Microsoft aquires Virtual PC from Connectix
 

http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0302/19.macbu.php

http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07080

For the ones that don't know what Virtual PC is I will tell you. VIrtual PC is a program for the mac that allows mac users to run Windows programs in emulation.


VirtualPC, Real Microsoft: Mac users were abuzz last week
following Microsoft's planned purchase of Connectix's software
program Virtual PC. The software, which lets Mac users emulate
the Windows environment on the Macs and thus run Windows-only
programs, has been one of the ways in which Mac users avoided
compulsory coversion to a different platform. Now, with the
company behind the dominant PC platform owning the software, what
does that mean for Virtual PC or the Mac community at large?
According to Microsoft, it only means good things: Tim McDonough,
a Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) director, said, "this
is just a great way that we saw to expand our Mac commitment to
our Mac customers." Others don't see it that way: industry
analysts have suggested that Microsoft's motives for purchasing
the software include maintaining the Mac OS as a guard against
antitrust allegations or avoiding the issue of having to develop
applications that work on the Mac. Apple is steering clear of
commenting on any but the brightest of motives. Ron Okamoto,
Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations, repeats
Microsoft's assertion that its purchase supports Macs by saying,
"Adding Virtual PC to its product portfolio is yet another
example of Microsoft's continued commitment to the Mac platform.
For years, Virtual PC has helped people who want to own a Mac but
need to run legacy PC applications. We're glad to see Virtual PC
go into such good hands." Time will tell if Virtual PC will
continue to bridge the gap between the Mac and legacy
applications, or if it's going to become the alternative to Mac
versions of future software as well.