Running Aspire on a Mac

[tlempicke]

I just got the following private message and thought that it might be an interesting topic for the general community.

i came upon your 2014 post regarding the use of a mac using bootcamp to run the design software, while using a dedicated barebones pc to run the shopbot, and it gave me some hope :) now that it's 2016, i thought i'd take a chance and send you a message, see if you're still running bootcamp, and see if you might have anymore insight or words of advice. right now i'm thinking of using my macbook for design, and picking up a simple refurbished pc that meets or exceeds the required specifications. any advice would be greatly appreciated.


I have been running bootcamp for some period of time (Well over a year anyway) and it has worked quite well. My Mac has an Intel Chipset and windows runs as it should and seems to be very stable.


Then came El Capitan and Windows Ten and the problems began. Apple has not updated the bootcamp assistant to really handle this situation and when I tried to migrate to windows ten I began to have problems with the installation.

Just for drill I installed a trial copy of Parallels 11. This has been a dynamite experience. I can bounce back and forth between Mac and Windows without re-booting. Aspire is rock solid and it looks like the other programs I use on the Windows platform are too. The program has a "Coherence" mode that makes it possible to run a windows app right on the Mac desktop.

But there is more. I back up my computer once a week at a minimum. So as a test I used Super Duper to make a copy of my Mac drive, with Windows installed, on a backup drive. As I write this I am on that backup drive and all is running perfectly. No mess, no fuss, no bother. My primary Mac drive is a Solid State Drive. this morning I will try to migrate the whole schmear to it and see what happens. If it works as well as it has been so far i plan to purchase the program and will report back.

[willmorgan]

Hey tlempicke,
I have been running Aspire on my Mac with a virtual machine, using parallels, for about a year now with no issues. I also have other CAD/CAM programs running on it as well. It's much better than using bootcamp due to not having to reboot. I usually run it in full screen mode so all I have to do is a 3 finger swipe and the windows machine shows up. You can also set it up so you really don't see a difference between the two. The only issue I have ever had is that the icons are a little small on the VM but it can be changed but then you have bigger icons on the MAC Either way I love it and would recommend it to anyone that has a Mac.

Will

[waynelocke]

I have run Aspire on my Mac with Parallels for years with no problems. In fact my cad program, Vectorworks 2010, will not run on anything later than Mac 10.7.5 and since it does what I need and I don't want to spend $1000 to $1500 to upgrade it I also run it on Parallels running Mac 10.7.5. I sometimes have all three of the OS's running at the same time and can seamlessly slide from one to the other. I have a 27" IMac with a second monitor and put Parallels on a separate desktop to avoid confusion. The other desktop is then a four finger swipe away on the Magic pad.

[cdodds]

hi guys, and thanks for your feedback. tom, thanks for taking my question to the board. new to the cnc world, as well as the forum, i was hesitant to post my question, thinking i could hunt up the answers i needed by sifting through old posts, but this is much easier.

so here's what i'm gathering. correct me if i'm wrong. i can run vcarvepro and other pc specific software on my mac using parallels, bounce back and forth without rebooting, then save my files to a flash drive, run them down to the shop, plug it into the pc hooked up to the bot, and i'm good?

thanks again for everyone's help,
chad

[tri4sale]

hi guys, and thanks for your feedback. tom, thanks for taking my question to the board. new to the cnc world, as well as the forum, i was hesitant to post my question, thinking i could hunt up the answers i needed by sifting through old posts, but this is much easier.

so here's what i'm gathering. correct me if i'm wrong. i can run vcarvepro and other pc specific software on my mac using parallels, bounce back and forth without rebooting, then save my files to a flash drive, run them down to the shop, plug it into the pc hooked up to the bot, and i'm good?

thanks again for everyone's help,
chad

Yes, that is correct.

Parallels is just one brand of software that does this.
VirtualBox is another, last I looked at it was free.
VMware is another company that makes software to do this.

Google "Virtual Machine" and you'll find plenty more software choices.

Check out http://lifehacker.com/5714966/five-best-virtual-machine-applications

[willmorgan]

The only thing to remember is that you will need a copy of Windows to load on the virtual machine.
I have some experience with MVware but most with Parallels. Of the two I did like Parallels best.

