lremmell

I just got a Mac and I was wondering if Virtual PC for Mac would run graphics applications? Specifically PS 7 and Studio MX?
Has anyone tried this?

Thanks!!

Bacardi

As far as I know, both Adobe and Macromedia allow you to make the switch for free, or a very small sum. Just contact them with your original PC serial, and they will give you all the info you need.
It's always better to use a memory hog like Photoshop without needing the help of a "translator" app.

Welles

tinker,

I just installed Virtual PC and can honestly say forget running processor/RAM intensive applications. The performance hit would not be worth it and the largest amount of RAM you can assign to a specific disc image is 512mb. I've not yet figured out the actual overhead of Virtual PC and the OS itself but it would be fairly high, starving the applications. Small apps work fine if a little slow.

Studio MX might run OK but would be slow, very slow. Photoshop would probably work if your images were small and you weren't creating lots of layers, using third party filters etc. I think by the time your images got over 20mb you would be so slow as to not be worth your time.

If you intend to use the Mac as your primary computer from now on, Eric's suggestion is best, IMO.

Rantin Al

Adobe has a platform exchange service, and it is free.
Just contact Adobe Sales/ Support for details.

Most major software manufacturers run similar services.

Al.

lremmell

Thank you guys, for all the info.!

I spoke with customer service at Adobe. The first person I spoke with said they quit selling PS 7.0 in October, so the best she could offer was the PS CS at upgrade price?
Well, dummy me got to thinking after I got off the phone, "Don't you have to have the correct platform to upgrade? I dunno.
Anyhoo...I called them back...and instead of the person I talked to before....I got someone even better!!! Of course, I had to explain everything again,...but she said, "Sure, you can switch out." She gave me the link to the form I have to fax in and it's going to cost me $25.95! I'M SO HAPPPYYYY!!

I haven't had as good of luck with Macromedia.
Well, I really wanted my PhotoShop my new Mac, so it's made my day!

Thank you boo-koos!

[righton] %}

Bacardi

Have fun!
And start some thread in Macromedia's forums. You will get a reply...

lremmell

^^yeah!It's going to take about a week and a half to get it (PS).

Macromedia said that they use to offer crossplatform switching, but they quit doing that. The company decided that if someone is going to switch, that they know they will need new software.[slick]

Thanks for the idea though, Erik. Might be worth a try.

Welles, thank you for the info. about the Virtual PC . I asked the guy at the Mac shop about it, and he said it was too new, and he wasn't sure.

If you want to do the switch with PS, here's the link:
http://www.adobe.com/support/pdfs/lodexchange.pdf

You just have to call customer service and get a case number:
(866)692-3623


[righton]

Welles

Tinker,

My version of Virtual PC is the latest and has been tweaked by Microsoft but they announced at Macworld that a whole new version has been built by MS and is much faster. It will be released in a couple of months. That might be a real way to use the Macromedia software.

Rantin Al

Tinker, that's good news for the Photoshop price. Adobe seems to have changed their policy. They did a free swap-over for free, but that was about 12 months ago. (UK)

Al.