“Virtual PC 7, the next major update to the Windows emulation program for Mac OS X, has been delayed until the second half of the year. The delay means users of Apple Computer Inc.’s Power Mac G5 systems, which are incompatible with previous versions of Virtual PC, will have waited over a year for the chance to run the product on their machines,” Ian Betteridge reports for eWeek.
“The delay of the release of Windows XP SP2 has also affected the release date of Virtual PC, as the product comes with Windows XP bundled… The current version of Virtual PC, 6.1, uses a feature of the PowerPC G3 and G4 series processors, known as pseudo-little endian mode, that is not present in the PowerPC 970 used in the Power Mac. The reliance on this feature has meant that Microsoft has had to rewrite parts of Virtual PC from scratch to make it compatible with the G5,” Betteridge reports.
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews article:
Bill Gates to Steve Jobs regarding Virtual PC: Checkmate – February 19, 2003
Hard not to be suspicious about this…
I wish them good luck, I hope they can get it running ASAP, as a number of G5 customers need to run Windows only apps from time to time. Not only that, but the rest of the Mac line will be transitioning to the G5 over the remainder of this year and into the next.
OSX will need another major VirtualPC when Longhorn will be made available sometime in 2007. Again, by then maybe “widowz” user will have VirtualOSX for Longhorn available.
Peace
Always be suspicious of Microsoft. That said, I don’t think that there is any reason to be concerned here. MS bought the company that makes VPC because they needed some sort of Windows emulation code I think they are going to use it in Longhorn? Sure it’s a pain, but having to rewrite emulation code for a new processor that runs a shell operating system is not a trivial task.
Virtual PC is being delayed until the release of Longhorn. It will require a quad processor 12.0Ghz G10 with 100 Terabytes of RAM and only 200 Tb of free disk space. This is Microshaft’s typical bloatware pattern…
They gotta make sure it will run on Tiger, that’s all. They would look like fools if they release it, then Tiger revamps some things and it doesn’t work. Better to wait. I’m sure we all will lose sleep until it comes out.
Or if you’re a G5 user you can use an alternative like OpenOS X.
http://openosx.com/wintel/
Metryq, their web site says that a fast G4 or a G5 is recommended if you are using XP, so I assume you don’t need a G5 for this product!
So…Apple has not updated Keynote for about a year…. equally pissed about that.
I bought Virtual PC when I bought my G4 laptop. I’m underwhelmed by this product. It runs most PC titles slowly and forget about games. Even chess software, Fritz 7 (not a heavy graphics game) would not run on Virtual PC. I almost never use it now.
I remember reading last year that test versions of VPC on a G5 performed impressively. Hopefully that will be true if it ever comes out.
I am not into games and music and all that entertainment stuff that I don’t have time for.
But what I do NEED Virtual PC for is many apps and websites that are industry specific.
It is very fashionable to say that we don’t need Virtual PC.
If Virtual PC goes away or is unusable, I have no choice but to buy a Wintel laptop. Yes, Virtual PC is slow, but it beats the alternative.
Those of you who are lucky enough to only use Macs for entertainment, good for you, but there is a much larger world of business out there that Steve thinks that he is “above.” He is a genius, but a flawed one.
Although I have to give him this: I think that if Apple had bought Connectix, Gates would have looked at the purchase as a declaration of war, and would have cancelled Office.
And I think the same may be true of the fact that there is NO effective OSX advertising.
So maybe there is nothing that he could have done differently. I wish I knew.
Hah! The evil ones severely misjudge the average Mac user whom would never download nor file share copyrighted software illegally!
Better luck next time!
that is odd.. a mac user waiting for windows security updates.. must feel irritating
The best Virtual PC is a headless PC running through the Remote Desktop Client, a litle-known and unpromoted Microsoft freeware app allowing any enabled Windows 2000 or XP computer to be run from a Macintosh.
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location;=/mac/DOWNLOAD/MISC/RDC.xml&secid=80&ssid=9&flgnosysreq=True
If you have an ethernet or WiFi connection it works very well. An inexpensve PC can be had for $300-400. This will beat ANY version of VPC.
