Is there a way to launch a macintosh virtual machine window inside of a Microsoft Operating System?
I once worked as a contract programmer at Star Net (
http://www.starnet.com/), a company that provided the ability to have a window on your Microsoft WIndow's desktop where you could have UNIX session going.
There are at least three companies that do this sort of thing, now that I think about it.
Recently I have come across a problem where I could only run a program on a 32 bit operating system. I found out that the solution was to run a utility by Microsoft called Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 that is a window on my Vista Computer where I can install Windows XP inside and run it as a vitrtual machine.
So, naturally, I wonder if there is such a thing for someone who wants to run a Macintosh OS on top of or inside his Vista computer. Is there?
Of course the benefit of something like this would be huge. First of all, web masters could actually test out how their web sites look on a Macintosh without having to have a seperate computer to try it out on.
If something like this does not exist, someone should make one. I can remember years ago when I would was so proud of how clever I thought I was making a web site that used DHTML to produce these drop-down menus and lists. I had even gone through the pain of making sure that they worked on all known browsers. Ah but then a friend emailed me from Japan where he insisted Apple Macs wer more popular than PC's and he told me that my mighty web site looked like a mess. I could not believe him until he emailed me some screen shots.
Apple and Microsoft play nice together from time to time and in some situations. I can remember there once was a computer offered by Apple (called the Power Mac, I think) that bragged that a user could run PC applications on this hybred computer. There have also been rumors that you could have a dual boot computer that ran either operating system. I don't know if that is true or not. The original MFC (Microsoft Foundation Class Library) and switches in the code where a programmer could complile is programs for running on a Macintosh or a PC. I do not know how well that worked because I have never had the opportunity to program for a Macintosh.
I think if some ambitious programmer wanted to write a program were someone could have a virtual machine interface running a little Macintosh desktop inside a window on a PC he would have to work out some sort of agreement with both companies and sign off non-disclorsures with both companies etc.. THe first step might be to find out if a Macintosh Operating System can even run on a PC.
Any suggestions?
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