacuse safari is not compatible.

 

[masterjedi73]

Have you tried using firefox for osx? Firefox is how I access our local mls listings on my mac beacuse safari is not compatible.

Yep...I tried Firefox and got the same error message.

 

[taeclee99]

Yep...I tried Firefox and got the same error message.

that's too bad. i guess vpc is the only way to go then. make sure you use win 2000 with vpc and not xp. xp runs way too slow in my opinion.

 

[mad jew]

If I buy the stand alone version, will a windows XP Pro recovery cd with code work?

Yep, I've done this. Virtual PC acts as a virtual x86 PC whereby you can load on pretty much any OS you want from any CD. It's even got a walkthrough to help you install it. As people have said, Windows 2000 will run faster than XP.

If you've already got a Windows licence (remember you're only meant to have it installed on one PC at a time) then there's no point in getting a second licence with VPC.

 

[nate]

Some pages use Active X, which only works for Windows. Usually they are web-based programs... I've seen a few online web-site builders use the active X controls, which prevents mac and linux users from using that service.

Yahoo Video Launch also restrics OS X users from viewing their Music videos (but apprently it works in OS 9)


With VPC you can install Windows. It is just like having a PC, but on your Mac. Since it uses emulation, however, you will notice that it's a bit slower than OS X.

The good thing is that you can do almost everything with VPC, except for 3D gaming because it would be too slow to run. 2D games usually work fine.

There are several things you should know about VPC:

- You need lots of RAM. RAM is very important for VPC performance. Have at least 500mb or more RAM, I think 1g of RAM is recomended for VPC.

- The faster your processor, the faster VPC is. VPC will always be slower than OS X because of the emulation, but I hear that people with fast G5 processors find that VPC is workable, and the speed isn't so bothersome.

- Windows 2000 runs faster in VPC than Windows XP. XP uses more resources, thus it will be a bit slower.

- Get Tiger. There is a networking problem that VPC and has with Tiger, but if you don't need the networking right away, Tiger (for me at least) seems to make VPC a little faster... actually Tiger has made my entire computer much faster.


I have VPC 6 and I run it on my Powerbook G4 @ 1Ghz. I have both XP and Windows 2000, but I always run 2000 because it works much faster than XP.

Windows is slow, but it is still workable. My speeds are like a Pentium 500 Mhz...

I once tried Windows 98, which worked very well and was just as speedy as a normal Intel computer, but for some reason I couldn't get updates for, so I deleted it.


Once you install Windows, VPC will run it as if it's on an Intel machine. You can use Windows-only websites and use Windows-only program.

I usually don't have to use VPC often, because it's coming to a point when you can get the same stuff on OS X, and many websites are using OS X friendly websites and web applications.

But there are times I use Windows to test websites that I build, or access a web application that is for Windows only.

You can even run Windows Update to update your copy of Windows within Virtual PC -- and you may have to for the web-application.


Good luck,


--nate