Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Windows Applications On Mac, Without Windows

Well, it works well. And for someone that wants to dip their toes into OSX and still run their existing software, it is a great option. It has it's merit. I prefer to have the FULL Windows experiance (ala Parallels or Boot Camp) if I HAVE to use windows...but being able to open the occasional program directly in OSX is fantastic for those that need it (as the previous person said about reality programs). Any simple program should work, and many i tested work well.

Don't discount this solution, it has it's place. Imagine a school that has 90% of the programs they need on OSX, but those few biology or other stat programs are only available for Windows.....this works like a charm.

-Compufix
 
Can't be good

So this is what's going to happen. Developers of applications will look at this and think, well what's the point of creating two verstions of our application when a Windows version will work on a Mac. So guess what we have slow sluggish, buggy apps running on our Mac's, hey may as well buy a PC. Mr Jobs please remember what the Mac is all about!!
 
daferrisda said:
So this is what's going to happen. Developers of applications will look at this and think, well what's the point of creating two verstions of our application when a Windows version will work on a Mac. So guess what we have slow sluggish, buggy apps running on our Mac's, hey may as well buy a PC. Mr Jobs please remember what the Mac is all about!!
Click to expand...


The point is that this is only a stop gap and by no means will offer a comprehensive support option for the majority of software, especially multimedia and more complex software....so OSX version are still advantageous....I would also think that trying to support their applications running on this would be a nightmare for them.
 
Compufix said:
The point is that this is only a stop gap and by no means will offer a comprehensive support option for the majority of software, especially multimedia and more complex software....so OSX version are still advantageous....I would also think that trying to support their applications running on this would be a nightmare for them.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately you're only partially right, as the Wine project serves two major purposes.

The first is the one Crossover Office fills, running Win32 binaries on foreign x86 OSes. The other, usually called Winelib, is a library that allows people to compile applications written for Win32 as "native" applications on the foreign system (Linux, OS X). For all intents and purposes these are Linux or Mac applications, they just look a whole lot like Windows apps and make calls to Win32 API under the hood.

This was the main reason Corel was working so intensley on Wine, so they could have an easy path to porting their apps to Linux....

B
 
daferrisda said:
So this is what's going to happen. Developers of applications will look at this and think, well what's the point of creating two verstions of our application when a Windows version will work on a Mac. So guess what we have slow sluggish, buggy apps running on our Mac's, hey may as well buy a PC.
Click to expand...
That might happen, but think what will follow if you're right...

If people are running slow, sluggish, buggy apps on their Mac that means there is a market opportunity to make a better app. The other possibility is that this is such a niche app that no one else will make a competing app. In that case, the small community that wants to use that app is well served by being able to use the product available for Windows.

My point is that allowing Windows programs to run on the Mac creates a more open market. I believe that open markets create better solutions.
 
weldon said:
That might happen, but think what will follow if you're right...

If people are running slow, sluggish, buggy apps on their Mac that means there is a market opportunity to make a better app. The other possibility is that this is such a niche app that no one else will make a competing app. In that case, the small community that wants to use that app is well served by being able to use the product available for Windows.

My point is that allowing Windows programs to run on the Mac creates a more open market. I believe that open markets create better solutions.
Click to expand...

This seems more likely to me than the disaster scenarios. I mean, if more people are running the crappy PC versions, then that means that Apple's market share is going up which should mean that more developers get interested in selling to that market. Or at least making software that's attractive to that market.

If we think that Vista is going to look a lot more like OSX, then it sort of follows that programs developed for Vista will look more like those made for OSX. They'll be pushed toward the Apple way of doing things. Combine that with an increasing Mac market share and there could just as easily be a very bright future coming.
 
>>people will fear the death of Mac because "there's no need to write Mac apps anymore."
----
I dunno-as APPLE gains market share-what developer would turn up their noses at adding another 5-10% sales to their volume by adding Mac compatability?
 
That would be so nice if Apple figured out how to run Windows apps on OS X. 10 days till we all find out.
 
This probably has been asked but will you need to use an external mouse on the MacBook or will ctrl click work :confused: In BootCamp I have not figured out how to right click excxept to use an external mouse?
 
Weaning off Windows

As a soon-to-be Mac convert, I think this is great news. I will rely on this only to run Office. I bout Office XP a few years back and use it all the time.

So I have a choice:
1. Buy Office Mac, which, being a student isn't too bad.
2. Buy CodeWeavers

The second option has the most pros for me. I am a self proclaimed wiz at Excel and know it backwards and forwards (after 4 years engineering education). While there isn't much difference between Office for Mac and Office XP, there are subtle things that can drive a person nuts when they have 5+ hours of work to do.

So I see this as way to run Office XP, which I spend 70%+ of my computer time, until I can master Office for Mac (now to find a friend with this). I would never want to rely on a program to run all my programs. With the exception noted above, I plan to use "Mac programs" exclusively. I think a lot of people are in my or similar situation.

Think of this as weaning us off Windows (us that don't want to dual boot etc.). I couldn't do it cold turkey.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back