Optuma to run on Arm Based Computers ie Apple M1 or Windows Arm64

[Mathew]

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

3 users thanked author for this post.

Raaj, David, Patrick

[Simon]

Hi All,

Does anyone have Optuma running on the Mac M1/M2 with VMware fusion?

And if so, how is it?

Cheers

Simon

[Raaj]

Simon wrote:

Hi All,

Does anyone have Optuma running on the Mac M1/M2 with VMware fusion?

And if so, how is it?

Cheers

Simon

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!

[Simon]

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

1 user thanked author for this post.

Raaj

[Bill]

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

[Matthew]

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…

https://help.optuma.com/kb/faq.php?id=975

[Julie]

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

[David]

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

Given all this, it’s worth thinking through some fallback plans if things go wrong and you suddenly can’t run Optuma on your Mac. In my case,

• 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

Regards

Dave M.

[Mathew]

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

[Author]

Posts