Do you depend on non-"native" Mac programs?
By ghutchis at Wed, May 7 2008 12:36pm
No, not at all.
14% (7 votes)
I have a few command-line programs.
6% (3 votes)
Yes, I need X11 on the Mac.
34% (17 votes)
Yes, I need Linux.
4% (2 votes)
Yes, I need Windows.
30% (15 votes)
Other (please comment below)
12% (6 votes)
Total votes: 50
Comments
Instruments
Sadly, many of the instruments I use in my lab require WIndows software. A few suppliers have switched to Java, but the rest either require WIndows drivers or full-scale Windows applications.
instruments and Windows
Same here, but anyway the instruments need their own computer, so I don't know if I would count that as a need for non-native Mac programs. It would not make much difference if those machines could be plugged to a mac.
All of the above...
I need X11, Linux, Windows, and soon OpenSolaris for my work. Apple's X11 still needs major work, especially on laptops when you plug in a 2nd monitor while it is running. Where would I be without VMWare Fusion?
Many of the above
Most of what I code has to run on other *nixes. I also need X11. Finally, I need at least MS office apps and Entrust, and while I use them as little as possible, I can't escape using them daily; so that doesn't require Windows per se, but interaction with highly Windows-centric apps.
Drivers
I'm in the same boat. Some instrument drivers, even some simple stuff, can only be operated from Windows. Worse, specific versions of the Windows panoply are necessary.
Old Software and clustering
Well, my first gripe is some ancient DOS software that is just too scary to re-write. I'm actually re-writing the model instead to use something like NetCDF, instead of this crusty support software. I have to keep a copy of DOSBox around to use it, and it's starting to get annoying.
In addition, Intel's V-Tune is *really* handy. Unfortunately, it's not offered for the Mac platform.
A few instrument companies seem to be waking up...
...but almost all the instrumentation available runs on windows-only software. I make a point about complaining vociferously about this, and I was pleased to discover that the company we just bought a fluorescent plate reader from has just released an OS X native version of their software.
But our real-time PCR and confocal software both require windows, so I run them under parallels on the iMac in the lab.
Multiple Platform Needs
The electrophysiology equipment that I use requires Windows, as does a lab robot that I use. I would prefer to use Mac native stuff, or at least Unix apps that would run on the Mac. The Mac X11 seems to work well for the STADEN sequence assembly software and EMBOSS code.
CAD
There are, sadly, a few CAD and DataAq programs we use that are Windows only. On the plus side, a MacPro w/ 8gb runs Windows x64 quite nicely in BootCamp and we're able to get our work done relatively easily.
XRD software
Alas, very little X-ray diffraction software is available natively for OS X, so I have to work under Parallels (prior to the shift to Intel it was far worse: I had to try to run number-crunching code under Virtual PC and pretend that I had a 386 for all the speed I was seeing). Apple really must try to engage the Science and Engineering communities and try to get people to port their code to OS X (I'd even be happy for it to run under X11).
Alun
The vote should allow more
The vote should allow more than one option. For example, I need X11 for astronomical research, but for teaching purposes many apps used in our university are for Windows and the transition is still slow in the education front...
MATLAB
Yes, I use matlab and it uses X11. Please mathworks do your job.!
Environmental Engineering
Lots of my modeling work requires MATLAB as well as additional programs which are only available for Windows. These include:
-CAD Programs
-Interfaces/GUIs for USGS models
-GIS Programs