Irish challenger undercuts Microsoft's Virtual PC

Posted on 2 Feb 2005 at 13:33

Ireland-based Lismore Systems has introduced Guest PC 1.0, a new PC emulator which significantly undercuts the price of Microsoft's competing Virtual PC software.

Although Lismore had previously released PC emulation software for Mac OS 9 - called Blue Label PowerEmulator - Guest PC is its first foray into Mac OS X. Unlike Virtual PC, Guest PC does not come with Windows pre-installed, but instead uses DOS as its bundled operating system, leaving users to purchase and install their own version of Windows. The product includes a Windows Setup Assistant application for correctly configuring Windows XP with the emulator, although other Intel-compatible operating systems - such as Linux - can run on top of Guest PC if required.
Like Virtual PC and other similar products, Guest PC emulates the entire hardware of an Intel-compatible computer, allowing it to run Windows on the PowerPC hardware of a Mac.
Although Lismore does not give any benchmarks for the speed of the product, it admitted the product wasn't as fast as an Intel processor running at the same clock speed as the user's Mac. And, like all emulators, Guest PC offers only limited graphics capabilities, meaning that 3D games are unlikely to run.
Guest PC can be ordered online from Lismore's web store for $69.99 - $60 less than the equivalent version of Virtual PC. Users of Blue Lable PowerEmulator can upgrade to Guest PC for $34.99.