1.) As long as Microsoft offers patches to be downloaded, the product is not abandoned.

2.) Are you sure it runs on Intel-based Macintosh models? It has been created for PowerPC only. Maybe it will run with the help of Rosetta, but that will slow down it.

IIGS_User,

You just need to chill and whistle the theme from Captain Pugwash every time something as dubious as this appears on the site, and hope the admins have the sense to take it down.

Virtual PC v7 was available for sale as a standalone product until Feb 2008. It was also sold as part of Microsoft Office 2004 Professional until the same date. Not even in the incredibly fast turnaround of Windows products is that long enough to be considered abandonware. It also breaks all three of the simple rules we use on the site for a quick and easy decision:

Is the original producer, or the company that bought them out, out of business ?
Is it over 10 years since the software was released ?
Is it more than 2 major revisions old ?

At least this is the first UB commercial product to be uploaded here.

Just keep whistling and raise a smile when you watch Pirates of the Caribbean on Xmas day.

bubzie5,

I don't know if it's site policy, but the question of what constitutes abandonware has been discussed many times before. And the three simple principles were the result of the discussion. Some think the 10 years since release should only be 4 years. Some don't agree with the 2 major releases principle, I think it's irrelevant (I think that one came u when we were discussing VPC v5). But they're all just to help us (seriously) decide if it's abandonware.

Or to make it even simpler, would Microsoft threaten the site if it was handing out copies of VPC 7 ? Having a sole defence of "well, you haven't released an update in 2 years", seriously, is not going to cut it in the courtroom.

Dwfinitely keep a hold of your Virtual PC v7. It'll only be a number of years before we can consider it again.

And further in your defence, when I look at used Mac computers on eBay, I see SO many offering them stuffed full of commercial software. When I ask if the original discs and manuals are included, 95% of the time I get a "No". It's just piracy, but worse, because they are looking to profit from it. Even so, that doesn't make it right for us to do it too.

Some would be hoping that Microsoft go out of business before then .....

I just wanted to note that support for Microsoft Office:mac 2004 has ended January the 10th 2012.

This means, that all strings attached to VirtualPC 7 for Mac have been officially cut.

The last update for VirtualPC for Mac has been released on August 15, 2007. There are no and never will be any further updates of VirtualPC for Mac. VirtualPC for Windows, now “Windows Virtual PC”, remains the only available version of VirtualPC. The Mac version just like the OS/2 version have been abandoned.
Also, there was never and will never be an Intel version (for Mac). VirtualPC for Mac is PowerPC only. It is emulation software, not virtualization (like the Windows and OS/2 versions).

As for the rules:
1) Microsoft will never (in the forseeable future) be out of business.
3) The last Mac version of VirtualPC will never be 2 major revisions old, because the Mac version altogether has been abandoned.

As for 2): is it more than 10 years old?
Okay, we could wait a little longer. Release date of VirtualPC 7 for Mac was September 10, 2004. Although it is no longer available for purchase from Microsoft (or any other reseller I know of/have heard of), used versions can still be bought on eBay and the-like. A release on this site on, say, September 11, 2014, should suffice.

Cheers,
muttztfz (who bought VPC7+WinXP on eBay)

I may have been the one that flamed you last time you either asked for it or offered to upload it.

You're right, now it defeinitely deserves another look, as does a whole load of early OSX 10.2 and earlier software.

I don't think that there's any hard and fast rules, it just requires a bit of common sense - you've correctly established some key facts about the software. The site is about the PRESERVATION of Mac software.
So, although it's no longer stocked and sold by the mass retailers, is it readily available from other retailers, even in a 2nd hand form ? ie. other sellers on eBay or Amazon ?
And most important of all, do you seriously think that Microsoft's lawyers would get upset at us hosting it ? And that's not a rhetorical question, we maay be fine if we hold off on providing serial numbers, and do we really need to provide a copy of XP with it ? which is still, most definitely under support.

Well, I think that Microsoft's lawyers may eventually become a factor. We already provide resources for some (abandoned) software from Microsoft.

VirtualPC 7 is the last version for the Mac. It is no longer sold, and Microsoft seems to have no further interest in selling it. Also, there is no longer a market for selling it, since you cannot get the required Hardware, which is a PowerPC-based Mac with G4 or G5 processor running Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later.

Still, if Microsoft wants to, they may some day ask to remove all their software from this site. And this is their right, I guess.
It is sad, but it is their right to prevent their software from being preserved.

If VirtualPC 7 was made available here, it surely will be without the bundled OS it came with. As previous VirtualPC versions (that came from Connectix, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2003) VirtualPC was always bundled with a version of DOS (PC-DOS), Windows (9x-based and NT-based) and even Linux (RedHat if I recall correctly). I'm not certain if there ever was a version without operating system available.

My personal thinking is that it should be held back for at least until a 10 year period since its initial release is over. That's because there still is a second hand market for this product. We'd destroy this market if we'd provide it here “for free”, and this cannot be our goal.

EDIT: I'm not the one you flamed. I didn't upload my version and I don't have that intention now. I don't want to destroy the second hand market value of it.