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Virtual PC 7 for Mac

Not sure if I'd have him buy a cheap PC just to use a few business apps...

If he really enjoys his mac then mabye asking him to wait for an hardware upgrade and explain that a new VPC will soon be available..Then he could add the money he's willing to spend and sell his old mac or better yet, donate it to a local school. Then he can get improved performance and still be on a Mac without having two computers hogging space.. He doesn't need a dedicated PC for browsing investment websites. Soon as he gets the PC he'll have to worry about security and other aspects, which the Mac can do reasonably well. However, others here disagree..

I'm waiting for the G5 and VPC for the G5.. When that happens, I"ll ditch my PC and donate my Mac to a school.
 
Originally posted by grahamtriggs
There is a Mac OS emulator for Windows. In fact, there is more than one.

<snip>

NB: This is all a bit of a simplification, but you should get the overall idea.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Thanks for the illumination.
 
Originally posted by Lancetx
VPC 6.1 on a G4 is pretty much a dog, so I honestly hope that VPC 7 on a G4 (and certainly on a G5) will be a far better experience. It had better be anyway if M$ expects many people to pay the $129+ they'll be certain to charge for it.
Click to expand...

My hope is that Microsoft will do the as they did with Office X Professional version. VPC 6.1 was part of the package.
 
i like installing a completely barebones windows XP on my 12-inch PB. it's is quite fast, i uninstall absolutely everything I can...

I have no idea why...
 
Whew, good, it was this announcement or having to budget buying a peecee in 2004 and who would want that!
 
Re: DirectX

Originally posted by Blackcat
If the MSBU can make a DirectX 'driver' for the graphics card in the Mac VPC will go much faster and do 3D.

Connetix claimed this was impossible, but you're already simulating hardware which doesn't exist and using other real hardware with virtual drivers so I don't see why it can't be done.
Click to expand...

Writing a driver that supports directx won't do anything for performance. No versions of windows use directx with a GUI. The graphics card that connectix simulated isn't even 3D accelerated so it couldn't use directx anyway.
 
Can someone help me understand what exaclty VPC can do? The MS website wasn't exactly the most helpful place ever.

I will be attending law school next Fall and would like a brand new G5 powerbook to be in my bag at the time. Problem is (other than the obvious), that law schools test on laptops using the school's software that you must install. All the brochures I have seen so far are clear - windows is required.

Will VPC basically just load windows on over the OSX? If so, there is no difference at all between VPC and, let's say, XP????

Please help me NOT have to buy a PC!

Thanks
P@ul
 
Originally posted by KREX725
Does this new VPC mean I can play Counterstrike on my Mac? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

I'm shocked there wasn't one person asking that this time around. :D
Click to expand...

Because we know the answer:

No.

Because Microsoft can't use HARDWARE video cards.

If they could you could run it.

Run it poorly.

But run it never the less.

Understand that they EMULATE video Card Memory... yeah sad.

Along with a Bad Emulation for CPU... total crap.


How about they TOTALLY rework VPC 8?

Like re-written FROM the top... TO the Bottom.


It needs is baddly.
Originally posted by Beck446
Can someone help me understand what exaclty VPC can do? The MS website wasn't exactly the most helpful place ever.

I will be attending law school next Fall and would like a brand new G5 powerbook to be in my bag at the time. Problem is (other than the obvious), that law schools test on laptops using the school's software that you must install. All the brochures I have seen so far are clear - windows is required.

Will VPC basically just load windows on over the OSX? If so, there is no difference at all between VPC and, let's say, XP????

Please help me NOT have to buy a PC!

Thanks
P@ul
Click to expand...

VPC emulates the x86 environment... Like Windows.

You would probably need to buy VPC with a version of windows on it, or install your own. Brochures don't seem very CPU intense so I would imagine you could open them with VPC.

Note: It is a Very Slow emulation. (as with most emulators in general)

You ask if VPC is like XP... I say No.

VPC can LOAD Windows XP, but it can also load DOS, Win 3.1 and up (along with some Linux's).
 
I have a 1.3ghz 17" Powerbook and i run VPC 6.1 with Windows 2000. Stripped down to the bone. But im capable of running AutoCad2000, so for the law school requirement, i would say you are fine. In fact, I was blown away with the speed on the powerbook, and cant wait to run it on my dual 2 G5
 
Originally posted by Beck446
Can someone help me understand what exaclty VPC can do? The MS website wasn't exactly the most helpful place ever.

I will be attending law school next Fall and would like a brand new G5 powerbook to be in my bag at the time. Problem is (other than the obvious), that law schools test on laptops using the school's software that you must install. All the brochures I have seen so far are clear - windows is required.

Will VPC basically just load windows on over the OSX? If so, there is no difference at all between VPC and, let's say, XP????

Please help me NOT have to buy a PC!

Thanks
P@ul
Click to expand...

My Suggestion is to go find a new law school.

Just kidding. Basically VPC emulates a copy of Windows onto your mac. From this emulation you can run Windows only software on your mac. It acts as if it is an application on your mac.

The downside is a performance hit. Jerky and slow, but usable.

