Amazon.com Review: Once you get over the creepy experience of seeing a Windows desktop on the face of your lovely Mac (and hearing the Windows start-up chimes reverberating from your speakers), you might start to appreciate the benefits that a program like Virtual PC 4.0 has to offer. For those Mac users who need to occasionally access Windows 98, Virtual PC 4.0 supplies just the solution without making you invest in a new machine.
Virtual PC doesn't profess to offer lightning-fast speeds. Remember, you're running a second operating system, so don't expect even the mightiest G4 to keep up at its usual pace. However, we did note improvements in speed in most applications over the 3.0 version. Enough of a difference, in fact, to consider an upgrade if you're one of the many who've been frustrated by the sluggishness in the past. However, as before, Virtual PC is still not a good solution for playing PC games. Additionally, we tried watching two QuickTime movies over the Internet on both our Mac and in Virtual PC. While on our T1 line the Mac version was flawlessly gorgeous and buffered instantly while watching, trying to watch the QuickTime movie in Virtual PC was stuttered and clunky. And even when watching QuickTime movies that had been fully buffered first, the player still resorted to a slide show instead of smooth, streaming video.
One major change in this latest version is in memory allocation. Whereas in the 3.0 version you had to allocate memory to the Virtual PC application itself, in this version you allocate memory to each virtual "machine," which can be expanded and changed even while you're in the midst of using that machine. Additionally, drive images are now only as large as they need to be. That means that even if you create a drive image of 8 GB for your virtual machine, but the application is only using 2 GB, then the image will only be 2 GB--a great disk space saving feature.
The two most notable benefits of Virtual PC are the ability for Windows to use your Mac's existing Internet connection (there's no need to go through any further setup), and the outstanding USB support in this new version (you can access USB printers, scanners, and other peripherals easily). However, you should have OS 9.0.1 or later in order to take advantage of its enhanced USB support.
Another neat addition in this version is the ability to add even more operating systems to Virtual PC. That means that if you have a copy of, say, SuSE Linux lying around, you can install that on another drive image, and access it from Virtual PC. The only caveats are that you must supply the OS and that you're still limited by the amount of RAM you have. But how cool is that?
Though it might make you feel a little dirty having to visit the dark side every so often, the benefits of being able to switch back and forth between your Mac and Windows are quite substantial, and warrant a look at Virtual PC 4.0 with Windows 98. --Ara Jane Olufson
Amazon.com Product Description: Give your Mac the PC compatibility you need. Virtual PC 4 lets you put a PC inside your G3 or G4 Mac, enabling you to run PC applications, access PC networks, share files with PC-based colleagues, and use PC-only Internet services and applications. New to this version:
Improved performance. Up to twice as fast as previous versions. Improved support for Velocity Engine. Improved memory allocation that allows you to allocate up to 512 MB of RAM to the operating system inside Virtual PC without quitting the application.
Larger and expandable disk images. Your PC disk image--a virtual hard disk on your Mac hard drive--grows and expands as needed (up to 127 GB) and uses only the space it actually requires, rather than a preset amount.
Easier to use. Improved user interface, with scrollable windows and support for three-button mice and scroll mice. Improved Help, including integrated Virtual Disk Assistant, Setup Assistant, and an interactive help system.
Runs multiple PC operating systems. With Virtual PC products, you can run multiple PC operating systems--for example, Windows 98 and Windows 2000, or two copies of Windows Me--on your Mac at the same time, and view their desktops as thumbnail images on your Mac desktop.
One great Program! Virtual PC 4.0 with Windows 98 is one helpful program. It allows you to access different programs that are only available for Windows machines. It doesn't emulate Windows, it emulates a Pentium processor on your computer, so if you want to upgrade to a different version of Windows at a later date, you will be able to. I really got this program for use with my Handspring Visor, since no one out there makes software to sync your address book and calendar over the internet for the Mac. I have used 2 different services thus far (Yahoo and MyPalm) and both of them have worked without a hitch. One thing everyone wants to know about Virtual PC though, is what about the games! I haven't really invested all too much money in that, but the ones that I have tried, have worked well enough (Grim Fandango and Close Combat series). If you decide to get this and want to run some games on it, let me caution you... first make sure the game does not require hardware acceleration as Virtual PC 4 will not access any 3D cards on your Mac. Secondly, check out the processor requirements. If a game requires a 500mhz Pentium, you are going to have one frustrating gaming session. The common rule of thumb is to take your Mac's processor speed and divide it by three (i.e. 466mhz mac = 155mhz Pentium). By following those simple hints, your gaming should be a good time! Overall, I wholeheartily recommend Virtual PC if your have no desire to get a full desktop PC and want to run a few Windows programs.
Connectix has done a very good job with 4.0 If you need to run Windows apps on your mac, this is the way to go. I've run it under both 9.0.4 and 9.1 on 3 different machines and have had no problems. I've used Internet access through my Mac's DSL line, file sharing and printing in addition to running apps. You can boot multiple OS's (98. 95, Me) and the interface and speed is much improved from earlier versions. You can't play PC games on it, but for everything else, it's an excellent solution.
Great A think Virtual Pc is a great software! It let my kids play pc games on thier imacs. This software is easy to download and it is worth buying if you only have macs around your house. Its a heck of alot cheaper then buying a window computer.
Good Packaging, Poor Product The hype on the outside of the box is exactly that - HYPE. The product crashed my G4, on both Mac OS 9.04 and 9.1, and was unstable. Talk about Beta - this product has it in spades!
This is a piece of junk! The advertising for this product is no doubt accurate. Certainly, it is much faster than 3.0, which was glacial in its response. It is now like running Windows on a 386, rather than an 8088 chip. It is easier to manipulate via Mac controls. The transfer of files between the two OS's is much simplier, a shared file located on the Apple Desktop. A very nice status monitor is located beneath the main screen that tells you about what the hardware is doing. It was actually a joy to use at first, until all the problems began to crop up.
This program is actually a beta form pushed quickly into the market in time for the Christmas season, however. It crashed my 9.0 OS using IMac more than 15 times completely enough to require a complete reboot from the power key, while using their default settings of memory, etc. It says that it supports USB, which my printer uses, but it also turns off the Chooser when it takes over, so, when I try to print out something the job actually gets as far as the printer spool in the computer, but it never would bridge the gap between the computer and the printer itself.
And, so, at the price that you pay for the thing, it is not something that anyone should try, in the least. All the little advertised improvements really work, it is just that nobody seemed to have tested it out before they put it out on the market. As such, please don't buy this software!
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