Microsoft Shelves its Virtual PC for Mac

Microsoft is putting a halt to a version of its Virtual PC software for Intel-based Macs. The move comes after start-up Parallels introduced its own virtualization software for running Windows on a Mac, and VMware said Monday it plans to provide a beta version of Mac virtualization software later this year. Apple also has its Boot Camp software, still in a beta testing version. Boot Camp allows Intel-based Macs to run either Windows or the Mac OS, but not both simultaneously.

In a statement on Monday, Microsoft said it “has made the decision not to move forward with a Universal version of Virtual PC at this time. The software maker acquired the Virtual PC for the Mac line as part of its 2003 purchase of Connectix’ Virtual PC and Virtual Server products. It still offers Windows virtualization products, though it has made the desktop version of Virtual PC for Windows a free download.

Because of how closely virtualization software is tied to an operating system, Microsoft said that moving Virtual PC to the Intel-based Mac would be “similar to creating a version 1.0 release.”