Virtual pc 6 performance

[Angelus]

Hey my mums thinking of getting a mac.It most likely be a 15inch lcd imac with 512MB RAM.The only problem is that she wants to keep using one or two small software items which have no mac alternative.I suggested virtual pc could solve her problems except i dont want her to pay out that kinda money and get really unresponsive performance.
Whats vpc6 like with apps that are non graphical intensive.the programs she wants to use are just astrology and feng shui programs.Also which is the best windows os to get if its gonna be on a 800MHZ g4 imac.

 

[dflett]

I run VPC 6 on a 12" Powerbook and 640MB. Performance with XP is dreadful - you spend all your time for the OS to do its graphical candy stuff. Windows 98 SE is fine though - the same kind of performance as I remember when I used to use 98 on PCs three or four years ago - think 300-400MHz PII/PIII. I would have thought it would be good enough for the applications you are considering. I have heard from others that W2K is the fastest OS on VPC but I have not been able to verify that. Try and get a demo of Win98 running in a shop if you can - just to be sure.

 

[Jimong5]

another really fast VPC OS is Windows 95, but some apps are too advanced for it, so if they are on the old side, I would go with 95

 

[vollspacken]

Re: Virtual pc 6 performance

Originally posted by Angelus
Whats vpc6 like with apps that are non graphical intensive.
(...)
Also which is the best windows os to get if its gonna be on a 800MHZ g4 imac.

I use VPC6 and Windows XP pro on my 1Ghz tiBook... No problem!

It's more or less stable and runs all kinds of software fairly quick and here's the trick:
- TURN OFF THE EYECANDY CRAP (you don't need it anyway!)
you can find it somewhere under some advanced tab in one of the control panels and select the settings for "maximum performance" (or something like that...)
- TURN OFF THE PREVIEW-FUNCTION for the folders
- get norton utilities to defragment and repair your system on a regular basis
- delete all software you won't need


... system profile tells me I had a 600-something PII
vSpacken

 

[Angelus]

ok thanks for your help,
angelus