Mac users in the forum

[Beej '86 325es]

To those other Mac users in the forum, have you had any experience with Virtual PC, SoftWindows, or any other Windows emulators?

I'm going to be taking a SolidWorks class (3D AutoCAD software), and might be getting a copy for home. It would be nice to be able to do it on my computer, rather than using my roommate's.

I tried Virtual PC years ago on my 180 MHz Mac, and of course, performing basic functions were a** slow. I have a new iBook now, so I'm on a quite a bit faster system.

Thanks for the input!

[bimmerphile]

OK, VPC will never be fast, except for on a Dual G5, but even then a version of VPC doesn't exist because of the lack of little-endian-ness in the G5 procsessor (PPC 970 uses big endian)


You are talking about some pretty graphics-intensive shit right there with CAD stuff, and iBooks are by no means top of the line machines.


I use VPC 6 on my iBook G4 800 for the ETK, and that is about it :?

[Super Eta]

I have VPC..i downloaded it used it once and that was all. Wasnt my cup of a tea i guess

[TheyCallMeDale]

VPC is slow as hell no matter what you do. Unfortunately, the software support for the mac is not up to par, which is probably the main reason Macs arent the norm in the computer world today.

[bimmerphile]

I have VPC..i downloaded it used it once and that was all. Wasnt my cup of a tea i guess

Since when do you have a mac?

[James Crivellone]

VPC is slower then hell, which is why i have a Pentium 4 2.8 rig sitting next to my powermac

[bimmerphile]

VPC is slower then hell, which is why i have a Pentium 4 2.8 rig sitting next to my powermac

My advice, for both gamers and people that need to use PC's for work, etc, is just pick up a shuttle and build a PC for <$1000. Will easily fit under your desk, and you won't have to use it for anything besides your CAD stuff, etc

[Beej '86 325es]

This is kind of what I figured. At the time I tried it years ago, most of the stuff I was using was current, and it was still slow. Ah, well. I guess I'll have to use my roommate's computer.
Thanks for the input! It's nice to know I'm not the only Mac guy out here.

[spencers]

VPC is slow on my dads 867 PB G4.

I have a friend with a dual 2.0 G5, but he insists on not putting vpc on there.

Like Kris said. If you need a PC, you can build a pretty nice one for less than a grand. Shuttles are very affordable (I have one sitting next to my iMac).

[James Crivellone]

Yeah shuttles are a great baseline to build a system on, although I like my midtower rig that I built


For gaming you just have to have a PC, plus for other compatibility issues, although I use my MAC for everything

[EVOIIIM3]

On a 1gig Power book, it's a Pentium MMX processor in VPC 6.
Not fast at all! VPC also LIKES ram, LOTS of ram. My Power Mac G4 runs Vpc fine with 2 gig of ram and a 1.2 G4.

On my powerbook, it is slow! fast enough to do most things, but nothing intensive! No games, video, or CAD. ETK is fine, tuning is fine, doing word docs is fine.

On a iBook? Humm, I would say no.

You know Microsoft are owners of Connectx now, so VPC is a MICROSOFT product. MS is buying up a LOT of Mac companies and starting to make a lot of Mac software, what does that tell you? mac's are gaining a LOT more market share.

[James Crivellone]

On a 1gig Power book, it's a Pentium MMX processor in VPC 6.
Not fast at all! VPC also LIKES ram, LOTS of ram. My Power Mac G4 runs Vpc fine with 2 gig of ram and a 1.2 G4.

On my powerbook, it is slow! fast enough to do most things, but nothing intensive! No games, video, or CAD. ETK is fine, tuning is fine, doing word docs is fine.

On a iBook? Humm, I would say no.

You know Microsoft are owners of Connectx now, so VPC is a MICROSOFT product. MS is buying up a LOT of Mac companies and starting to make a lot of Mac software, what does that tell you? mac's are gaining a LOT more market share.

Mike, sounds like our Powermacs are similar in speed.. What are the specs on yours?

here is mine


Powermac G4 1.25Ghz
2048MB Corsair XMS DDR333 Ram
Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB
Western Digital Special Edition 120GB on Sonnet UDMA133 Controller
Western Digital Special Edition 120GB on Sonnet UDMA133 Controller
Maxtor 8MB Cache 120GB on onboard ATA66
Seagate 80GB HD on onboard ATA100
Combo CDRW/DVD Drive
M-Audio Revolution 7.1 PCI
Apple OSX Panther 10.3.3

[spencers]

Yeah shuttles are a great baseline to build a system on, although I like my midtower rig that I built


For gaming you just have to have a PC, plus for other compatibility issues, although I use my MAC for everything

I had an epox 8rda+ in a Lian Li pc-60 case before my Shuttle. It was great and all for overclocking 200x11 with the vcore upped a little bit, but I didn't really seem to need the overclocking that much except for a bragging right. That and I didn't like taking the LianLi and a CRT to LAN parties. I am happy with my Shuttle. Getting a 16ms LCD this summer.

[Bryson]

VPC on my ibook is slow as shit, as with the old 15" powerbook... really only useful for ETM/ETK work, to reiterate what's been said :P

[EVOIIIM3]

Mike, sounds like our Powermacs are similar in speed.. What are the specs on yours?

here is mine

Powermac G4 1.25Ghz
2048MB Corsair XMS DDR333 Ram
Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB
Western Digital Special Edition 120GB on Sonnet UDMA133 Controller
Western Digital Special Edition 120GB on Sonnet UDMA133 Controller
Maxtor 8MB Cache 120GB on onboard ATA66
Seagate 80GB HD on onboard ATA100
Combo CDRW/DVD Drive
M-Audio Revolution 7.1 PCI
Apple OSX Panther 10.3.3

About the same, I have a Gforce 4 vid, and just the stock SCSI HD and SCSI card.