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Is this even possible?
As you may remember, I'm planning to get a MacBook Pro after this holiday season, partly to prepare for grad school and also because my current laptop is approaching the end of its natural life span (it's still functional, though, and my mother will get it). The reason I'm going for a Mac, rather than some form of PC, is that the new Macs can run Windows, and, thus, Windows games. For me, being able to play games on my computer is very important.
However, after some consideration (and reading on Slashdot), I've come to the conclusion that I would rather not put Windows on my new computer if I don't have to. That is, if there's a way to make it run Windows or old DOS games without the actual Windows, I would like to know what it is. Isn't there some kind of emulator for Macs that will run PC programs? Or is there some Linux thing that will do it?
Speaking of that, maybe I could put Linux on my new computer instead (or also, how about that?) Since it has Boot Camp, and I won't already have a bunch of valuable data on it when I first get it, I can afford to experiment. Although I would need to do some research on the available distros first. I think if I'm going into information science, having Linux and knowing how it works would be a good idea.
However, after some consideration (and reading on Slashdot), I've come to the conclusion that I would rather not put Windows on my new computer if I don't have to. That is, if there's a way to make it run Windows or old DOS games without the actual Windows, I would like to know what it is. Isn't there some kind of emulator for Macs that will run PC programs? Or is there some Linux thing that will do it?
Speaking of that, maybe I could put Linux on my new computer instead (or also, how about that?) Since it has Boot Camp, and I won't already have a bunch of valuable data on it when I first get it, I can afford to experiment. Although I would need to do some research on the available distros first. I think if I'm going into information science, having Linux and knowing how it works would be a good idea.
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A 3rd-party alternative to Boot Camp is Parallels Desktop, which doesn't require dual-boot, but it still requires a Windows installation. Here is a recent article:
http://www.macworld.com/2006/06/reviews/parallels/index.php
I have no experience with any of these programs, myself.
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Of course, I will still have to get Windows to do what I want, but this is a better alternative than Boot Camp. And I plan to put as much RAM in the computer as possible anyway, so I should have no problems running it.
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Also, as long as your Windows games don't require Windows XP, installing Windows 2000 might be a help performance-wise.
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Also, I have a basic understanding of how partitioning works - it makes multiple virtual drives on a single disk - but I don't understand the interactions between the files and applications on different sides of the partition. Does it matter which side I keep my PC programs on? Will they have to be in the same drive with the Windows OS or can I just use Windows to run them from wherever without any ill effects?
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You'd be just fine running XP, just that Win2000 doesn't require as much in the way of resources.
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2. I've not heard of VDMSound. I'll try it out.
3. There are wrappers for DOSbox that mean you don't need to work the command line so much to make the games run. Not sure if this is enough to redeem it for you, though.