Self-Devpt. Nuggets™

My Excel-VB apps are built to work in a Windows OS environment. Last year (2014) ONE buyer (since selling began in 2004) asked to use my Ration Formulator on a Mac. But as at July this year (2015), 2 buyers had asked if the same app runs on a Mac. It’s a sign that more will. As a best practice advocate, I think/act proactive. This article describes a zero cost solution I’ve discovered for my buyers.

Last year, I’d told the Farm CEO who’d asked about using the Ration Formulator on his Mac, to try Parralels Desktop.

I’m not sure he ever did, because he later got back to me saying he was using it on his other computer that ran on Windows Operating System.

That bothered me, because I knew he probably preferred working with the app. The problem was the VBA code in my windows based app, threw errors due to certain syntax conflicts with the VBA on MS Excel for Mac.

The challenge was that since no other buyer had ever asked to use my app that way, I was less than enthusiastic about going out of my way to modify my app’s code to suit the syntax peculiarities I’d discovered existed in the MS Excel version for the Mac.

Doing the re-coding and testing to be sure the app would run trouble free was simply too much of a hassle – given the priority I have to accord to other projects I have.

That was why I’d suggested he try using Parralels Desktop. Unfortunately, that app is NOT free to to use. And it’s not exactly cheap either.

I won’t be surprised to learn that that’s why he chose to go back and use the app on his Windows PC.

When, I got a second buyer specifically requesting, after buying the app, for guidance on how to run it without errors on his Mac, I knew I had to find a more realistic solution for buyers with that need.

So, I promised the client that I would reach out to another client who had told me he also used a Mac, and already ran Windows based app on his. My thinking was that I could get the latter share details of the Virtualization solution he was using, with the former.

Unfortunately, that other client replied that he had yet to make use of the app he bought from me, on his Mac.

At that point I decided that I would go online by myself and see what options could be had. What I found appears to have made my efforts quite worthwhile, because henceforth, I WILL have a a ready-to-use, and ZERO COST option for future Mac using buyers of my Ration Formulator to adopt.

For details of what I found out, I share a verbatim reproduction of the email I have since sent to my new buyer…below:

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Hi Bukola,

I decided to go back online and check for possible free – and reliable – alternatives to Parralels Desktop.

This idea occurred to me from years of experience in which I’ve learnt that virtually every paid digital solution offered online, especially in terms of software, has some free equivalent available somewhere. One just needs to know how to search for and find it.

It would appear there are potentially useful free virtualization apps you can successfully use in place of Parralels Desktop.

I tried to do some careful reading and checking. What I’ve found for the most part is that VirtualBox is the one that seems to enjoy the highest rating from the widest range of experts.

1. Click here to read a potentially useful review of Virtualbox provided by Everymac.com

2. Click here to watch a Youtube video presentation about Virtualbox

The description text for the video says – in part – that Virtual Box is “a free alternative to buying Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion. It isn’t as good but it is 100% free and has no viruses...”

3. Click here to visit the Virtual Box website at https://www.virtualbox.org/

4. Click here to read an article review by 3alternatives.com titled “3 Free Alternatives to Parralels Desktop” : The first alternative it discusses is Virtualbox

5. I settled for Virtualbox when I noticed that LifeHacker.com also gave it a pass mark (on the same page where they had reviewed paid apps like Desktop Parralels):

Here’s what Life Hacker said…

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Virtualbox is your free option. It doesn’t offer a feature set that comes even close to Parallels or VMWare, but it also doesn’t cost anything at all. If you simply need a virtualized environment for mostly any operating system and you don’t need any of the hand-holding provided by your paid options, it’s a solid choice. It’s even preferred by some because it offers more technical features that other options do not. Basically, VirtualBox is a good alternative for you if you don’t want to pay or are more interested in running a test environment than using your favorite Windows and Linux applications on your Mac.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5861391/the-best-virtualization-app-for-mac-os-x

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Like I said, the attraction is that Virtualbox is FREE…by implication, it goes without saying that it does NOT do as much as Parralels Desktop.

But for YOUR needs, and the needs of most other people who just need the functionality to run Windows apps, it is likely to be adequate.

Now, having said the above, Bukola, I will add that YOU will have to do your own due diligence checks BEFORE deciding whether or not to use ANY of the apps featured on the page I have linked to. What I have offered are NOT endorsements, but simply information to inform you of available options, and some details to help you come to a decision.

Hope this helps

In your service,

Tayo

PS: Here’s the Google search results page that I began from…

https://www.google.com/search?q=best+free+alternative+to+parralels+desktop+for+mac&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

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Do you have questions, or need more information/clarification about the above? Click here to contact me.