Virtual PC 2.1

[didius]

Hi

I was messing around with Virtual PC on my PowerBook and would like to try it on my classic macs. I've been looking for a early version of Virtual PC anywhere but can't seem to find one...

Can anybody help me finding a version?

 

[Scott Baret]

I don't believe VPC was ever released for classic Macs. There was, however, an older program that did essentially the same thing called SoftPC, which did have 680x0 versions. I have 3.1, which you can read about in a thread I just posted in within the last 24 hours. (It runs text-based programs like WordPerfect 5.1 fine, at least on the 25MHz 68030 machine I have, but forget about it if you want to do any sort of gaming, even those with simple CGA graphics).

I was looking for an older version of SoftPC, thinking it may be faster, and found there is a copy of 3.0 on eBay right now if you want to go ahead and purchase that. I know 3.x doesn't work on 68000s, it needs at least a 68020. I'd recommend a faster 68030 for productivity; I couldn't see it working as well as it did on something slower than my 25MHz PB180c.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

Correct, there never was a 68K VPC. SoftWindows/SoftPC are your primary options here.

Since we're talking VPC, though, IMHO the only ones worth getting are 3 and 6 -- 3 because it had the best graphics performance vs. compatibility (I played Shogo on Windows 98 with software rendering on this MDD), and 6 because it has the widest compatibility -- you can throw a Knoppix Live CD at it and use Firefox 3 "on OS 9." Before I started working on Classilla, that was in fact exactly what I used.

 

[beerslayer]

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but on the off-chance that it is, I thought I'd mention the program RealPC, which I used to use with great success on my old PowerMac 8500. I do not have any idea if they ever made a 68k version of it, though...

 

[LCGuy]

Nup, RealPC was also PowerPC only. In fact, all the programs that emulated a 486/Pentium series machine were PowerPC only.

 

[Scott Baret]

Was SoftWindows ever released for 68Ks or was it PPC only? I have version 2, which is PPC-only (and runs Windows 3.1 very nicely on an iMac G3 333MHz). Also, has anyone tried running Windows 3.1 on the old SoftPC? (Technically it should install and run given the specifications of the emulated 386 machines, but I'm more interested in its performance--I have a spare copy of Windows 3.11 and am considering running it on the IIci).

 

[ClassicHasClass]

ISTR a SoftWindows for 040s, but I could be mistaken.