RE: [WinMac] Re:Multiple Start up disks

Subject: RE: [WinMac] Re:Multiple Start up disks
From: Wilcox, Curtis (cwilcox[at]esm.rochester.edu)
Date: Tue Feb 19 2002 - 13:19:16 EST

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Charles A. Patrick [mailto:charles.patrick@statcan.ca]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 11:52 AM
> To: winmac@iffy.com
> Subject: [WinMac] Re:Multiple Start up disks
>
>
>
>
> What about Virtual PC for Windows:
>
> http://www.connectix.com/products/vpc4w.html
>
> As advertised it allows you to run several operating systems
> simultaneously.

Depending what your needs are, VPC for Windows can be a very good option. I
have it and use it to test system configurations and programs that don't
live side-by-side well like Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. My host
OS has Office 2000 and IE6 but sometimes I need Office 97 and to test web
pages in IE5.5 or even earlier versions. VPC has a great "undo" option where
you can install software into the "guest OS" and even reboot it but until
you shutdown, everything you've done can be either saved or discarded. The
undo is great for testing program installations and configurations where you
have no intention of keeping it installed.

If you need high performance in a second operating system or access to
non-standard hardware, VPC for Windows is not the option. The performance of
the "guest OS" is substantially slower than the host OS. I haven't compared
them side-by-side but my guess is performance in VPC for Windows is
comparable to VPC for Mac despite the fact that VPC for Windows has less
emulation to do.

VPC's hardware emulation is pretty good and if you were thinking of
installing an additional operating system just to try it, VPC may be a good
alternative. I use Win2k, Win98, Red Hat Linux, and OpenBSD as guest OS's.
Unfortunately Darwin for Intel's list of supported hardware, motherboards
especially, is so short, it is one operating system I can't install in VPC.

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