SwordSearcher on Mac OS-X?

R

Robert Cape

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Have you given any thought to compiling your code with the Mono libraries so that it can run on Intel-based Macs running OS-X?
I love my 27" iMac for the screen real estate.
Just a small request :)

Bob
 
SwordSearcher is not written with .NET so the Mono libraries are not helpful in such a project. If you'd like to use SwordSearcher on your Mac my recommendation is Parallels Desktop.
 
Sword Searcher works great with Parallels, however, every time Mac upgrades the OS you have to pay $50 for the Parallels upgrade, which leaves you with the choice of either not upgrading your OS (which is a free upgrade from Apple) or paying the $50 for the Parallels upgrade. I was using Parallels version 9 when my logic board died and the company that repaired it also upgraded my OS, now I have to buy Parallels version 13 if I want to continue using Sword Searcher :confused: I have been a beta tester since Sword Search v 5 or maybe 6, after all these years I sure would love to beta test a Mac version :)
 
Your other option is to use a free VM like VirtualBox instead of Parallels. The only reason I suggest Parallels is because I have been told by Mac users that it is reliable and easy enough to use and integrates well and offers customer support. @Eric uses VirtualBox.
 
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Yes, cybresaint, I use VirtualBox to run SwordSearcher all the time, and it's free. (Well, there is a catch: you have to buy Windows.*) But you have to spend some time learning, and once in a while something goes a bit off the rails for a while. However, I have always been able to get good advice from the VirtualBox website (https://forums.virtualbox.org). You might want to give VB a try if you're willing to buy Windows. At $50/year for Parallels (assuming OS X gets updated once a year) vs. the cost of Windows 10, though, I'm not sure what I'd choose. If you're tech savvy and like to learn and think Windows will last enough to make the initial cost of it less than Parallels, it might be worth it.

(*If you do get Windows 10, I do not recommend the Home version, which is what I have. I'd go with something higher than that, I think it's called "Professional". The Home version doesn't let you control updates very well, and once in a while I come to my computer in the morning and Windows 10 has updated itself overnight and messed things up.)

Eric

Edit: added VB forum address
 
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Eric said:
The Home version doesn't let you control updates very well, and once in a while I come to my computer in the morning and Windows 10 has updated itself overnight and messed things up.)

Eric
Click to expand...

Eric here's a YouTube video from a tech guy I follow (Britec09) on stopping windows updates. I wouldn't stop them completely, but this allow you to control it with an on off switch. Seems to work well so far.

He almost always has useful videos. `
 
My 2 cents, is I have it running on Linux, I had it running on OSX, my primary box for SS is always going to be W10. It just works and not tweaking needed.
 
Bill,

Thanks for that link. WinUpdate Stop v. 1.3 looks good. I've got it installed already. I dislike being forced to update at inconvenient times, so this is a good little utility.
 
I run Windows on my MacBook Pro (2009) using Bootcamp (i.e. when I switch on I choose to run either with Mac OS or Windows). Windows in this mode is lightning fast and SwordSearcher runs perfectly. Parallels or Fusion are fine but unless you have a mac with plenty of RAM and able to run the latest OS then running Windows (and therefore SwordSearcher) is painfully slow. I would recommend using BootCamp (free with all Macs) as the only way to run SwordSearcher.
 
FWIW - I run SwordSearcher on a newer Mac with Parallels, but also have a VirtualBox VM and it runs fine in both.

I started off with VirtualBox, but I do commercial SW development so couldn't use it free for that--plus I've found Parallels to be a superior VM solution for macOS over both VMware and VirtualBox. But that's mainly when pushing things into technical corners such as USB device support and seamless integration between the Windows/Mac file systems.

I'm using W7 in my VM.
 
Brandon Staggs said:
SwordSearcher is not written with .NET so the Mono libraries are not helpful in such a project. If you'd like to use SwordSearcher on your Mac my recommendation is Parallels Desktop.
Click to expand...
I understand about the original intent and structure of SS on Windows format. I think I understand that it would be difficult and quite an effort to make another one designed for Mac. I've had my windows computer destroyed in a church burglary and can't run the SS on it anymore. I have read the recommendations for Parallels etc. I am still hopeful that the demand for SS on Mac OS will be fruitful. I just would not tie up partitions on my MacPro or use the other fixes. Is there any hope for a new SS for MAC or should I just forget it altogether?
 
