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nobitacu · Dec 15, 2003, 02:24 PM

Hello,

I know it was rewritten to work on the G5, but did they make it so it would also work with the G4 as well? Because I heard that they have updated the Direct X performance on the VPC 7 to be able to play all the Windows games with nice FPS rating.

This would be great, because later on, we will be able to play all the Windows games on the VPC 7 if everything works out nicely.

Ming

joe · Dec 15, 2003, 03:34 PM

Did they release VPC7 for Mac? Microsoft only shows VPC 6.1 on their Mac site (Mactopia). Ditto in their Download section.

nobitacu · Dec 15, 2003, 03:41 PM

Originally posted by joe:
Did they release VPC7 for Mac? Microsoft only shows VPC 6.1 on their Mac site (Mactopia). Ditto in their Download section.

No, it's not out yet, so far only the information of the Alpha testing verson has been out.

Ming

-Q- · Dec 15, 2003, 07:39 PM

Originally posted by nobitacu:
This would be great, because later on, we will be able to play all the Windows games on the VPC 7 if everything works out nicely.

I think that's a horrible idea. Ignoring the likelihood that emulation of a completely different hardware system will never be as good running the apps on the hardware natively, that scenario could lead to the cessation of software development for the Mac!

I am being a bit alarmist, but hear me out: if you can run Windows at an acceptable level on the mac, what's the incentive for making a mac application? Software vendors would begin listing VPC as a requirement for using their software on a mac and just not develop a Mac version at all (or farming out the game/app for porting). Pretty soon, all your software will be run in Windows-emulation mode. And when that happens, what's the point of buying a Mac?

And to not completely derail the thread, I'm sure it'll be available for the G4 processor - the G5 is a very limited market for MS to exclusively develop VPC 7.

austeros · Dec 16, 2003, 12:26 AM

remember, all m$ truely cares about is $ and so anything g3 or greater will run vpc.. just perhaps not all that well.

but it is a win win for m$, since they get to sell more copies of windows.

CharlesS · Dec 16, 2003, 01:02 AM

Originally posted by -Q-:
I think that's a horrible idea. Ignoring the likelihood that emulation of a completely different hardware system will never be as good running the apps on the hardware natively, that scenario could lead to the cessation of software development for the Mac!

I am being a bit alarmist, but hear me out: if you can run Windows at an acceptable level on the mac, what's the incentive for making a mac application? Software vendors would begin listing VPC as a requirement for using their software on a mac and just not develop a Mac version at all (or farming out the game/app for porting). Pretty soon, all your software will be run in Windows-emulation mode. And when that happens, what's the point of buying a Mac?

And to not completely derail the thread, I'm sure it'll be available for the G4 processor - the G5 is a very limited market for MS to exclusively develop VPC 7.

Oh, for God's sake. Virtual PC/RealPC/SoftWindows/SoftPC/whatever have been available forever. The situation is no different now than it was before (except that M$ now owns VPC so there is always a danger of them cancelling it).

joe · Dec 16, 2003, 09:51 AM

Charles: I agree, the fact that M$ now owns VPC puts Mac users at their mercy. I'm basing this on how far behind WMP codec and IE support are for Mac versions of their software. Hopefully VPC Mac won't end up the same way. As for gaming, I don't think that's practical under VPC unless they bring back 3D acceleration. And even then, the emulated cpu is going to be too slow for all but the least demanding games. I hope they do bring back 3D acceleration though. It wouldn't be much of a gaming rig but the ability to run a few more apps is always a good thing IMHO.

Truepop · Jan 15, 2004, 01:31 PM

I am replying because I would like to hear some updates on VPC 7. Anyone have any links to some news on it? Last I heard since Mac OS X supports something the vpc computers and Mac OS X can share connections without having different MAC addresses.

Also to comment on M$ canceling VPC. I don't think Microsoft ever will cancel VPC. they make will make money on not only it but the copy of windows they sell with it. plus if they can make VPC even more transparent than it is, they could sell us all windows apps like Office for windows if we need true exchange support instead of IMAP. They are a software company and they sell software. The crappy WMP and Explorer support is just because they don't see the market for free software on the mac I guess. Explorer is even dropped from windows as a stand alone product so if you want a browser update, you need to by a new copy of windows (strangely like safari updates).

Busemann · Jan 15, 2004, 01:38 PM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Oh, for God's sake. Virtual PC/RealPC/SoftWindows/SoftPC/whatever have been available forever. The situation is no different now than it was before (except that M$ now owns VPC so there is always a danger of them cancelling it).

Funny that you say that, as the other companies on that list does a great job keeping their software up-to-date

Synotic · Jan 15, 2004, 04:14 PM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Oh, for God's sake. Virtual PC/RealPC/SoftWindows/SoftPC/whatever have been available forever. The situation is no different now than it was before (except that M$ now owns VPC so there is always a danger of them cancelling it).

I think his point was that if you can get emulation running to an acceptable level. At this point, it's too slow to do most tasks.

absmiths · Jan 15, 2004, 05:55 PM

Originally posted by Synotic:
I think his point was that if you can get emulation running to an acceptable level. At this point, it's too slow to do most tasks.

No, CharlesSs point was that emulation is nothing new to the Mac App market. The entire developer community for the Mac is not going to suddenly publish all of their software for the Mac in VPC.

absmiths · Jan 15, 2004, 05:57 PM

Originally posted by -Q-:
I think that's a horrible idea. Ignoring the likelihood that emulation of a completely different hardware system will never be as good running the apps on the hardware natively, that scenario could lead to the cessation of software development for the Mac!

That's a little silly. If Microsoft could sell a PCI or other card with it that had a P4 on it to dedicate to emulation, I would be all for it.

undotwa · Jan 16, 2004, 01:07 AM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Oh, for God's sake. Virtual PC/RealPC/SoftWindows/SoftPC/whatever have been available forever. The situation is no different now than it was before (except that M$ now owns VPC so there is always a danger of them cancelling it).

Not really.

It's the same amount of cash (even a bit more) which goes to Microsoft - 1 copy of XP, and VPC. And if the Macintosh users no longer get VPC, they will all just be angry, and a few will go to Windows, so Microsoft will likely lose a few customers.