Low End Mac Reader Specials
TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com
Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how
to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full
Tilt Poker Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.
Apple Archive
No Virtual PC for the G5? Try WinTel
A 'Best of Apple Archive' Article
- 2003.09.05
With the G5 shipping, we now have access to the new 64-bit machine that many have been hoping would come from Apple for quite some time. While I haven't had a chance to play around with one yet, I can be sure that OS X performance is greatly improved over even the G4.
This means that Photoshop will be faster, Word will open up faster, and Virtual PC will start feeling even more like a real PC, right?
Wrong.
Virtual PC doesn't even work on the G5, and now that Microsoft has bought it from Connectix, they have to deal with the users that will be complaining; saying they need it for their work. While I don't use it too often, preferring instead to use a real PC, I definitely would miss it if I couldn't use it.
While I don't have the latest version of Virtual PC, I would expect those just buying version 6 to be able to get an upgrade either for free (a free download, or something) or for a very minimal amount, as it would probably help sales for Virtual PC. Then again, most people buying it probably have G3 or G4 machines, and are planning to use it on them.
Thankfully, for those that have just purchased a new G5 and must run Windows applications - they aren't exactly in the dark. OpenOSX has just released WinTel 1.0.1, and it's completely compatible with the G5. It's basically a Mac OS X user interface for the bochs emulation software, which emulates a Pentium processor, and dual G4 processors can function as either one powerful Pentium or dual Pentiums.
In the same fashion as Virtual PC, files can be dragged from the PC desktop onto the Mac desktop. Wintel also carries a much lower price tag than Virtual PC - it's available on a CD for $30 including 10 open source operating systems (or just $25 as a download). Windows must be purchased separately (or you could always transfer a license from an old PC).
This provides a nice alternative to buying a new or used PC (Pentium II PCs typically sell for $50 or less). Having a software application on your Mac is much more elegant and less space consuming than having a whole separate computer on which to run a few applications, but a hardware PC still offers things that emulation can't, such as much better video performance and the ability to use PC-only PCI cards and other hardware.
Then again, much PC software has certain hardware requirements, and before long you'll be buying a Pentium 4 with 512 MB RAM and a 250 GB hard drive - right after you already spent $2,000 on a G5.
For what I use PC emulation for (mainly opening files that won't open on a Mac or visiting PC-only websites), I don't need to have a whole PC. The newly released WinTel emulator looks promising, but it seems that it's main selling point is that it runs on a G5 - for those who can't wait up to a year for Virtual PC to be updated.
Since Virtual PC runs fine on my PowerBook G4, I don't have any
reason to get WinTel. I am curious, though, to see how well it
sells. 
Recent Apple Archive articles
- iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it.
- Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
- Could the $200 'green' PC with gOS Linux become a threat to Apple?, 11.14. The low cost, low power Everex desktop comes with a customized version of Ubuntu Linux, has a Mac-like Dock, and sells for $400 less than the Mac mini.
- Leopard different, a bit buggy, but worth the upgrade, 11.02. Leopard on a Power Mac G4 and a MacBook Pro: It runs well on both computers, but each has some odd bugs, and some of the changes are a step backwards.
- More in the Apple Archive index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 'WallStreet' PowerBook G3, May 1998 - WallStreet offered 3 screen sizes and CPU speeds from 233 to 292 MHz.
- Group of the Day: Mac UK is for Mac users in the United Kingdom.
- February 9 in LEM history: 00: Think choices - Promoting the Macintosh - 01: Apple vs. Mac clones - 05: Apple and the $100 laptop - Yojimbo - Core Duo vs. G5 - 07: The story behind After Dark - Microsoft Office 2007
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Do We Really Need Another Mac Email Client?, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 02.08. Mac users have a host of free and low-cost email clients to choose from. Does Brent Simmons' 'Letters' project make any sense at all?
- MacBook Pro a Revelation, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 02.08. After using G4 Macs for over a decade, spending a weekend prepping a first generation MacBook Pro was a real eye opener.
- 42 Reasons a Netbooks Is Better than an iPad, Hard Drive Upgrade Value, Faster Netbooks, and More, The 'Book Review, 02.05. Also why the iPad can't compete with netbooks, 802.11n WiFi card for older Intel MacBooks and Mac minis, and a DJ keyboard cover for MacBooks.
- iPad Perfect for Handheld Computing, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 02.05. You can hold the iPad in one hand and operate it with the other, giving it real advantages over a laptop computer.
- iPad Targets Netbook Users, iPad 'Flaws' Don't Matter, In-page Search for iPhone Safari, and More, iNews Review, 02.05. Also FSF considers iPad 'iBad' for freedom, Touch Mouse app turns iPhone into wireless keyboard and trackpad, privacy screen for iPhone, and more.
- Touch Shifts the Apple Empire, Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market, 02.05. Apple dominates mobile computing, and it will be difficult for competitors to match the value of the iPad.
- 90% of Premium PCs Are Macs, OS and Browser Market Share, Chrome Browser to Dominate, and More, Mac News Review, 02.05. Also 27" iMac too popular for supply, eco-friendly 2 TB hard drive, Puppy Linux for PowerPC Macs, 6-core Mac Pro rumored, and more.
- iPad Should Support a Stylus, CoolBook Quiets MacBooks, Puppy Linux for PowerPC Macs, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 02.03. Also the iPad as a genie in a bottle, Eudora Classic 6.2, notebook battery life, and more uses for 'obsolete' technology.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 02.02. Used 2 GHz, $700; 2.4, $999; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.8, $1,699; 3.06, $2,199; new 2.53, $1,610; 2.66, $1,839; 2.8, $2,109; 3.06, $2,550; more.
- Best G3 iMac Deals, 02.02. 500 MHz CD-ROM, $40; 450 MHz DVD-ROM, $60; 600 MHz CD-ROM, $230 shipped; 700 MHz CD-RW, $300 shipped.
- Best eMac Deals, 02.02. 1 GHz SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 Combo, $100; SD, $360; 1.42 GHz Combo, $299; SD, $439.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 02.01. Used 1.25 GHz G4 Combo, $369; 1.5, $399; Core Solo, $399; 1.83 GHz Core Duo SD, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $759; Server, $985.
- Best iBook G4 Deals, 02.01. 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $200; 1.33 GHz, $259; 14" 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $399.
- Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, 02.01. 800 MHz Combo, $285; 867 MHz SuperDrive, $400; 1 GHz Combo, $549.
- Best 13" MacBook & MacBook Pro Deals, 01.29. Used 1.83 GHz, $570; 2.0, $599; 2.4 GHz, $800; 2.26 MB, $849; new, $925 after rebate; Pro, $1,108, 2.53, $1,399 a/r.
- Best Power Mac G5 Deals, 01.29. 1.8 GHz single, $399; dual, $479; 2.0, $549; 2.5, $609; 2.7, $799; 2.3 GHz dual-core, $709; 2.5 GHz Quad, $939.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 01.29. Mac OS X 10.0, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $50; 10.3, $50; 10.3 Server, unlimited users, $130.
- More deals in our archive.
About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts
Navigation
Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System
6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Affiliates
The Apple
Store
Mac
Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial
Memory
batteries.com
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com
Advertise
