Interview
Chris Pratt (Emulators Unlimited) v Phillip Cummins (vMac)
 
1) What is the current situation of vMac?
 
It is currently under review, with major changes to be done on the core
source for easier port implementation, documentation and revision. At the
moment, I've had to put actual coding development on pause to finish off
other work. In this time we are discussing the new design and will
implement it in December.
 
2) When will the next version be out?
 
Mostly likely late December or early January.
 
3) What plans do you have for vMac?
 
At the moment we have several plans in progress. Part of vMac involves
creating Host <-> vMac file sharing so it is a lot easier to transfer
files. Another is IceCube, which is to provide a more flexible emulation
for vMac.
The overall plan is to allow vMac to have a flexible design as to support
many different types of Macintosh hardware and ROMs, so you can expect to
see SE and II support soon.
 
4) Have you considered making Shapeshifter or Executor hard files readable
by vMac?
 
Executor hard files currently are readable by vMac (they're treated the
same as disks), and I believe ShapeShifter files are treated similarly (I
haven't had a chance to look into it too closely).
 
5) What do Apple think of all this?
 
They are aware of our activities, but I haven't received a response from
them yet.
 
6) What is the best system to run the PC versions
of vMac (DOS & Win95)?
 
The fastest one available :) Well, a 166 is probably a minimum standard.
With improvements in emulation the base machine requirements will fall.
I'm hoping to get IceCube semi-finished so I can produce a faster emulation.
 
7) Have you ever thought of doing another emulator?
 
Yes, I've been thinking of doing more MacOS related emulation, and
possibly a free PC hardware emulator. Next year will probably tell...
 
8) What can we expect to see in the next month or so from the vMac
team????
 
Despite us being very quiet lately, we can expect the details of the new
design to be released for public review in the next month, as well as
some probable new bug fixes to resolve some problems (Sony, RAM). At the
moment, since I'm particularly busy on other work no major new coding
work will be released in the next month on the core.