[DekuDekuplex]

According to the article Microsoft predicts Mac renaissance,

Originally posted in Microsoft predicts Mac renaissance:
Virtual PC

Development also continues for a new version of Virtual PC (acquired by Microsoft from original developer Connectix last year), which it plans to release in the first half of 2004.

This version will overcome the G5 processor incompatibility the product faces today, and will incorporate speed hikes and other improvements, he suggested.

Former Connectix developer and now Microsoft Mac developer Jake Hoelter said: "Mac users are going to love what they see in Virtual PC 7 – performance and usability improvements, as well as compatibility with the G5."

Contrary to a posting by PowerMacMan made in the thread "When is a G5 compatable Virtual PC expected," apparently M$ is not planning to wait until the G6 is released before shipping VPC 7, to be compatible with the G5. Instead, they plan to shoot for the first half of 2004.

As sc_markt stated in this posting in the same thread, I think that it would actually be in M$'s best interest to get VPC 7 to fly on the G5 as soon as possible. That way, they could then have a better chance of convincing developers to concentrate on apps that run on both Windows and VPC 7 (though, unfortunately, perhaps at the expense of Mac OS X), thereby earning a greater profit off the G5. This would actually help M$ (although it may not be good for Mac OS X).

VPC 7 for the G5 should be a stronger market for M$ than VPC 6.1 for the G4 because the G5 is a more highly marketable 64-bit machine. For instance, according to the Apple Computer article Cost-Conscious Supercomputing, Dr. Srinidhi Varadarajan of Virginia Tech has already built the world's third fastest supercomputer (and the fastest one used in an academic environment), named "System X," using 1100 dual processor, 2.0 GHz Power Mac G5® computers.

--DekuDekuplex

[parsec_kadets]

I hate to break it to you, but this isn't news. Microsft announced that a couple weeks ago at MacWorld.

[Aquila`]

what do they mean witch the first half of 2004? it can be February and it can be June so i think the first half of 2004 is a bit vague.

[Eug]

Originally posted by parsec_kadets:
I hate to break it to you, but this isn't news. Microsft announced that a couple weeks ago at MacWorld.

Yeah, the article was from 3 weeks ago, and the announcement was 5 weeks ago.

Anyways, MS hasn't given us an exact date for release, but May/June 2004 seems quite reasonable. But then expect maybe another couple of months for the first update to quash the major bugs, which are inevitable with an app as complex as this one.

[starman]

Maybe they'll have a Public Beta. I'd love to play with it.

Mike

[KP*]

Do we know if VPC7 will be sold as part of the new version of Office, or will VPC be released first by itself?

[dru]

Originally posted by KP*:
Do we know if VPC7 will be sold as part of the new version of Office, or will VPC be released first by itself?

At MacWorld (in the keynote) they announced it would be *first* sold as part of Office and later available separately.

[dtriska]

Originally posted by KP*:
Do we know if VPC7 will be sold as part of the new version of Office, or will VPC be released first by itself?

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/p...04IntentPR.asp