It was just six months ago when Applelinks' Kirk Hiner reviewed the new Virtual PC 5 with Windows 98.

Since that time, Connectix has improved the program with some important improvements, and some bug squishes; created a new bug; and released a new updater to squash that new bug, and that brings us to version 5.0.4. In addition, Connectix has released version 5 with Windows XP. It was time to test the new improvements, features and the new OS. So, with shirtsleeves pulled back, I fought my way through Windows XP--it was a dirty job, but someone had to do it!!

One of the problems when reviewing a program that allows us to run an OS that most of us Mac users would just as soon be happy to never have to see is separating the program from the enabling program. That is, should Virtual PC be blamed for dreadful characteristics of the program being enabled? Obviously not. The challenge is to spot the differences between working with Windows as opposed to operations with Virtual PC, and not have those issues apply to our review of Virtual PC. They are, after all, two different things.

However, if you do [for example] any FileMaker Development and/or web design, our need (read: "Mac users need") to occasionally run Windows is a must. Thus, Virtual PC becomes a necessity if we are to avoid having an extra box on our desk.

In addition, if you've moved up to OS X, the need for an OS X version of Virtual PC is an even a greater "must have." Consider: running an emulated Windows environment within an emulated OS 9 is one place you don't really want to go.

Some of the big changes in VPC 5.0.4 can be seen in the split screen shot below of the Virtual PC Preferences from version 5.0 (on the left) and version 5.0.4 (on the right):

The first new inclusion introduced with version 5.0.3 is security. Connectix added three levels of security. Notice that passwords are required for either and/or the "PC settings," "Exit from full-screen mode," and to "Create or delete a PC." All passwords are triple-DES encrypted so if you lose or forget your password, you are just as well to toss VPC and your PC drives, and everything else related to VPC and re-install the whole shebang. You have been warned.

The other important addition to VPC Preferences was CPU usage: one of the important issues to consider when working with a program that lets one emulate a different OS on their computer is the issue of speed. The problem here is that even on a fast machine (I'm working on a G4 733 MHz Mac with 640 MB of RAM), there is a certain non-zippy aspect with OS X. It doesn't bother me because I consider the amount of time I save with no system crashes or system restarts due to a program freezing is well worth the lack of zippyness.

However, the preemptive manner in which OS X manages RAM is not necessarily that great for running Virtual PC. In OS 9, VPC takes over all of your processor when it's the frontmost application. In OS X, that's not the way it supposed to work. However, in version 5.0.3, Connectix came up with a solution: While Virtual PC should never be considered for games, it now runs on par with OS 9. (Be aware that Windows XP will run slower than other versions of Windows on the same computer. As an example, I loaded up Windows ME and it ran smoother than XP.) (Ever since Virtual PC 4, one can have multiple OSs running concurrently in Virtual PC (provided you have enough RAM).

One of the nifty ways in which Connectix managed to improve VPC's performance despite the challenges of running within OS X is by providing the user control on how much VPC can take over the CPU when it is the front most program as opposed to when it is not being used.

Also, please note: Connectix recommends that for OS X, you run Virtual PC on a machine that is at least a G3 400 MHz. As a test, I got VPC running on a G3 350 in OS X and it works--just have a book ready. Installing the Virtual PC and Windows XP took just under two hours. (On my G4 it took some 40 minutes for the full installation of Virtual PC and Windows XP, AND for it to be up and running.) Now mind you, with the new CPU Usage Preference, I was able to get VPC running on my G3 in OS X; I just can't recommend it on a daily basis.

Once installed and updated on the G4, it took about 1' 40" to start Windows XP from a not running state (with VPC already running) while it took 2' 40" in the same conditions on the G3. From a saved state it took 8" to start on the G4, while it took 38" to start on the G3.

[One of the long running nifty features of VPC is the ability to "save" your "open" state of windows. Thus, when you start Windows up from VPC (after having saved the open state) you do not need to restart Windows each time. One of the new features in v. 5 of VPC (called Undo Drives) is that you can set the program to not save any changes you create while working in Windows (unless you choose to). Thus, you can install beta software, work like crazy, and when you quit your (Windows) hard drive it is just as it was when you started. This could be considered a "revert" for a Hard Drive.]

