Mother tongue: Spanish Posts: 7 Joined: August 22, 2005 Location: Costa Rica
Trados on Virtual PC
Hello Friends
I would like to hear from your experience in using TRADOS with Mac`s Virtual PC.
I am fixed on staying with Mac and will try anything to have the best of both worlds: the leading translation software, and my preferred operating system.
Elite Veteran Mother tongue: French Posts: 830 Joined: January 20, 2003 Location: France
RE: Trados on Virtual PC
Hi Ana,
Are you thinking about investing in a Mac or just keeping an older one?
If you're thinking about buying a new computer, then I would recommend you to invest in the new "Dual Core" Intel-based Macs. They can happily run both MacOS and Windows XP, so you'll get the best of both worlds.
If you mean running Windows (I'd recommend at least Windows 2000, but Windows XP with SP2 is a better option) using a virtual environment emulator such as VMWare or Virtual PC, then know that it can run perfectly fine using Windows and both SDLX or Trados (and I'm willing to bet that it runs the other mainstream CAT tools without any problem, provided that they are not using a dongle protection, which could be the only tricky hardware part to emulate for a virtual machine).
Also, using VM, please consider adding a lot of additionnal RAM to your Mac, as Windows and Trados used together will require a lot of it if you don't want to be working at a crawling rate.
There is also another option: buy an entry-level PC with decent RAM amount, but without keyboard, mouse or monitor, and use a KVM switch (stands for keyboard/video/mouse) to switch between your running Mac and PC. This is a serious suggestion, as it should'nt be more expensive than buying enough RAM to concurrently run both systems. Don't forget than using a VM engine doesn't exempt oneself from buying the OS and applications licences (and, as Windows most often comes at a ridiculous price when bought with a new machine, it would cost less then having to buy a full-blown $300 version which is the only other option when bought separately, as OEM is illegal if not sold with new hardware).
Mother tongue: Spanish Posts: 7 Joined: August 22, 2005 Location: Costa Rica
RE: Trados on Virtual PC
Thanks alot Denis, those are very interesting observations. I will do some research about buying an entry-level PC, as you recommend. It is an interesting possibility, the only drawback being that I travel very often and wouldn´t want to add any more weight to my luggage. If only there existed a PC version of the Mini Mac....are you familiar with this great model?
Expert Mother tongue: French Posts: 5568 Joined: December 31, 2003 Location: France
RE: Trados on Virtual PC
Originally written by Denis HAY on July 5, 2006 3:25 PM
Are you thinking about investing in a Mac or just keeping an older one?
If using a (relatively) older Mac, you should be aware that running Trados (like any other memory/computing-intensive Windows application) in Virtual PC might be deterringly slow, even with a large amount of RAM dedicated to Virtual PC.
If looking for a new Mac, the new dual boot Macs provide a way of combining two worlds if you need to run some Windows applications which are not available in Mac OS X but still want to keep your other Mac OS X applications.
And, yes, the hardware dongle, if any, could be an issue.
Mother tongue: Spanish Posts: 7 Joined: August 22, 2005 Location: Costa Rica
RE: Trados on Virtual PC
Thanks Laurent. I am thinking of buying the new Mac Power Book, so RAM would be taken care of. Now, the dongle thingie is waht´s really worrying me. That´s where I`d like to hear from people who have happily dealt with this problem. Hope to get some responses...
Thanks!
Elite Veteran Mother tongue: French Posts: 830 Joined: January 20, 2003 Location: France
RE: Trados on Virtual PC
Hi Ana and Laurent,
Ana, Laurent is right, using a virtualization solution such as Virtual PC can be quite slow if, as it seems to be the case, you don't have a recent machine. I'm using virtual machines (vmware) quite frequently myself (for testing and/or localization purposes), and the "hosted" OS runs quite fast, but it's on a 3 GHz P4 with 2 GB RAM. I would say that anything under this is nice for testing, but certainly not for production needs.
You need a new and mobile computer which enables you to run both Mac and Windows apps, then you have your ideal answer : buy a MacBook Pro (the Intel Dual Core ones)! That is definitely what I would do myself in your case. In fact, those MacBook Pro are nothing else than PCs with additional hardware which enables them to run MacOS. You'll get both (well, one at a time for the time being) OSes at full speed. Those MacBooks are even running Windows XP quite faster than most laptop PCs.
Also, please, please: buy a model with as much RAM as you can afford. You will see that it really pays in the long run. You'd be better off with 2 GB RAM and a slower processor than with 512 and a high-end one (aim for at least 1 GB).
For the dongle part, worry not, for it should only be an issue for virtual machines, and not actual hardware.
Mother tongue: Spanish Posts: 7 Joined: August 22, 2005 Location: Costa Rica
RE: Trados on Virtual PC
Denis,
Stop stop! I am fascinated enough by the MacBook Pro (the Intel Dual Core ones), problem is, can´t afford one yet! But that is definitely my choice.
I don´t undertsand what you mean about the dongle being an issue for virtual machines. As far as I know, the dongle is a hardware device that requires a driver for it to work. Do you mean to say that the dongle driver that comes with Trados will work in my Virtual PC in my Mac?
Elite Veteran Mother tongue: French Posts: 830 Joined: January 20, 2003 Location: France
RE: Trados on Virtual PC
Originally written by Ana JimenezHine on July 4, 2006 5:45 PM
Denis,
Stop stop! I am fascinated enough by the MacBook Pro (the Intel Dual Core ones), problem is, can´t afford one yet! But that is definitely my choice.
I don´t undertsand what you mean about the dongle being an issue for virtual machines. As far as I know, the dongle is a hardware device that requires a driver for it to work. Do you mean to say that the dongle driver that comes with Trados will work in my Virtual PC in my Mac?
Thanks...
Hehe... I know these little laptops are quite nice indeed.
As for the dongle, I mean exactly the opposite : a parallel port or USB dongle may not work if you're running a virtual machine.
But:
1- you shouldn't worry too much as recent SDLX (2005+), Trados (6.5+) and DejaVu (X+) versions are using either a licence file or a serial number. So the dongle problem is irrelevant for them.
2- even old Trados dongle may work for "advanced" virtual machines such as vmware (I know for a fact that vmware recognises at least USB drives, webcams and a few more). But you should be sure if you are to invest in such a setup. The best way is simply to download a trial version from www.vmware.com (VMWare Workstation is enough for you needs).
And now for VMWare, which released its old GSX Server, now simply named VMWare Server (for both Windows and Linux users):
http://www.vmware.com/download/server
Unlike VMWare Server, VMWare ESX Server (the version just above, not freeware) allows running your virtual machines without any previous OS installation. VMWare Server, just like Virtual PC 2004 requires an operating system (Windows for Virtual PC and either Windows or Linux for VMWare Server).
I know this isn't of much help to Mac users. For them, Parrallels Workstation (well, Parrallels Desktop is the exact Mac version name) seems to be the best option. At $49 right now, it is affordable and it is also quite similar to Virtual PC and VMWare, well beyond the old emlulators some Mac users have been using for years.
Forums Disclaimer: The views expressed in the forums are those of the authors and are not necessarily the views of the site owner and/or moderators. If the reader considers a post to cause offence, then she or he should address a complaint to the moderator of the forum concerned. The complaint should be dealt with within 24 hours, but please respect the fact that the moderator may be living in a different time zone. Use of the forums signifies your agreement with the Forum Posting Rules.
Technical 
TC Mobile |
Forum Settings |
Log On
Reply
Quote
Edit
Delete