Loading 2 of Same Program

[tacoX]

Is it possible to load 2 of the same program - hiding one of them?

 

[iMeowbot]

It depends on the program. Unixish or X11ish programs often allow this, and Mac GUI apps that only want to run one at a time can often be tricked by simple things like making a copy of the app.

But (isn't there always one of those), if a program doesn't want to run more than once at a time without tricks, there may be a good reason for it. Files like preferences and libraries may get screwed up if more than one copy of the app is trying to write stuff to the same place, and so on.

 

[tacoX]

Yea, I understand that could def. be a problem. I'm trying to run two instances of Adium (the multi-program instant messenger client).

 

[wrldwzrd89]

There's another way to run two (or more) instances of any Mac OS X application that doesn't involve making a copy, or any Terminal tricks. All you have to do is right-click (or control-click) the app, choose show package contents, navigate through the Contents and MacOS folders, then double-click the executable you see in there. This will cause the Terminal to open, which will then launch the app. Double-click the executable again, and a second instance of that application will launch (opening a second Terminal window in the process). One gotcha: If you close the Terminal window, the application you launched in this way will quit!

 

[elisha cuthbert]

Yea, I understand that could def. be a problem. I'm trying to run two instances of Adium (the multi-program instant messenger client).

get 2 versions of it, run the stable version and the beta version (adiumx.com/beta/beta.html) its worth it just to see the difference, i do it all the time

 

[Chone]

Alternatively you can also try a IM program that does support polygamy like Mercury or aMSN.

But I guess their solution is better

 

[mkrishnan]

Alternatively you can also try a IM program that does support polygamy like Mercury or aMSN.

I can understand why someone might want two instances of a specific app open at the same time, but why would one switch to another MSN client just so they could run it twice? Doesn't Adium already allow you to connect to multiple MSN accounts?

 

[elisha cuthbert]

Doesn't Adium already allow you to connect to multiple MSN accounts?

yes it does

 

[tacoX]

I wan't to hide one, and have one as my primary AIM client.

I'm trying the beta method right now... I like that idea a lot. If not i'll try the terminal method.

Cheers,

 

[tacoX]

edit: nevermind found a way.

 

[sushi]

Is it possible to load 2 of the same program

I do it with Safari due to my work requirements. So far no problems.

Just duplicated the app and gave it a different name.

 

[aaronw1986]

You could also rename the app, have Adium, Adium2