I run VPC with Windows 2000 both on my iBook 600 Combo and new iMac 800 Superdrive.
VPC to be fair is slowwwwww! but at the same time, it's emulation, and considering what it is doing is pretty good. I'm a patient man, so can deal with the fact that it is slow. It is significantly faster on the iMac though, but still slow. Funnily enough I use VPC on my iBook loads more than on the iMac because I travel around a lot. I run Office, Dreamweaver Studio and Photoshop, and I get by with most of it. Again, it al depends if you are a patient person, but if you need it, then get it.
There is no demo version. When VPC was origionally released (many years ago) there was one. M$ then got upset since they were distributing their OS the demo CD. The Demo's stopped & there has never been another since.
Under OS X, it's usable but not as fast as you would expect. This is due to known issues with Apple's threading and process switching, which should be rectified in future OS X updates.
When used under OS 9 (not classic) it screams! It's literally like having a P-200 or P-233 for non-game related applications.
I have a legal OEM version of Windows 95 OSR 2 from my old PC and use it. Many people say that Virtual PC runs well with Windows NT or Windows 2000 due to the enhanced performance of these OSs.
Speed tips:
1) Allocate plenty of RAM to the virtual environment
2) use full-screen mode (running VPC in a Window slows things down)
3) Shut of filesharing, USB connectivity, or any other unnecessary services.
Hope this helps.
[quote]Originally posted by satchmo:
<strong>I have the 700 combo and was wondering if anyone has VirtualPC running on the same machine.
How is the performance. Not necessarily for games but the odd PC program.
BTW, any know where I might get a demo version?</strong><hr></blockquote>
RealPC is MUCH faster than VirtualPC and is only $30 to download or $36 for a CD-ROM. The only drawbacks are that you need your own copy of Windows and it doesn't run in Mac OS X.
P.S. By much faster, I mean more than twice as fast on my G3/300 (makes it roughly equiv to a P2 266). Video updates are even better. It is a much more well-coded product.
I think someone was selling a version of win98 custom tailored for VPC speed. I think macNN linked to it a few months ago. I'm not sure how M$ would allow such a thing, maybe it's just an installer of somekind that agressively strips out anything you don't need for win98 emulation on a Mac.
I got a hold of a VPC this week and will have loaded Windows 98 onto my iMac.
Any ideas as to how well PC games will run on it? Not really into first person shoot-em up games but ones such as the Sims, Black and White, After Life etc...
If possible, use Windows 2000 instead of Windows 98 with Virtual PC. I didn't believe the reports at first, but it really must be optimized for it because VPC *does* perform much better with Win2k.
Virtual PC is not meant for gaming use. There is no support for 3D cards and most tasks run emulated at about 1/4 the speed of your own clock. So, if you have an 800 MHz G4, expect the performance of about a 200 MHz Pentium. You may be able to play some older 2D and 3D games okay, but anything demanding from the past three years is simply out of the question.
It's true that VPC under OS X is significantly slower for certain tasks. CineBench2000 scores under VPC running XP in OS X are as much as 50% lower compared to OS 9.
Integer performance in OS X under VPC is almost on par with OS 9.
Emulated PC drive throughput and access time are better in OS X than in OS 9.
If possible, use Windows 2000 instead of Windows 98 with Virtual PC. I didn't believe the reports at first, but it really must be optimized for it because VPC *does* perform much better with Win2k.
Virtual PC is not meant for gaming use. There is no support for 3D cards and most tasks run emulated at about 1/4 the speed of your own clock. So, if you have an 800 MHz G4, expect the performance of about a 200 MHz Pentium. You may be able to play some older 2D and 3D games okay, but anything demanding from the past three years is simply out of the question.
If anyone is interested, here's a benchmark I just ran in a near-clean installation of Win2k on my dual 500 G4 under Mac OS X 10.1.4. Nothing extra was using CPU cycles in the background on either the Mac or PC side. VPC was in full-screen mode and I didn't touch anything while the test ran.
