* Getting rid of Parallels. What do you use?

[KarenMG]

I want to get rid of Parallels from my Mac, but not found a replacement for FH and looking for options other than parallels.
FH & Ancestral Sources are the only Windows programmes that I use.
What does everyone else who has a Mac and cant / wont give up FH use?
Thanks

[mjashby]

I have used VirtualBox (with Windows 7/Windows 10) as a direct replacement for Parallels for the last 5 years.

Also use WINE to create a "standalone" Mac version of FH, with Wineskin or PlayOnMac as a 'front end' to manage WINE, both OpenSource apps. There's also the commercial option of Crossover if you want/need direct support.

Mervyn

[Valkrider]

I use VirtualBox on my iMac and Crossover on my Macbook Air. I have tried the other flavours of Wine and find the best for FH and AS to be Crossover with PlayOnMac second choice.

[tatewise]

For installation details see how_to:family_historian_on_imac_ipad_android_etc|> Family Historian on Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, etc that under Apple Mac has advice for Oracle VirtualBox and Crossover & PlayOnMac, etc.

[KarenMG]

Part of the reason that I am getting rid of Parallels is because I dont want have to have Windows installed, but also I find it very slow to start up etc etc (probably my machine being 5 years old could be a factor too), but I want as little software installed as possible in order to run these 2 programmes.
Until such a time as there is a Mac version of FH or I discover a suitable alternative, I am not ready to get rid of FH & AS yet.

[KarenMG]

I use VirtualBox on my iMac and Crossover on my Macbook Air. I have tried the other flavours of Wine and find the best for FH and AS to be Crossover with PlayOnMac second choice.

Which version / licence do you have of CrossOver? I dont want to have to pay a yearly fee for it, but will the one version licence continue to work after a year?
Thanks

[mjashby]

I'm sure Jim will reply, but the costs are detailed here: https://www.codeweavers.com/store

As you will see the license, although perpetual, only entitles the user to direct support and updates for a year, so, in effect, there is an annual cost to users if there are significant/necessary updates after 12 months.

In my experience with Macs (7+ years) any full version update to MacOS leads to the need for most Desktop software to be updated due to changes to the operating system, usually put down to increased/improved security measures. Any significant upgrade to WINE may also necessitate 'front-end WINE management' software, such as Crossover, needing to be updated/upgraded, if (like Crossover) they build specific Wine versions into their releases/updates to make it 'easier' for the end user.

Mervyn

[Valkrider]

I use VirtualBox on my iMac and Crossover on my Macbook Air. I have tried the other flavours of Wine and find the best for FH and AS to be Crossover with PlayOnMac second choice.

Which version / licence do you have of CrossOver? I dont want to have to pay a yearly fee for it, but will the one version licence continue to work after a year?
Thanks

I have the current version which is now v17. I pay for the update each year, although I have never needed their support, the renewal IIRC is 50% of the full licence so for about £25 a year I always have the latest version. If you really don't want to pay for a licence fee then PlayOnMac is probably the one for you, it is easy to set up and run. I have not managed to get AS and FH working together in PlayOnMac where as they work at the same time together on Crossover. If this isn't important to you then PlayOnMac will suffice.

[KarenMG]

I have the current version which is now v17. I pay for the update each year, although I have never needed their support, the renewal IIRC is 50% of the full licence so for about £25 a year I always have the latest version. If you really don't want to pay for a licence fee then PlayOnMac is probably the one for you, it is easy to set up and run. I have not managed to get AS and FH working together in PlayOnMac where as they work at the same time together on Crossover. If this isn't important to you then PlayOnMac will suffice.

I would like them to work together, as AS is one of the reasons that I am not ready to give up FH

[Tony Jones]

I use WIne on my Macbook to get FH and AS - it's a near perfect solution for me, though I have some oddities as much down to screen size (13inch) as the implementation. I have found it breaks sometimes if wine falls out of sync with other changes (eg to xcode) when MacOs changes happen. This may all be down to my homespun configuration!

On my iMac I am happy with Parallels - it's a new machine and I have some other Windows 10 programmes I don't want to repurchase for the Mac.

[KarenMG]

I have installed the trial of CrossOver to test it before taking the plunge and deleting Parallels. I am having a few issues however with it opening the version that I am running of FH - v4tov5 upgrade, anyone else have this?
Thanks

[tatewise]

Karen, checkout how_to:family_historian_v6_on_crossover_wine|> Family Historian V6 & Ancestral Sources V5 on Crossover, PlayOnLinux/Mac & Wine.

I suspect it did not occur to anyone that you were trying to use FH V5 that is 2.5 years out of date and not supported in the current version of Crossover, so you will need to upgrade to FH V6.

Please update your Family Historian Version in the Profile to the right of your posting.
Click your username KarenMG top right of this web page and choose User Control Panel.
Then on its Profile tab, select your Family Historian Version, and scroll down to click Submit.

[KarenMG]

Thanks Mike for the clarification, so if I upgrade to V6, CrossOver will function fine for me?
I have updated my profile information, sorry for the confusion.

[KarenMG]

Just had a thought, why would V4 work in CrossOver but not V5?
I initially downloaded V4 forgetting the process of installing an upgrade (its been a while since Last installed FH on anything), and V4 opened with no issues at all.

[Valkrider]

Karen

IIRC there were several parts of V5 that did not work properly in Crossover at the time. That may have been V5 issues or it may have been the version of Crossover. (I wrote most of the KB on using FH under Crossover).

I can confirm that V6 does run fine under the current version of Crossover. One of the advantages of Crossover over the other flavours of Wine is that it is easy to upgrade FH. Under Wine Bottler, for instance, I had to create a new bottle for each new point version of FH.

[KarenMG]

Karen

IIRC there were several parts of V5 that did not work properly in Crossover at the time. That may have been V5 issues or it may have been the version of Crossover. (I wrote most of the KB on using FH under Crossover).

I can confirm that V6 does run fine under the current version of Crossover. One of the advantages of Crossover over the other flavours of Wine is that it is easy to upgrade FH. Under Wine Bottler, for instance, I had to create a new bottle for each new point version of FH.

Thanks very much. I will upgrade FH and buy the paid version of CrossOver.