Connectix tunes up Mac PC emulator
Virtual PC 4.0 is available now with Windows 98 pre-installed. Versions with other operating systems will follow, Connectix said.
Virtual PC allows users to run PC DOS, Red Hat Linux and various flavors of Microsoft Windows on a Power Mac G3 or G4 system. Performance is typically the biggest issue with PC emulators, and Connectix said the new version is up to twice as fast as previous releases, with enhanced support for the PowerPC G4's Velocity Engine.
The company said that Velocity Engine acceleration will be most apparent when running multimedia applications under Windows. Further enhancing performance, users can allocate up to 512MB of RAM to Windows 98 without quitting Virtual PC.
The new Windows disk image -- a virtual PC hard drive on the Mac -- automatically expands to accommodate needed space, up to a maximum of 127GB under Mac OS 9. With previous versions, users had to pre-set the drive space.
This feature, in turn, facilitates VPC's new ability to run multiple virtual machines simultaneously. Users can run multiple versions of Windows (or Red Hat Linux), limited only by memory and drive capacity. The virtual machines are displayed as dynamic thumbnail images in a window, which also lists the current status of each (running, not running, saved or paused).
Interface enhancements include scrollable windows and support for three-button and scroll mice.
In addition, Connectix has enhanced VPC's network support. The software's Shared IP technology allows the virtual Windows machine to use the Mac's network settings. VPC 4.0 enhances the feature by providing support for DHCP servers, allowing virtual Windows and Linux machines in VPC to share the Mac's DHCP settings. As before, users can print to networked PC printers.
The software allows use of many USB devices, such as CardScan 500, for which there are no Mac drivers (one exception is Wacom Technology Corp.'s PenPartner tablet). Users will need Mac OS 9 to take advantage of the USB support.
Although you can run PC games on the system, they won't benefit from graphics acceleration, so performance may be limited. The read-me file warns that "Virtual PC is not recommended as a gaming solution for the Mac." It also notes that Windows Media Player 7 and Movie Maker, a program included in Windows Me, "have system requirements that exceed the capabilities of Virtual PC."
Connectix sells the software in a variety of packages bundled with different PC operating systems. The $199 package that's currently available includes Windows 98. A $99 version with PC DOS is slated for release in December, followed by a $199 Windows Me release in January. You can add new operating systems, including Windows 2000 and Red Hat Linux, through VPC OS Packs. VPC 4.0 upgrades, which don't include the OS, sell for $79. Upgrades are free if you bought VPC 3.0 after Nov. 1.
The software doesn't support Mac OS X Public Beta, but Connectix representatives said the company plans to have an OS X version shortly after Apple ships its next-generation operating system.
David Leishman, MacWEEK.com, contributed to this report.