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virtual PC??

F

fjs08

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 25, 2003
1,252
0
Hi,

Does anyone have any idea what % of XP programs will run on a Mac with VPC??

I can either add VPC and buy a laser or I can buy a cheap PC. I need to run my office payroll/checkbook program. Is it pretty much a slam dunk that if it runs on XP it will run on a Mac with VPC, or are there "many" exceptions. I know this is a pretty broad question, but any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Frank
 
Basically, any Windows program will run in XP. It's just when it gets down into the seriously power hungry programs that they run really slow and become difficult to use (such as 3D games, heavy video/audio work, etc). If it is a simple office sort of program, it shouldn't be that difficult to run at all with VPC.
 
you should be fine with the current VPC version for such office applications...

IMO it only makes sense to buy a spare PC for certain 3D render software and CAD or games. everything else is fine and the tight integration with osX should be another plus for your purpose (printing, drag and drop between XP and X, zero configuration for internet, instantly mountable volumes, and so on...)

vSpacken
 
While in principle I agree what's already been said, I have to say that I've never been satisfied with VPC for something that I'd have to use every day. I'd certainly encourage you to consider (if possible) getting a Mac program to fill your needs. Short of that, I think I'd personally rather keep everything in one box, using VPC to do so...
 
I agree that VPC may not have great performance, but I'd rather use that than waste my money on a PC just to run an office program. As far as that goes, I doubt it would be too painful running the kind of program he's running.
 
I appreciate all the notes. My checkbook/payroll program is pretty much set in stone. It's from my accountant. It feeds into his system, and actually saves me $$ on bookkeeping charges. I do use it literally every day, but only a few minutes to do checks. Twice a month I do payroll which is about a 30 minute job. It's a strange program though, but it is Windows based, so that does explain a lot<g>. Just getting VPC and a laser to print checks would be a lot cheaper than buying a PC.

Thanks.

Frank
 
I'm sorry to hear about your narrow minded accountant. I do think that, given that circumstance, VPC should be fine for you.

As a taste of what it can do, I use VPC5 running WinNT4 to allow me to use my lab's analysis software, so once I save a file from one of my experiments, I can transfer it to my Mac and work with it there. It's quite a satisfactory system.
 
Originally posted by Snowy_River
I'm sorry to hear about your narrow minded accountant. I do think that, given that circumstance, VPC should be fine for you.

As a taste of what it can do, I use VPC5 running WinNT4 to allow me to use my lab's analysis software, so once I save a file from one of my experiments, I can transfer it to my Mac and work with it there. It's quite a satisfactory system.
Click to expand...

I use QuickBooks Pro 2003 with a 200MB over-the-network data file at the office to help the accounting weenies import and export data with my VPC 6 (I have windows 2000 on the VPC).

On an iBook 500? Forget it.

On a 533Mhz Power Mac it's doable.

On my 12.1" Powerbook (867Mhz) it runs well.

The thing you want to remember, is run it in high-color (16 bit) or 256 colors if you can get away with it. I run the VPC 1024 x 768 at 16 bit color. For as long as I've been using VPC, the GUI on the guest operating system is MUCH faster when I've got it set to 16 bit color versus 24/32 bit (whatever Windows thinks it is).

The VPC requirements ``strongly recommends'' you have a machine with e L3 cache - so I'm guessing the other powerbooks (and the G5) run it very well.
 
I was checking out the price for VPC and noted that you can buy VPC and XP each as separate pieces. Didn't know that! Thought it was all one piece. Anyone know if it is better to buy it all as one. VPC 6.1 w XP is $ 219. vpc 6.1 alone is
$ 129. I should be able to get XP cheaper than $ 90 through the school.

Frank
 
I'm bidding for VPC with win2k at the moment on ebay, i have an iBook 800 but i have no intention of using it in that, instead i'm waiting for a new PB, its nice to get a performance 'feel' from fellow users.

Can you imagine the performance on a G5? I bet its gonna rock!
 
Originally posted by BrandonRP0123
On my 12.1" Powerbook (867Mhz) it runs well.
Click to expand...

How much memory do you have on the PowerBook? I tried a 12" PB this weekend with 256 MB RAM (192 allocated to Virtual PC).

The performance was very disappointing. I could watch Windows 98 draw the Start Menu items... not quite what I expected. Definitely unusable. Does it run lots better with more ram? Does Win2k run better in it than Windows 98?
 
Crenz,
>>How much memory do you have on the PowerBook?<<

15" PB with 512 meg of ram. My old Dell has 256 and it is very slow. I was using that, but the case cracked last week at the hinge. Very tenuous!! That's why I want/have to do something. I'd love to keep it all in one box, preferably the Mac<g>. I've become VERY spoiled with my Mac. I got it late July. Amazing speed and performance. Wireless around the house is unbelieveable. I never plug it in anymore. Even bought wireless for the office. Automatically finds and adjusts to the different routers at home and "away." I was waiting for the newer PB's, but will never look back now. The Ti Book is a thing to behold!!!!!
Only desire is an updated iCal w Tasker. I like Entourage's better.
Frank
 
Originally posted by crenz
How much memory do you have on the PowerBook? I tried a 12" PB this weekend with 256 MB RAM (192 allocated to Virtual PC)...
Click to expand...

As a rule of thumb, OS X uses 128MB, so, by setting your virtual machine to use 192MB you're ensuring that your computer has to constantly use virtual memory, which is slow. I think that this is probably a big part of what your problem is. If you only have 256MB RAM, then use Win98 and keep your virtual machine set to about 64MB to 96MB RAM. This should show a reasonable performance. If you need your virtual machine to have more RAM than that, then you should get more RAM for your PB.

I have 640MB of RAM in my PB, and it performs quite well in VPC. (Not exceptionally, but reasonably...)
 
Originally posted by CrackedButter
I'm bidding for VPC with win2k at the moment on ebay, i have an iBook 800 but i have no intention of using it in that, instead i'm waiting for a new PB, its nice to get a performance 'feel' from fellow users.

Can you imagine the performance on a G5? I bet its gonna rock!
Click to expand...

Runs like hell on my iBook 800... One major waste of money...
 
VPC is kind of a pain on my laptop, it won't print through the AE base station, so I have to physically connect the USB cable to my laptop to print from VPC. The other big gripe is that VPC does not support dual monitors. Otherwise, it works well as a stopgap measure when I absolutly must run a PC program. It sounds like it will work for what you need.
 
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