Virtual PC, VBA Dropped for Mac

Two Microsoft products for the Macintosh—Virtual PC and Visual Basic for Applications—are being discontinued because of difficulties in moving the code from PowerPC to Intel, as required by Apple’s shift in processor architectures. Customers relying on the products to make it easier for Macintosh users to share applications and data with their Windows counterparts will need to rely on alternatives from Apple or third parties.

Virtual PC was acquired (along with other virtualization products) from Connectix in Feb. 2003 and allows PowerPC-based Macintoshes to run Windows applications. It is typically used by customers who must run Windows applications that are not available on the Mac. In June 2005, Apple announced it would be moving from PowerPC to Intel processors and by Aug. 2006 it was no longer selling PowerPC-based systems. Although Intel-based Macintoshes can run PowerPC applications through a translation technology known as Rosetta, Apple is strongly encouraging ISVs to build Intel versions of their applications to avoid the performance penalties associated with translation technologies.