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Virtual PC 6.1 Upgrade - DON'T DO IT!!!

BackInTheSaddle

BackInTheSaddle

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 20, 2002
118
0
Olympic Peninsula, WA
I recently upgraded from VirtualPC 6.0 to 6.1 (posted at Microsoft web site). Now when I run Internet Explorer, it seems to be able to resolve addresses but it has trouble connecting to most of the sites I want.

The support site at Microsoft is of no use--the only thing that seems to work according to posters in the newsgroup is to reinstall 6.0. I can't do that because I'm on the road and my software CDs are at home (of course).

My advice to those of you who are still on 6.0 -- DON'T UPGRADE until MS figures out what they broke.
 
the upgrade is pure m$. i have seen many accounts of people having to reactivate windowsXP by calling microsoft. i have also seen a few where the serial provided with VPC refused to work, requiring yet another phone call to Big Brother. avoid it like the plague.
 
Having been a PC user for a long time I'm familiar with the way Microsoft works. This is their first time playing with VPC so at the very least wait until the next release--but probably give up completely and stay with 6.0.
 
In addition to everything posted above, if you actually get it running without a glitch, you'll be terribly disappointed as theres not much new with the new version.

I think the only purpose of this upgrade was to get all current VPC customers into Microsofts user database.
 
I believe there is no actual "upgrade" besides Microsoft getting rid of everything that did not have their personal name and logo on it and stamping "Microsoft" everywhere with their own EULA and sprikling it with their Microsoft gremlins to cause all kinds of chaos.
 
Not quite. You don't need to install yellow dog. It will run under OS X. The project as it works for now is a windows program is compiled on an os X machine using winlib and it will run under X11. So the program still has to be compiled under OS X but this makes it very simple to port Windows applications. There are other projects out there to add x86 emulation to Wine for OS X. This would in theory be faster than VPC because all of the windowing code and all of the graphics would not be emulated only the functional code of the program. Now, if a windows program is compiled in OS X with winelib it will be just about as fast as any other OS X app.

Let the porting begin!
 
Ahh, so *that's* the benefit of X11 -- I'm realizing that this is probably a bit too far out toward the deep end of the pool for me, but it's interesting to hear that there's a move to acheive this kind of functionality. It might be one more nail in the coffin of the wintel box (since you wouldn't need one to use wintel programs).
 
I've done the upgrade with no resulting problems. Still works as crappy as it ever did.
 
Originally posted by SBG88
I've done the upgrade with no resulting problems. Still works as crappy as it ever did.
Click to expand...

Yeah - i was wondering who was reporting it as working - since when did VPC work? let alone well .....

(think games)
 
Wine does seem like a great alternative, I hope to see more about it as it gains OS X funtionality...VPC just sucks for anything besides playing Solitaire or Minesweeper...
 
Well I upgraded with some interseting results:

1) After upgrading I felt the urge to try linux so I downloaded the CD's for Mandrake and it wouldn't work, any ideas? I thought linux ran fine on VPC before.

2) When I made the new machine for linux, it booted differently asking if I wanted to boot from a floppy or disk and my CPU gauge spiked, even when nothing was going on on-screen.

But other than that, everything runs just fine. Go fig.
 
I installed the update, and it's running fine for me. Basically, I find no difference. And I'm happy with the performance, since I don't expect to play games with it... I just run a couple of Windows-only business apps on it at work.
 
jimthorn

Same here. Update is working fine (win2k), but no improvements, which was stated by MS to begin with. VPC works well enough for the misc. business apps that are Windows only (for me).
 
my vpc 6 doe not work under osx.3 dose 6.1 fix this or not
(win 2003 server)
 
i did it and it works now but talk about bloat warfe it added 10 megs tothe file!!!!!!!!!
 
I actually am able to get FruityLoops working on my 500mhz G3 Powerbook with VPC6. I can use it pretty much glitch free in Mac OS 9.2.2, but Jaguar definetley adds more weight that can be felt. I'm guessing a faster Processor upgrade, coupled with Panther will give me much better results, considering It's useable right now.

Tricks to gettin' more peformance out of VPC;

- Use Windows 98 SE
- Run VPC on Mac OS 9.2.2 (not emulated in X). This alone increase performance up to 30%.
- Create a minimal OS 9.2.2 extension set designed 4 VPC. Use only what is necessary, read up on this if your not familiar with OS9 extensions & ext. sets.
- Quit all unnecessary background applications in Mac OS 9 while using VPC.
- Use "full screen" mode for Emulated Windows 98 SE, this speeds up screen redraws.
- Don't use a background picture for the Windows 98 desktop, use just a solid color.
- Quitting the finder in OS 9 can help with slower macs, however you'll have to find a third party app which will quit and restart OS 9 finder....I've only found a way to quit it, which means u have to restart the system to use Mac apps & browse the Hard Drive.
- Upgrade RAM on your Mac as much as possible
- Dedicate as much RAM as you can spare to Windows 98 SE in VPC, I use 256mb.
- If u can dedicate enough RAM to Windows 98 SE (over 128mb or 196mb), diable Virtual Memory in Windows98. VM is horribly slow in VPC, considering that your using an emulated hard drive.
- Research into "tweaks" for Windows 98. Anything that applies to Win98 OS on a real PC (no pun) also stands true to an emulated Win98 OS. Do every (recommended) tweak possible, turning off all display effects, for example, can make a huge difference. Theres lots of documented "tweaks" online, so research! You want application performance, not a pretty OS.
-Disable any unnesarry background applications & startup apps running in your emulated Windows 98 SE. You'd be suprised how many useless apps are running in the background without you even knowing it. in the "run" dialog, typing "MSCONFIG" brings up a hidden app which is helpful for just this & more.
-Update to the lastest DirectX from microsoft. The current DirectX9 can be installed on Win98 SE. This helps dramatically with The emulated SB audio "Latency".... allows your Windows programs to use low-latency Directsound. It probably helps with graphics emulation as well.
-If possible, avoid networking your VirtualPC Windows OS with your Mac OS. This can slow things down. You can turn this on & off in the VPC settings.
-Use VirtualPC6!!!! Heard a few bad reports about MS's 6.1 update.
-Get a faster CPU (if possible).....this is probably the most important, yet most obvious point.

Windows 98SE, from my experience, is the fastest OS to use, both under OSX and OS9. I've heard Win2k is faster under OSX, not true, Win98 SE still runs alot faster.

VPC is still the best option we have right now!
 
From the readme file:

Here is the summary of what has changed from the readme file:
Changes from Virtual PC for Mac version 6.0.1

• Re-branding changes were made to both the Virtual PC application and the Virtual PC Additions to reflect the transition of Virtual PC from a Connectix-branded product to a Microsoft-branded product.

• Fixed an incompatibility problem between Virtual PC and the Apple Airport Extreme card. (Fixed in Virtual PC for Mac Version 6.0.2.)

• Fixed an issue that prevented_users from properly drawing arcs in Java version 1.4.1.

• Added an AppleScript to enable a slower_"compatibility mode" for installing software applications in a guest operating system that_rely on_copy-protected files or self-modifying code._Do not enable this_setting unless you are having problems installing a particular piece of software._If this is the case, you can turn on_the Compatibility Mode for the software installation and then turn it off once the installation has finished._Note that this mode causes the guest_operating system and_Virtual PC_to run much_slower, but it_might allow greater compatibility for installing some applications.

• Fixed an issue involving_auto-restore of PCs under Mac OS 9.2.2.
Click to expand...
Does anyone know where I can download the 6.02 update? I'd rather not risk corrupting my XP installation with 6.1.
 
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