Guest PC

Yes, I have used it, since 1.0.1. On my dual G4, it is somewhat unstable, and I have been corresponding with the developers in trying to resolve it. I will say that they are very responsive and eager to fix th e problem.

Since I had the problems with my G4, I loaded it on my Powerbook, which already had Virtual PC 7 installed as provided my employer.

Naturally, I couldn't resist some side-by-side comparisons. In terms of compatibility, they are comparable. The only "missing" features that I really would have liked is VPC's ability to save state. With GPC, I use the hibernate feature of Windows, which is comparable, but an extra step. Another "missing" feature is that VPC emulates more graphics memory, so I can go to higher resolutions and still keep 16-bit (true) color. With GPC, the limit for 16-bit color is 1024x768. If you have a big monitor -- or two -- that does make a difference.

In terms of what is in common, they both have networking whereas GPC offers only the equivalent of VPC's virtual switch, allow for sharing the mouse seamlessly, offer full screen mode, and sharing of the Mac's CD/DVD drive. GPC offers the ability to mount the virtual disk on the Mac's desktop while the PC is off, whereas VPC allows drag-and-drop between desktops while the PC is running, and both allow network-based file sharing.

Speed is the magical question, with a simple answer. Both are slow.

I haven't used a stop watch, although I would be hard pressed to say one was noticeably faster than the other. Certain tasks that are particularly slow in one are not in the other. So I'm hard pressed to say that I could really notice a difference.

GPC offers a family pack license, and if you can take advantage of that, it is a bargain. If you need a bundled version of Windows, VPC seems a better deal. In terms of direct support and developer responsiveness, GPC wins hands down.

Cheers, David

How does Bochs (as pre-packaged by OpenOSX, or otherwise) fit into
this comparative picture?

<http://www.openosx.com/wintel/index.html>

--
Chris Reed, BBR Solutions Ltd * http://www.bbr-online.com

I use it and it works. I am running it on two machines:

1.8GHz Single Processor G5 Power Mac
1.5GHz 15" G4 PowerBook.

I am running Windows 98SE, and have the following apps installed:

Personal Web Server 4.0
ColdFusion Server 4.5a
ColdFusion Studio 4.5a
MS SQL Server 7 Desktop Edition
MS Word 97
MS Excel 97
Visio 5
MS Access 97
MS Project 98
MSIE 5.5

On the PowerBook, Word and ColdFusion Studio run too slow to be useful.
  MSIE is slow but usable. MS-Project and Visio are very usable.

The G5 is a different story. With Guest PC 1.2, everything runs at a
pretty good clip.

I use GuestPC/Win98/MSIE almost every day at the office on the
PowerBook to access an internal website that is MSIE only, I also use
it for Visio and MS-Project. It is pretty robust.

Best Regards,
Dave Barnhart

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Barnhart [mailto:davedavebarnhart.com]
> Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 11:49 AM

> I use it and it works. I am running it on two machines:
>
> 1.8GHz Single Processor G5 Power Mac
> 1.5GHz 15" G4 PowerBook.
>
> I am running Windows 98SE, and have the following apps installed:

I would be interested to know how well Windows XP runs, it's much more
demanding of hardware and it's getting harder to make do with 98.

> On the PowerBook, Word and ColdFusion Studio run too slow to
> be useful.
> MSIE is slow but usable. MS-Project and Visio are very usable.

How much RAM is in the PowerBook & PowerMac? You would expect the G5 to
perform better but if the PowerBook is having to use the swap a lot, that
could be the most significant factor.

> I use GuestPC/Win98/MSIE almost every day at the office on the
> PowerBook to access an internal website that is MSIE only, I also use
> it for Visio and MS-Project. It is pretty robust.

At work we're happy with VirtualPC and rely on some of its features but it's
nice to have a (cheaper) choice, especially when it's just to satisfy a
relatively simple need, like running WinIE.