View this article at: http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/08/07/ms.kills.virtualpc/
Monday, Aug 07, 2006 6:00pm
Microsoft kills VirtualPC, VB for Mac
Microsoft's Mac Business Unit today announced that it will cease development on a Universal version of Virtual PC. Current VirtualPC customers will continue to receive product support, however. "Developing a high-quality virtualization solution, such as Virtual PC, for the Intel-based Mac is similar to creating a version 1.0 release due to how closely the product integrates with Mac hardware," said the Mac BU. "The Mac BU still recognizes that customers continue to need access to Windows applications from their Intel-based Macs, and feels confident that alternative solutions offered by Apple and other vendors, combined with a fully packaged retail copy of Windows, will satisfy this need." The announcement comes as the recently launched Parallels Desktop offers a full virtualization solution for Intel-based Macs, allowing users to run copies Windows or other operating systems from within Tiger. VMWare has promised to offer a full virtualization solution for Macs by this fall.

The Mac BU announced it will be discontinuing support of Visual Basic scripting in the next version of Office for Mac, but said it is working hard to increase support for standard Mac scripting methods such as AppleScript and Automator.

"As always, cross-platform compatibility remains a top priority. As we develop the next version of Office for Mac, the files will continue to be compatible across platforms, including 2007 Microsoft Office system for Windows," the company said.

"Although VB macros within files will not be accessible and cannot be viewed or modified, the files themselves can be edited without affecting or changing the macros."

The Mac BU also said that it is working to ensure that resources are available to help developers make the transition to other scripting technologies.