I'll be getting a new powerbook, loaded with everything but hte memory (cheaper to do that myself after it get it). V-tech's engineering program which i start in next fall has a pilot program for powerbooks, they said some programs require virtual pc, so can anyone tell me, how does it run? I believe autocad is the program that will require virtual pc, and other than the actual final rendering how do you feel it will work? I'd hate to have to give up getting a new loaded powerbook because of htis

Hate to tell you it, but Windows 98 and probably NT 4 will run halfway decent on the PowerBook. XP and 2000 will just drag inside of VirtualPC. =/

it cant be horrible if they are making it an option, i dont see why they would if it didn't even run useably

From my experience at the Apple Store, it wasn't unbearable. It was very normal feeling actually. Keep in mind you are limited by the Powerbook's hardware (such as a 4200RPM drive or whatever they use) and on top of that by the emulator. However, it is very decent. I just messed around a bit. AutoCAD might be a different story and that definitely wansn't one of the apps I tried out. Any program that is slow on a PC now (like WMP) is obviously slower on the Powerbook.

_--boocher

All I can tell you is max out your RAM! Especially if you're thinking about any version of Windows past 98se.

actually they run quite well... VPCs are basically dependant on RAM, so if you have a powerbook with 512mb, you could assign 265 to the VPC and it will be acceptable, if it were 1gb, it will run great.


fjv.

I've had to use VPC for Visual Studio.Net and MSSQL Server 2000 in the past and Windows 2000 ran at acceptable speeds. XP on the other hand was dog slow, avoid it.

My 15" PowerBook 1.67Ghz has 1GB of RAM, and it runs VPC with WindowsXP without any major problems..

At first I couldn't stand it, but it got bearable after I disabled most of the services and other visual effects assigned it 512mb of RAM.

I managed to install Maxthon and mIRC and they run flawlessly, but I still wouldn't want to install Microsoft Office on it.

Here's my screenshot of My Computer properties on VPC... look at CPU speed.

Heh, XP SP2 in VPC on my Powerbook runs *way* better than it does on my P3 Omnibook!

As everyone else has already stated, max out your RAM and give VPC 512mb, and, if possible, run it off an external 7200rpm HD.