Mac applications?

[W. Stewart]

I am not a computer person at all, using a computer solely for e-mail (via AOL) and flying-related stuff (these types of webboards, briefings, flight planning, updating Garmin cards, etc).

I have always had PC type machines, but my laptop is really in its last stages. A computer-savvy friend said to not buy a new PC until Windows 7 is out, as he finds it far superior to Vista, but I don't think I can wait that long.

My daughter just got a Mac notebook, and I must say that the fit and finish of the thing appears far superior to any PC type laptop I have seen. I hear that hackers and virus perpetrators do not bother attacking Macs (maybe the number of machines is too few to make it fun for them?), and that aspect certainly is attractive. They seem to be twice the money as PC laptops, however!

I am away from home for now, so I can't research this myself, but I was wondering if some programs I use work on Macs? (Some promotion ends tomorrow--seems my daughter wants a free I-Touch out of the acquisition. If I get favorable answers from y'all this morning, we will probably stop at an Apple store and buy one).

Do the following programs work on Macs?

Jeppesen Skybound

EZ Trends (for JPI engine monitors)

Microsoft FS (or ASA On Top)

CH Products yoke/pedals

AOL

Google Chrome

I am sure that there are more programs that I use, but you get the idea. Thanks!

Wells

 

[Bob Noel]

Some things to consider

1) How much is your time worth? I use macs because I can get my job
done quicker with the mac. I don't enjoy fighting with windows to make
it work correctly. But if you want the cheapest laptop available, sure, go
ahead and buy windoze laptop. It'll break easier.

2) If you have an application that you absolutely cannot find a mac-equivalent
of, then one option is to run a virtual windoze image on your mac (see parallels or
virtualbox).

3) I don't believe you'll be able to run ms FS, but X-planes is better anyway.

 

[ScottM]

I use skybound on my MAC. But to do so I have to run VM Fusion with Windows. I love my MAC and there are only two pieces of software that I need to run that only run in Windows. That is the aforementioned Skybound and then there is also DUATS Golden Eagle.

Chrome is still being worked on for the MAC. But Mozilla's Firefo runs great and actually the MAC Safari is faster than Mozilla.

The rest I have no idea about.

 

[SkyHog]

Do yourself a favor, uninstall OSX, and install Windows 7.

You'll never look back.

edit: That is to say: The Mac hardware is absolutely, hands down better than anything else I've ever used. OSX is crappy, and will run very well at first, but when you start to hit the wall, you'll know what I mean.

 

[PittsDriver]

edit: That is to say: The Mac hardware is absolutely, hands down better than anything else I've ever used. OSX is crappy, and will run very well at first, but when you start to hit the wall, you'll know what I mean.

I'm in my 5th year of some semi-pro video editing (amongst other apps) with OSX with my 6 TB of disk roughly half full of project work and no wall in sight yet. If there's a wall out there it must be pretty far away. Oh also, in those 5+ years I've had my system become unresponsive and require a hard reboot exactly once.

 

[Bob Noel]

Do yourself a favor, uninstall OSX, and install Windows 7.

You'll never look back.

edit: That is to say: The Mac hardware is absolutely, hands down better than anything else I've ever used. OSX is crappy, and will run very well at first, but when you start to hit the wall, you'll know what I mean.

I guess I've never hit the wall with OSX. I hit it immediately with XP, why would windows 7 be better?

 

[jesse]

edit: That is to say: The Mac hardware is absolutely, hands down better than anything else I've ever used. OSX is crappy, and will run very well at first, but when you start to hit the wall, you'll know what I mean.

What wall would that be Nick, what is crappy about it? Perhaps what you don't like isn't an absolute.

Some people like Mac OS, some like Windows, I really don't care. Whatever works the best for the person is the best solution.

Now to actually answer his question:

Do the following programs work on Macs?

Jeppesen Skybound

It will with Windows running in Vmware Fusion.

EZ Trends (for JPI engine monitors)

Would likely work in Vmware Fusion.

Microsoft FS (or ASA On Top)

You'd likely have to boot into Windows via Bootcamp (and buy a Windows license). X-Plane will run natively on Mac OS and I prefer it over Microsoft FS. (Microsoft FS is no longer being developed)

CH Products yoke/pedals

Should work

AOL

AOL has a mac version.

Google Chrome

It is under development, Google will release Chrome for Mac OS X, but it is not complete yet.

Should you run Mac OS X? That depends. What percentage of your time on your computer is spent in those programs that will require a Windows virtual machine? If the answer is greater than 10% than I would recommend Windows. If it less than 10% than Mac OS may be worth it.

(I personally use Mac OS X on a Macbook Pro. For what I do it makes the most sense. Most of my time is spent in Firefox, Eclipse (IDE), or in a ssh session to a Linux server)

 

[flyingcheesehead]

CH Products yoke/pedals work great on the Mac with X-Plane.

 

[Everskyward]

I don't have a Mac but my flying buddy does. One time we were trying to jointly work on a document in MS Word. Transferring the files back and forth between computers did not work at all. They somehow became corrupted. I don't know if that's because he didn't really know how to work his computer (he had just bought it used from a friend) or what, but we ended up just using my PC.

 

[ScottM]

I don't have a Mac but my flying buddy does. One time we were trying to jointly work on a document in MS Word. Transferring the files back and forth between computers did not work at all. They somehow became corrupted. I don't know if that's because he didn't really know how to work his computer (he had just bought it used from a friend) or what, but we ended up just using my PC.

i have never, EVER had that problem and I do it all the time.

 

[gkainz]

I'm in my 5th year of some semi-pro video editing (amongst other apps) with OSX with my 6 TB of disk roughly half full of project work and no wall in sight yet. If there's a wall out there it must be pretty far away. Oh also, in those 5+ years I've had my system become unresponsive and require a hard reboot exactly once.

Avid or Final Cut?

 

[Everskyward]

i have never, EVER had that problem and I do it all the time.

It could have been operator error but it was frustrating to both of us.

 

[ScottM]

It could have been operator error but it was frustrating to both of us.

I can understand that.

M$ software, for all of it faults, has been platform independent for a long time.

There are issues with using the XML formats on the newer version of the M$ Office apps and older non-XML software. That is easily dealt with if the newer version is not saved as a .docx file but a plain .doc OR if the the older version user gets the free upgrade to be able to open the XML files.

Scott

 

[SCCutler]

Mari, that's a MS Word problem. It is junk.

 

[SkyHog]

i have never, EVER had that problem and I do it all the time.

I did have a problem, not where it got corrupted, but it would display differently between the two systems. Microsoft Word on the mac would move pictures around and stuff.

Funny enough, it acted exactly the same if I opened the document in OpenOffice as it did if I opened it on Word for Mac.

 

[PittsDriver]

Avid or Final Cut?

iMovie and Final Cut. A lot of what I've done for friends and family has just been in iMovie. The integration with youtube, MobileMe, etc. makes pretty easy to whip up a rough draft of a project and put it online to show to the customer. And the best thing about it all - it's free with OSX.

 

[Everskyward]

There are issues with using the XML formats on the newer version of the M$ Office apps and older non-XML software. That is easily dealt with if the newer version is not saved as a .docx file but a plain .doc OR if the the older version user gets the free upgrade to be able to open the XML files.

These files started out as .docx files so that may have been the problem.

Mari, that's a MS Word problem. It is junk.

Since the files originated from our office which uses MS Word there wasn't much we could do about that.

I did have a problem, not where it got corrupted, but it would display differently between the two systems. Microsoft Word on the mac would move pictures around and stuff.

It did that too, in a big way. The formatting would come out all wrong.