Home Forums Discussions General Discussion AC on Apple via bootcamp?

Hello everyone,

I work for a Naturopathic physician who is very enthusiastic about Amazing Charts - she wanted it up and running in the office two weeks ago. However, we only use Macintosh in our office, which obviously AC does not support. Is anyone running AC on a Mac via Leopard Bootcamp? Is it working? If so, what version of Windows do you recommend installing? I am completely Apple oriented and am somewhat confused as to which operating system is actually preferable - the newer Vista, or the older XP. For that matter, does anyone know when Windows 7 is slated to come out? I can only find conflicting reports.

We REALLY like AC. It's the best EMR company I've come across, hands down. But we haven't even downloaded the trial yet as we are still trying to figure out whether or not it is worth investing in all the software we need to run it. For that matter, does AC have plans to make itself accessible to Apple users in the future?

Any input would be appreciated. I'm at the edge of my fingertips trying to sort all this out...

Thanks!

At the users conference, Jon was running AC on a Mac with an emulator, I believe it was bootcamp. He was running XP on the emulator.

AC is easier with XP and has lower memory overhead. It may be simpler to buy some cheap XP machines and run them with AC exclusively.

Jon mentioned a web based possibility in the future, which would be the easiest way to export to the Mac.

Wendell makes a good point. I would ask Jon directly, though.

As to Vista vs Windows 7, I think that is a no brainer. Go with Windows 7 no matter when it comes out. (If you go that route and you can wait that long)

Actually, I was (and still do) use VMWare's Fusion, which I find to be stable and overall does a good job.

I had first used Parallels, but found it was buggy and on a few occassions I completely lost my XP data and had to reinstall the system. A real pain in the neck! When I contacted their support for help (located in Russia), it was frequently more than a day to get a response, and the responses were canned and not helpful. (That was V3 I was using from Parallels - they are now on V4, but I don't know if their issues are solved.)

The benefit of VMWare (and Parallels) is that one can have both the Mac OS and the Windows OS (XP or Vista) running at the same time, and one can jump around (e.g., listen to iTunes while working on your XP machine). VMWare's website is a nightmare of technical jargon and confusion, Parallels website is more user friendly.

Bootcamp basically partitions off your Mac drive in a way that you can run the Mac as a Windows machine or a Mac machine, but not both at the same time.

My vote (for now) is VMWare Fusion.

Jon,

You are downloading songs from iTunes while you work? No wonder V4 took so long, lol. J/K

The Windows 7 beta is set to expire in August. Hopefully the actual version will be available shortly thereafter.

I must agree with Bert, Windows 7 (beta) is Sooooo much better than Vista. There are a few glitches.

I had no problems installing AC on Windows 7 and taking a backup and loading it on the machine. Windows 7 is based on Vista but cleaned up and FASTER. They appear to be listening and seem to be on the right track.

But they ain't AC (or a Mac)

It sure is understandable how the target dates get pushed back and I am sure no one understands that better than Jon, but nonetheless, it is frustrating when probably hundreds of thousands of users and companies are making decisions as to when software, specifically OSs are released.

I'll chime in,

First your question about using bootcamp. Bootcamp allows the computer to be booted into a fully functional windows installation. Basically you are installing Windows on a clean, new computer. Windows will behave and act like any computer you buy at the store with windows installed.
What Jon is talking about with VMWare is the use of an emulator that can simulate an OS session within the existing OS. You still boot OS X but then you can open a virtual machine that can host the windows OS. That session operates like a virtual computer that you can do anything with just like a standalone computer. However there are a few issue namely speed and 3D acceleration, that is is a penalty for virtualization. However for the AC user the requirements are so low that the speed penalty does not affect the function of the program and 3D accel is for gaming.

You first have to decide which approach to take. Either boot into windows with bootcamp which essential is just make the mac hardware a windows computer. Or do you want to run windows in emulation during the Mac OS session. Running in emulation would allow you full access to the Mac OS and software along with the Windows. Of course bootcamp is free, the other virtualization products are not but their cost is minimal.

The next issue is the choice of Windows. First of all I would disregard Win 7. It has not been released nor is their a set date. Remember that Vista was suppose to be a 2004 release. So the two options are Windows Vista Business/Ultimate (home is not a option) and Windows XP Professional. Vista is the new release of windows and most issue are sorted out. Vista has more eye candy but higher requirements for the hardware. If you were to use the bootcamp option then this is not an issue, most macs have enough hardware to run vista fine. In emulation that may become more of an issue but if you keep the installation lite on programs you should be fine. BTW you have to use the retail license of Vista Business/Ultimate in order to install it on a virtual machine. While the home versions work in virtualization only the higher versions are licensed to allow that installation.

XP professional is more tried and true and the crowd favorite on the AC forum. The XP pro has a lighter footprint (only 2 gb base install vs the 15gb vista install). XP works fine and will work in emulation much better from a performance perspective than will Vista (although with AC you probably would not notice). You can install XP professional in emulation and not violate the license but it still needs to be a retail license.

XP professional is a better choice in my opinion for emulation. With Bootcamp is a toss up with Vista or XP.

VMWare is the best virtualization product, which I have used in Linux and Windows. VMWare is essential the "stardard" product in virtualization.

Geoff

Extremely informative and well written as usual Geoff. Thanks.

My only two comments would be depending on how you look at it:

I would say it is between XP Pro and Win 7. For me, it would make little sense to use Vista (even though it is available) when Win 7 SHOULD be released in late 2009 if Microsoft can stay on their 1,000 day cycle. Win 7, from everything I have read and researched and played with on the Beta, will be superior to Vista. It is almost like a service pack on steroids and, given that, will make Vista obsolete almost overnight. I don't mean people will feel they can't use Vista by that -- I just mean it won't be a huge change such as Vista was from XP that made users stay with XP. So, my advice: Either XP Pro or wait for Win 7 -- which of course if you need to start now would be hard to do.

I agree about VMWare. I get free Microsoft Virtualization software, and I still pay for VMWare products.

This is exactly why Microsoft has the inferior product but the much greater marketshare. Mac has THE OS but there is so much software which isn't compatible with Mac.

This is an old topic, but I'm wondering what the current thought is on using AC on a Mac. I've been using it via Parallels on Windows 7, but experiencing lots of freezes lately. VMware Fusion still working well??
Thanks,
Sharon

I did run AC client on Macbook Pro with VMware fusion in the past with good results. Switched to all windows os because it is easier for me with updates and upgrades. Also some non Apple hardware is getting better recently too.