VPC 7 feels no faster than VPC 6

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colin@beyondboxes.com - 27 Dec 2004 22:57 GMT

I would love to hear what some others think about VPC 7... below are my
thoughts, please feel free to comment!!

I just gave VPC 7 a whirl and I'm not impressed with what the $120
bought me. I had previously been using version 6.1.1 and I have seen
very little to no difference in performance between the two. I am using
a PowerBook G4 1.25 GHz, 1 GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.3.7. I allocate 512 MB
to the virtual pc and have no other major applications or other virtual
pcs running. I have the PowerBook plugged in and Processor Performance
set to Highest. I have tweaked an optimized WinNT, Win2K, and WinXP by
following several of the websites previously suggested here.

My findings regarding VPC 7 vs. VPC 6 are this:
* OS Boot time seems about the same, although sometimes it feels like
VPC 7 boots Windows sightly slower than VPC 6.1.1.
* With a stock, un-tweaked install of WinXP, VPC 7 does feel faster
than VPC 6 once the VPC additions are installed into Windows. (Basicly,
un-tweaked stock XP is actually slightly tollerable under VPC 7, unlike
with VPC 6). But once all of the XP eyecandy is turned off and some of
the services are disabled, XP runs about the same performance
regardless if I'm running VPC 6 or VPC 7.
* MS Visual C++ launches in about six seconds under VPC 6, but under
VPC 7 it only takes about five seconds. I suppose that's about a 15%
speed boost, LOL. But when it comes to real use, especially compiling
and linking time, both VPC 6 and VPC 7 perform about the same.

My conclusion is that VPC 7 is mainly a release for G5 users, although
the graphics drivers seem to have gotten a speed boost for those who
insist on running WinXP with all of its slow eyecandy enabled. For the
rest of us, VPC 6 is about as fast as it will get for now. *sigh* I was
hoping for something faster for those of us with PPC 7450 series CPUs.

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Kenneth Gorelick - 28 Dec 2004 02:11 GMT

On 12/27/04 5:57 PM, in article
1104188224.594492.158960@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com,

> I would love to hear what some others think about VPC 7... below are my
> thoughts, please feel free to comment!!
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
> rest of us, VPC 6 is about as fast as it will get for now. *sigh* I was
> hoping for something faster for those of us with PPC 7450 series CPUs.

I had stopped using VPC 6.1.1 on my iMac G4 700 MHz/768 MB RAM because it
was so slow (running win98) as to be completely unusable. I bought my iMac
G5 (1.8 GHz, 2GB RAM) and installed VPC 7/XP) it was still a lot slower than
VPC 4/Win 98 on my OS 9 machine, but at least it runs fast enough to be a
useful tool.
Ken Gorelick

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Sean Frazier - 28 Dec 2004 16:54 GMT

just installed VPC 7, upgraded from Connectix version 6. "feels" quite a
bit faster on my 12" PB (Rev.C, 1.33mhz).

will let you know more as I use it.

thx.

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Peter Stelman - 29 Dec 2004 14:04 GMT

I recently upgraded from 6.1.1 to 7.01 on my Powerbook Alu 1.25GHz with 1Gb
RAM. I _do_ notice an improvement in the applications I use -- Microsoft
Visual Studio .NET, SQL Server, Access Database, and a few other things.
With VPC6, sometimes it got impossibly slow.

Still, it's barely a substitute for just using a PC for the PC
applications -- yet it allows me to travel with just my Powerbook.

But really, what can you possibly expect from a processor that's simulated
in software? It's a huge compromise.

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amayo@mac.com - 30 Dec 2004 19:09 GMT

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amayo@mac.com - 30 Dec 2004 19:53 GMT

I've switched from a 1 GHz iMac G4 with 1000 GB of ram running OS X 2.8
using VP 6 with W2000 pro to an iMac G5 1.8 GHz with 2000 GB of ram
running OS X 3.7 and VP 7.0.1 upgrade. After every installation glitch
(including having to manually transfer my data from a backup because
MIGRATE DATA could not find my files) but with the pleasant help of
three Microsoft techs and 4 hours of head scratching we successfully
installed VP 7.0.1. VP 7 is only used to run AUTOCAD 14. No
networking, or internet hookup except from the Apple side.

THE G4 WITH VP 6 IS ALMOST TWICE AS FAST AS THE G5 WITH VP 7!!!
Especially with any redrawing as in zooming in and out, opening layers,
and all the other stuff I need to do. This is only in 2D. Anyone have
a suggestion?

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Unseelie - 31 Dec 2004 00:31 GMT

Huh... it's faster on my 1.6ghz G5 than VPC 6.1.1 was on my 1.25ghz G4.
Considering that that 1ghz iMac had little to no L2 cache, I think you
exagerate for dramatic effect.

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amayo@mac.com - 31 Dec 2004 01:35 GMT

No, the dramatic effect is waiting seconds for a drawing to resize
where on the G4 it just snapped into place. Could it be that VPC 7 has
to translate these big (some huge) files before they work at an
acceptable speed? Anyone know how to help? Remember VPC 7 only runs a
cad program.

> Huh... it's faster on my 1.6ghz G5 than VPC 6.1.1 was on my 1.25ghz G4.
> Considering that that 1ghz iMac had little to no L2 cache, I think you
> exagerate for dramatic effect.

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Steve Jain - 31 Dec 2004 20:02 GMT

>No, the dramatic effect is waiting seconds for a drawing to resize
>where on the G4 it just snapped into place. Could it be that VPC 7 has
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>you
>> exagerate for dramatic effect.

Yes, certain hardware components that VPC relied on in the G4 were
removed in the G5, forcing VPC to emulate more operating code via
software, hence slowing it down.

Steve Jain, Virtual PC for Windows MVP
Website: http://www.essjae.com
"This posting is provided "AS IS" with
no warranties, and confers no rights.
You assume all risk for your use."

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Mac Forum / Applications / Virtual PC / December 2004

VPC 7 feels no faster than VPC 6