I don't have two computers I can use at once, but I have access to two accounts. Is anyone out there running two accounts on one machine? If so...
How? :)
What are your machine specs?
Which hardware spec would you think is the most important?
How: http://www.eqwindows.com/ You can run two accounts, BOTH accounts will have reduced performance, and whichever one is in the background will lag significantly more than the one in the foreground (i.e. autofollow at full speed will suck).
As to your other questions, if you had the cash for significant upgrades, you would have the cash for a 2nd box, which is by far the best solution.
I'd say that the most important hardware spec to run two instances would be the amount of memory. 512MB is the absolute minimum to run 2 instances smoothly. On my old 1GHz machine i still had to turn off most graphic options on the second account to keep things running smooth enough in all zones. I've upgraded since then to a 3GHz machine with 1GB of memory and now it's smooth sailing everywhere.
Of course, all this might change when the new graphic's engine will be implemented
/hugs
I run 2 accounts on one machine. Very little performance issues. As Coprolith notes, I suspect memory is the key factor.
My specs:
AMD 2500+ (barton core)
1GB memory
GForce 4200 ti video card.
To help things start up a bit quicker, I have 2 copies of my eq directory on two different hard drives. One is pretty well 'de-tuned' - mostly old models, no sound, lower res graphic options. Other one is my normal 'everything on and to the max' settings. Works great.
I also do 2 account on 1 machine., using EQW. Second Account has all options turned off to help preformance.
Athlon 1800+
1.5 gig mem
Win XP
GeForce 3 64meg vid
Dial up! :evil:
-K
Right now, I don't have EQW. I have Windows XP Pro for my OS.
How do I get from one character to another quickly?
alt-tab
I run two at once on my laptop and it works quite well actually. Pentium M 1.4 GHz processor with 512 RAM. I have most, if not all, of the bells and whistles turned off on both accounts though.
With XP, you'll have to use CTL-ALT-S to tab between windows, jnless you get the update pack from M$,,,,
-K
I have 2 on one computer. Athalon 2600, 1GB mem, GForce 5200 256 Vid Ram. I don't use EQ Windows, just alt-enter, shift-alt-r between them. One is my cleric, the other is a bard on autofollow playing manasong or Call of Muse depending on the situation. I had alot of issues when I only had 512 of RAM. I upgraded video card first and it did little to help preformance. When I put more RAM in performance improved so much I barely notice the difference when playing my cleric.
WinXp, AMD64 3400+, ASUS ATI 9800 XT 256meg dual monitor, 2gig ram.
I can run 4 on the machine, but thats really pushing it. 2 is easy and no lag. I enter game with one. Alt Enter to go into windows mode. I then change the display settings to 800x600, which shrinks the box. I then click on the same account and at the log in, type in another account. It will come up in the settings of the other account. Then I just position each window so I can see full screens on both. Alt-shift-R to switch between them.