virtual pc questions

[maikeru]

i need to use some windows programs to (occasionally) use my corp network.

if i used virtual pc with windows xp, do i thereby expose my powerbook to all the attendand viruses and such?

also, i am aware that virtual pc/xp will eat up a large amount of memory......is this *always* or just when i've launched a certain xp function?

 

[jemeinc]

It's just like any virus, your mac os will not be infected but you can pass it along to your fellow microsoft users... Honestly, VPC is an absolute last resort... I'd even recommend buying a cheap PC for the few apps you need M$ for before VPC... That's just my opinion & honestly I've never run across anything that I couldn't find a mac equivalent of as far as software goes...

 

[mactastic]

Well let's put it this way... XP is slooooow in VPC 6. Like 15 or more seconds to launch Explorer slow. It won't expose your mac to viruses, although I would imagine it could do nasty things with any email list you have on your XP side. Outside of that though, I haven't heard anything to indicate anything in the mac-world on your computer can be harmed by a Windows virus.

As to memory, I run VPC on a 1Ghz TiBook with 1024Mb of RAM. Memory isn't really an issue to me. The limiting factor seems to be the fact that VPC emulates something like a 233Mhz P2 or something. I set all the memory allotments as high as I could in VPC and it doesn't affect the mac side really. Of course when I'm in the PC environment I'm not using the mac stuff, I haven't tried rendering a giant PShop file or anything while I'm running AutoCad in VPC, but by and large I've had no memory issues. I have a gig of RAM though, so consider that when you think about how yours will run.

 

[7on]

I can get XP behave like a 500Mhz Pentium on my 1Ghzer. Then again I am the master tweaker of the Windows as it were. I use it to play virtual poker.