| Microsoft this week will release Virtual PC 7 to manufacturing, after several months of delays, according to MacNN sources. The release of the Windows emulation software for Mac comes after the Mac BU decided to wait for the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2, which was made available earlier this month. Microsoft will also release Office 2004 Professional Edition to manufacturing, the premium version of the company's Office 2004 bundled with Virtual PC 7. Both the full version of Virtual PC 7 and Office 2004 Professional are expected to be available in retail stores by October, as anticipated earlier this summer, but will likely begin shipping directly to customers by end of September. The update versions are expected to be available shortly thereafter. The official announcement, which may be made as early as tomorrow at Apple Expo 2004, would be eight months after Virtual PC 7 was first announced at Macworld Expo San Francisco earlier this year and more than 14 months after Apple shipped its first G5-based Macs. Microsoft released Virtual PC 6.1.1 last year with security fixes, but the version was not compatible with the G5 processor in Apple's latest Power Macs.
Sources tell MacNN that Microsoft's Virtual PC 7 will bring better for support for (USB) peripherals, speed improvements, G5 compatibility, dual-processor support, and better native support for graphic cards. While waiting for the release of Windows XP SP2, Microsoft said it also fixed several security issues that were revealed as part of a standard code audit after the acquisition of the product from Connectix.
Earlier this summer, Microsoft began shipping Office 2004 Standard Edition to customers who had ordered the Office 2004 for Mac Professional Edition and said that it would follow with the full Professional version (with Windows XP Professional) once Virtual PC 7 became available.
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