Memory Maps and Apple Mac Computers

[abowen]

Has anyone had any experience in using Memory maps on an Apple Mac? Considering buying a new Apple laptop and some new mapping software - Memory Maps, but i am unsure as to the comaptibility of one with the other. I understand that with Apple you can get Windows software to run natively, but you have to start the machine in a Windows system. If it is all too complicated, may just opt for a PC laptop - Memory Maps should run on this with no problems. However, would be interested in what experiences others have had.
Cheers
Andrew Bowen

[stepbystep]

Hi Andrew,
I run Parallels Desktop on my Mac, it's a bit of a pain and just feel I'm infecting my perfectly good Mac
I rarely use it and actually have a separate PC for Ozi, which is the only Windows based program I need nowadays.
Cheers

[ollster]

I understand that with Apple you can get Windows software to run natively, but you have to start the machine in a Windows system.

That's not running natively, that's dual booting Windows. If you want to run Windows software, get a laptop that runs Windows. The Macbook is "ok" but it has some annoying issues (keyboard layout, trackpad sensitivity) that make using Windows on them less than ideal. (I own a Macbook Pro 13" running Win7 and OSX 10.6.)

Frankly, Win7 is equal to or better than OSX in most facets, and for the cost of a Macbook you can get a pretty nice laptop from say Sony. Nice trackpad (under OSX), and nice build, but apart from that the Macbooks are pretty average. OSX is a letdown and like all other Apple stuff if feels restrictive.

I don't run mapping software on the Mac, I run it on a Win7 64bit machine on a 24" monitor, much nicer experience.

[ollster]

Oh, one more thing. If you decide to get a Macbook, have a look at Apple's refurb shop on their website. Often these will be returns that people have decided they don't want. I saved around $300 on mine, and it was brand spankers (the only thing missing was full packaging). You still get the same warranty etc as if buying new.

Oh yeah, and beware - the "new" Macbook 13" laptops are all running older Core2Duo CPUs, rather than i3/i7 series CPUs that are in most similarly priced Windows lappies.

[photohiker]

Oh yeah, and beware - the "new" Macbook 13" laptops are all running older Core2Duo CPUs, rather than i3/i7 series CPUs that are in most similarly priced Windows lappies.

For the record. You have a choice. If you want speed over weight or price, you can have it, but not on a 13 inch. Many died-in-the-wool Windows users buy Apple hardware to run Windows for very good reason.

Macbook is entry level Mac laptop from $1199 and comes with Core2Duo
Macbook Air is Apple's ultra light/small notebook, 11 inch and 13 inch, starts at $1199 and also uses C2D
Macbook Pro is Apple's Pro laptop range, comes in sizes 13, 15 and 17 inches, starts at $1449 and uses processors from C2D through i5 and i7 depending on model.

I don't currently have a laptop, but I've been through a few, and certainly watched the kids destroy them at the expense of the bank balance. The Apple systems have been considerably more robust and reliable than the alternatives - We've had Acer, Toshiba, Asus, Compaq, Dell, IBM/Lenovo as well as Apple. As far a OS upgrades are concerned, very few of the PC systems made it through a generational change in Windows (XP to Vista etc) whereas the Mac systems were retired due to old age not functional obsolescence.

Rather than let some geek on the internet direct your choice, go and have a play. Choose on features that are important to you, not the salesman or me.

[Son of a Beach]

A Mac is clearly not the optimal system for running any Windows application. However, if you want a Mac for other reasons, and do not want to have a second computer, then running Windows applications on a Mac is quite simple in most cases. There are 3 common ways to do it, all of which are free (apart from a Windows license for the first two):

