Idimager on a Mac

[danaltick]

I started a thread on this topic over at the forum and have received some good information that I thought would be worth sharing here for anyone entertaining the idea http://forum.idimager.com/viewtopic.php?p=68305#p68305.  You can purchase Windows XP for under $100 today.

Dan

[peterkrogh]

Dan,
I'm really anxious to know, but I don't have time to test right now.  Let me know when you get a report about VMware.
Peter

[danaltick]

Peter,

Will do.  Just curious, any particular reason why you're interested in VMware seeing as it's not free.  I heard reports that VirtualBox performs better and is free, but of course I really have no experience with either of these.  Our servers at my day job use VMware though.  It is very popular in the server market.

Dan

[george]

Hi Dan & Peter,

I should have some info shortly.  I ordered an iMac and intend to run IDimager in VMWare's fusion as Dan & I discussed over on the IDimager forum.  Two weeks for delivery though.

--George

[danaltick]

George,

Great!  Looking forward to the results.

Dan

[havezet]

I should have some info shortly.  I ordered an iMac and intend to run IDimager in VMWare's fusion as Dan & I discussed over on the IDimager forum.  Two weeks for delivery though.

Congrats with your purchase George! The iMac is a great machine. Looking forward to your results with IDI in virtualization software.

Hert

[george]

I should have some info shortly.  I ordered an iMac and intend to run IDimager in VMWare's fusion as Dan & I discussed over on the IDimager forum.  Two weeks for delivery though.

Congrats with your purchase George! The iMac is a great machine. Looking forward to your results with IDI in virtualization software.

Hert

Thanks Hert.  I figure if you like the iMac for IDimager development, it should be good for running IDimager!

--George

[george]

Hi Peter & Dan,

Finally got my Mac and was able to put IDimager to work.  It definitely feels snappy, especially compared to my 5 year old PC. Here's what I'm using:  Hardware: iMac with 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel i7, 8 GB memory, 7200 RPM 2 TB SATA hard drive. Software: Windows XP SP3 running under VMWare 3 with 3 GB memory allocated to the Windows virtual machine, IDimager 5.0.3.  If there's anything someone would like to see benchmarked, I'll certainly try to do it (no guarantees as my day job keeps me busy).  Unfortunately, I've never used Iview/Expression media, so I can't compare my current setup head to head with that program.  I'm on a 30 day trial of VMWare, and if I get a chance, I may try Parallels as that product is likely faster:

http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.25/25.04/VMBenchmarks/

Bottom line:  I know cross-platform compatibility is an important feature of IView/EM for Peter, but running IDimager in a virtual machine on a Mac is a very viable option for those that want to stay with their Mac hardware.

--George

[danaltick]

Just wanted to say this thread is continuing to gather more inputs and information over at the IDI forum http://forum.idimager.com/viewtopic.php?p=68305#p68305.

Dan

[peterkrogh]

Dan,
Thanks for the link.  Looks like you guys are sorting this one ut.  Seems promising.
Peter

[syncrasy]

Hi Peter & Dan,

Finally got my Mac and was able to put IDimager to work.  It definitely feels snappy, especially compared to my 5 year old PC. Here's what I'm using:  Hardware: iMac with 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel i7, 8 GB memory, 7200 RPM 2 TB SATA hard drive. Software: Windows XP SP3 running under VMWare 3 with 3 GB memory allocated to the Windows virtual machine, IDimager 5.0.3.  If there's anything someone would like to see benchmarked, I'll certainly try to do it (no guarantees as my day job keeps me busy).  Unfortunately, I've never used Iview/Expression media, so I can't compare my current setup head to head with that program.  I'm on a 30 day trial of VMWare, and if I get a chance, I may try Parallels as that product is likely faster:

http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.25/25.04/VMBenchmarks/

Bottom line:  I know cross-platform compatibility is an important feature of IView/EM for Peter, but running IDimager in a virtual machine on a Mac is a very viable option for those that want to stay with their Mac hardware.

--George

OK, but how does this setup affect your workflow? I had written in your other thread that I would be disappointed to lose a valuable function of EM: the Helper Application menu that pops up when you right click a thumbnail (e.g., Open in Photoshop, Open in Nikon Capture NX2, etc.).

Don't you now have to do your cataloguing in Windows and then toggle over to Mac OS to actually open/edit your images? If so, do you care? Perhaps I could get used to it, but it would be an annoying/unnecessary step in my workflow if I were to adopt this set up.

[danaltick]

Mark,

That's actually a good question I had not thought of.  I would hope that most VM's support inter-process communication with their hosts.  If so, I think this would be a very good feature request for IDimager.  I would recommend asking about this at the IDimager forum.

Peter,

Unfortunately I don't have a Mac, and I don't really have the time to test a VM anyway, but hopefully we will continue to get more information.  I would really love to see VMware Fusion 3 running on a newer quad core Nahelem architecture with Windows 7 64-bit as the OS-X VM with at least 8GB of memory.  Hopefully someone will give some info on that soon.  I do think that VM's are coming of age though in the personal desktop market.

Dan

[george]

Mark,

That's actually a good question I had not thought of.  I would hope that most VM's support inter-process communication with their hosts.  If so, I think this would be a very good feature request for IDimager.  I would recommend asking about this at the IDimager forum.

Peter,

Unfortunately I don't have a Mac, and I don't really have the time to test a VM anyway, but hopefully we will continue to get more information.  I would really love to see VMware Fusion 3 running on a newer quad core Nahelem architecture with Windows 7 64-bit as the OS-X VM with at least 8GB of memory.  Hopefully someone will give some info on that soon.  I do think that VM's are coming of age though in the personal desktop market.

Dan

Hi Dan.  That's pretty much my hardware (on an iMac), but I'm running my old copy of XP.  I may have to break down at some point and actually buy Win 7.

--George

[danaltick]

George,

Sounds good.  I think 64-bit is essential here in order to utilize more than 4GB of memory, and if you're going to go 64-bit I would only opt for Win7, not Vista.

Dan

[syncrasy]

Finally got my Mac and was able to put IDimager to work [. . . ]

--George

George,

What is your general software workflow on your Mac/VM/Windows setup? In other words, if you catalog your images in IDimager in VM/Windows, what software do you use to open and edit your images? Do you stay entirely in the Windows environment, or do you toggle over to the Mac side for any of your work?

Thanks,