Running Probe for EPMA on a Mac (Apple) Computer

[John Donovan]

Currently we know that Probe for EPMA (and Probe Image) run fine under Parallels on a Mac computer:

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/

However, is it not clear to me what versions of Parallels has been tested and found to work.  Any Mac people out there who would like to mention their experiences?

[Anette von der Handt]

Hi,

I have been running PFE under Parallels 7 on my MacBookPro. It worked fine, occasionally/in places I had problems with window sizes. The biggest problem was that Parallels slowed down my system so much that it was little fun.

I now have a different approach if I need to access PFE from my Mac and this is through Teamviewer. This is a (free for private use) remote access program that is available for various platforms (Mac, PC, Android). Through that I have all my computers linked together and can run PFE (or the microprobe) anywhere I have a network connection and a PFE PC is "live". Off course that precludes offline use then.

[Karsten Goemann]

I've been running Probe For EPMA and Probe Image on my 2011 Macbook Air for 3 years using Parallels versions 6, 7, 8, and 9. I've also upgraded to Mac system to OS 10.9 Mavericks over time, but I've never changed the Windows system, which is Windows 7 64-bit. I'm normally operating in Parallels "coherence" mode, where Windows windows appear on the Mac desktop and not a separate Windows desktop.

I use PFE/PI like this all the time for data processing, training in demo mode, and creating software documentation. I have done workshop presentations with my laptop connected to projectors in seminar rooms/lecture theatres where I switch between Powerpoint running on the Mac side and PFE running on the Windows side. For the latter I vaguely remember having window size issues once but I've forgotten the details.

When I set it up the first time 3 years ago I had some aspect ratio issues in images in PI, but that turned out to be dodgy data files and not a problem in PI. Brian (Gaynor) is using a similar set up and helped me sort it out.

I can't say that I notice Parallels slowing down the Mac side. PFE does run a little bit slower than on a dedicated desktop PC, especially if the data files are located on a remote drive.

I'm very happy with the setup. I can work with the software wherever I am.

I second Anette's comment that using TeamViewer for remote control of a PC with PFE/PI also works well. I also use VNC. For VNC I normally just use the Mac OS built in "Screen Sharing" application. But you need a network connection.

Cheers,

Karsten

[Anette von der Handt]

Mmmh, interesting that Parallels does not slow you down. I also run in coherence mode on a 2010 MacBook and always accepted the performance issues as a given. Maybe I need to look into it again if I need to tweak any settings but I always suspected that my laptop is a lemon. That is good to know that there shouldn't be real performance issues.

Nevertheless, I never felt that there is an issue on the PFE side at least and it is very handy to be able to run it offline as well.

[Karsten Goemann]

How much RAM do you have in yours? My MacBook Air has 4 GB but I only let Windows have 1 GB of it (which is in Parallels' "recommended range"). I've never experimented with it much but I suspect the Mac side might slow down more the less RAM it has got left.

[John Donovan]

Karsten Goemann recently updated our "Running Probe for EPMA on Apple computers" document. See attached below- please login to view/download the pdf.  About running Probe for EPMA on Apple computers he says:

I've used [Parallels] for 10 years for data processing and some demos and training. I also have Pathfinder on there for combined WDS-EDS processing in PFE, and other instrument software we use like Bruker AMICS, Oxford AZTec...

[Scott B.]

Now that Apple silicon is the only game in town, I was wondering if anyone had run PFE on a Mac with the M-series processors.

[Karsten Goemann]

Now that Apple silicon is the only game in town, I was wondering if anyone had run PFE on a Mac with the M-series processors.

I am doing that, still using Parallels (now v19) and now Windows 11 Edu 24H2 for ARM. Probe Software generally seems to work, but there are some quirks, like it regularly pops up weird "Singular Matrix" boxes. I can forward the email thread I had with John about it a couple of years ago.