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Deal · Sep 29, 2003, 03:59 PM

I just got my dual 2ghz G5 and was loading up my software.

Low and behold, when I load VPC it comes up with a message that VPC does not run on this processor and to contact Microsoft or Mactopia.com to find out more.

I called M$ and right off the bat (after 1hr on hold that is), without any questions they offer me a refund.

This makes me wonder if they plan to support VPC on the Mac at all.

hyperb0le · Sep 29, 2003, 04:22 PM

Umm... This is old news.

I bet MS will release some kind of update soon, but it will still probably be slow as mollasses.

Moonray · Sep 29, 2003, 04:24 PM

That has been covered here. VPC won't run on your Mac without major changes in the software because the G5 other than the G4 has no little endian mode.
You'll find the thread(s) about this if you do a search.

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Anand · Sep 30, 2003, 11:47 AM

But maybe you should try an old version of RealPC. This was just posted over at MacinTouch:

"Kris Trexler
A few weeks back I reported that Virtual PC 6 would not work in a G5. But I'm happy to report that when I cloned my old G3 over to the G5, an old installation of Insignia's "RealPC" with Windows 95 came along for the ride. I discovered that RealPC works GREAT on the G5. Of course running Windows on a Mac isn't my favorite thing to do, but I was pleasantly surprised that RealPC is screamin' fast on G5! So if you must run Windows, find and old copy of RealPC. I never saw Virtual PC on the best G4 run as fast as RealPC runs on my G5."

http://www.macintouch.com/g5reader02.html#sep30

Earth Mk. II · Sep 30, 2003, 12:15 PM

IIRC, VPC 5 will run on the G5 as well.

The only reason version 6 won't run is because it relies on the pseudo-endian switching mode of Moto's G3 and G4 cpu's. The G5 doesn't have this mode (like any PPC chip, it can be set to be big or little endian when the machine starts up, but it can't switch 'on-the-fly' like the G3 and G4 can.)

But... yes... old news.

blackbird_1.0 · Sep 30, 2003, 07:47 PM

do the new os packs work w/ vpc 5?

and i though real pc didn't work in osx?

Hydra · Sep 30, 2003, 08:07 PM

Originally posted by Earth Mk. II:
IIRC, VPC 5 will run on the G5 as well.

I've tried VPC 5 on my dual G5 and it does launch but crashes as soon as the guest OS starts to boot. Do you know this to be fact or are you speculating? I'd like to know before I try reinstalling VPC to get it to work.

-Jerry C.

Eug Wanker · Sep 30, 2003, 11:20 PM

Doesn't RealPC just emulate a Pentium MMX? Is it dual aware? It'd be interesting to run the equivalent of a 2 GHz Pentium MMX.

So I guess it runs in Classic? Really?

blackbird_1.0 · Oct 1, 2003, 08:02 PM

anyone?

Arkham_c · Oct 13, 2003, 09:40 AM

I've got RealPC (won it in a contest at Macworld SF in 1998).

I don't have a G5 yet though.

I assume it runs in Classic. If someone has a G5 (and broadband), I could arrange for you to try it out. PM me if interested.

KidRed · Oct 13, 2003, 10:31 AM

This may be old news but I think he's talking about how quickly M$ offered a refund. That may be a sign of their stance on supporting VPC on the mac.

Karim · Oct 14, 2003, 07:32 PM

I believe the switch to using the little-endian opcodes was in Virtual PC 4. They dropped support for some 3d card hardware acceleration at the same time because it was incompatible with the little-endian mode.

Since you can't boot into OS9 on a G5, you will not be able to get any VPC versions to work (1,2,3) even though they don't rely on little-endian mode. No VPC version has ever worked in classic. And, all VPC versions capable of running in OS X natively need to use little-endian.

RealPC/Softwindoze does work in classic, and is about the only way to go until MSFT (or possibly AAPL) gets a PC emulator working for the G5. There is the blue label emulator which is promised to have an OSX version soon (although unknown about G5 compatibility)... And there is the slow as molasses (so I'm told) open source emulator.

Peter · Oct 15, 2003, 03:55 AM

Originally posted by Deal:
I just got my dual 2ghz G5 and was loading up my software.

Low and behold, when I load VPC it comes up with a message that VPC does not run on this processor and to contact Microsoft or Mactopia.com to find out more.

I called M$ and right off the bat (after 1hr on hold that is), without any questions they offer me a refund.

This makes me wonder if they plan to support VPC on the Mac at all.

Try not to state the obvious.

Busemann · Oct 15, 2003, 01:10 PM

VPC 7 will apparently be released this spring, together with Office 11.

tjosal · Oct 15, 2003, 08:07 PM

Spring? I see this is high on their priority list.

voodoo · Oct 15, 2003, 08:58 PM

Originally posted by Busemann:
VPC 7 will apparently be released this spring, together with Office 11.

I believe that when I see it. Hope springs eternal of course..

wataru · Oct 15, 2003, 10:42 PM

Originally posted by tjosal:
Spring? I see this is high on their priority list.

Hey, that's better than they're doing on Longhorn.

Catfish_Man · Oct 15, 2003, 11:05 PM

Originally posted by tjosal:
Spring? I see this is high on their priority list.

I see you have no clue how much pain this is going to cause their developers.

thefamousmred · Oct 16, 2003, 09:26 AM

Originally posted by tjosal:
Spring? I see this is high on their priority list.

you are truly wise in the ways of software development. I congratulate you on your insight and wisdom.