[WinMac] Virtual PC Testimonials -- in the field

John W. McCarthy(jwmcmac[at]flash.net)
Fri, 19 Mar 1999 19:17:43 -0600

To the list:

Virtual PC can run Dos, Windows 95,98, Unix, OS-2 and other systems on
the Mac.

It should be considered as a viable solution for cross-platform environments.

I suspect the better you know the Mac and the other environments, the
better you will be with its use.

Also, the greatest raves about Virtual PC are coming from those with a
400 mhz G3 Blue&White, but even the 233 mhz Imac and some of the older
Mac processors are getting good reviews.

The thing about an emulated environment is that it has the potential to
be better than the original (as time passes) since the software can find
ways to correct the original hardware problems.

An extensive list of typical users and uses can be found at . . .

<http://www.maccentral.com/news/9903/18.hillman.shtml>

A couple of the testimonials:

> From Mike Jackson:
>
> I work for a company in Hunt Valley, MD that does testing and
> technical support work for the entertainment and educational software
> industry. While our work with Mac clients has been increasing the
> bulk of our work is still done on Wintel machines. As the head of the
> Mac department in technical support was hard for me to justify more
> and more new Mac hardware if it could not be used for billable
> purposes. The customer support software we use (Vantive-which is used
> by many Fortune 500 companies) no longer offered a Mac version. So a
> few other Mac users and myself decided we could just use Virtual PC
> to get past that obstacle.
>
> The results were pretty impressive. We have Vantive running on all
> the Macs (iMacs, G3 All-in-ones, G3 Desktops and a MacTell tower with
> a Vimage G3 card) off a WindowsNT 4.0 Exchange Server. The MIS
> department had virtually no problems adapting the Macs to the network
> and installing the support software. In fact we seem to have far
> fewer problems than those running true Wintels.
>
> Gee, sounds successful enough that maybe the Wintel side might end up using Macs.
> Wouldn't that be a funny switch...
>
> From Zak Nilsson:
>
> ...like to point out that you tried VPC on an iMac...I've run it on a
> new B&W G3/400 with spectacular results. It's far, far faster than it
> is on an iMac. In fact, I had it running on that G3/400 next to a new
> IBM Pentium II box, with VPC running Win98 and the IBM running Win95,
> and VPC was more responsive and quicker. It's very usable on a
> G3/400, and I would consider that to be a real replacement for a PC.
> Processor intensive tasks will still be slower because it's still
> emulated, but it's definitely usable for whatever you might want to
> use VPC for.
>
> That's what we like to hear Zak- anytime it out performs the real deal, that's an
> emulator to love.

**************************************************************

Peaceful Coexistence is what the Mac is all about. "Can't we all just
get along?" The Mac -- all things to all computer users.

I wonder how Y2k is going to be handled in Virtual PC . . . a low level
extension that intercepts and alters all bad dates before they get out
and translates again on the way back in? The translate on the way back
in may not be a possible idea.

Probably nothing short of altered original code will really do though.
Hmmmmmmmm . . . some programmers are bound to be having nighmares about it.

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