Marc,
By the way, what model of M1 do you have, and is it the 8GB or 16GB ram version? I’ve been reading 8GB performs like it’s around 16GB with old Intel, so would be interesting to know which model you have.
Cheers
Scott
Hi Scott,
I have the MBA M1 8gb.
cheers
Marc
Marc,
great, did you use the x64 emulator on the Windows10 ARM or did it work right out of the box?
Best,
Max
Hi Mathew and others on this thread,
I’ve just had a MacBook Air M1 delivered, and found it was the wrong spec (it has 16GB+500Gb; I ordered 16Gb+1Tb). Before I return it, I thought “Hmm, let’s give Optuma a try…”
I’m typing this on that laptop, and have Optuma running on the laptop at the moment. It’s hardly evidence that would stand up in court, but here’s a screenshot: 
Just to be completely clear, this is not a supportable config:
- the current version of Parallels 16 for ARM (downloaded from https://www.parallels.com/blogs/parallels-desktop-apple-silicon-mac/)
- the Windows Insider preview version of Windows 10 on ARM (downloaded from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windowsinsiderpreviewARM64); build version I’m using is 21354. As of today, there is no supported version of Windows 10 on ARM, and no guarantee Microsoft will eventually deliver one
- the current version of Optuma (downloaded a few hours ago), running in Windows 8 compatibility mode. It starts, but locks up in Windows 10 ARM mode
From what I’ve been able to work out over the past hour or so, it seems to be working flawlessly. To be very clear, I absolutely wouldn’t recommend this config to anyone who relied on Optuma - the next update to the Windows preview could easily break it - but as of right now it seems to be working for me. Over the next couple of days I’ll try copying my custom scripts across to see if they work, but having gotten this far I suspect they’ll be fine.
My Optuma-on-cloud setup runs on Amazon Workspace. It’s not as cheap as Paperspace, but I’ve found it 100% reliable over 3-4 years and I can access it from just about any device (iPad, iPhone, Android Phone, Chromebook, Mac M1+Intel, Windows)
Regards
Dave M.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for letting us know and for the specifics on how you installed it all. It looks very promising indeed.
Windows can not afford not to support the ARM MAC, so I believe that it is more likely that this Windows product will continue and mature over the coming years.
I looked at Amazon Workspaces years ago but at the time they were nowhere near as mature as Paperspace. We’ve been looking into working with an online solution to provide Optuma that way instead of as a download for trials and when people have questionable hardware … ahem macs 
In an environment like that we could manage data centrally so the VMs would not need to download their own data. It is just a question of sufficient power and reasonable cost.
All the best
Mathew
Hi all,
Hoping somoneone else has or had this issue and can provide a solution as it’s driving me crazy.
I’m running a new Mac air , M1 chip 16GB ram, 512 HD , using Paralells with windows 10 and I have the following issue virtually every day when I turn on the mac and when I open Optuma.
I do have the spanner icon highlighted and the the boxes are ticked . When I hover the mouse over any bar chart the data file properties box wont appear . If I click it once it just gives me the date down the bottom that I clicked on and just leaves a little x on the bar where I clicked.
I have to completely close down the mac and re open everything again and then I can sometimes get the data box to open ok. I have previously added in the fix from Darren, https://help.optuma.com/kb/faq.php?id=1194 so that wasnt the issue. Darren advised me to add onto this post.
Look forward to anyones solutions !
Thanks
Rod
After playing around a while I found that after I turn the Mac Air on, leave it alone for 5 mins then open Parallels leave it for 5 mins and then open Optuma and let it download the data and wait a minute I can then open any exisiting workbook chart and everything is fine.
There seems to be some sort of time issue with Parallels or Windows 10 on ARM after turning on the Mac Air M1 .
In future I think using Paperspace will be the way to go .
Cheers
Rod
Hi Rod and Mathew,
I’m not seeing the problem Rod’s reported - I can reboot my 16Gb Mac Air M1, fire up Parallels then fire up Windows/ARM, then Optuma - no delay required other than waiting for each step to finish.
However, if I click “Download History” on the Download Data History screen, it then goes into limbo. I’ve waited 20 mins or so but it doesn’t come back. I have to go into Task Manager and kill Optuma, then I can start it again.
On the other hand, if I don’t try to Download History on that screen, I can continue opening Optuma, then bring up any chart I like and download history on that chart. As I only watch and trade a small number of markets, I can live with that. It’d be a lot more painful if I was tracking lots of different markets
On the plus side, my M1 Mac Air is noticeably faster and easier on battery than my 2020 MacBook Pro (pre-M1), as well as being about 1/2 the weight. I can easily run the Air off battery all day, whereas I’m lucky to get 3-4 hours out of my Pro. That’ll be important to me if life ever gets back to normal and we can start travelling again.
Dave M.
Hi David,
Can you please reach out to [email protected] with the data download issue. There is some additional logging we can set up to identify where the issue is occurring and investigate it further.
Just noticed with RAD Studio 11, it is now possible to compile binaries for macOS ARM. I’m also interested in more information about the use of OpenGL discussed earlier in this thread, currently on Nvidia graphics and considering AMD alternatives.
Hi Patrick,
We have spent the last year changing from OpenGL to FMX in Rad Studio. We’re using it internally at the moment and the new Graphic library is running well albeit a little sluggish. Our goal is for that to be included in Optuma 2.2 around the end of this year. Once it is fully running on FMX, a native Mac version is a possibility. We would dearly love to make that happen but can only do so as the tasks align with our other projects. eg OpenGL has caused us a lot of support issues and we are concerned about ongoing support by card manufacturers. So we had to replace the graphics library and we chose one that would give us the flexibility to compile directly to mac.
