JK3@PSUVM.BITNET (11/10/88)
As promised, this is what I got in response to my cry for help:
(there is quite a bit of consistency!)
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Date: Mon, 31 Oct 88 15:38:52 PST
From: jnp@calmasd.ge.com
Subject: Re: dos emulation on a MAC
To: JK3@PSUVM.BITNET
Jeff,
A co-worker here has an AST 286 board for his Mac (SE/2meg), and
swears that it is absolutely the same as his AT. His only problem was
media - until he bought an external 5 1/4" drive (plugs into the AST
board). He can even run Microsoft's Flight Simulator!
John M. Pantone @ GE/Calma R&D, 9805 Scranton Rd., San Diego, CA 92121
...{ucbvax|decvax}!sdcsvax!calmasd!jnp jnp@calmasd.GE.COM GEnie: J.PANTONE
Date: Tue, 1 Nov 88 08:00:21 EST
From: William Bullock <munnari!ditmela.oz.au!bullock@uunet.UU.NET>
>>Can anyone supply me with some info on running DOS on a MAC? (WHY?! -
>>it's a long story)
>>I had come across an ad referencing software emulation, and am aware of
>>286/386 boards for the MAC.
If you have a MacII go for PCSOFT. It costs about $AUS 900, which means you can
probably buy it for about $US350 at a discount place. It emulates DOS, works
under
multifinder, which means you run DOS as an application, and it will run all the
usual boring DOS programs, like 123, MS WORD etc. It doesn't like Graphics
programs though that require special cards in DOS machines.
It will also work with an SE and an accellerator card (I am told).
Date: Tue, 1 Nov 88 13:29:34 est
Subject: Re: dos emulation on a MAC
I have a copy of Insignia's SoftPC, which is the software emulator for
Macs. It runs slightly faster that an XT compute-wise, but with a nice
big RAM cache it does disk accesses significantly faster than an XT.
I use it because I wanted to be able to run PC SAS at home, and I have
only Macs at home. It runs much faster than on a PC/XT because SAS is
very disk-intensive with software overlays, and such.
My only complaint is that the current version only supports CGA graphics
so the resolution is pretty sorry if you want to do real graphics, like
SAS/Graph output (sigh).
I understand that the folks at Insignia are working on versions that don't
limit one to CGA, but I have no facts. Fortunately, they have a suite of
680x0 based emulators they develop for a variety of machines, so ongoing
development is likely.
My only real complaint is more a wish for better logistics - at the time
I bought my copy, the Apple SuperDrive (or whatever it's called) did not
exists, so you had to either hook your Mac to a "real" PC with a serial
cable, or buy an expensive IBM-compatible floppy. SoftPC does come with
a utility called SlavePC which runs on the PC hooked up by a serial cable.
The emulator uses the "slave" PC's floppy as if it was the local A drive.
Not fast, but real cheep if you already have a PC lying around.
The package absolutely requires 2.5 meg of memory, and prefers 4-5 (it
actually has two versions, a "small model" and a "regular model". The
small model apparantly doesn't load everything into memory and therefore
runs slower under some circumstances. I run the large model on a 5meg
Mac II. The package also requires a 68020 processor. I have run it
on a Mac II and a Mac SE with the Radius Accellerator 16 and it runs
niceley. It seems to have some trouble under Multifinder, but then it
doesn't really do background stuff fast enough to be worth the trouble
most of the time.
Good luck.
Tom Cole
SAS Institute
{anywhere}mcnc|rti|sas|cole
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 88 19:11:15 PST
From: Mike Shoemaker <shoemake@apple.com>
Jeff,
I've played with SoftPC for the MAC II, and it does a fantastic job of
emulating the PC environment.
It's compatibility is awesome down to the "swish-swish-beep" sound a PC makes
when it boots. I've run some pretty rude programs that directly access the
"hardware", and they run fine. Crosstalk and Procomm both work fine.
It comes with a PC program that allows you to hook your mac to your PC via
a serial cable. Drive A: on the emulator causes activity on the A: drive
of your PC. You can read an write DOS disks without having to have a DOS
compatible drive on your MAC.
