Xtreme on a Mac

**Spinny** · 09 March 2009, 05:48 PM

That whole thread was well worth the read, thanks for the pointer. My HP graphics laptop is now on its third hard drive, second mobo and vidcard. Eventually it's going to die the final death where it's no longer cost effective to resurrect it, and I need to figure out with what I'll replace it. The 17" Mac Book Pro is looking better and better, especially now that Rhino 3D is coming out in a native Mac version. I'm with the posters in that thread who don't want to be forced into using Illustrator all the time. Been there, done that, really didn't like it.

**Soquili** · 09 March 2009, 05:56 PM

Thanks for the link Remi. I had not thought about VirtualBox.

The supported OS list is impressive. OS2 Warp is a blast from the past.

About 13 years ago the company I worked for had six machines running OS2 Warp to provide a Windows interface to the Unix like OS we ran on DEC 7000 minicomputers. The call center operators used windows computers in their cubicles. The OS2 machines translated the Windows requests for the DEC 7000s and created custom Windows forms to be sent to the Windows machines.

**jens g.r. benthien** · 09 March 2009, 06:10 PM

All the virtual machine approaches have one big drawback: they require that you install sloppy Windoze on a perfect machine and OS. In addition, you need a licence of Windoze which adds up to the overall costs.

Let's do the math: VMWare Fusion 2 some 80 Euros, plus Windoze XP Pro some 160 Euros, plus Xara Xtreme Pro some 180 Euros I guess (didn't check the prices for a long time though)

Total investment around 420 Euros plus the hassle and time to install the buggy Windoze plus the space it's eating up on your hard drive.

NOPE.

I'd rather spend 300 Euros for a XaraMac version and have a CLEAN system.

**Spinny** · 09 March 2009, 06:10 PM

I blew right past Remi's post when mine went to page two. That link certainly looks very interesting, thanks!

**Spinny** · 09 March 2009, 06:12 PM

I admire the purity of your convictions, jens!

**PhilM** · 09 March 2009, 07:49 PM

Installing Windows on a Mac works well, either using Bootcamp or one of the virtualisation products. Any perceived impurity of Windows does not affect Mac OS in any way and a decent modern hard drive has plenty of capacity for both. So you get the best of both worlds.

Does Xtreme run on Bootcamp? Yes. Several of us Xara developers actually /develop/ the program on Bootcamp on Macs. Please don't get too excited by that revelation, though. It doesn't mean that a native Mac version is any closer.

What I'm saying is, if you want to run Xtreme on Mac OS now, there's no need to be afraid of installing Windows on a Mac. It's a workable and pragmatic solution.

Phil

**Spinny** · 09 March 2009, 07:51 PM

Thanks, Phil. Given that the Mac Book I was looking at has over 300GB on the standard drive methinks disk space isn't a problem--and I have about a terabyte of plug-in portables for data in case it becomes one.

**Jparshall** · 09 March 2009, 08:28 PM

I'm a huge Xara fan--have been using it continuously since 1995. But sadly it does not run well under CrossOver, which is kind of a bummer, considering I'm the COO of CodeWeavers. I have very cordial relations with Charles at Xara, and I test their stuff on our stuff every so often, but the bottom line is that it would take engineering hours here at the ranch to make Xara go, and the engineers are all working on product-related stuff and/or paying work for big customers. Hence, no go.

One of these days it'll just start to work, I'll bet. That's the way of things with Wine: you fix a bug in App A and suddenly Apps X, Y, and Z start running as well. So my sense is that it's gonna start working at some point. But that point isn't right now, sadly.

Thanks for your interest in the topic.

Cheers,

-jon parshall-
COO
www.codeweavers.com
"Your Mac/Windows solution"

**MarcT** · 10 March 2009, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by Jparshall

but the bottom line is that it would take engineering hours here at the ranch to make Xara go

But wouldn't that result in more sales for crossover?

Marc

**abligh** · 10 March 2009, 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by Spinny

What if we were okay with installing a buggy OS over a nice one? Has anyone had success running Xtreme on a Mac either with VMWare or Boot Camp? Certainly less than an ideal situation, but is it possible?

I run it on VMWare and it runs just fine. No problems at all. But that means I have to install Windows, and there are issues with clipboard interoperability. That's why I was interested in Luke's experience running under Wine / Crossover Office; Luke seems to have had more success than Codeweavers have.