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TMO Scoop - Microsoft: Virtual PC 7 Delayed Until "Second Half of 2004"
by , 6:05 PM EDT, May 11th, 2004
The Macintosh Business Unit (Mac BU) of Microsoft Corp. has confirmed the release of Virtual PC 7.0, Microsoft's PC emulation software, has been delayed from the first half of this year until the second half of 2004 due to longer-than-expected development and testing, a company spokeswoman said.
"Virtual PC for Mac Version 7 will be available in the second half of 2004," Jessica Sommer, Product Manager for the Mac BU, told The Mac Observer, Tuesday. Sommer would not be more specific on a time frame or month.
In explaining the delay, Sommer said, "This is the first version of Virtual PC for Mac developed by Microsoft. Initially, our development and testing timeline was estimated based on our experience with development of Office. The developing, testing, and bug fix cycle with Virtual PC is longer than that of Office and the testing more vigorous than previous versions of Virtual PC. Because of this, we have adjusted our release timing to match a more realistic schedule."
In addition, there is an edition of Virtual PC 7 that ships with Windows XP in a box by itself, as well as Windows XP being included in the Office 2004 Professional Edition," she commented. "We are waiting for the release of Windows XP SP2 in order to offer the most recent, most secure version of Windows XP to our Virtual PC for Mac customers. Windows XP SP2 release has moved to the end of July which has impacted our schedule as well."
Sommer would not confirm the amount of manpower that is working on completing Virtual PC 7.0 for release. "There are 165 people in the Mac BU some are focused on Office, some on VPC, some on MSN Messenger," Sommer said.
The company announced at Macworld Expo last January that it planned on releasing Microsoft Office 2004 Standard Edition, Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition, Virtual PC 7.0 and its associated Office 2004 Professional Edition in the first half of 2004, targeting the month of May.
With the delay in finishing and releasing Virtual PC 7.0, Sommer confirmed to TMO the decision was made to go ahead and ship Microsoft Office 2004 Standard Edition and Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition now and not to delay customers from purchasing the product. Customers waiting on the new Office upgrade began receiving notification their orders were being shipped beginning today, as earlier reported by TMO, and many customers were able to buy the products at Apple's retail stores as well beginning Tuesday.
Office 2004 is a bundled suite made up of Word 2004, PowerPoint 2004, Excel 2004, Entourage 2004 and MSN Messenger Version 4.0. Office 2004 for Mac Professional Edition is the same offering as the Standard Edition, but includes Virtual PC 7.0 with Windows XP Professional.
Virtual PC enables Mac users to emulate the operating characteristics of a Windows-based PC, providing Mac users with a way to run software that won't run natively on their Macs. Few details of Virtual PC 7.0's enhancements have been divulged, but Microsoft had previously confirmed it would be compatible with Apple's Power Mac G5 systems.
Observer Comments
Tue May 11, 2004 6:43 pm Subject: MS In No Rush For Mac VPC
Tue May 11, 2004 7:30 pm Subject: Wonder about the improvements
I wonder if the new version will be worth the cost or should I get a cheap PC. Desk space is a concern, but I could get a laptop and tuck into a shelf until needed.
I have the current version of VPC (with XP), but rarely use it. On occasion I have to open a Windows CD containing copy that a client did not create to be Mac compatible, but most stuff comes in via email. Also one client has their domain hosted on a Plesk server and I until recently I could not access the admin page using a Mac, though VPC could, works fine under Safari now.
I hope they bring Office into the 21st Century, it still seems so 1990ish compared to where it should be.
Whatever, you all have a nice evening
Tue May 11, 2004 11:28 pm Subject: M$, on time?
i cannot remember the last time that they ever had an on time shipment that had HALF of the promised power. the VPC delay is no suprise, probably be just in time to bundle with your new 3 GHz G5.
or hopefully for me, a G5 iMac.
TRO
which reminds me, why cant everyone agree on an actual standard, in stead of a de facto standard because of monopolistic business practices
Just got a loaded 15" PB last week and have put VPC on it. Comparing the performance of VPC on both a 667 and 1.5 blows my mind. I can now use the one proprietary Windows app without being too embarrassed. VPC on a 1.5 is not that far away from the 1.7 Dell dog I have on the desktop.
I'm waiting for VPC 7 before getting a replacement for the Dull. Then it's a full Office package for a new PM.
I am, however, be more than happy to wait until it and the XP SP2 are BOTH ready. I'm having to reinstall Win XP on the Dull and it is agony - tomorrow starts the joy of downloading all the patches and updates. Waiting will save every VPC user hours (days?) in reinstalls if XP SP2 is used. I'm also happy to wait if MS can add the capture of the PC Card slot on the PB's.
Tue May 11, 2004 11:34 pm Subject: VPC becoming Quark
To my way of thinking, VPC is slowly becoming Quark.
I'm a late adopter to X (I didn't move from 9 unit Jag shipped), but it was still several months later that Quark finally shipped for X. By the time it did, there wasn't any budget to buy that application. But, honestly, it was too late. My entire workflow had moved to InDesign.
The G5 arrived at work two weeks ago. I was already down to one app that ran under VPC (at 1 time there were three that I needed VPC for). Since VPC won't even run on the G5, I've had to find another route (which I have).
That now means I couldn't even justify the upgrade price for VPC if it were to ship today.
The longer it takes, the more solutions others will find. Yeah, it's nice on my laptop for viewing how a site I develop looks on IE for XP, but I'd hardly call it a critical app, or even an nice tool to have.
Take it; leave it. I'm pretty much over it.
For those of who sadly jumped ship while Quark reorganized good luck! Quark is a far superior application than Indesign - it is a production application that saves time and money. If your whole operation was to move away from one application while not propperly gathering the facts, then what was ailing you was not Quark... To change your workflow so drastically will no doubt hurt your bottom line... When 7 ships in January, or even when imge editing tools for Quark become available this June, you will be sorry you ever thought Adobe had an edge for digital document production... hope you have money to burn!!
Tue Jul 20, 2004 3:06 pm Subject: Re: MS In No Rush For Mac VPC
QuoteRealityCheck wrote:
You knew when MS bought VPC something bad was going to happen. MS is in no rush to get VPC to the Mac market, why make it easier for switchers, and you can bet the product will have a hefty Mac tax.
So G5s still have no way to run PC programs, but hey if you want to run PC programs get a PC.
For once, I actually agree with about 90% of what RC has said. The Mac tax is debatable, but other then that, it's pretty much dead on. I always thought MS buying VPC was a sketchy situation in terms of future development. And, I do own a PC (two actually) for running PC apps. I just can't make any money with them. For that I need a mac.
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