<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>For those that might be a little lost about what this thread is about, essentially Toolbox and many other Linguistics oriented programs run only Windows (XP, 7 etc), and there are people out there on Apple computers or running a Linux based operating system who would like to be able to run these programs. However, if you're running a linux based operating system, I suspect you're technically savvy enough not to need to read this email.</div><div><br></div><div>If you're on a Mac, and you're confused about the options then read on.</div><div><br></div><div>To run Toolbox and potentially other Windows only programs, broadly speaking there are 3 possible solutions:</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>(1) get a separate computer running a windows based operating system (or use "Boot Camp" if you're on an Intel based mac (ie relatively recent mac)).</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>(2) run a "virtual" computer inside your computer and install Windows on this.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>(3) emulate windows and run your applications through that, using Crossover or Wine.</div><div><br></div><div>Solution (1) requires that you buy or find a separate computer, but this is at least reasonably straight forward. If you're not tech savvy but you're okay using a Windows PC then this is often the easiest solution. But the cost of this solution is the cost of the new computer (or find a second hand one - Toolbox does not need the latest and greatest computer). Consider getting a cheap netbook if this solution appeals. A major disadvantage for this solution is that your files will be spread across two computers. But you could always store them on a USB flash drive and then plug that into the computer you want to use.</div><div><br></div><div>Solution (1a) is "Boot Camp". Boot Camp (<a href="http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/">http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/</a>) is an alternative for the moderately tech savvy mac users. It allows you to install Windows straight onto your mac, but will mean you have to restart your computer every time you want to use Toolbox, and you cannot simultaneously use Toolbox with your regular Apple programs. The costs associated with this solution are the purchase a of Windows license. There are academic versions available, and some academic institutions may have a site license which means you don't have to pay at all.</div><div><br></div>Solution (2) is technically harder than solution (1). There are three possible contenders: Parallels and VMWare Fusion, and VirtualBox. The first two are commercial products with various degrees of technical support available, the third is free, with community based support. Again if you are not tech savvy, I would lean towards the commercial solutions. And so the costs would be both the cost of the software _and_ a windows license. Advantages to this solution are that you can run Mac and (any) Windows programs side by side. Some confusing points can be locating your files, cutting a pasting between programs, and managing a "virtual" computer inside your actual computer. But the advantages are many - everything is (pretty much) in the one location, the windows programs run very robustly, and especially with the commercial software, the tightness of integration means you may not even be aware of the difference between Toolbox and any other application on your mac.<div><br></div><div>Solution (3) is also technically harder than (1), and while Toolbox runs reasonably well, I have failed to run many other SIL Linguistics programs. The cost is lower however - you only need to purchase Codeweaver's Crossover, and there are academic versions available. The software is updated frequently, but their business model is to make you pay for support (and major updates) on an ongoing basis (but you don't have to update if everything works!). Integration between regular Mac programs and windows programs is reasonably tight, but at times confusing - for instance when it comes to closing/quitting Toolbox. Keyman does not work, and I have yet to come up with a reasonable solution to typing in non-standard characters. Key combinations can also be a little confusing. Cutting and pasting between documents can be a little buggy. The major advantage is that this is the cheapest solution to get Toolbox running on your mac.</div><div><br></div><div>Crossover is actually a commercial repackaging of the freely available and open source "Wine" software. If you know how to install Wine then this email is not for you. But FYI it is the only legal free solution that does not require the purchase of a windows license (actually, technically in some cases you are required to own a windows license but you don't need to use it).<br><div><br></div><div>So here is how I would break it down based on different user's scenarios:</div><div><br></div><div><b>"Argh, it's all too hard... I want an easy solution!"</b>: use a separate Windows PC computer with a thumb drive to store your files. Of course lugging around two computers may actually be harder in some cases!</div><div><br></div><div><b>"I'm not afraid to try something trickier. I want to run Toolbox only and I want the cheapest (legal) solution"</b>: run Wine, or if you don't know how to do that, run Codeweaver's Crossover. VirtualBox is potentially a better cheap option if you can get ahold of a windows license for free (ie through work etc).</div><div><br></div><div><b>"I'm not afraid to try something trickier. I want convenience. I don't care what it costs":</b> run Parallels or VMWare Fusion (where the integration is more transparent), or if on a budget, run VirtualBox. Of course, VirtualBox will be the cheapest if you can get ahold of a windows license for free.</div><div><br></div><div>None of these solutions are perfect. So in addition, consider writing a friendly email to the SIL Toolbox/Fieldworks team praising them on their excellent software (a bargain at that price too if I may say so!), and saying how nice it would be if they could produce a genuine cross-platform solution.</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers,</div><div>Tom</div><div> <br><div><div>On 08/12/2011, at 11:33 AM, Xavier Barker wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>You don't even need to be booting the VM everytime you use it. You can pause it (or save state) and just reload it in a ready state every time you need it, which is a great option if you're seriously so time poor you can't wait a few minutes for the VM to load. You'll find a lot of software is dependent on a fair bit of backend stuff happening in Windows (like Keyman) which is why they don't work as expected under emulated conditions. <br><br>On 08/12/2011, at 11:24 AM, Aidan Wilson wrote:<br><br><blockquote type="cite">Given how many programs you intend to use, I argue again that a virtual machine is the best approach. I agree that crossover allows you to easily open a project without booting the machine, but the ram and cpu usage is higher when you have crossover and a virtual machine running. It's best to have everything in one VM.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">-- <br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Aidan Wilson<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">PhD Candidate in Linguistics<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">School of Languages and Linguistics<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">The University of Melbourne<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">+61428 458 969<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><a href="mailto:aidan.wilson@unimelb.edu.au">aidan.wilson@unimelb.edu.au</a><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">@aidanbwilson<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">On Thu, 8 Dec 2011, Margaret Carew wrote:<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Sorry about that, I can’t get it to work either<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">I’ve had the LP/crossovers download sitting here – I just tried running it, but it won’t load my database.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">MC<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">On 8/12/11 9:25 AM, "Claire Bowern" <<a href="mailto:claire.bowern@yale.edu">claire.bowern@yale.edu</a>> wrote:<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> I've had no luck getting Lexique to work on Crossover - what settings did you use?<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> Claire<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> On Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 6:52 PM, Margaret Carew wrote:<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> Crossovers and parallels Thanks for all the input on Crossovers and parallels for toolbox.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> After my own couple of weeks of testing I’ve decided to use both – I’m going with a parellels virtual<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> machine, mainly so I can use Miromaa, running under windows 7.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> However, I like crossovers for toolbox because you go straight to it (the crossovers/Toolbox icon) and<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> start up from there. If I need to I can also use it in Parallels, accessing the same files etc, but it<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> seems to run a bit slower (also has the whole windows start up routine which is boring).<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> And I think Lexique pro works the same way through crossovers.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> The cost wasn’t exhorbitant, paid $70 for parellels (on special last week!) and about $40 for<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> crossovers. (and have access to licences for the big ticket software through work).<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"> cheers<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">--<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Margaret Carew<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Arandic Endangered Languages Project<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Alice Springs NT 0870<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">08 8951 8344 / 0422 418 559<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><a href="mailto:margaret.carew@batchelor.edu.au">margaret.carew@batchelor.edu.au</a><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></body></html>