You don't have to trade in your Mac just because you need to run
programs that exist only for Windows. Instead, you can have your Mac
and Windows, too, by Windowizing your Mac--adding hardware or
software that lets your Mac run Windows and its applications.
By running Windows directly on your Mac, you can use popular
Windows-only software such as Microsoft Access and more specialized
software that's only available for the PC. You can cut and paste
between Mac and Windows applications, play Windows and DOS CD-ROMs,
and hook up to PC networks with Windows' networking software. With
some Windowizing products, you can even run Windows NT and other PC
operating systems on your Mac.
There are two basic types of solutions, hardware and software. The
hardware solutions are PCI cards that contain a Pentium or
Pentium-compatible processor, RAM, video circuitry, and sometimes
even PC ports. The software solutions, called PC emulators, trick PC
programs into thinking they're running on an Intel box. Emulators are
much cheaper, but also much slower, than PC processor cards. Unless
you have a Power Mac with a PCI slot, emulation software is your only
option for running Windows. All of the emulators require PowerPC
processors; 680x0-based Macs need not apply.
I spent several weeks bent over a hot stopwatch, running Microsoft
Office 97 and the CorelDraw suite for Windows on three Windowizing
products: Orange Micro's OrangePC 536 processor card, Connectix's
Virtual PC 1.0.1, and Insignia Solutions' SoftWindows 95 4.0.1. I
also took a more casual look at two DOS emulators aimed at gamers,
Insignia's RealPC 1.01 and the PC DOS version of Connectix's Virtual
PC.
I conducted hundreds of tests under Windows 95, trying Virtual PC
and SoftWindows 95 on three different PowerPC processors with various
amounts of RAM. I compared the results with data taken from the same
tasks running on the OrangePC 536 board. At the high end, I tested
the emulators on Macs with the hot new G3 processor (Apple's name for
the PowerPC 750 chip). While the G3 processor makes running PC
emulation software speedier than ever, the OrangePC processor board
still beat the pants off the emulators.
For my testing, I used 13 real-world tasks, including launching
and opening a file in Word 97, recalculating a spreadsheet in Excel
97, creating a report (including a query) in Access 97, and
performing a Gaussian blur in Corel Photo-Paint 6.0. The results of
these four tests are shown in the chart "Selected Application Tests"
on page 120. The averaged results of all 13 tests and the complete
set of individual test results is posted at www.macwindows.com/windata1.html.
WIN WIN SOLUTIONS
When you run Windows on your Mac, you can also run your Mac
applications at the same time, if you have enough RAM. You can run
Windows in full-screen mode and toggle between the Windows and Mac
desktops with a keyboard command, or in the case of the software
emulators, you can run Windows in a Mac window.
All of the Windowizing solutions require you to set aside a
portion of your Mac's hard disk to use as a virtual C: or boot drive
for the PC. The OrangePC, Virtual PC, and SoftWindows installers
automatically create the virtual C: drive when they install Windows.
And whenever you install Windows software, it gets stored there.
In addition to the C: drive, you can create a second virtual PC
drive, the D: drive, but that's it. With the OrangePC processor card,
you can create virtual PC drives as big as 2GB, as long as your Mac's
hard drive has enough free space. With the software emulators, your
virtual PC drives are limited to 500MB each.
All of the solutions let you access Mac folders and files from
within Windows and use Windows CD-ROMs, floppies, and other disk
media. And they all let you share your virtual PC drives, folders, or
files over a PC network. But none of them gives you full access to
your Windows folders and files from the Mac side. Connectix's Virtual
PC lets you open and view your Windows files, but you can't make
changes. To edit your Windows files with Mac applications under any
of the Windowizers, you must first copy the files to a Mac folder
from within Windows.
In addition to the Windows 95 versions I tested, SoftWindows and
Virtual PC are also available in Windows 3.11 versions. Virtual PC is
also available in a DOS-only version. Orange Micro's PC processor
cards can run DOS, Windows 3.11, Windows 95, and even Windows NT,
which is not supported by similar cards from Apple and Radius.
Virtual PC has the unique ability to run any operating system that
can run on a PC, including NT, Unix, OS/2, and OpenStep.
THE HARD WAY
Naturally, the OrangePC 536 processor card is more difficult to
set up than the emulators. Depending on your Mac model, you may have
to set some jumpers on the card before you install it, which requires
removing your Mac's case and inserting the card in a PCI slot. With
the card installed, you must connect a multiheaded cable that plugs
into the card, the Mac's monitor port, and a multisync monitor. (The
card doesn't work with old RGB monitors.) The cable, which resembles
the Hydra of Greek mythology, also includes several PC ports,
including stereo in and out ports, a PC parallel port, two PC serial
ports, and a game port. For networking, you can use the Mac's
Ethernet port.
The $846 OrangePC 536 card I tested included a 166MHz Cyrix 686
processor (a Pentium clone) and 16MB of RAM, the minimum amount of
RAM you need to run Windows 95. Nevertheless, the card ran Windows 95
nearly twice as fast as the emulators running on G3 chips with up to
40MB of memory. Other than its much higher price, the OrangePC 536
had one major drawback when compared to the emulators. Its
high-pitched fan was so noisy, it even drowned out the Power Mac
7500's loud fan.
SOFT INSIDE
While PC processor cards can run anywhere from $500 to $2,000,
emulators can be had for less than $200, but you may also need to
invest in additional RAM. Practically speaking, you need a Mac with
at least 32MB of memory, but I recommend 48MB. You will need to
assign at least 24MB to the emulator, which you do via its Get Info
window. A 24MB allocation gives Windows 95 about 16MB: The emulator
program uses the rest. You can run an emulator in less than 24MB of
RAM, but it really slows things down.