RLBrooks139 said:
I think I understand that it would be difficult and quite an effort to make another one designed for Mac.
Click to expand...

It boils down to an issue of time. The Mac desktop user base is very small compared to Windows and it would require me to put the Windows project essentially "on hold" if I were to do a Mac one. The only other option is to let someone else do it and slap "SwordSearcher" on the about box, which is not an option I will really consider.

RLBrooks139 said:
Is there any hope for a new SS for MAC or should I just forget it altogether?
Click to expand...

It is extremely unlikely that I will create another desktop Bible study application besides SwordSearcher for Windows. (And just to be clear, a Mac version of SwordSearcher would be just that -- a completely separate project from the Windows one.) If you must use a Mac for some reason, and you want to be able to use SwordSearcher on it, your only reasonable option in the foreseeable future is a virtual machine (Parallels, VMWare, etc).

I really do appreciate that Mac users want to use SwordSearcher in a native way. I know there are other options that are Mac-native so that is an honor. It's just not something likely to happen.
 
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@RLBrooks139, I use SwordSearcher almost every day in a Windows 10 virtual machine running in the free VirtualBox.org app. It's fully functional and I love it. There are issues with being "double-minded" :) in regard to Operating Systems, and it's not a perfect set up. Maybe Parallels or VMware Fusion would be better integrated and use less memory or CPU power, I don't know. One of my motivations to use VirtualBos is that I also have other apps that will never be on Mac that I need. Fact is, if I could only have one operating system, I'd have to choose Windows. But I like Mac better (sometimes!).

My biggest problem has to do with RAM. My MacBook Pro (2011) has 16GB of memory, and I allocate 4GB to Windows 10. That is really too little for Windows 10 and all the apps I run there. Sometimes SwordSearcher is slow (it especially affects the Bible audio). I think I probably should allocate 8GB to Windows 10, but if I did that, it would really slow down what I run on the Mac side. I'm planning to upgrade to a more powerful Mac Mini so I can allocate more memory to Windows. I don't really need the portability of the MBP that much.

But I love using SwordSearcher too much to get along without it. There are other apps I must have on Windows, too, that simply aren't available natively for Mac (and, like SwordSearcher, probably never will be). Maybe I never should have switched to Mac. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood …".
 
OK guys. I am a window guy. Always have been, always will be BUT I now have been given a new Macbook Air to use at the college. I want to continue to use SS on it. I have no idea how to go about it because I am still learning how to turn the mac on and off. Whole new creature for an old dog. Where do I start? Keep it simple. :) P.S. I have read what is posted above.
 
Hi, Dr. Preston, Awhile back I was working with someone who had a Mac and it was discovered that you can get a shell program that will let you operate just as you did under Windows. It's been a long time, so I don't know what's out there now. You might want to search under something like "Shell program to run windows on a mac" or something similar. Best,
 
If you use the paid CrossOver program, you can use SS on a Mac almost as if it were a Mac program. Two other paid options are VMWare's Fusion and Parallels. I use the free VirtualBox (but you have to buy Windows, so it's not free, either, really).

I think if I were in your situation, I might try to trade the MacBook Air for a Windows Surface just to cut down on having to learn another operating system :)
 
I use SwordSearcher 8.3 and really love it. I also have an iMac and a Microsoft Surface Pro. However, my Surface computer has a really small screen. What I did is to install the Microsoft Remote Desktop app from the Mac Store and then connect remotely to my Surface, which gives me a much bigger screen to work with. That works great for me and uses very minimal memory on my iMac, around 200-300 MBytes of memory, as opposed to several gigabytes of memory if running a virtualization app like VirtualBox, Parallels, or VMWare. I also use CrossOver and can run SwordSearcher directly on my iMac, but I find that takes more memory than if I were to connect remotely to my Surface. My iMac has only 8GB of memory, so memory is at a premium. I had wanted to upgrade to 32GB of memory recently, but when my repair shop told me they were required to use Apple memory, and it would cost me about $900, I gave up on that option. Using CrossOver runs pretty good, but with the next release of the MacOS (Catalina), my version of CrossOver will no longer work since MacOS Catalina has dropped support for 32-bit applications altogether. The developers of CrossOver are hopeful for an upgrade that will enable SwordSearcher to run on Cataline, I am not holding my breath on that.

Just thought I'd give my two-cents on this subject.
 
Am I required to buy Windows OS license to be able to use Parallels Desktop? Can I use parallel to run Swordsearcher without Windows OS?
 
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