HOORAY! Mac OS X Update 10.4.3 LOVES Virtual PC 7.02 for Mac

I am usually quick to update the latest security fixes and OS patches but didn't get around to it until this morning. What? You're saying that waiting one day after Apple's 10.4.3 update is still freaking fast...well, in the world of enterprise computing, yes, it is, but I am just an individual. Anyways...I have a point

Since I delved into the world of Apple ownership, I was frustrated by the lack of *real* support for Microsoft's Virtual PC for Mac. It could simply be that people don't use it very much...better yet, security professionals and hackers don't use it very much on Macs. That is probably true because finding solutions to problems with it is far from easy compared to VMware.

I still haven't found the solution to my problem with having full network access to the Virtual Machine while it is in "network sharing" mode (aka NAT). BUT, the update to 10.4.3 fixed the Virtual Switch!! What does this mean? Well, the Virtual Switch lets your Virtual Machine get an IP as if it were on the LAN right next to your host machine. Now, when I boot up my Virtual Machine running FreeBSD 5.4, it gets a private IP address on the UF network just like my PowerBook. This gives me the chance to connect/exploit services on the Virtual Machine and thus bypassing the "network sharing" issue. Thanks, Apple, for fixing this issue!!