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VirtualRPC for Mac OS X delayed

Published: 10th Mar 2007, 12:51:05.

But it's the thought that counts

Mac OS X at a showThe port of VirtualRiscPC to Apple's glossy range of computers was delayed by illness and other projects, according to VirtualAcorn. A release of the Mac OS X version of the RiscPC emulator, pictured, was held up after VA boss Aaron Timbrell said he was laid low by illness, and programmer Graeme Barnes's time was spent on other work.

Applistas had earlier called for more information on the status of the VRPC port. Aaron said he still intends to release the software eventually, but there are bugs and other issues to fix before then.

He revealed this week: "It has been delayed for a number of reasons. The main one being time. Both Graeme and I have been busy on other projects. Further delays have been caused because I haven't been very well."

Aaron added: "The current test version is far more advanced than anything that's been seen in public. However I am not going to announce a release date until we are happy with it and it's gone through the quality assurance test cycle. Currently there are still some things that need to be fixed and implemented.

"We want to release the product. We've spent a lot of time and money on it, and when it's completed to our satisfaction, it will be released."

The Mac OS X port of VirtualRiscPC first entered the public eye in a timid preview at the Wakefield 2005 show. Apple's decision to switch to the Intel platform was said to have had little effect on the release of the VRPC port, and it's understood the emulator now uses the platform-independent libSDL. In 2004, portions of VRPC became the copyright of ARM Ltd.

Links
VirtualAcorn website

Discussion

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On the latest Macs you can run Windows in Parallels or Boot Camp and run VRPC in that

is a RISC OS Usermarkee174 on 10/3/07 4:05PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

Ah, finally some news about it! Why has it taken so long to respond, especially since many have asked for it and VA apparently put quite some time and money into it? It seems to me there's plenty demand for VA to get on with it.

What in my opinion sucks, is that in the meantime Windows Vista has gotten support for it, while I can hardly imagine more customers running Vista then OS X. I'd even say that RISC OS is almost the opposite of Vista, so why would anyone appreciative of RO's GUI and application style upgrade to Vista? Indeed, the OS X GUI is not quite as excellent as RO's, but it comes much, much closer than Windows has ever gotten.

A first version of VRPC for OS X has been shown quite some time, perhaps years ago, wetting our appetites. A lot of RO users have gotten a Mac to fill in the gaps, including me. I wouldn't dream of running Windows on my Mac, not even to get RO to run on it. But I'd like to run RO under an emulator native to the Mac. Every new Mac being sold runs on Intel chips, meaning they run x86 code. Doesn't this mean that porting the matured code used by the Windows version of VRPC shouldn't be too hard?

I'm sure VirtualAcorn wants to release the product, but it's time they get realistic about it and giving Mac using RO enthusiasts more than just a clue. OS X provides a lot of RO-like behaviour and more delay will only encourage people to search for an OS X app to do what they'd much rather do under RISC OS.

The argument that the Windows market is much larger has been often mentioned, but don't forget that the Mac market isn't exactly small either; many millions of users and rapidly growing. But that's not the point - Mac users are a different breed than most Windows users and have quite a lot in common with the Acorn users of old. They actually care about good products and most are very enthusiastic and helpful people eager to find out more about unusual new products.

is a RISC OS UserhEgelia on 10/3/07 4:34PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

I call bulls*** on that entire 2nd paragraph hEgelia!

Now I wonder if I can run this under my MacOSX VMware instance on my Linux box.....

is a RISC OS Usersimo on 11/3/07 6:06PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

I find myself using my Mac everyday which is unfortunate for my RISC PC. The main reason is that I can take my Mac Book anywhere and the iLife apps are brilliant.

VirtualRPC would be a welcome addition to my Mac! Bring it on!

is a RISC OS Userknutson on 21/3/07 7:29PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

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