There are some curious aspects when wanting to work in both OS 9 and OS X. For one, you must manually make an alias of the Virtual PC preferences from the <Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/Virtual PC 5.0 Preferences>. This alias is then placed in the Virtual PC folder. Although not much of a job, I've not seen such actions required in other programs.

Also, I found Virtual PC 5 to have the same level of poor interaction with extensions in OS 9 as Virtual PC 4. As such, if you have problems, you may find you will want to turn off all non-Apple extensions to run VPC in OS 9 (or use Conflict Catcher to find which are the problem extensions). One of the new features with 5.0.4 is that if you restart your Mac with the Shift key down (turning off all extensions) VPC will still be able to start up. The good news is that in OS X the whole issue of extension conflicts is over with and VPC runs just fine.

So, what does 5.0.4 accomplish? Mostly it repairs a major problem created in version 5.0.3 which in addition to adding new features, tried to solve a problem with 5.0.2. The story is that although 5.0.2 had some nice speed breaks, it was also creating some extra crashing in Windows XP. To resolve the crashing, the programmers inadvertently created a slowdown in performance. So, what 5.0.4 does is successfully maintain the speed of 5.0.2 without the crashing. This is good.

So, what else has Connectix added to Virtual PC 5 since its initial release? Aside from a number of bug fixes, consider:

• VPN (Virtual Personal Networks) to let you access a company's network via Windows while in either OS 9 or X and PPTP VPN through Shared Networking in OS 9 (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol).
• Sockets-based Networking (OS X) allowing all functionality of normal Open Transport Shared Networking (Shared OT) and added access to NetBIOS port. This allows VPC to let Windows to log into NT domains and brows Network Neighborhoods.
• Mapping a COM Port setting to a serial port on the Mac to increase the number of devices capable of being connected.
• Supports long (up to 255 characters) for files and folder names.

All this bodes very well for Connectix's commitment to the Mac market. While consumers expect and deserve bug fixes for released programs, not all companies provide program improvements and enhancements in simple dot "." upgrades. While it is safe to say that some of these may have been planned for release with version 5.0 but were not ready for prime time at the time the program was released, the fact is they were not delayed for a "pay-for" 5.5 upgrade. Many kudos and applauds to Connectix for all of this.

One of the nice features with VPC since v. 4 is drag-and-drop between the Finder and Windows. This ability is still maintained. However, after a program installation into Windows, you might find that drag-and-drop is disabled. It turns out that when you install programs into Windows, like the Mac OS, other programs may be disabled. Also, like Mac OS X, some of these programs may not be obvious "programs." In this case, the drag-and-drop features of Windows may have been shut down for the installation and formally logging off and restarting Windows should restore the drag-and-drop functionality between the Finder and Windows.

There is an interesting licensing issue that VPC users may find with Windows XP. VPC is licensed to one user, not one machine. That is, one may install VPC in their Powerbook and their desktop machine so long as one user will be using them. Windows XP, like all Windows OSs is for one computer. Windows XP, in specific, can only exist on one computer. Any attempts to Activate Windows XP on more than one computer is not allowed and any 2nd (or more) use of any Windows XP installation will be defeated. The best you can hope for is 30 days of use and then Windows XP will deactivate. So, if you wish to use VPC with more than one computer you will use, while you should purchase subsequent copies of most Windows products, you will have to purchase a 2nd copy of Windows XP.

[Like I said, separating the review of the program versus the OS that is enabled with that program are two different things.]

I do have complaints with the manual that comes with Virtual PC: it's more a pamphlet than a manual and I found its explanations to be what one would expect as an explanation before the education. Aside from a poor manual, the explanations provided with the 5.0.2, .03, and .04 upgrades also provided very limited information on how to properly utilize the new features. Improvements on the manual should be sufficiently easy to improve that I really really hope to see when we see the next upgrade of an otherwise excellent program.

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