Virtual PC 2.0.1 With Windows 95
Company: Connectix
Estimated Price: $149.99 with Windows 95,
$49.99 with DOS 6.22 - $39.99 (Upgrade)
http://www.connectix.com

So you have decided you absolutely have to run PC programs, but don't want to suffer with an actual PC computer? Well, Virtual PC (VPC) running on your PPC Macintosh is an excellent alternative for you. It is designed to be as compatible as the wide range of PC hardware, so you have an excellent chance of being able to run the programs of your choice.

The good news:
You will have an easier Windows 95 installation experience than anyone who is using an actual PC. Installing Virtual PC automatically places a preinstalled Windows 95 in the VPC hard drive (HD) partition file. All that is left for you to do is to perform the Windows 95 setup, which automatically launches the first time you run Virtual PC, and change any VPC preferences that you want changed. If you aren't using VPC on a network, the setup is rather straightforward. VPC includes a Windows 95 CD, so adding or reinstalling Operating System (OS) components is possible (but not necessarily easy) whenever the need arises.

The bad news:
Even though you didn't purchase an actual WinTel box, the Evil Empire still gets their cut of your hard earned cash, because of the licensing fees that Connectix pays to Bill, et al. Some games and DOS programs are hard to set up for reliable, consistent running.

Installation and use:
VPC requires a 180 MHz 603 or better, running Mac OS 7.5.5 or later. It requires 24 MB ram, with 32 MB recommended and 150 MB hard drive space, with 300 MB recommended.

VPC installs a 260 MB boot drive partition by default. A custom install will install a 150 MB partition instead, if desired. VPC also includes a utility that allows one to make the drive partition as large as 511 MB. You may also make a separate HD image as large as 2048 MB as drive D:\. However, rather than committing that much of your Macintosh HD real estate to VPC, you may want to try using a shared folder first, set using the VPC "Preferences" under the Macintosh "Edit" Menu. Be sure to check "Share Always" in the selection dialog window. A shared folder acts as a PC hard drive without a set size. The folder's size is the amount of space used by the files in it, so it doesn't use any more of your Macintosh hard drive space than necessary. However, since many PC programmers write their programs to only run from the boot (i.e., C:\) drive, the shared folder approach will not work with all PC programs.

The VPC application has a suggested RAM size of 21 MB. I have mine set to 25 MB and have had no noticeable memory problems. Upon launch, VPC boots Windows just like an actual PC. You may then install or run programs as desired.

Since VPC is closely integrated with Mac OS, you may download files or programs using your Mac browser, and then drag them into the VPC Windows 95 window. You may also mount the VPC Windows HD partition as a Mac OS volume and drag and drop files directly into it. This works well for zipped (compressed) files, allowing you to initially manage the compressed files using Mac OS and then decompress and install them later from within Windows.

When one quits VPC, it saves the current state of Windows (or DOS if applicable) and rapidly loads to the same state the next time VPC is launched. This makes VPC boot much faster than a real WinTel box. If the state is not saved, you must wait through the normal Windows 95 boot process each time. I definitely recommend always saving the current state to speed restart.

A very useful feature of VPC is the status bar at the bottom of the window, which contains eject buttons for floppies and CDs. It also has status lights that indicate HD, floppy, CD-ROM, and network activity. A Green light means that the device is being read from and red indicates that the device is being written to.

I have only used VPC on G3s (a 366 MHz tower and an iMac). It was fast on both, with no noticeable speed problems. My son has tried several games in VPC on the iMac, with no speed complaints. I use VPC extensively at work, and have found only one program that will not run (an old DOS radioactivity decay calculation program).

I have found two DOS programs that will not run in Windows 95, but that will run in DOS. I used the "Advanced" options under "Properties" in Windows 95 (shift-click on the program icon in Windows 95 to open the Properties dialog) to set these programs to quit Windows and run in DOS. Windows 95 then reboots after you quit the program. Although this is somewhat of a pain to endure, it does allow many older programs to run without errors.

MacCulture Shock; or "Hello Telephone" vs. "Hello Mother!"
For those of you who are only experienced with the Mac OS, using this "State of the Art" ("It's just like the Mac OS!") operating system is somewhat of a culture shock.

Where you may now have your Mac OS storage volumes (disks or partitions) named with useful, descriptive names such as "Al's Excellent Photographs" or "Carol and Tim's Data", Windows insists on calling all volumes by the cryptic DOS designation for the hardware device that accesses them. So, all CD-ROMs will be called "E:\", whether they contain stock clip art, shareware games, or the Bare Naked Ladies latest audio hits. All floppy disks will be called "A:\.". Even the much touted "My Computer" goes away and leaves the user faced with "C:\", "D:\", etc. in file selection dialogs, including those that appear within Windows 95 setup helpers.

An analogy of this would be as follows: You call your family on the telephone, and speak to each in turn. With Mac OS, you would address your mother as "Mom", your brother as "Robert", and your cousin as "Grace." With Windows, you would call each one "Telephone!" It definitely takes some major getting used to (and makes one wonder about the mental capacity of those who insist that Windows is just as advanced as Mac OS)!

Overall
Installation and setup of VPC is very easy, and gives the user an extremely attractive alternative to purchase of a separate WinTel computer.

VPC seems to be the most compatible of the PC emulators. However, it is not optimized for games. So buy VPC if you are interested in broad program usage, and take a look at all the PC emulators if you are primarily interested in games.

Expect some setup headaches when trying to get problem programs to run properly, especially older programs or programs from inexperienced authors.

David Price
GCSPhotoBug@WWBChat.com