“Amidst pressure from several avenues, Microsoft was forced to cut features from its new Windows emulation software in order to deliver G5 compatibility without further delays,’ Kasper Jade reports for AppleInsider. “Many of the feature enhancements originally planned for Virtual PC 7.0 did not make it into the version of software that will begin shipping this month, multiple sources tell AppleInsider.”
“According to reports, the emerging presence of Apple’s G5 processor played a major role in Microsoft’s decision to trim a significant number of features from the emulation software late in its development cycle. As a result, sources said that the software may not run as fast as some users may have come to expect,” Jade reports. “Several additional features have also been delayed until future revisions of software, such as an increase in the software’s PC memory from 512MB to 4GB and a new option to use Virtual PC’s virtual PC hard drive as a RAM disk for faster virtual disk performance. Microsoft has also decided to hold off on some refinements to Virtual PC’s multiprocessing support, which will eventually allow audio emulation, networking, IDE I/O, and USB functions to be offloaded from the primary processor.”
“Future versions of Virtual PC are expected to reacquire most, if not all of the features cut from the development of Virtual PC 7.0. Unfortunately, sources were unable to provide target release dates, stating only that some features may not mature until next summer,” Jade reports.
More details in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Surprised? We’re not. In our MacDailyNews Opinion section on February 19, 2003, the day it was announced that Microsoft had acquired Virtual PC from Connectix, SteveJack wrote, “Virtual PC for Macintosh is dead.” Full article: Bill Gates to Steve Jobs regarding Virtual PC: Checkmate – February 19, 2003