Real PC discontinued. Turns out to be vaporware!

J

j79

chuok
http://www.fwb.com/html/about_realpc.html

RealPC discontinued - August 27 2003

Recent management changes at FWB has led to a major evaluation of the status of development work including Realpc."Since taking over F.W.B. software on July 17th one of the first priorities was determining the status of all development work on going by FWB." explained Marko Kostyrko, FWB's new CEO.

He continued, "The previous management had made claims in press interviews and on the company website regarding the status and upcoming release of RealPC OSX claiming it was in late beta and about to be released. After more thorough investigation and interviews with the previous staff, we have found that the development had not formally been started, and it appears not a single line of code has been written. FWB has not to date even received the source code upon which any development would use as the foundation to build a new RealPC for OSX. I am sorry to have to admit that apparently the company has been a party to vaporware when it comes to the claims regarding RealPC."

In reviewing the status, it was determined that the development cost including licensing fees made the project unattractive. Therefore, the new management has determined that it is not in the best interests of FWB to go forward with the development of RealPC.

Honesty and openness with the user base is a cornerstone of the new management team. We are developing software to return FWB Software to it's historic position as a leader in disk utility software.

For more information please contact ceo@fwb.com ,support@fwb.com , or sales@fwb.com .
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Thus giving Microsoft complete control of the Windows emulation market. Wonderful.
 
I stand by my previous statement. Haven't you heard? bochs is horrible, according to others...
 
Originally posted by arden
Thus giving Microsoft complete control of the Windows emulation market. Wonderful.
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Yep!
tongue.gif


But it kinda makes me wonder though... Right after M$ buys VirtualPC off of Connectix they send a cease and desist order to FWB telling them to stop development on RealPC for Mac OS X.

Then a few months later the management at FWB changes and lo and behold we now have this announcement? Is the new management very friendly with Billy and his chums in Redmond or what is really going on here? :rolleyes:
 
But it kinda makes me wonder though... Right after M$ buys VirtualPC off of Connectix they send a cease and desist order to FWB telling them to stop development on RealPC for Mac OS X.

Then a few months later the management at FWB changes and lo and behold we now have this announcement? Is the new management very friendly with Billy and his chums in Redmond or what is really going on here? :rolleyes:
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I think it goes more like:

1) Have announcement.
2) Drive stock up.
3) Cash out.

I think?
 
Ugh... I'm glad I don't depend on Windows emulation, because starting now I'd be getting screwed, just like many of you. Someone needs to make another emulator to compete with Microsoft.
 
People, why do you need better Windows emulation than VPC6? Games? Apps? G5? :p Problems Addiction? :rolleyes:

Seriously, though, I would like to read WHY people need Windows emulation... If you feel like it, let us know! :)
 
Originally posted by hulkaros
People, why do you need better Windows emulation than VPC6? Games? Apps? G5? :p Problems Addiction? :rolleyes:
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G5. And because I HATE the fact that there's no viable alternative (no, Bochs does not count).

Plus, I use it for the same reason that I run VPC 5 on PC. It's super-powerful in allowing me to create virtual environments. It's possible for me to run an entire lab off of one machine - I can set up a Win2k domain controller, WinXP client, Red Hat Linux 9 host, and Solaris 8 machine. This is obviously for a case when performance doesn't matter, I'm just looking for functionality. But I can even reproduce bugs/problems when I'm sitting in my hotel room while on the road, without having to have access to REAL, expensive equipment somewhere (I've done this more than once...)

Also, I can set up an undo drive, start making changes to a system and REALLY screw it up, then just go back to the original drive if needed - poof! My changes are all gone, and it took up a minimum of "real" space. Lots of cool things like that.


Seriously, though, I would like to read WHY people need Windows emulation... If you feel like it, let us know! :)
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I HAVE to be able to run certain Windows apps for which there is no alternative on Mac. It's simply not an option (yet) not to be able to run these apps.

Also, during a transition period from Windows to OS X, it's very important that we have a safety net if we start to have problems with some Mac-based apps.
 
< hint for programmers > I wonder why there aren't any viable Open Source alternatives for the pc emulation yet. < /hint for programmers >
 
It seems to me that it would take a lot to get another similar app out. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't emulation programs really tough to make? Plus there's getting the OS from MS- it takes some real business saavy to be able to do it successfully. Also I think that MS is going to keep VPC going. It really could be a cash cow for them, like office is (though on a smaller scale). I have heard that the Mac BU isn't scaling down on this one, and that the thing baring VPC on G5 is a major technical issue. Could be an issue but I think they will be keeping it alive.
I don't use VPC though, are you guys just worried because it is now controlled by M$?
 
Yes. They have bought up the only real source of Windows emulation, and killed the competition that might have sprung up, so now they even control the use of Windows on Apple computers. It's total bull.
 
dave17lax wrote:
I don't use VPC though, are you guys just worried because it is now controlled by M$?
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There is that yes but the main reason for me at least is that I would use an emulation software only to play games like Syberia or The Watchmaker and since VPC does not support 3D graphics there is no point in me buying it.

And I would hate giving some of my dough to Billy the Goat.
 
Originally posted by dave17lax
It seems to me that it would take a lot to get another similar app out. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't emulation programs really tough to make?
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Yes, which is why I suggested that we all let vmware know how interested we are in their porting their mature, feature-rich x86 emulator to PPC and OS X. Unless someone else knows of a company, they seem to be the furthest along to be able to bring a viable, competing product to the platform.

No one seems to like my suggestion, even though VMWare's excuse up to this point has been "lack of market demand"... I just know how to kill threads =)
 
Why would someone need Windows-emulation?

I need it, following reasons:
- testing my website on the Windows-platform without having to buy a Windows-computer
- running Office from an illegal copy (just to read Word-files, so I don't need Office v.X)
- Kazaa lite: in the case Posened or other apps starting to suck
- main reason: I'm an amateur-astronomer: so: running astronomical software for amateurs (and made by amateurs). Ok, I know there are planetary-programs for the Mac, and stacking-software and some other useful programs, but... Most telescope-drivers are for Windows, and there is a lot of software written by amateurs that are very practical, but don't exist for the Mac.

This software is allowed to be slow (it is often run on 486 or Pentium II running Windows 95, because they often use old machines in the observatory-field)
 
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