Will

[robtown]

I use parallels on my MacBook Pro, just finished a pretty large AR app that required some fairly extensive 3D modeling.
I had no problems switching from Windows 10 and 3ds Max to OSx and Unity (and back) while I worked.

[scottp55]

One thing Chad,
Don't run any files from the flashdrive!
Copy to your control computer and Run from control computer and then take flashdrive out.
Read a few times before I started about eliminating weak links on data and avoided it, but HAVE forgotten to take the flashdrive out and had a few examples of funky behavior:(
2 cents
scott
Oh, Congrats on your future MAX and visit to the Mothership:)

[cdodds]

The only thing to remember is that you will need a copy of Windows to load on the virtual machine.
I have some experience with MVware but most with Parallels. Of the two I did like Parallels best.

Will


Will, you mentioned needing a copy of Windows to load on the virtual machine. Silly question, but if the the control computer came with Windows 7 and will never see the internet, is there a way I can get it over to the Mac without having to buy another copy, or is that just wishful thinking?

chad

[willmorgan]

If you have the key for the Windows OS then yes. It should be on the disk you got with the computer.

[cdodds]

If you have the key for the Windows OS then yes. It should be on the disk you got with the computer.

I have the key, but it's a refurb, Windows 7 was pre-installed, and it came with no disk. Is there still a way around it?

[willmorgan]

You can download it and then just enter the correct key or have a shop do it for you. You will, according to Microsoft, have to take it off the other computer.

[cdodds]

thanks will. i'll give it a try :) slowly but surely, one hurdle at a time.

[cdodds]

You can download it and then just enter the correct key or have a shop do it for you. You will, according to Microsoft, have to take it off the other computer.

I tried downloading it using the correct key, but it told me since the OS was pre-installed, I'd have to contact the company I bought it from for recovery options. I contacted newegg and they told me that since the computer was refurbished, transferring it over was not an option and that I'd have to buy a second copy of Windows to install on the mac. If anybody knows a way around this and could chime in, that'd be great. Otherwise, I'll pony up for the second copy and hope things fall into place.

[bob_s]

Until I sold my PRS I had been running Aspire on an iMac with Parallels. I needed to buy a fresh version of Windows and found GreenForestSoftware.com and found their prices to be in the $90 range for a fresh copy of windows, as opposed to a lot more from other sources. It has been a flawless way to run Aspire, of course I ran the machine on a real Windows machine.
Bob

[willmorgan]

Yep, do a search on google and you can find them well under $100.

[cdodds]

Until I sold my PRS I had been running Aspire on an iMac with Parallels. I needed to buy a fresh version of Windows and found GreenForestSoftware.com and found their prices to be in the $90 range for a fresh copy of windows, as opposed to a lot more from other sources. It has been a flawless way to run Aspire, of course I ran the machine on a real Windows machine.
Bob

Bob, thanks for the link. I see the $90 one is an OEM download. I'm no computer builder, and see that they recommend the retail version, $115, for dummies like me. How complicated was the install when you went to load it on your mac? Was it pretty straight forward, or should I pay the extra bucks for the retail version?

[bob_s]

It was very straight forward The biggest issue was getting parallels to read the file on the Mac desktop, but that was just because I hadn't used a Mac in years and was trying to make it more difficult than it was. Parallels tech support was great and set me straight in a 3 minute phone call that I'm sure left them laughing

[tri4sale]

Bob, thanks for the link. I see the $90 one is an OEM download. I'm no computer builder, and see that they recommend the retail version, $115, for dummies like me. How complicated was the install when you went to load it on your mac? Was it pretty straight forward, or should I pay the extra bucks for the retail version?

No difference in installing the OEM version versus the retail version.

OEM is for Original Equipment Manufacturer version and is supposed to only be bundled with hardware. Some companies would sell OEM version along side a $2.00 mouse to follow the letter of the license, but Microsoft used to say you had to be buying a computer or major part (such as motherboard) but rarely enforced that rule.

Support used to be different in that Microsoft would not offer direct support to OEM copies, they'd direct you to hardware manufacturer, but if you had retail version you could get direct support from Microsoft. Not sure if this is still the case.