The documentation claims it can run Lotus 1-2-3 with the copy-protected
diskette in the PC's drive. (I've never tried it)
Drive E: can be set to any MAC device or folder including network drives. (I
wonder if it works with the new DOS compatible drives on the Mac IIx? ...)
There's a driver that makes the MAC mouse behave like a Microsoft mouse so
you can use your favorite mouse software on the PC.
Screen update is about the same speed as the original IBM PC running on CGA.
(This assumes you set your mac to B/W). Processor speed appears to be about
1.0 to 1.2 times the speed of the original 4.77 MHZ PC. I've heard the
next version (I tried V1.1) is supposed to be AT-class speed.
It's drawbacks are:
- requires a 68020 (Mac II or upgraded Mac SE)
- 1.7 MB of RAM for "small" version and 2.4MB for "large" version
(The only difference between the two is supposed to be speed)
- Only emulates CGA monitor (but in color and graphics modes)
- Despite documentation crashes big time under Multifinder (system 6.0)
Mike Shoemaker (shoemake@apple.com)
To: jk3%psuvm.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu
Subject: SoftPC
I figured you might want more info, but I couldn't lay my hands on the
literature last week. You probably will not like the list price, but I found
a blurb about the product lying around someplace. I hope it helps you:
SOFTPC VER-1.21
ISPN: 38546-700
VENDOR: INSIGNIA SOLUTIONS, INC. (USA)
787 LUCERNE DR.
SUNNYVALE, CA
94086
(408)446-2228
FACSIMILE: (408)446-2236
Limited Warranty.
DESCRIPTION:
Enables IBM PC software to run without modification on the
Macintosh SE and II.
Runs in a window beside other Macintosh applications and provides
full PC functionality along with XT class performance. To the
Finder, SOFTPC looks like an application program. To MS-DOS the
program looks like an 8086 based IBM PC. Supports 'ill-behaved'
applications like Lotus 1-2-3 and Flight Simulator that address
hardware directly. SOFTPC's File-Sharing-Architecture allows users
to move files between DOS formats and Mac formats in a seamless
manner. In network environments, SOFTPC allows the Mac to
communicate with all the IBM PCs and clones as if it were one of
them. Allows the Macintosh operating system and DOS share
peripherals, files, memory and disk space. Emulates IBM Color
Graphics Adaptor. Allows users to paste text/graphics from DOS to
Mac applications. For best performance when running SOFTPC, 4 MB
of RAM is recommended. Supports networking with AppleShare (ISPN
3900-100) and Tops (ISPN 11962-700).
SUBJECTS:
815 SYSTEMS/COMMUNICATIONS/SYSTEM EMULATION
SYSTEM MIN MEM MEDIUM PRICE RELEASED
APPLE MACINTOSH II 2048 3-1/2-inch disk 595.00 04/01/88
REQUIRES :
hard disk.
APPLE MACINTOSH SE 2048 3-1/2-inch disk 595.00 04/01/88
REQUIRES :
68020 processor and hard disk.
--------
As usual, this is not any kind of endorsement by my employer, but merely my
personal experience.
Mike Shoemaker, SHOEMAKE@APPLE.COM
Date: Tue, 8 Nov 88 15:23:31 EST
From: gould@pilot.njin.net
Subject: DOS on a MAC
I use SOFTPC from Innovative Solutions (I think). It cost about $400, but I
also had to upgrade to 4MB of memory. The program runs on 2MB, but the
company claims it is 20% slower.
You get 100% compatibility with an IBM PC. I have written some C and
Clipper (DBASE III) codes and have found no compatibility problems. It is
much slower than a PC, and I might have bought a HW solution if I had
to do it over again.
It supports the Apple 5.25 inch drive as an 'A' drive. Since I have the
Dynafile 360k and 720k drives, I have to mount them as drive 'E' - a network
drive. This limits your ability to do some things like creating a system
disk, formatting, and using key disks.