What applications do they require in law school that is Windows only? A mac can pretty much connect onto a windows network and play nice when it comes to apps.

I hear that the marketshare of Macs in law firms is pretty healthy.
 
What needs to be dumped?

Originally posted by classic009
I have a 1.3ghz 17" Powerbook and i run VPC 6.1 with Windows 2000. Stripped down to the bone. But im capable of running AutoCad2000, so for the law school requirement, i would say you are fine. In fact, I was blown away with the speed on the powerbook, and cant wait to run it on my dual 2 G5
Click to expand...

To make it run pretty good- what needs to be stripped to the bone in terms of the VPC app?
 
As for professional schools, i.e. law school and an MBA program...here is what you need to know.

I work at IT for Kellogg Business Management School at Northwestern University (NOTE- This is the best business school in the world according to basically every publication) (I am also a student at NU, and my brother is in a NU master's program in Public Policy)

First off, out of all the students in the MBA program and/or the law school there are only 5 macintosh computer.

The fact is clear, at a high level of professionalism you must conform to the policies of the school. Most law schools require a certain computer and or model for each graduation class. As does the MBA program. It is easier to administer tech support, gain deals with IBM for computer at cheaper costs if all students must buy one. And it also allows for the tech department to know serial number and track MAC addresses. The process is just easier and more secure on the school's side if all computer must be bought from the school or through their program. True, you can attach a mac to their network ( I do it at work) however I am allowed to because of the tech support I provide to those few student with powerbooks.

And for the comment on how the mac population in law firms is "healthy". I have large number of friends and family in the legal business in New York, Chicago, and L.A. and none of them use macintosh computers.

Do yourself a favor, keep you mac and use it at home and for some of your work. But don't try and stand out in Law school with a mac, it won't be the same reception you got in college or in a coffeeshop.
 
Originally posted by mkaake
he also uses virtual pc cause one of his investing sites requires the use of ie 6.0, .
Click to expand...

There's a debug menu you can add to safari that gives it the IE6 tag so that you can view sites which say that they require it. I forget that it is, just do a search for Safari and debug and you can find it.
 
<<As for professional schools, i.e. law school and an MBA program...here is what you need to know.

I work at IT for Kellogg Business Management School at Northwestern University (NOTE- This is the best business school in the world according to basically every publication) (I am also a student at NU, and my brother is in a NU master's program in Public Policy)

First off, out of all the students in the MBA program and/or the law school there are only 5 macintosh computer.

The fact is clear, at a high level of professionalism you must conform to the policies of the school. Most law schools require a certain computer and or model for each graduation class. As does the MBA program. It is easier to administer tech support, gain deals with IBM for computer at cheaper costs if all students must buy one. And it also allows for the tech department to know serial number and track MAC addresses. The process is just easier and more secure on the school's side if all computer must be bought from the school or through their program. True, you can attach a mac to their network ( I do it at work) however I am allowed to because of the tech support I provide to those few student with powerbooks.

And for the comment on how the mac population in law firms is "healthy". I have large number of friends and family in the legal business in New York, Chicago, and L.A. and none of them use macintosh computers.

Do yourself a favor, keep you mac and use it at home and for some of your work. But don't try and stand out in Law school with a mac, it won't be the same reception you got in college or in a coffeeshop.>>


Ah, the arrogance of MBA's! Invigorating!
Perhaps I should go get my NU accpetance letter and look through to see whether or not they make me buy a Dell or some such non-sense... ok, brb... ok, nope.

Let me get this straight, you think I should buy ANOTHER laptop, one for tests and one for home use?

Anyway, I appreciate some of the replys above letting me know a bit about VPC. Whether or not lawfirms use Macs is irrelevant to me, whether or not the MBAs at the school I go to think that it's cool or lame to have a Mac is irrelevant to me too. Just wanted to know if I could install any Windows app on a Mac because that's what I'm going to have to do.

P@ul
 
Microsoft Rep

I spoke with a representative @ the Microsoft booth @ Macworld today. He said that VPC will be faster across the board for all users, but will not feature any specific G5 enhancements to speed it up even further on that processor. It would simply be compatible with the G5.
 
Originally posted by Beck446
Can someone help me understand what exaclty VPC can do? The MS website wasn't exactly the most helpful place ever.

I will be attending law school next Fall and would like a brand new G5 powerbook to be in my bag at the time. Problem is (other than the obvious), that law schools test on laptops using the school's software that you must install. All the brochures I have seen so far are clear - windows is required.

Will VPC basically just load windows on over the OSX? If so, there is no difference at all between VPC and, let's say, XP???
Please help me NOT have to buy a PC!

Thanks
P@ul
Click to expand...

It creates a window that shows the PC environ inside, metaphorically speaking Windows XP(or whatever) is in the Matrix, it thinks it's running on a PC, albiet slower.
I've been using an older version and while it's not the fastest thing in the world, it does work rather well for stuff that doesn't require much horsepower. You wouldn't want to run say Counterstrike ;) but it will run some difficult appraisal software I need for work, the program and server don't notice I'm on my Powerbook and I can simply hide VPC when I don't need it and use my Mac for everything else.
 
