SoftPC
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software development |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Founder | Rod MacGregor |
| Products | SoftPC, SoftWindows |
SoftPC is an x86 hardware emulator software created by Rod MacGregor, Henry Nash, and Phil Bousfield following the establishment of Insignia Solutions by MacGregor in 1986. What began as a secondary initiative evolved into the company's primary product, allowing workstation systems to operate PC applications. Initially developed on SPARCstation platforms, its first commercial user was Intergraph, whose workstations utilized a unique processor design. Originally designed for UNIX workstations to emulate MS-DOS, SoftPC was later adapted for the Macintosh in 1987 and eventually enabled running Microsoft Windows programs. Supported operating systems encompassed SGI IRIX, Sun Solaris, HP-UX, IBM AIX, NeXTSTEP, Motorola 88000, OpenVMS on VAX and DEC Alpha, as well as DEC ULTRIX.
SoftPC was marketed alongside Windows versions (3.x, 95, 98) under the name SoftWindows, although Windows could also be installed separately within SoftPC using additional tools. The transition from DOS to Windows software necessitated a fundamental redesign of the emulator, with SoftWindows tailored to accommodate the more complex execution demands of Windows applications compared to the simpler DOS programs.
Insignia entered into a development partnership with Microsoft that provided access to Windows source code for Windows 4 (Windows 95) and Windows NT. Microsoft's goal was to maintain Intel binary compatibility on RISC-based systems by creating specialized versions of Insignia's emulation core. Despite this, alternative NT hardware platforms such as the Alpha and PowerPC architectures saw only limited market penetration.
By 1996, Insignia held a leading position in this specialized market but soon encountered competition from Connectix's Virtual PC. In October 1999, Insignia divested the product line to FWB Software to concentrate on delivering Java solutions for mobile devices. FWB continued selling SoftWindows until March 2001 and offered RealPC—a variant without bundled Windows—until 2003.
Distinct from many emulators, SoftWindows enhanced business application performance by recompiling Windows components, achieving near-native execution speeds; however, this method restricted upgrade flexibility compared to SoftPC.
Reception
In July 1988, BYTE commended SoftPC's responsive display performance and noted its capability to run demanding PC software like XyWrite III Plus effectively, deeming it a practical solution for occasional DOS program usage. MacUser rated it 3.5 out of 5 mice in November 1988, emphasizing its compatibility with PC networking environments and its usefulness for accessing corporate databases or integrating PC screen captures into Mac documents.