There are more items to deal with in that project, but we are working towards it.
All the best
Mathew
Hi All,
Does anyone have Optuma running on the Mac M1/M2 with VMware fusion?
And if so, how is it?
Cheers
Simon
[postquote quote=69713]
Or, to add on to Simon’s query, using Parallels? There is a lot of conflicting info out there that seems to be theoretical for the most part, so any real-world experience would be very helpful. I’m considering a move to a Mac Studio from my aging Intel Mac Pro, but Optuma is a big part of that equation for me.
Thanks!
Hey Raaj,
So I update to a new m1 mac mini, from a mid 2014 Mac Book Pro. Couple of thoughts.
It works fine but no noticeable performance difference, which is disappointing.
The initial setup wasn’t difficult if you follow the instructions available on the Fusion forum. Quite long winded but it works.
regards
Simon
Anyone know if there is any update to this posted information?
I’m interested in buying a chromebook for other reasons, but I won’t if I can’t use Optuma with it.
Thanks. - BN
Hi Bill,
Currently, Optuma still requires a full version of Windows to run (any new system will usually come with Windows 11). The ChromeOS used by Chromebooks is not compatible with Optuma.
If you did want to run Optuma using a Chromebook the only way to do so now would be via a Cloud-based Virtual PC like Paperspace…
Helllo, I need to update my MacBook Pro and looking at the current M series.
Currently using Bootcamp - Windows 10 and looking to try Parallels.
Is anyone using Windows 11 with Parallels 17 or 18 with Optuma on the M1 or M2 series?
Does it matter which version of Parallels I use with the 4 different M1 versions and M2 series Macs, ie. does Parellels X only work with M1 Pro for example
Is there any issues you would like to share / that I should know in advance of making a decision?
Please note I struggle with IT. I don’t necessarily need speed,…but I do need a laptop that will keep up with future Optuma Graphics changes.
Many thanks, Julie
Hi Julie,
I’m using Optuma with Windows 11 on the latest version of Parallels (18?) on my M1 Macbook Air without any problems.
One key thing is that you can’t run “normal” Windows 11 on the M1 or M2. You need to run the ARM preview version of Windows 11 which you can get from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windowsinsiderpreviewARM64. I strongly suggest you try to download Windows 11 ARM first even before buying your new Mac - there’s a few hoops you have to jump through just to download it, and you may decide it’s just too painful. Better to find that out as early as possible
Assuming you download Windows 11 ARM, there’s a few things to be aware of:
- it's a beta, unreleased product from Microsoft. As far as I'm aware, you can't currently buy it anywhere; you'll have to run the unactivated version for however long it takes to be released, then buy a licence for it then. I've been running it for about 15 months so far - there's been no issue with the unactivated version expiring, even though warnings pop up from time to time
- as an unreleased product, there's no guarantee that Microsoft won't just kill it off before it gets released, and that would leave me/us with a problem. If that happened, I'd have to decide between (a) buying a Windows laptop just to run Optuma, or (b) migrating all my stuff from my Mac to Windows, which would be a huge pain. Neither option would be nice
- as long as Windows 11 ARM remains a beta product, there's not necessarily going to be lots of support available if you run into problems. Initially I had a few problems that I had to work through on my own, but for the last ~10-12 months I've had no problems that I can recall. That's not to say the next update won't break Optuma
- I store all my Optuma workbooks, scripts, etc. in a cloud drive. If my Windows ARM instance breaks and can't be recovered, at least all my important Optuma stuff is stored somewhere else where I can retrieve it. Instructions to set that up are at https://www.optuma.com/using-optuma-with-the-cloud/
- I keep a backup version of Optuma ready to go on Paperspace. If my laptop version of Optuma is dead, or I don't have it with me, I can bring up a browser and access the version that runs on Paperspace. That version is connected to the same cloud drive as my laptop, so the Paperspace instance has all my workbooks, scripts, etc. in place and ready to go. Instructions to set that up are at https://help.optuma.com/kb/faq.php?id=975
Dave M.
Hi All,
I just got an M2 mac and have been testing Optuma 2.2 on Parallels 19. It’s running well but I have noticed that at start-up, when we are downloading all the data, Optuma can be unresponsive. We’ll look into that but in the meantime, there is a setting you can turn off if you are experiencing the same behaviour. From the menu uncheck Settings -> Workspace -> General -> Process Data in Parallel
Has anyone had success with running Optuma as a Single Application? (see https://download.parallels.com/desktop/v14/docs/en_US/Parallels-Desktop-Business-Edition-Administrators-Guide/43563.htm)
Also to pre-empt the questions, there is no plan for a native Mac version at this stage. Our graphics library is not compatible and it is a many-year project to change it that we just don’t have the resources for. But I will be looking at ways to improve the experience.
All the best
Mathew
Hi Mac Community,
I’m thinking about buying a Mac Studio M2 Max with 64 GB RAM with Parallels.
At the moment I work with Windows and have some large watchlists with extensive calculations in Optuma.
As far as I know, you can only use half of the available RAM memory for Parallels.
My questions:
What are your experiences with Optuma on a Mac using Parallels?
How is the performance of Optuma on a Mac with Parallels? Is Optuma slower on a Mac with Parallels than on Windows?
What would be the best RAM configuration?
Thank you very much for your efforts.
Best wishes
Thomas