Virtual PC?

[Turtle Pond]

Hello
I'm not a techie so you can't make this too simple!

I want to read a PC CD. Can I do that if I install Virtual PC? Do I need another drive/player on which to play that CD?

Specifically I want to access the Oxford English Dictionary CD which is for PC only.

I have a G4 Powerbook running Panther.

Thanks
Turtle Pond

[sinclair_tm]

yes, virtual pc will let you do this. but thats alot of money just to spend so that you can use one pc program. os x has a dictionary built in, so what does this pc app do that you need it instead of os x's, or even using dictionary.com?

[eric2006]

It's going to be slow, too. Think sub-500 mhz.

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by sinclair_tm

.... os x has a dictionary built in, so what does this pc app do that you need it instead of os x's, or even using dictionary.com?

The dictionary in Panther is a Sherlock channel which accesses Dictionary.com, IIRC. Tiger has Dictionary.app as a bundled application. Your basic point is correct. There is simply no need to use VPC just to run a dictionary program.

[sinclair_tm]

i stand corrected. i didn't use 10.3 for more than a month, went to 10.4 from 10.2, so i'm alittle vage on what differences there are between 10.3 and 10.4.

[AkleyMac]

Eric is probably right about the speed on Virtual PC being too slow, but if you still wanted cheaper P Emulation software, Guest PC is supposedly very good (http://www.lismoresystems.com/en/) . I have never used this myself - I bought Virtual PC before I heard about it, but the online reviews all seem very positive.

[MisterMe]

Lismore Systems's website is hardly an unbiased source. Every review of GuestP PC I have read indicates that it is slow. It also requires that you supply your own copy of Windows. Like it or not, your best bet for running Windows on the Mac is Virtual PC.