Has anyone used Virtual PC 7? If so how do you feel about it? I heard that it's a ram hog but other then that is it ok?
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Virtual PC 7 any good?
- Thread starter imac abuser
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imac abuser said:
It will run your Windows programs fine, but don't expect too much speed. It does what it's supposed to do--get your Windows up on a Mac. If you really need Windows performance, use a Windows machine. VPC works, but it's slow. Not painfully slow, but slow enough you'll know it's emulation.
it basically runs as fast as a 200mhz pentium machine. It will run small apps fine, but larger apps will either not load, or run very very slow.
Yes it hogs RAM, and it hogs processor cycles.
I use it only when I have to - for MS Project and MS Visio - where there is no other really good alternative and compatibility is crucial.
Why do you ask?
I use it only when I have to - for MS Project and MS Visio - where there is no other really good alternative and compatibility is crucial.
Why do you ask?
How on earth can you say that when you don't even know what Mac the OP has? I use VPC on a 1 GHz TiBook and it runs fine. No, it isn't fast, but it does the job, including producing 3D Excel charts. I run a client app for realtime servers performance monitoring with VPC, and it is perfectly useable.JeDiBoYTJ said:
quick vpc question (well 2) if i have win 98 sitting around can i use that with vpc 7? if i just needed to build sites in frontpage (long story why) would the performance be at least comparable to a 450mhz pIII with 128mb of ram? (lol 3 i guess) edu-priced vpc? 
I think the critical question is what you are thinking of using it for. There are many opinions regarding the best approach (VPC vs remote desktop to a windows box), but for non-graphic intensive applications, it runs reasonably well - and on my dual 2.5, I would even to venture to say the speed issue isn't too bad at all for the apps I am forced to use. (and works well under Tiger except for the virtual switch networking, which isn't needed for most)
homerjward said:quick vpc question (well 2) if i have win 98 sitting around can i use that with vpc 7? if i just needed to build sites in frontpage (long story why) would the performance be at least comparable to a 450mhz pIII with 128mb of ram? (lol 3 i guess) edu-priced vpc?
yes, you can use other install CDs - would suggest staying away from xp if you can, win2000 the best. While win98 will work, I have heard that some features will not work with win98 - mostly related to how easy it is to work between the two OS's (like cutting and pasting, etc.)
As for speed, what hardware are you using? There is a large difference between a 1.25 G4 and dual 2.5 G5.
daveL said:
I never said it wasnt usable. I run it on a 1.5ghz AluBook and it runs what I need it to do to.
No matter what Mac you own, its not going to run any faster than a 200mhz pentium.
There was no need to attack my post like that
sorry, keep forgetting i no longer have hardware in sig. 1.25 g4 emac with 768 ramScottyk9 said:
James Philp said:Oh, i thought the problems were bigger than this, sorry!
without the "tiny deal" of the virtual switch your VPC session will have NO access to any network resources, i consider that a huge hang up. I really hope MS will release a fix for 6.1.1 and 7.1 VPC soon, im growing tired of having no network connection on my VPC sessions
I believe this will also effect shared folders since its uses the shared sub-system, i havent tested it though. I just miss having a network connection since Tiger snapped the virtual switch in two with its teeth Ed
VPC networking does work under Tiger. I just used it yesterday. The default VPC network option is "shared network", which works fine. VPC simply piggybacks on top of the OS X network stack. Virtual Switch has to be selected as the network setting, which allows you to have a unique IP address for VPC. Most users wouldn't need this functionality. Anyway, as I said, VPC networking does work under Tiger.Ed H said:without the "tiny deal" of the virtual switch your VPC session will have NO access to any network resources, i consider that a huge hang up. I really hope MS will release a fix for 6.1.1 and 7.1 VPC soon, im growing tired of having no network connection on my VPC sessions
Ed
I pretty much use it for previewing sites in IE, and v7 actually runs pretty quickly on a dual 2.0 G5--at least as fast as some of the archaic machines (~333 P2s) where I work. Actually, I've even been able to watch some video files (had a couple of ancient i263 vids for which there is no Mac codec), so long as I use an efficient player. As has been pointed out, the lack of Virtual Switch networking under Tiger is no loss for most users, and I've seen no issues myself.