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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.

8 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. Not fair... by Znonymous+Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Bochs needs a front end for Linux too!

    BTW... Is anyone out there using Bochs?

    --

    Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.

  2. Bochs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Bochs is so much slower than Virtual PC that I don't consider it an alternative at all.

    Getting Windows 95 to run acceptably on my last comouter was impossible in Bochs, and oh so easy in VPC.

    Just wait for a VPC update. I'm sure you won't have to wait for 7.0.

    Also, I refuse to use software from OpenOSX. All they do is recompile popular software, then put it on CD for you for silly amounts of money.

    I.E. - Want GIMP?

    Step 1) Download and install fink - http://fink.sourceforge.net

    Step 2) % sudo apt-get install gimp

    OR
    Pay OpenOS X a whole bunch of money.

    1. Re:Bochs by Smitty825 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Bochs is so much slower than Virtual PC that I don't consider it an alternative at all.

      I don't have any inside information, however, I am suspecting that the next version of Virtual PC will be much slower on a G5 than Virtual PC (current) on a G3/G4 class machine.

      The current version gets a big speed boost, because the G3/G4 processor can run in little endian mode. The new version for the G5 is going to have to spin every opcode from little-endian mode to big-endian mode, run the command, then (possibly) convert back to little-endian mode.

      I suspect that versions of Virtual PC that ran on 604 based Macs will run fine on a G5...just slower than the current Virtual PC release on slower hardware!

      --

      Doh!
    2. Re:Bochs by constantnormal · · Score: 4, Interesting
      I suspect that versions of Virtual PC that ran on 604 based Macs will run fine on a G5...

      Except for the fact that those versions of VPC were pre-OSX, and it's dubious that they will run under Classic.

      I'm awaiting the inevitable benchmarks that compare various emulated Windows performance under G5 Bochs to VPC 6.x on a decently fast G4.

      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).

      If Microsoft wanted to, they could easily buy back a lot of the performance lost due to manipulating addresses and integers by producing versions of DirectX and other drivers that talk directly to the underlying hardware. Look at how poorly existing VPC manages the video -- emulating an older graphics chip not present in any Mac.

      Even if Bochs only ran in full screen mode (to avoid sharing the display with OS X), the performance gains from native instead of emulated video are likely to be quite significant -- maybe not enough to totally overcome the performance hit due to the loss of the pseudo-little endian mode, but I'll bet the G5 can make up the difference.

  3. Speed of Implementation by chia_monkey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Ok, so this new alternative may not be as fast as Virtual PC. But you know what really impresses me? Look at how quickly an alternative to this Virtual PC problem was produced. Five years ago, it would have been "eh, it's just Mac. Screw 'em." But the G5 just came out and there's already an alternative to a problem. Perhaps it'll keep Microsoft on their toes. Perhaps other developers will go "damn, we best be writin' some stuff for them too." It's refreshing to see developers rushing to fill the void so quickly.

    --

    "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
  4. want the story on OpenOSX? ask Robert Atlee! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Robert Atlee was one of the founders of this company, and provided a substantial part of the initial equipment and funding. He is listed on the contact page rather unprofessionally as "terminated." I spoke with him on the phone about three months after he footed the bill for the double-wide booth that Jeshua Lacock ran at MacWorld. He was rather upset at the time that Jeshua had basically skipped town with a bunch of his computer equipment and had locked him out of the web server etc. I'm sure that every story has two sides, but at this point in time, not only Mr. Atlee, and Christoph Pfisterer, but also myself have received poor treatment at the hands of Jeshua Lacock, the sole proprietor of OpenOSX.

    Slashdot doesn't probably have the budget that professional news sources do, so we can't expect all of the stories to be double or triple cross-checked. My guess is that if you start asking around (tax records? employees? better business bureau?), you'll find that few others have genuinely benefitted at the hands of this opportunist. The MacGIMP project helped to fund GIMPCon 2003. Has OpenOSX EVER given back to the community that built the software it sells?

    One of the first rules of polite public behaviour is to give credit where it is due. Jeshua has attacked my reputation and left a rude web page up with my name on it (after numerous requests to have it taken down) and upset a very good open source developer (Chris Pfisterer) and has managed to con his business partner out of the equipment it took to get everything he had started. Make up your own mind, but I refuse to do business with someone who has managed to offend this many reasonable people without having made any visible efforts whatsoever to set things right.

  5. Charge worth it! by igabe · · Score: 2, Interesting

    FYI this product has been out for well over a year(I bought a copy last December I believe).

    Before I bought it I downloaded Bochs. I am no ubergeek, so I didn't even get past compiling it.

    It works. First I ran Linux on it, then got DOS running, then Win95. It works. It works. It's slow. It works. Compared to spending hundreds of dollars to buy Microsoft's Virtual PC, this is magical. (plus, they have nice bundles where you can get open-source Office, GIMP, and other such programs together for very nice prices... yes, I am a newbie and I don't want to use Fink anymore)

    --
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  6. Re:For desktop users, just add a PC by ackme · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I got a 2Ghz Dell PC with XP Pro, plus a gig of RAM and a 120 gig hard drive for about $500. I use MS Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac (free). Add a hub and voila! Windows on Mac 12" Powerbook with no pesky emulation lag.

    It ain't $100, but if you already spent the money for a Mac...