Best and cheapest way to boost the performance of your firend's Mac is buying an upgrade card.

http://eshop.macsales.com/Accelerators/index.cfm

"OWC Mercury Extreme G4/800MHz Processor Upgrade w/2MB SDR L3 Cache for PowerMac G4 AGP Graphics(Sawtooth), Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Audio, & QuickSilver. New, 3yr Warranty, 30 Day 100% Money-Back Guarantee! $249"

I bought one of these myself for my G4-400. Simple installation. Works like a champ! It's actually FASTER than my friend G4-800 machine. Also, VPC 6.1 really likes the L3 cache and it made a significant difference in the VPC performance.

With a 30-day money back guarantee, you've got nothing to loose by trying it to see if that solves the problem.

One other thing -- be sure to have at least 1 G RAM in the machine and then set your VPC RAM usage to the minimum you need to run effectively. I've got my Win2K image set to use 192 MB RAM. Higher settings didn't buy any additional speed and left more memory available to the Mac so I could still use it effectively.
 
Re: Sounds like he

Originally posted by RIP
I also don't want to purchase an upgrade to VPC7 if there are features I like about it just to find that it slowed down because of the need to make it work on a G5 that does not support little endian.

Has anyone a clue about this?
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell, Microsoft is flat out lying about this. The PowerPC 970 does in fact support little endian mode. EVERY PowerPC chip ever produced supports little endian mode. Being able to set the endianness of the processor is part of the defining qualities of the PowerPC architecture.

Every PowerPC has an MSR register. The LE bit in the MSR is used to set the endianness of the processor. This bit is not optional like some of the other bits in the MSR. You can read all you want about it in "PowerPC Microprocessor Family: Programming Environments Manual for 64 and 32-bit Microprocessors" http://www-306.ibm.com/chips/techlib/techlib.nsf/techdocs/F6153E213FDD912E87256D49006C6541 Notice that this manual doesn't reference any specific processor, because it is for all processors.

Here is all of the documentation I can find about the 970 at IBM's site. http://www-306.ibm.com/chips/techlib/techlib.nsf/products/PowerPC_970_Microprocessor I challenge anyone to find any technote saying that the PowerPC 970 doesn't support little endian mode. Not supporting this bit in the MSR for this one processor would be a big deal and it would absolutely be well documented if IBM redefined the PowerPC architecture for this one processor.
 
Originally posted by Beck446
Can someone help me understand what exaclty VPC can do? The MS website wasn't exactly the most helpful place ever.

I will be attending law school next Fall and would like a brand new G5 powerbook to be in my bag at the time. Problem is (other than the obvious), that law schools test on laptops using the school's software that you must install. All the brochures I have seen so far are clear - windows is required.

Will VPC basically just load windows on over the OSX? If so, there is no difference at all between VPC and, let's say, XP????

Please help me NOT have to buy a PC!

Thanks
P@ul
Click to expand...
VPC emulates an x86 computer. A minimal installation requires two parts, the emulator and a disk image that serves as the virtual disk drive. You may have as many disk images/virtual drives as the hard disk space on your Mac will accomodate. You may install a different Intel-compatible operating systems as you want in each disk image. You are not required to install Windows on any of them. After your virtual drives have been selected, they will appear in a window within the VPC application. If their disk formats are compatible, you can map each virtual drive to a drive letter on every other virtual machine. You launch your selection by double-clicking its icon in the VPC window. You can select at will among PC-DOS, FreeDOS, your favorite Linux distribution(s), FreeBSD, QNX, etc.

VPC can do things that no real PC can do (unless it is running VPC for Windows). Imagine running your choice of x86-compatible OSes on a PowerBook G4. Start writing a newspaper article in M$ Word on Win 2000. Shut it down from VPC. Launch a virtual Linux machine. Do some development. Shut the Linux environment down from VPC. Relaunch the Win 2000 virtual machine. Your Word document (along with the rest of the Win2k environment) is exactly where it was when you stopped.

Make daily back-up copies of each virtual drive disk image file. Keep them on your PowerBook's hard disk if you like. Burn weekly copies to DVD for insurance. When one of your virtual Windows drive takes its expected powder, use VPC to select its back-up copy. Get back to work with a minimum of down time.

VPC is not for children who want to play games. VPC is for Mac-using professionals who need to get work done in an Intel-compatible environment and are willing to accept the limits of an emulated computer.
 
Originally posted by ZeroKoolNess1

Do yourself a favor, keep you mac and use it at home and for some of your work. But don't try and stand out in Law school with a mac, it won't be the same reception you got in college or in a coffeeshop.
Click to expand...

Wow, Does NU have a degree in Pompous Arse? It's better to just conform then, like sheep, that seems to be your point, don't rock the boat... hmmm, what the heck are you doing on a Mac? And on a Mac forum?

Also your school may be the "best" but they need to teach grammar and spelling but guess that hoighty toighty school will let anyone in. BTW, I know four lawyers who use Macs, two are in my family and work in NYC, one actually went to Harvard (guess that little no-nothing school doesn't have a "be a stooge" policy of conformity), maybe you heard of it. Must be a midwest law thing you speak of.
 
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