Has anyone used Rowpro with a Macintosh and Virtual PC?

pduck · Post by **pduck** » March 25th, 2006, 11:50 pm

They say on their web site that it may work. Has anyone tested it?

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » March 26th, 2006, 12:04 am

We have discussed it here over the years, but as far as I know no one has reported that it works. VPC has limited/poor usb support, and rowpro is graphics intensive and VPC emulates the graphics and doesn't use the graphics card. So I wouldn't be optimistic.

Do you already own VPC with XP? If you don't, it is expensive to buy. I think a better idea is to get a hold of a junk PC (in the free-$150 price range) and install XP on that, and just use that for rowing. That is what I do.

If there is a reason to try emulation (say you have a powerbook you want to use for the display), I have always wanted someone to try using rowpro running on a PC using the remote desktop app which allows you to control the pc and display it on the mac (this requires XP pro or win 2000 so I can't test this).

With the intel macs, we are also close to being able to dual boot and just run XP directly on the mac.

pduck · Post by **pduck** » March 26th, 2006, 1:43 am

michaelb wrote:We have discussed it here over the years, but as far as I know no one has reported that it works. VPC has limited/poor usb support, and rowpro is graphics intensive and VPC emulates the graphics and doesn't use the graphics card. So I wouldn't be optimistic.

Do you already own VPC with XP? If you don't, it is expensive to buy. I think a better idea is to get a hold of a junk PC (in the free-$150 price range) and install XP on that, and just use that for rowing. That is what I do.

If there is a reason to try emulation (say you have a powerbook you want to use for the display), I have always wanted someone to try using rowpro running on a PC using the remote desktop app which allows you to control the pc and display it on the mac (this requires XP pro or win 2000 so I can't test this).

With the intel macs, we are also close to being able to dual boot and just run XP directly on the mac.

Thanks Michael. I don't own VPC, or a PC for that matter, so I can't test it. And I only have a PM2, so I wouldn't be able to hook it up. I was just wondering what would be involved in getting myself set up to use RowPro. I feel comfortable with my Macs so I was just hoping there would be some way to make them work.

Stretch · Post by **Stretch** » March 26th, 2006, 9:32 am

I'm struggling with this, too. I really don't want to be laying out $$$ for a Windows machine I will otherwise not use, just to run Rowpro. Think I'll wait a few months until the geeks get the XP/OS X dual-boot working seamlessly, then get the Macbook I had my eye on anyway.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » March 26th, 2006, 10:05 am

I keep forgetting the name of the person who wrote this software, he mainly posts on the UK forum but occasionally came across the pond. In any case, rowtheboat runs on a mac, but you need a PM2+ not a PM3. Since I have a PM3 I haven't tested it. It doesn't do online racing. It is free so worth experimenting with or testing.

http://pcrower.sourceforge.net/

Although I think about upgrading my PC at some point, I still think the free route is the way to go. Rowpro will run on a pretty old and slow PC. I am using a 466 celeron from the 1990s. Someone you know has upgraded, friend, family, or work, and they will be throwing out that old PC as junk, since it is junk. People may pay you to haul off the old CRT. To get good performance, you probably need to be willing to open it up and install a new graphics card (easy to do, and cheap) since most PCs have terrible graphics. You will also need someway to network with your mac (so an ethernet connection or a wireless card, or an airport express).

Junk PCs usually don't come with a full retail install of XP though, so that is the key. Not the easiest thing to bootleg or get for free, so if you have to buy that, you are out around $100. But you need that install of XP anyway to install on your macbook or to install in VPC. I have never looked to see if you could get that off ebay, and some places will sell old used PCs with an OS installed, but no installer disks (not sure if I would trust that though).

DavidA · Post by **DavidA** » March 27th, 2006, 4:28 pm

His name is George Benson I believe, but he didn't have the time to keep working on it. I was working with him on testing it, but was unable to get it to completely work, when he had to stop working on it.

David

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » March 29th, 2006, 1:08 pm

This software got panned when it first came out, but it may be improving. It has official reviews from Mac related sites that look positive. Cheaper than VPC (and bundled with DOS, so you can bring your own OS) at $70. I haven't tried it and they don't offer a download demo. They recently announced usb device support, and picture a GPS on the site. Graphics is still emulated, so if RP runs it would likely need to be in 2d swim lane mode.

So maybe someone wants to take one for the team and try it out:

http://www.lismoresystems.com/en/

Stretch · Post by **Stretch** » April 5th, 2006, 9:33 am

Good news for anyone considering a new Mac who wants to run RowPro or any other Windows app.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

On the other hand, though.

A Word To The Wise: Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC. That means it’ll be subject to the same attacks that plague the Windows world. So be sure to keep it updated with the latest Microsoft Windows security fixes.

Francois · Post by **Francois** » April 6th, 2006, 9:34 am

Stretch wrote:Good news for anyone considering a new Mac who wants to run RowPro or any other Windows app.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

This is a very exciting day!

You can view some pictures of the installation process here.
It is that simple! Now I just have to place an order for that nice 20" iMac with 2 GB of ram!

Cheers!

Francois · Post by **Francois** » April 6th, 2006, 9:44 am

Here is another news from macrumor.com about a virtualization solution from parallels (be patient, the site seems quite busy!)

Parallels released their Windows virtualization solution for the Intel Mac today. The product is called Parallels Workstation 2.1 Beta and a free fully functional copy is available for download now.

Unlike Apple's Boot Camp solution which was released yesterday, Parallels solution allows you to run Windows XP (and other Intel-based operating systems) from within Mac OS X. Rebooting or Dual Booting is not required. This allows users to maintain their daily environment while also being able to use any desired Windows applications. It is only available for the Intel Macs and should provide near-native performance.

Parallels Workstation 2.1 Beta for Mac OS X is NOT simply a "dual-boot" solution; rather, it empowers users the ability to use Windows, Linux and any other operating system at the same time as Mac OS X, enabling users to enjoy the comfort of their Mac OS X desktop while still being able to use critical applications from other OSes.

Parallels appears to be taking advantage of the Intel Virtualization Technology which was included in the Intel Yonah processors that are now shipping in the Intel Macs.

While in free Beta testing at the moment, the final software package for Linux and Windows is priced from the company at $49.99.

Stretch · Post by **Stretch** » April 6th, 2006, 12:33 pm

The likely problem with Parallels is the same as the problem with Virtual PC, no native video support. It would be nice to run Windows in a box with no rebooting, but at what cost in terms of performance slowdown?

Edit: From their Web site:

Virtual machines created using Parallels Workstation 2.1 Beta offer near-native performance and rock-solid stability.

How near? We shall have to see.