With MS Virtual PC for Mac you can run your Windows-compatible application using your Mac. Amazing! It does its job.

The only thing I can say with regards of virtual pc is that the feeling of using it is no different than having $1,000,000.00 the other side of a window and not being able to open the window to get to it! Yes, it's that frustrating!

Strength of Virtual PC

The biggest strength of Virtual PC 6.1 is that it works well. Within minutes of running the installer you can be using Windows XP on your Mac. A setup assistant guides you through adjusting the application's RAM, VRAM, and other basic settings.

Windows XP can run in full screen mode or in a small window mode. Using the Command (Apple) and 'M' keys, toggles you back and forth from full screen mode to small screen mode on your Macintosh.

Virtual PC Toolbar

Virtual PC 6 has a toolbar in the lower left-hand corner. All the Toolbar icons use contextual menus (Control-Click-hold). All the icons let you pop up the Virtual PC 6 Settings window.

Using the hard drive icon, I can launch the Disk Assistant application. The Virtual PC 6 CD icon can unmount or eject a CD. The floppy icon lets you unmount or ejects a floppy. You also can mount a floppy disk image by dragging it to the icon. The Shared Folder icon lets you navigate to a Macintosh folder for sharing on both Mac and Windows platforms.

Working with Virtual PC 6.1

I needed FileMaker Pro program running on my Mac computer. I received additional consulting work from a jewelry company that wanted me to set up a database with graphics of their jewelry products. They had several PCs running Windows XP linked to various servers.

Instead of purchasing a Windows computer, I used Virtual PC to get the job done. I transferred information from and to their Windows XP computers and my Mac G4 by using my Mac's Zip drive.

Next, I made sure that I had PC zip cartridges for backup to get the job done. Virtual PCÊ 6.1 worked well for my evening work setting up and editing the FileMaker Pro database.

Solving Connection Problems

I had trouble connecting to America Online with Virtual PC. The problem was having the right ISP (Internet Service Provider) serial setup number.

The sweetest sound. The answer was using Network Setup Wizard. I had to use my America Online Windows' CD to setup the proper network connection.

In additon, I find that I can connect to the Internet using my Mac AOL OS X and Mac Internet Explorer connection. Now, I use Internet Explorer for Windows to connect to web for special Windows projects.

Pro Reaction

Most of the Window programs Mac users run on their PCs can run on Mac computers using Virtual PC. Virtual PC is an inexpensive way to use Windows programs. You can take over your virtual PC environment. You can even cut and paste between Mac and PC desktops. Virtual PC takes advantage of my dual processor Macs.

I could connect Virtual PC to my printer. I can do this by using my shared USB HP printer which connects well in Virtual PC. My additional external drives, Lacie and Acomdata drives are shared in Virtual PC.

Con Reaction

I had difficulty with my internet account. My computer problem was having the right America Online ISP (Internet Service Provider) serial number.

This should be mentioned in the help menu for America Online users. I found using the Network Setup Wizard connection with AOL CD the answer to the America Online connection problem.

Final Remarks

The major reason that I have to get online is to register my Windows software and receive authorization pass codes to continue to use the software. In addition, I can upload my graphics to my web sites on register.com that normally do not take graphics from a Mac computer.

You can register by telephone by calling Microsoft's toll-free number if you do not have an internet connection. You need to have your Virtual PC registration pass code when calling Microsoft.

I'm running a Mac powerbook G4 with 1 gig of ram. At work, I'm on a PC network where we only use two programs--outlook for messaging, and ACT where we keep our database. Everyday I would experience fatal errors and lockups in addition to it just being slow. Mistakenly, I assumed that if I brought the ram up to 2 gigs, i could allocate 1 gig to virtual pc. WRONG! Microsoft says Virtual PC doesn't allow you to allocate any more than 512K. What a piece of S.

I considered buying Virtual PC, but after careful consideration I went for the other option: A real PC, utilizing Windows XP Professional and the Windows Remote Desktop client for Mac (free from the Microsoft website).
While this solution is more definitely more costly, it depends really dependes what your needs are. As I needed the PC to review PC software, I could not risk blaming the software for errors (or lack of performance) that might have been Virtual PCs fault. Yet, with Windows RDC I can copy and paste from and to my Mac, and have the PC handy in a little window at all times. The display does not refresh as quick as when not operated remotely, but on a 100MBit Ethernet-Connection, I can even listen to iTunes for Windows, and at least see movies at a reduced framerate.
And if that is not fast enough, I still have the option of connecting a monitor to the PC, and see it run a full throttle. The Mac client uses very little performance on the Mac, which is nice.
Yet, a word of caution: I found setting up my system painless, but I say the same thing about installing FreeBSD or Linux. You may want to have a PC-savvy person around. The setup also requires Windows XP Professional, Home does not support Remote Desktop clients.