Who Plays VMK on an Apple?

[MsSharkBait]

Hello.. I am just curious how many of you play VMK on an Apple computer. I have an iBook G4 and it's terribly slow. Not the internet, just VMK. It's still good enough to use on vacations or to log on another character. But, I cannot play fireworks and haunted mansion on it and can hardly play pirates. I do see the error when you go to the main vmk.com about VMK not supporting apple/safari or whatever. So.. will VMK ever be apple friendly?

 

[Raineforst]

I have an 1.33 GHz Apple Powerbook. VMK definitely does get slow and it makes my compie work a lot... Fireworks seems to be considerably smoother on my dad's G5 iMac, though I still can't get that Fireworks Magic pin... *shrugs* I've not played it on a Windows compie so I don't know how much of a difference there is. I do get that VMK does not support anything but Windows IE pop-up. I tend to notice that kind of thing with a lot of Disney's sites, games, and DVD extra features. They're not Apple friendly and I find it surprising considering that Apple's are used in various locations throughout the company. That and the whole Steve Jobs/Pixar thing. Oh well... hopefully one day there will compatibility among all.

 

[JoeBillyBob]

i just got rid of my old computer that took like 5 minutes to load vmk. now, i timed it, it takes me 20 seconds to get on! LOL but it is not an apple. it is a Compaq Presario, the best in it's class, LOL it is the fastest computer on sale right now, so i can play all the games. sorry, i am not trying to brag. i had to deal with an extremely slow computer for 6 years and we finally got a new one so i was so happy. i just needed to spread the happiness to all. LOL.

 

[miss_elphie]

I use a Mac (and I'm proud of it, too!). My computer loads very slowly as well. I think it's purely because I've got a Mac and there really isn't much I can do about it. My PC is much slower with internet and running in general, but it still loads VMK faster than the Mac does. On our G5 I don't get the "VMK does not support" window, but I get it on the laptop- loading is about the same though (as long as I keep the laptop in the office with the internet). I don't know whether VMK will ever truly be Mac friendly. It may be eventually, just because the Apples are growing in popularity and are becoming more widely used. Either way, we'll probably have to wait a while to see any significant change.
In the mean time- maybe you should take up knitting to keep yourself busy while it loads... That's what I do

 

[tequoia]

I am lucky bc I have both a PC and an apple, but VMk runs very slow on my apple. It takes about 10 minutes to load VMK on my apple and only 1 minute on my husband's PC...It is very unfair! I would love to be able to play more on my laptop especially since it is wireless and the PC is not.

Also the new Monsters Inc game doesn't run on the PC well but runs ok on my apple escept the screen flashes thw whole time...very annoying!

Oh for a world of dual compatability ,maybe someday...

 

[lab_girl]

We also have multiple computers in our house....
Two Macs: 1.67 G4 Laptop and G4 Tower
One Crappy PC
-yes, VMK does load faster on the PC but, I find we have less crashes and VMK itself is faster and works MUCH better on the MACs.
-AND we still have shockwave problems on the PC

 

[qruthie]

I have a 800 MHz PowerPC G4 Mac and VMK is very slow on it. But that's what I'd expect. The processor is slow itself without VMK. I don't get the Safari browser not supported pop-up. I suspect that's because I use Tiger and I do the automatic software updates. I was getting the pop-up until an update showed up for Safari. Right now I'm having major problems with Safari and Firefox crashing but I suspect that's because I'm using both at the same time and two VMK sessions are too much for this sad old Mac to handle as opposed to being a VMK or Mac specific problem.

We just bought a PC with a processor that is 4 times as fast as the Mac's so it's not fair to compare the two. Of course VMK loads faster and we can actually play the games now! But, I'm still having screen freezes and browser crashes, I suspect those are Shockwave and/or VMK server issues. Tonight I felt like I was back in beta! My husband says fireworks works well on his HP laptop. I'm not sure what type of processor he has, the laptop belongs to his work.

qruthie (the 'q' is silent)

 

[JeanJoe]

Mac here too. Runs slow. I think the problem may also be in the Shockwave implementation on the Mac.

<shrug> It's worth slow VMK and not being able to play fireworks for everything else Mac

 

[hagen]

Mac here too. Runs slow. I think the problem may also be in the Shockwave implementation on the Mac.

What he said. My G5 tower is beyond fast, but VMK takes quite a while to load as compared to the hideous Dell upstairs. VMK games on the Mac, and the Monsters, Inc. maze game, do not run fast enough to be competitive or anything more than frustrating.

<shrug> It's worth slow VMK and not being able to play fireworks for everything else Mac

What he said, too. If it comes down to it, I'll stick with my Mac and forego VMK. If it is some leftover directive from Michael Eisner, to provide minimal support for Mac computers to get revenge on Steve Jobs for Pixar, well... (comment deleted). I kinda doubt it, though. Too bad VMK doesn't optimize VMK for Macs, but considering how long it takes them to take down Halloween decorations, I get the feeling they are rather busy. I've reported the problem to Ye Olde Black Hole, but no response (go figure, kids). So, if you ever wonder why I rarely play the Haunted Mansion game, now you know. And if you ever see me sign up for the Haunted Mansion game, get on the other team for a guaranteed win.

hagen

 

[charliez]

While I still love my Mac, there's a definite performance difference between this and my newer, faster Dell laptop from work! My observations:

• Fireworks is definitely more of a challenge (sluggish response to the mouse makes it harder to precisely click at the right moment to get the highest possible score).
  
• The iMac gets bogged down when there are too many players in a Pirates game -- it works best in the 2-on-2 scenario. Too many humans moving ships around usually leaves me stuck, where I have no appreciable mobility issues with fewer players.
  
• The HM game is a little sluggish also, but very playable. (Just harder to move around, but I find navigation a bit tricky on the PC, too.)

All of this may be par for the course, as my machine is a little slower than the suggested minimum of 1.42 Ghz. Still, I do resent the pop-up that says, "To view all the features of the Virtual Magic Kingdom website you'll need Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5 or higher, running on a Windows PC." That's just wrong (or should be), for as even the Help page will tell you, the Mac *is* more or less supported:

• OS X 10.3.9 or newer
• 1.42 GHz G4 CPU or faster, 512MB RAM or more, and at least 5GB free hard drive space
• Have one of the following browser versions: Safari 1.3 or 2.0, Firefox 1.04

Which is better than with some Disney software and sites where Mac users are just plain out of luck!

Speaking of browsers, my girls definitely prefer Firefox to Safari. Safari (v1.3.2) often has trouble when loading the login screen more often, and also has more of a tendency to stall out while loading the game. I've also tested (just briefly) the kid-friendly BumperCar 2.0 browser - VMK works, seemingly about like it does in Safari, which was one of my conditions for using it, which my DDs probably will move to soon. (Has anybody else used it more extensively?)

BTW, the absolutely snail-like pace of the Monsters Inc game when running on top of the Disneyland Monsters Inc page was what led me to find the direct URL for the Shockwave game itself, which then ran like lightening when opened by itself in a window. Here's that link if you missed it before:

http://adisneyland.disney.go.com/media/dlr_v0200/en_US/special/monsters/VMK_Ad.swf

Looking ahead, I'd really like to know how VMK does on the new Intel-based iMacs, which Steve Jobs claims will run 2-3 times faster than the existing G5 PPC iMacs. I want one!

 

[Dragonlord11_7]

my brother uses my apple G4 powerbook while i use my dad's averatec he uses internet explorer bc it loads fastest i timed it tho it still takes two times longer than this computer

 

[Azure]

LOL that scared me I thought that you meant an actual apple. Well when I buy my own computer it will be an apple