Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

OpenOSX Provides Virtual PC Alternative

Posted by pudge on from the this-might-do-the-trick dept.

lucas.clemente writes "OpenOSX has just announced a cheap alternative to Microsoft's Virtual PC for Mac OS X, OpenOSX WinTel. What's more, the OpenOSX version will be compatible with Apple's new G5 architecture, whereas Virtual PC users will have to wait until the next major upgrade for G5 compatibility." It's a frontend to bochs, which we've discussed before as a possible Virtual PC replacement, and the biggest obstacle seemed to be getting it up and running. Perhaps this product will fill that hole. Prices start at $25 for download, but it is covered under the GPL.

2 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. Lots of Problems - Old Info by joebolte · · Score: 5, Insightful
    There are a number of issues that are important about Open OSX and bochs.

    1 As said before, bochs is extremely slow. Their own page does not even recommend that you install Win2k or XP.

    2 This project is not new. It has been around for I don't know how long, at least a few months. The only new thing is support for the G5.

    3 It is suspected that this organization is ripping off compiled binaries from Fink without giving credit. Read about it in the Fink FAQ.

    It would be much more useful for someone to create an OS X port of qemu [http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/] and wine [winehq.com] and post it somewhere. Both of these programs have very good things said about them, as far as performance and stability, but I don't know how well they work on OS X.

  2. Why would Microsoft cripple VPC? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd rather run Bochs for free (or at worse, very cheaply) that pay significantly more to Microsoft for crippled future releases of VPC to ensure that performance sucks (even after the architectural differences are taken into account).

    Look, I loathe and distrust Microsoft as much as the next guy, but--what incentive do they have to cripple Virtual PC?

    Microsoft profits from the sale of Windows for Virtual PC in the same way it profits from the sale of Wndows for actual x86 hardware.

    Microsoft may very well sell other software products that run under Virtual PC at the same rates they sell those products for actual x86 hardware.

    Apple is only the enemy of Microsoft because Apple hardware a) doesn't run Windows and b) exemplifies an alternative to Windows hegemony. But,

    It seems to me that if some application is capable of running Windows and Windows applications aptly on the Macintosh platform, this turn of events is only in Microsoft's interest.

    I mean, they have no real hope of "crushing" the Macintosh platform -- there are too many addicts, Apple is far too liquid, and people just plain hate Microsoft. Virtual PC provides them a way to continue to profit from Apple.