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"Macintel" Q&A
Update Published August 29, 2006
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Is Microsoft Virtual PC compatible with the Intel Macs?
No. As published on February 26, 2006, Microsoft's Mactopia website answered "What does the announcement about Intel-based Macs mean for Virtual PC for Mac?" with the following:
Virtual PC for Mac Version 7 is still the best emulation solution for users who have PowerPC-based Macs, but it does not run on Intel-based Macs. We are working with Apple to determine the feasibility of developing Virtual PC for Mac for Intel-based Macs. Virtual PC for Mac is highly dependent on the operating system and hardware and will require additional development to run on Intel-based Macs.
On August 7, 2006, Microsoft changed the answer to:
The Macintosh Business Unit has decided not to make further investments in a Universal version of Virtual PC at this time. Building a high-quality virtualization solution, such as Virtual PC, for the Intel-based Mac would be similar to developing a version 1.0 release due to how closely the product integrates with Mac hardware, and it's simply not feasible with available development resources. . .
As new virtualization solutions are available for Intel-based Macs, we will continue to work closely with our partners and customers to address the needs of users who wish to run Windows on the Mac.
In other words, Microsoft has discontinued Virtual PC because the company believes that it would not be profitable to develop a new version. However, Microsoft has pledged to continue to provide support for customers using the software on PowerPC-based Macs "in accordance with company policies.
You can boot Windows on an Intel-based Mac or run the operating system under virtualization or emulation. For more information, please refer to the Windows on Mac Q&A.
In particular, within the Windows on Mac Q&A you might be interested in reading the answers to:
- What exactly is Boot Camp?
- What is Parallels virtualization? How does it compare to emulation?
- How fast is a Mac running Windows XP using Parallels compared to Boot Camp?
- Can you run Windows applications directly in MacOS X without installing Windows?
Ultimately, there are far better solutions than Virtual PC for running Windows on Intel Macs.
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