How do I run a single Mac application on a Windows machine?
December 27, 2009 8:53 PM

How do I run a single Mac application on a Windows machine?

Is there any way to run a single Mac application on a Windows platform without some kind of Hackintosh setup? There is an application (Scrivener) that only exists for Mac, and its Windows counterparts are just substandard in comparison. Is there a virtual machine solution that can be used?
posted by Unhyper to Computers & Internet (12 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
No, not really, unfortunately.
posted by kbanas at 8:58 PM on December 27, 2009


I mean, OK, there are some virtualized solutions, like PearPC, and I have never used PearPC, so I can't say first hand, but all signs are that PearPC sort of blows and really probably won't work for you. Still, can't hurt to give it a whirl I guess.
posted by kbanas at 9:00 PM on December 27, 2009


There is a VMWare OS X vmdk floating around on the nets that is dubious in legality (like hackintoshes) but works.
posted by wongcorgi at 9:06 PM on December 27, 2009


Does this former question help at all?
posted by banannafish at 9:33 PM on December 27, 2009


A used Mac Mini from Ebay/Craigslist and a cheap KVM would allow you to accomplish this for a non-trivial amount of money but not all that much, and you'd have a real Mac to boot. You certainly wouldn't need a recent model Mini to run this so you wouldn't have to spend too much. And yes, Scrivener is great and worth it!
posted by zachlipton at 9:34 PM on December 27, 2009


If you really want to do this and money is no object, buy an Intel Macbook and dual-boot it in Windows and OSx.
posted by davejay at 9:37 PM on December 27, 2009


@floam - You're allow to run OS X Server in a VM only on Apple hardware.
posted by wongcorgi at 9:54 PM on December 27, 2009


It is entirely possible to run OSX on VMware on windows.

People... he doesn't want to buy a Mac to run a single application.
posted by toxic at 9:55 PM on December 27, 2009


There's no answer that is both legal and affirmative.
posted by Rendus at 9:57 PM on December 27, 2009


I read about this today via the Lifehacker website. I don't know the legality of it, but check it out.
posted by handabear at 10:08 AM on December 28, 2009


handabear: "I read about this"

This works pretty well. You can also virtualise OSX86 under QEMU +KVM on Linux. The tricky thing about both of these is that virtualised OSX's support for USB keyboards & mice is weirdly laggy when using the console directly. The best thing is to use them for install, then switch to old-school PS/2 interface, or always use a virtual desktop to access the Mac and not the console directly.
posted by meehawl at 10:24 AM on December 28, 2009


No, not in the practical sense. There are impractical ways, sure, but not anything that's double-click ready.
posted by chairface at 4:10 PM on December 28, 2009


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