So, in anticipation of going off to college next year for engineering, i've run into a snag, in that nearly all of the engineering programs available are PC only....Now, while this wouldnt be a problem normally, as i could run Virtual PC, it is in fact a problem, because Virtual PC doesnt support 3D graphics, which i obviously need for engineering...So, at present, I'm stuck with getting a PC (which i desperatly do not want), so if there are any other solutions, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE e-mail me ASAP and let me know so that I can get out of getting a PC....realize that I need to run PC programs in a 2D and 3D environment. Thanks

I don't think there is a solution. In general, the x86 emulators for Macs are pretty sketchy at best. I use VPC 6 at times, and it's tolerable, but I wouldn't dare run anything intensive on it. ----paxcirc.a-

Check: http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/ index.shtml for OS X 3D Software (though not much hope @ this time) - still - a DFX is a DFX regardless of platform, no? or bump up your RAM to maximum capacity in conjunction with Virtual PC 6. cw

If you can find a Mac-based solution for working with the files you need - and I don't know what that would be, since I don't know what sort of programs you'd be using on the PC side - then there's hope. Keep in mind OS X is the world's largest UNIX distribution, so a lot of stuff that runs on *nix will run on OS X, either with X11 or with a simple recompile. p

Well, I believe I remember reading that virtual pc 3 supported 3d graphics better than current versions. Also, programs will run significantly better in emulation using os 9 (and many current macs have duel boot os 9/os x.

Uh, VPC 3 is four years old. Not really applicable any more. VPC 6, which is OS X-native, is far better than anything previous. However, if you absolutely need a Windoze PC for some stuff, have you considered picking up a cheap POS PC just for that purpose, and using a Mac for everything else? p

You might be surprised at the amount of engineering software you can come across for the Apple platform. Your school might be Windows-centric, but I wouldn't rule out availability of comparable Apple software. That being said, I think the best thing to do is ask some people in the engineering department of your college what exactly you need. Have you actually been told that you'll need all these PC programs you've seen? Ask an upperclassmen what he uses his own personal computer for -- if it was anything like my experience, he'll tell you he used it to surf the web and type up some reports in Microsoft Word. I'll be beginning a Ph.D. program in nanoscale materials engineering this fall, and my bachelor's degree is in chemistry. I used a PC for the first 3 years of undergraduate work, and got a Mac when I was a senior. To be honest, it made no difference. I had to do a lot of computer calculations, but it didn't make much difference if I was working in Mathcad on my PC or Mathematica on my Mac. The spectroscopy instruments we used were all run by Windows software, but that didn't matter because we did that work in the lab anyway. The overwhelming burden of work for the undergraduate science major, on his own computer anyway, is making his data look pretty in nice graphs and typing a nice write-up. So unless they tell you otherwise, I'd get a Mac and be happy.