Virtual PC is the easier emulator to set up. SoftWindows requires
an extra step in configuring its memory. After you set its memory
allocation in the Get Info box, you must configure its so-called
delta cache (a special RAM cache) in SoftWindows' Setup menu. The
delta cache must be set to between 2MB and 3MB or performance will
drag.
As important as plentiful RAM is to emulator performance, I found
the speed of the Mac's processor was a bigger factor. I recommend at
least a PowerPC 604 processor. The emulators ran smoothly on G3
processors but couldn't match the OrangePC card.
Overall, SoftWindows proved to be faster at running Windows 95
software than Virtual PC, especially in graphics-intensive tasks and
on slower processors. On a 133MHz PowerPC 604 chip, Windows
performance was jerky in both emulators but significantly slower in
Virtual PC. Running SoftWindows 95 on a 225MHz PowerPC 604e was
roughly equivalent to running Virtual PC on the faster G3 processor.
On the faster processors, Virtual PC edged out SoftWindows in a few
tests, such as launching Microsoft Word and recalculating an Excel
spreadsheet.
NETWORKING, DOS, AND GAMES
Besides being faster than Virtual PC, SoftWindows has some unique
features. It comes with more Windows Internet and networking software
than Virtual PC does. And unlike Virtual PC or the OrangePC card,
SoftWindows lets you run simultaneous Mac and Windows Internet
sessions over a single connection. This feature is especially handy
for Web developers who want to see what their Web pages look like in
both Windows and Mac browsers. Also, SoftWindows supports both token
ring and Ethernet networking, includes AppleGuide help for DOS and
Windows, and lets you script PC commands with AppleScript. It also
supports a Mac microphone.
Virtual PC's only advantage over SoftWindows is that it can run
any Intel-based operating system. I did have an easier time
installing some DOS games in Virtual PC than in either SoftWindows or
RealPC, but Virtual PC has a problem with the DirectX drivers used in
some Windows games. DirectX games will run in Virtual PC, but their
sound is silenced, and they move so slowly they're unplayable.
If you already own a copy of Windows, you could save some money by
buying Insignia's RealPC or the DOS-only version of Virtual PC and
installing Windows on top of it. For gamers, RealPC is a better
choice. Both Virtual PC and RealPC support MMX, while SoftWindows
does not. But unlike Virtual PC, RealPC supports Mac joysticks for
playing PC games. (With the OrangePC card, you can plug in a PC
joystick.)
Both Virtual PC&endash;DOS and RealPC come with games. Virtual
PC&endash;DOS comes with three Electronic Arts games: Madden NFL
Football LE; PGA Tour 96; and the Need for Speed, a race-car game.
RealPC comes with a CD-ROM containing Dark Forces, Descent, Doom
1.666, and 12 other games.
SWISS DESKTOP
If you have the cash, an OrangePC processor card is the serious
way to run any flavor of Windows on a Mac. It's faster than any
software emulator on any Mac, and it's fast even if your Mac is slow.
It's too bad the card is so noisy.
If you don't want to invest more than $200 in Windows, or you need
to run Windows on a PowerBook or non-PCI Power Mac, SoftWindows is
the first choice. It's the faster emulator, particularly on slower
Macs and PowerPC 603e-based PowerBooks. Virtual PC is the only
solution if you want to run OS/2 or any other non-Windows PC
operating system on your Mac.
© 1997 John Rizzo. All rights reserved.
John Rizzo is a computer columnist and the author of several books including "How Macs Work" from Ziff-Davis Press. He is also an online and networking specialist and teaches computing at San Francisco's Center for Electronic Art. You can reach John via email at zmac1@aol.com. His new website is MacWindows - The Web Site for Macintosh-Windows Integration Solutions
Where to Buy
Virtual PC (Windows 95 or Windows 3.1)
Virtual PC (PC DOS)
Connectix
800/950-5880
www.connectix.com/html/connectix_virtualpc.html
List prices: $149 (Windows),
$65 (DOS)
SoftWindows 95 4.0.1
SoftWindows 3.0 (with Windows 3.1)
RealPC 1.0 (DOS)
Insignia Solutions
800/848-7677
www.softwindows.com
List prices: $199 (Win95),
$149 (Win3.1), $79 (DOS)
OrangePC 536
Orange Micro
714/779-2772
www.orangemicro.com
List Price: $846
How I Tested
I tested SoftWindows, RealPC, and Virtual PC on a Power Mac 7500
using several different PowerPC processor cards: a 132MHz PowerPC 604
card from Apple, a 225MHz PowerPC 604e MaxPower card from Newer
Technology, and a 250MHz G3 MaxPower Pro card from Newer Technology.
I also tested the emulators on a PowerBook G3 with only 32MB of RAM,
which is why I couldn't allocate more than 24MB to the emulators. I
didn't test the emulators on the Power Mac 7500's original 100MHz
PowerPC 601 processor because Connectix doesn't recommend running
Virtual PC on anything slower than a 180MHz PowerPC 603e chip. I
tested the OrangePC 536 card in the Power Mac 7500 with a 132MHz
PowerPC 604 processor installed.
All my tests were conducted in systems running Mac OS 8. The disk
cache was set to 1024K. To optimize performance, the display was set
to full-screen mode, 256 colors, and 640 pixels by 480 pixels. (I set
it to 800 pixels by 600 pixels on the PowerBook G3, which is probably
why it was somewhat slower than the desktop G3.) I tested with
AppleTalk and File Sharing turned off. All virtual C: drive files
were 350MB in size. And finally, every test was conducted with 512K
of Level 2 cache installed. You should get better emulator
performance with 1MB of cache.
--JR
