Virtual PC -- Which OS?

mrmistermrmister
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
We've discussed this a number of times, and gone back and forth, but of the following OSes, which do people most recommend for light VPC work (some Office, some web browsing + Quicken) on a 1 Ghz PowerBook.



Windows 98SE

Windows 2000

Windows XP



I don't have the energy to install all three and play until I get an answer, and checking past discussions seems to indicate that everyone has conflicting opinions--so, is anyone in agreement on this? has anyone tried a number of them and compared them, and if so on what hardware + how did it work out?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    madmax559madmax559 Posts: 596member
    win2k + sp2 (do NOT install sp3)



    it works fine
  • Reply 2 of 16
    mrmistermrmister Posts: 1,095member
    Interesting--I had installed all the service packs on Win2K at on point, and it ran like ass. Hmmmm.
  • Reply 3 of 16
    spotcatbugspotcatbug Posts: 195member
    Crap. Not being a Windows guy, I installed all three service packs on Win2K. So, now I'm wondering:



    1. Why shouldn't I have installed SP3?

    2. Any way to uninstall it?
  • Reply 4 of 16
    t'hain esh kelcht'hain esh kelch Posts: 1,274member
    [quote]Originally posted by spotcatbug:

    <strong>Crap. Not being a Windows guy, I installed all three service packs on Win2K. So, now I'm wondering:



    1. Why shouldn't I have installed SP3?

    2. Any way to uninstall it?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    2. Windows reinstall!
  • Reply 5 of 16
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Why can't we install Win2k SP3?!



    How much slower is 2000 than 98? Like how do 98, 2000, and XP compare, on my miniPowerbook w/ 640 RAM?



    Also how fast does everyone think XP would run on a PBG4 12" 867mhz with 640 megs of RAM and the 60gig drive? Is it useable? I tried XP on VPC 5 with an iBook and 384 RAM in OS 9 and XP just wasn't useable. I mean I got it to boot and installed SP1 but it was just too slow. What about XP on VPC 6, 10.2.4, with a 867mhz PBG4 and 640 RAM?



    [ 03-03-2003: Message edited by: Aquatic ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 16
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    I haven't tried XP in VPC 6, but 2k works reasonably well on my mini (640megs of RAM). From what I hear, and my own experience, 2k runs better than 98. Of course, YMMV, but if you give VPC as much ram as you can spare (300+), you'll be ok, as long as you're not doing anything too intensive.
  • Reply 7 of 16
    kcmackcmac Posts: 1,051member
    I use VPC 6 with 98SE. It runs acceptably now on my 12" PB. I only use it for ACT 2000. XP runs slow on my brothers 700 iBook.



    I have never done any updates on 98SE since I got if a few years back with VPC4. Never wanted to risk anything and I don't go on the internet or network with it.
  • Reply 8 of 16
    mrmistermrmister Posts: 1,095member
    Looks like it is between Win98SE and Win2K.
  • Reply 9 of 16
    blazernzblazernz Posts: 18member
    Generally the best bet is to go with the earliest version of the os you can find, generally windows 98. There are a few trade offs tho, such as stability. Windows 98 se runs the best for me, I would not even try windows XP if i were you as it is dooooooooggggggggg slow. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
  • Reply 10 of 16
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Win2000 SP3 is slow. I'm so regretting having installed it at work.
  • Reply 11 of 16
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    what about NT?

    and how are you getting all these different installs of windows?
  • Reply 12 of 16
    mrmistermrmister Posts: 1,095member
    Strangely, it's all legal--i have friends at MSFT and they got me stuff from the company store.
  • Reply 13 of 16
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    [quote]i have friends at MSFT and they got me stuff from the company store <hr></blockquote>



    "Stuff?" hee that sounds fishy. Sure buying a Windows CD for VPC is like buying it for a PC. And now M$ even owns VPC. I think this might actually be a Good Thing? but we'll see.



    Anyway...



    [quote] Win2000 SP3 is slow. I'm so regretting having installed it at work. <hr></blockquote>



    Huh? Why is it slower, and how much slower? What does SP3 fix? Break? Etc... Sounds like business as usual for M$ tho.



    So is Win2000 almost as fast as 98, or even faster!? Sounds like 2000 for me, since I've never seen it crash but I've seen 98 crash, oh, haha, I owned it, too much. Seems like Win2000 is the best version of Windows (least shitty?) there is.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    frawgzfrawgz Posts: 547member
    Windows 98 is supposedly better in VPC OS 9, and Windows 2K/XP better in VPC OS X, according to Connectix. The difference having to do with 32-bit clean issues or something.
  • Reply 15 of 16
    costiquecostique Posts: 1,084member
    [quote]Originally posted by blazernz:

    <strong>Generally the best bet is to go with the earliest version of the os you can find, generally windows 98. </strong><hr></blockquote>

    The later version, the slower speed?.

    [quote]Originally posted by frawgz:

    <strong>Windows 98 is supposedly better in VPC OS 9, and Windows 2K/XP better in VPC OS X, according to Connectix. The difference having to do with 32-bit clean issues or something.</strong><hr></blockquote>

    I don't believe that. My experience is that the speed depends only on the original system requirements for a specific Windows version. And, obviously, on your hardware.
  • Reply 16 of 16
    kennethkenneth Posts: 832member
    WinXP Pro(no update) ran fine on my old iMac 333 with 160MB and 2GB drive set for it.. it was VPC 5.0.4.



    Now..on my dual 1.25.. this thing flies.. WinXP Pro (never ran WindowsUpdate)..256MB and 2GB drive set... VPC 6.. WinXP Pro fires up in 30 secounds.. of course I use "save" mode afterwards.
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