<strong>How do PC games run under these PC emulators. Do the newest PC games run smoothly at say 1024x780 16bit cols (Serious Sam 2 or other new FPS).</strong><hr></blockquote>I could swear I just answered that question. Oh, wait. I did!! <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
[quote]Just five posts above, I said:
Virtual PC is not meant for gaming use. There is no support for 3D cards and most tasks run emulated at about 1/4 the speed of your own clock. So, if you have an 800 MHz G4, expect the performance of about a 200 MHz Pentium. You may be able to play some older 2D and 3D games okay, but anything demanding from the past three years is simply out of the question.<hr></blockquote>
Comments
VPC to be fair is slowwwwww! but at the same time, it's emulation, and considering what it is doing is pretty good. I'm a patient man, so can deal with the fact that it is slow. It is significantly faster on the iMac though, but still slow. Funnily enough I use VPC on my iBook loads more than on the iMac because I travel around a lot. I run Office, Dreamweaver Studio and Photoshop, and I get by with most of it. Again, it al depends if you are a patient person, but if you need it, then get it.
Tim
1) whether you're running OS X or OS 9
2) what Windoze you're running
Under OS X, it's usable but not as fast as you would expect. This is due to known issues with Apple's threading and process switching, which should be rectified in future OS X updates.
When used under OS 9 (not classic) it screams! It's literally like having a P-200 or P-233 for non-game related applications.
I have a legal OEM version of Windows 95 OSR 2 from my old PC and use it. Many people say that Virtual PC runs well with Windows NT or Windows 2000 due to the enhanced performance of these OSs.
Speed tips:
1) Allocate plenty of RAM to the virtual environment
2) use full-screen mode (running VPC in a Window slows things down)
3) Shut of filesharing, USB connectivity, or any other unnecessary services.
Hope this helps.
[quote]Originally posted by satchmo:
<strong>I have the 700 combo and was wondering if anyone has VirtualPC running on the same machine.
How is the performance. Not necessarily for games but the odd PC program.
BTW, any know where I might get a demo version?</strong><hr></blockquote>
P.S. By much faster, I mean more than twice as fast on my G3/300 (makes it roughly equiv to a P2 266). Video updates are even better. It is a much more well-coded product.
Anyone remember this?
Any ideas as to how well PC games will run on it? Not really into first person shoot-em up games but ones such as the Sims, Black and White, After Life etc...
If possible, use Windows 2000 instead of Windows 98 with Virtual PC. I didn't believe the reports at first, but it really must be optimized for it because VPC *does* perform much better with Win2k.
Virtual PC is not meant for gaming use. There is no support for 3D cards and most tasks run emulated at about 1/4 the speed of your own clock. So, if you have an 800 MHz G4, expect the performance of about a 200 MHz Pentium. You may be able to play some older 2D and 3D games okay, but anything demanding from the past three years is simply out of the question.
[ 04-27-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
Integer performance in OS X under VPC is almost on par with OS 9.
Emulated PC drive throughput and access time are better in OS X than in OS 9.
[ 04-27-2002: Message edited by: Nostradamus ]</p>
<strong>satchmo:
If possible, use Windows 2000 instead of Windows 98 with Virtual PC. I didn't believe the reports at first, but it really must be optimized for it because VPC *does* perform much better with Win2k.
Virtual PC is not meant for gaming use. There is no support for 3D cards and most tasks run emulated at about 1/4 the speed of your own clock. So, if you have an 800 MHz G4, expect the performance of about a 200 MHz Pentium. You may be able to play some older 2D and 3D games okay, but anything demanding from the past three years is simply out of the question.
[ 04-27-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
Hey thanks StarfleetX. I have the 700 iMac so I imagine performance should be even slower.
No big deal. It's just for the odd occasional times when I need PC emulation.
I guess I'll look to buy the Sims for Mac.
[ 04-27-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
How do PC games run under these PC emulators. Do the newest PC games run smoothly at say 1024x780 16bit cols (Serious Sam 2 or other new FPS).
Cheers,
Dobby.
<strong>How do PC games run under these PC emulators. Do the newest PC games run smoothly at say 1024x780 16bit cols (Serious Sam 2 or other new FPS).</strong><hr></blockquote>I could swear I just answered that question. Oh, wait. I did!! <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
[quote]Just five posts above, I said:
Virtual PC is not meant for gaming use. There is no support for 3D cards and most tasks run emulated at about 1/4 the speed of your own clock. So, if you have an 800 MHz G4, expect the performance of about a 200 MHz Pentium. You may be able to play some older 2D and 3D games okay, but anything demanding from the past three years is simply out of the question.<hr></blockquote>
[ 04-29-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>