Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 Removes Linux Support

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the but-adds-the-coveted-multiple-network-interfaces dept.

Psykechan writes "MSFN has got themselves a beta of the new MS Virtual PC 2004 which should be out at the end of this year. Most notable in their 'fixes' is the removal of Linux, BSD, Netware, and Solaris from the supported OS list. They may still work, they just aren't supported. We all thought that this would happen after MS bought Connectix but this just makes it official."

4 of 481 comments (clear)

  1. Linux support by zephc · · Score: 4, Informative

    is still in there, you select "Other" in the hard drive image set up, and just have to format the image yourself, rather than VPC doing it for you. End of discussion.

    --
    "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
    1. Re:Linux support by Alsee · · Score: 4, Informative

      Linux support is still in there... End of discussion.

      Did you even bother to finnish reading the Slashdot story? It says: "They may still work, they just aren't supported."

      So yes Linus still works, at least to some extent. It is NO LONGER SUPPORTED. It may fail in some way, and don't expect any help when you trip over some way in which does fail. It will most likely not work at all with in a future version, it may even fail after applying the next bugfix/patch.

      You cannot safely continue using Virtual PC for Linux, BSD, Netware, or Solaris. Merely applying a patch becomes a game of russian roulette. Not only might it kill the system outright, it could silently cause curruption. Unknown silent curruption is often far more damaging than outright failure.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  2. Re:Pretty useless then by PsyQ · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ummm.. Because it allows Mac OS users to run Windows applications? What other application does that (reliably)? SoftWindows has died, SoftPC had the same fate and RealPC is completely destroyed. Did you even consider that before posting?

    The only hope now lies in Bochs, an open source PC emulator/virtual machine thingy. Currently it's quite hard to configure and has very low compatibility with existing x86 OS's, but at least it somewhat works and the source is out there.

  3. Re:VMware? by yamla · · Score: 4, Informative

    No. VMWare is a virtualiser rather than an emulator. You need to emulate the ix86 instruction set on a Mac in order to run ix86 software.

    --

    Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.