Alan's Tips: Running a DOS program on an older Mac

I have a DOS based program and am looking for an inexpensive platform to run it on.  What would be the lowest end  MAC that would run the PC DOS emulation software?

There's good news and bad news...

Bad news first: the best option for that is Virtual PC, formerly made and sold by Connectix Corp, recently sold to Microsoft. As a commercial program, there are costs involved.

Good news: if you're only needing to run DOS software, you won't need to pay for a Windows licence: VPC comes in a variety of versions depending on Windows version included, with pricing including the cost of the Windows license. A version is sold with NO Windows license-- which is the least expensive version. That version includes a bare-bones DOS installation, which sounds like it would work for you.

As well, if you're wanting to run it on an older Mac, you should be able to make do with an older version of the program... you ought to be able to find one without problem on eBay or www.oldsoftware.com...

Virtual PC inevitably runs slower than an equivalent real PC, but emulating DOS takes far less horsepower than emulating a graphical environment like Windows... any PowerPC Mac ought to be able to do a reasonable job of emulating, say a 286, which can be a pretty perky DOS platform.

On the other-hand, since 286 or 386-era PCs are virtually giveaway items these days, if you have the desk space, it might be easiest to simply get a PC to run the PC program!

Feb 27 2004