FrameMaker on Intel Macintosh

Adobe has not ported FrameMaker to Mac OS-X (see FM 7 on OS X in Classic Mode). In the meantime Apple has released Macs with Intel machines and a program called Boot Camp. Another solution to run Windows applications on the new Macs is Parallels Desktop. A third method might be to use CrossOver Mac.

Search the Adobe FrameMaker forum for "on a Mac" or "Mactintosh" for newer discussions

These solutions my be reasonable also for persons in the academic worlds dealing with FrameMaker only for a short period of time - writing a thesis. Since in a Windows environment, additional utilities and aids can then be established, which are not available for the real Mac world.

BootCamp
Parallels Desktop
VirtualBox
VMWare Fusion
CrossOver Mac
Comparative overview
Some statements

See also the Adobe TechComm blog with performance considerations and user comments.

BootCamp

«Boot Camp lets you install Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 without moving your Mac data, You will need to get your own Windows copy, as Apple does not sell or support MS Windows. Boot Camp will burn a CD of all the required drivers for Windows so you don't have to search around the Internet looking for them.»

See also Wikipedia

User statements

Parallels Desktop

«Parallels Desktop for Mac is the first solution that gives Apple users the ability to run Windows alongside Mac OS X in a secure, isolated virtual machine. Parallels Desktop works with Intel-powered Apple, including iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook and MacBook Pro.»

Windows applications in the Mac application dock:

User statements

I am running Frame on a MacBook Pro, using Parallels instead of Boot Camp. Parallels lets me open a Windows window on the Mac, and run Frame in that. I did have to cross-grade my OS 9 version of Frame to a windows version.
It works fairly well - the file structure is shared, and I treat Frame like any other application. It's a little slow, and there are some cut and paste oddities between the systems, but since I needed a new Mac, this was about the only choice.
Until we get an OS X version of Frame, I can live with this.
[2006-08-28; Lisa M. Balbes, Ph.D.; lisa at balbes period com]

If you don't want to reboot all the time, consider Parallels. There is a little speed hit, but hardly noticeable in Frame. When you run in full-screen mode, you'll hardly know you are on a Mac.
[2006-09-27; David Creamer, ideaslists at ideastraining period com]

VirtualBox

«VirtualBox from innotec.de (see also virtualbox.org) is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware, targeted at server, desktop and embedded use. With its large feature set and small footprint, VirtualBox has long outgrown its initial purpose of a specialized virtualization solution. As a result, we are now making VirtualBox generally available as a standalone solution for enterprises of any size -- as well as developers who have so far been unable to find a professional, yet flexible and open virtualizer. … Currently [2007-04] ports to Mac OS X and 64-bit support are being worked on.»

The screenshot below depicts a first alpha version of VirtualBox for Mac OS X [2007-04] running Windows XP SP2.

VmWare Fusion

«VMware Fusion gives Mac users the power to run Windows on Mac along with hundreds of other operating systems side by side with Mac applications, without rebooting. Fusion is simple enough for home users and powerful enough for IT professionals, developers and businesses.»

A user (Barb Binder) states: I normally run VMware Fusion in full screen mode so all you can see is Windows & FrameMaker when I'm on that specific desktop, but I resized the Fusion window slightly so that you can see that FrameMaker is running on my Mac. Other popular options are Parallels and Bootcamp—all three apps allow you to install Windows on a Mac, allowing you to use FrameMaker and other Windows-only applications. I've been doing this for many years—I use multiple Mac desktops (aka Spaces) so I can just slide over to Windows when I need it—it's the best of both worlds.

CrossOver Mac

«CrossOver Mac is an emulator that allows you to install many popular Windows applications and games on Mac OS X. CrossOver includes an easy to use, single click interface, which makes installing Windows software simple and fast. Once installed, your application integrates seamlessly in OS X. Just click and run your application directly from the OS X Finder. Clicking a Windows file or document — including email attachments — will launch the appropriate Windows program, allowing you to work on the files. Best of all, you do it all easily and affordably, without needing a Microsoft operating system license..»

The screen shot displays Visio 2003 running in CrossOver Mac.

Comparative overview

The table hereafter tries to summarise the properties of the various methods for running Windows programs on Mac OS X. This table is as of 2014-10.

	Boot Camp	Parallels Desktop	VirtualBox	VMWare Fusion	CrossOver Mac
Method	OS-switch at boot time	virtual machine			bridge library for API (APplication Interface) system calls (a Wine version)
Windows licence	required	required			not required
Windows flavours	XP SP2 (no older versions)	3.1 … XP, Vista Also Linux, FreeBSD, OS/2, Solaris Users claim that W2K, XP are possible, but not NT			Only specific applications with variable level of support (ranking by users): gold silver bronce none Office 2000 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) Office 97 Access 2000 Outlook 2000 Excel 2003 Outlook 2003 PowerPoint 2003 Visio 2003 Word 2003 MS Access Project 2003   EndNote 7 Acrobat Reader 5       FrameMaker 6.0…7.2 Adobe Crative Suite 2     DreamWeaver MX       IE 6   The Office versions must be full versions, no updates! See the compatibility list for more.
Win fullscreen	yes	yes (Coherance mode)	yes	yes	no
Hardware support	most complete, also USB keyboards Problematic: - external video (beamer)	Problematic: - USB (scanner), - external video (beamer) - Infrared comm.		USB with some problems; some problems	No specific drivers possible
Font support	by Windows	by Windows			TT fonts of Mac and Windows (located in OS X)
Printing	by Windows	by Windows			using CUPS of OS X Virtual printer for creating PostScript
Data exchange with OS X	offline only (e.g. USB stick)	Copy/Paste to Mac Desktop; save/read files to/from Mac Disk	Shared folders intended	Shared folders intended	Copy/Paste to Mac Desktop; save/read files to/from Mac Disk
Performance	best, since Windows is running alone	acceptable
Specials	Keyboard shortcuts may require adaptation (e.g. by RemapKey)	Multiple virtual environments possible
Price (approx.)	included in Mac OS X	EUR 65.-			USD 60.-
Version (2007-04)	1.2 Beta. Release Date: 2007-03-28	2.5	Alpha state	1.0b3	6.0.1

See also How to run FrameMaker on Mac at Adobe (february 2012).

Siehe auch den artikel von Mathias Zeden in MACup 2007/04 «Vier für Windows» (11 MB! sorry, nur bildhaftes PDF).

Some statements

Michael Kazlow 2014-04-26
I run FrameMaker under Windows using (Parallels on one machine and Virtual Box on another). Would I prefer a Mac version you bet. Not going to happen anytime soon. FrameMaker under Windows on Parallels and VB is very usable. My biggest complaint is that I preferred the keyboard short cuts, but I have gotten over that. The old Mac code is too old to port to current machines. It would require nearly a complete rewrite. Which might be a good idea even under Windows, but isn't going to happen anytime soon. Frame 7.x-Frame 12 all work under emulation. I'd rather have it work under emulation than not at all. I have been using Frame since 3.2 on a Mac. We just have to get used to some programs are not available on a Mac and others are not available under Windows [BBEdit, Graphic Converter, AppleScript, OmniGraffle, OmniFocus).