• Dual boot. Have both Windows and Mac OS X (and optionally Linux and/or others) installed, and to switch between OS's, restart, selecting the desired OS at boot time. This provides full compatibility and full speed, as you are running Windows 'natively', but is rather inconvenient having to reboot just to use an application that requires a different OS.
• Virtual machine. Use a virtual machine application such as Virtual Box to run Windows as an application within Mac OS X. I've not yet found any windows software that won't install this way, but it is possible that there may be some that won't work this way. It runs at full speed (or as near to it as I can tell). This is quite convenient, but if you don't already have it running, it will take a few seconds to start up the virtual machine (from it's suspended state, or cold boot, depending on how you left it). No time at all to switch between OS's though, and sharing files between the two is easy.
• WINE. In particular DarWINE is a Mac OS X port of the Linux WINE system which attempts to emulate the Windows OS libraries. Compatibility is quite good considering what a difficult task this is to achieve, but there are a substantial amount of applications that will not work with WINE. WINE bottler is an excellent Mac OS X GUI for creating WINE applications from Windows applications (or from Windows application installers). Works brilliantly for applications that are compatible, but is not compatible with as many Windows applications as the other two methods. It also uses X11 rather than Quartz GUI, but for this type of application that's not really a drawback. OziExplorer runs fine in WINE, according to reports. Don't know about memory map, but it may be worth Googling.

I've never used Windows in dual booting on a Mac. I did install it this way a long time ago, but never used it because the other two methods were so good, that dual booting was simply not necessary (and a big time waster).

I use both of the other two methods. If I can get the application to install in WINE (using WINE bottler) then that's my preferred method, because it saves having to boot or run Windows at all. If a partiucular application will not work with WINE, then I'll use Virtual Box (free VM software), and I've not yet found a Windows application that won't work that way.

Having said all that, I only use a Windows application probably less than once per month these days. I recently had to use img2ozf in WINE a lot due to some software testing, but before that, I can't remember the last time I used a Windows application.

PS. Yes, I can. I used to run the work Help Desk application in a Virtual Box VM for a while, but it was such a dog of an application (even on a real windows machine it was painfully slow), that I gave up and started using the somewhat limited, but MUCH quicker WWW interface to it instead.

[Son of a Beach]

Discussion of Memory Map running on WINE. Looks like it works OK, with potential for some problems using the internet based features, which can be overcome.

PS. Don't forget that any maps you buy to use with Memory Map are locked to that product and cannot be used with other products.

[photohiker]

I understand that with Apple you can get Windows software to run natively, but you have to start the machine in a Windows system.

That's not running natively, that's dual booting Windows.

Sorry, had to correct this.

If you dual boot a Mac into Windows and run a windows application on it, it is running natively. Just the same as if you had bought a 'Windows' laptop and run the application there.

In the olden days, Macs ran on different hardware platform to Windows (they were PowerPC and Windows was Intel - you might remember the Macs were called 'G3' G4' and 'G5'). To get Windows apps to run, software was created to emulate an intel CPU upon which Windows (and the application) could be installed. It was very clever, but it was also a dog Thankfully, that's history now.

[ollster]

I understand that with Apple you can get Windows software to run natively, but you have to start the machine in a Windows system.

That's not running natively, that's dual booting Windows.

Sorry, had to correct this.

Yeah sorry. Misread it and meant to fix it but forgot... Stupid work getting in the way.

[abowen]

Thanks Guys,
Looks like there is some PC versus Mac rivalry out there! I am a complete non-expert in computers, so some of the discussion above was getting over my head. By the gist of it all, I should be able to run Memory Maps on Apple Macs, but should test it out first. Thanks for all the feedback.
Cheers
Andrew

[Liamy77]

i run memory map on a laptop and a netbook..... both windows.... got the netbook for about $200.... like to see mac match that one....

as Nik mentioned you are limited a bit with using the maps - i believe ozi (for example) can also be loaded on equipment like the Garmin gps csx60.... i just use the etrex H with a usb cable when i need the maps on screen...... still carry paper maps too.

i like memorymap but think it bthrough! i will be in tassie in april if you can wait and want to have a play with it first gimme a PM....

[abowen]

Thanks Liam,
For the moment I am not worrying too much about mapping software as my brand new GPS has crashed and is back with the GPS doctors at Garmin for a fix. It could be *&%$#! April before I get it back! I am not overly impressed with how Garmin supports their product - hope they are reading this.
Cheers
Andrew
ps Garmin came good with a new replacement for the one that crashed. Bonus, as I get to use it much earlier than anticipated.