MacBidouille has a small tidbit on the new VPC 7.
http://www.hardmac.com/niouzcontenu.php?date=2004-05-12#2089
they say that “VPC7 should manage and support natively graphic cards, and that’s a huge improvement and particularly good news. In this way, we can expect to be able to play PC games on a Mac, it will probably require a quite fast processor and a good graphic card. For example, DirectX will not be emulated, but directly treated, as on a PC, by the graphic card!!!”
This is huge advancement, and with a new G5, I dont see why you would not get performance similar to like a low-medium P4. And though I am usually weary of MS motives, to them, that would make Apple just another Windows distributer, more money for them, especially if the performance is well enough to play games.
NoPCZone: you wrote: “The best Virtual PC is a headless PC running through the Remote Desktop Client, a litle-known and unpromoted Microsoft freeware app allowing any enabled Windows 2000 or XP computer to be run from a Macintosh.”
I have heard good things about it and that is what I would choose, but I rarely use a desktop computer.
to how: you are right, it is odd for a Mac user to wait for a Windows update, but that is exactly what I did this morning. Gives a weird, slimey feeling, but if you are a Windows user, you become nervous about NOT installing the update, and nervous IF YOU DO because of what might happen.
But except for being slow on startup, XP under Virtual PC really does not run badly at all.
If that is all there was, I would still use computers, but it would be on a minimal basis.
And that, folks, is the difference between OSX and any Windows variant.
But I still have to use Windows. Sorry.
ADC is great. I use that product daily. It enables me to get my Windows product development done without actually having to touch those shitboxes.
About a week ago, I saw a review of VPC by Fred Langa at InfoWeek. I really was struck by the article because it never mentioned Mac OS X.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=18600449
Huh?
That’s right folks, Command-F all you want, you’ll find no reference to Mac in the entire article (except that mac is the are the 1st 3 letters of the word machine), because it’s all about Windows using VPC to grab at everything else we Mac users ignore, including M$ itself. It’s all about running Linux and various Windows variants on the same beige box.
M$ could kill VPC for Mac OS X any day they please and still have quite a viable product for sale.
Any Unix/Darwin developers out there should get off their posteriors and support Project Darwine so we can run Windows applications (I’ve got a useless CD-rom or two, don’t you?), not as an emulator, but completely without any installed version of Windows. If you want nothing to do with buying M$ products, then P L E A S E _ H E L P !!!
http://darwine.opendarwin.org//
Re: kenh
You can have a PC anywhere on broadband and a laptop Mac anywhere and run RDC very well, it is phenomenal given a decent network connection. Best of all the app is free. Most people have a PC somewhere in their house and if not, can buy a basic setup for $300-400. VPC on a Mac is a dog and will just be a faster dog on the G5. Networking beats emulation every time.
Mac Smiley wrote: “I really was struck by the article because it never mentioned Mac OS X”
Mac Smiley you do realize this was a review for a windows 2000/XP version of Virtual Pc, not a review for a OSX version of virtual pc. Even though its virtual PC – it still needs a native OS to install on and therefor is available in different platforms.
Microsoft is behind on a release.. please next you’ll tell me that they released the program too soon and it will be full of bugs and will crash a lot.
NoPCZone: what you say is true, but I am so mobile, (real estate) that most of my use is in a car, or in as many as 20 houses per day, some vacant, most of the rest with owners who are not home when I show the house. It would not be polite of me to use their broadband without their permission. It is very common to be in a house for as little as one minute! It is so much easier just to use VPC with a data download every couple of hours. You then have it wherever you go without any kind of connection.
And because of deep canyons where I live, Wi-Fi , or cell phones may or may not work, and you won’t know that till you get there.
You are right,network beats emulation, but a “dog” is what I have to use.
It is much better than that stupid Multiple Listing printed book that is out of date the day it it published.
Thanks anyway. Your idea is the 2nd best option for me.
Who didn’t see this comming?
Typical Microsoft. Add another reason to just say NO!
NoPCZone:
“Remote Desktop Connection Client 1.0.2 for Mac provides improved stability when used on Macintosh computers with PowerPC G5 processors. Stability is also improved for users of Mac�OS�X�10.3 and later.”
What is your experience using a PC with XP connected to a G4 Mac running 10.3?
How do you toggle between OS X and XP?
How do you safely surf the web with the PC intimately linked to your Mac?
What applications do you run on the PC from your Mac?
Any clues whether this application would work with Longhorn?
Thank you.