<s>
SoftPC	B-Device
is	O
a	O
software	B-Application
emulator	I-Application
of	O
x86	B-Operating_System
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
a	O
side	O
project	O
,	O
SoftPC	B-Device
quickly	O
became	O
the	O
main	O
focus	O
for	O
the	O
company	O
,	O
running	O
PC	O
software	O
on	O
workstations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Available	O
originally	O
on	O
UNIX	B-Application
workstations	O
to	O
run	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
the	O
software	O
was	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Application
in	O
1987	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
gained	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
run	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Besides	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
,	O
supported	O
platforms	O
included	O
SGI	B-Operating_System
IRIX	I-Operating_System
,	O
Sun	B-Application
Solaris	I-Application
,	O
HP-UX	B-Application
,	O
IBM	B-Application
AIX	I-Application
,	O
NeXTSTEP	B-Application
,	O
Motorola	B-Architecture
88000	I-Architecture
,	O
OpenVMS	B-Operating_System
on	O
VAX	B-Device
and	O
DEC	B-Device
Alpha	I-Device
systems	O
,	O
DEC	B-Operating_System
ULTRIX	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bundles	O
of	O
SoftPC	B-Device
with	O
Windows	O
(	O
3.x	O
,	O
95	B-Application
,	O
98	B-Device
)	O
were	O
called	O
SoftWindows	B-Device
,	O
although	O
it	O
was	O
possible	O
to	O
install	O
Windows	O
into	O
the	O
basic	O
SoftPC	B-Device
environment	O
along	O
with	O
some	O
special	O
utilities	O
provided	O
by	O
Insignia	O
to	O
achieve	O
the	O
same	O
effect	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
introduction	O
of	O
Windows	O
and	O
applications	O
running	O
in	O
that	O
environment	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
DOS	O
,	O
changed	O
the	O
underlying	O
conditions	O
for	O
emulators	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Insignia	O
's	O
SoftWindows	B-Device
product	O
was	O
described	O
,	O
in	O
comparison	O
to	O
SoftPC	B-Device
,	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
complete	O
redesign	O
,	O
mandated	O
by	O
the	O
size	O
and	O
complexity	O
of	O
Windows	O
programs	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
execution	O
characteristics	O
,	O
described	O
as	O
"	O
narrow	O
and	O
deep	O
"	O
in	O
DOS	O
applications	O
,	O
were	O
instead	O
"	O
broad	O
and	O
shallow	O
"	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
applications	I-Application
,	O
making	O
it	O
more	O
difficult	O
to	O
identify	O
sections	O
of	O
code	O
for	O
translation	O
to	O
the	O
native	O
architecture	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
running	O
the	O
emulator	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
agreement	O
covered	O
the	O
product	O
then	O
known	O
as	O
Windows	B-Application
4	I-Application
as	O
well	O
as	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
,	O
on	O
which	O
Microsoft	O
was	O
seeking	O
to	O
support	O
compatibility	O
for	O
Intel	O
architecture	O
binaries	O
on	O
RISC	O
architecture	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
it	O
included	O
a	O
subsystem	O
(	O
"	O
WOW	O
"	O
-	O
Windows	B-Application
on	I-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
later	O
NTVDM	O
)	O
for	O
running	O
virtualized	O
16-bit	B-Device
Windows	O
(	O
x86	B-Operating_System
)	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
they	O
had	O
also	O
made	O
changes	O
to	O
Windows	O
to	O
allow	O
it	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
alternative	O
processors	O
(	O
Alpha	B-Device
,	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
)	O
,	O
and	O
for	O
these	O
an	O
emulation	B-Application
layer	O
was	O
needed	O
for	O
programs	O
compiled	O
for	O
Intel	O
processors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Customized	O
versions	O
of	O
Insignia	O
's	O
core	O
emulation	B-Application
system	O
were	O
produced	O
to	O
this	O
end	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
alternative	O
NT	O
architectures	O
never	O
became	O
widely	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Beginning	O
in	O
1996	O
,	O
Insignia	O
commanded	O
the	O
niche	O
for	O
this	O
product	O
area	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
soon	O
faced	O
heavy	O
competition	O
from	O
Connectix	O
with	O
their	O
Virtual	B-Application
PC	I-Application
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Insignia	O
sold	O
the	O
product	O
line	O
to	O
FWB	O
Software	O
in	O
October	O
1999	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
focus	O
on	O
supplying	O
implementations	O
of	O
Java	B-Language
for	O
the	O
mobile	O
device	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FWB	O
continued	O
to	O
sell	O
SoftWindows	B-Device
until	O
March	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FWB	O
Software	O
also	O
marketed	O
a	O
separate	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
that	O
did	O
not	O
include	O
a	O
bundled	O
copy	O
of	O
Windows	O
,	O
called	O
RealPC	B-Device
,	O
until	O
2003	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
most	O
emulators	B-Application
,	O
the	O
SoftWindows	B-Device
product	O
used	O
recompiled	O
Windows	O
components	O
to	O
improve	O
performance	O
in	O
most	O
business	O
applications	O
,	O
providing	O
almost	O
native	O
performance	O
(	O
but	O
this	O
meant	O
that	O
,	O
unlike	O
SoftPC	B-Device
,	O
SoftWindows	B-Device
was	O
not	O
upgradable	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
