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If your OS of choice is OS X or Linux, you can set up a Windows VM on it. But not the other way around. Besides, Windows machines are much cheaper, so if you'r

If your OS of choice is OS X or Linux, you can set up a Windows VM on it. But not the other way around. Besides, Windows machines are much cheaper, so if you're from a developing country or a student, you have access to a Windows machine, not a Mac.

joshmn 10y ago
I've never had a problem setting up an OS X VM. Just need to look in the right places. Linux VM on a Windows machine was a thing in the early 2000s.
- enobrev 10y ago
  I'd like to hear more about this. Are you saying you've set up an OSX VM on non-apple hardware? I haven't tried in at least a year, so maybe things have changed, but I have put a significant amount of effort in trying to get an OSX VM running on non-apple hardware and was not even close to successful.
  - sigjuice 10y ago
    http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~somlo/OSXKVM/ http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~somlo/OSXKVM/
    - enobrev 10y ago
      Thanks for this. Searching around for the title of that article[1] opened up plenty more resources as well. I ended up grabbing a refurb'd Mini last time I needed to do OSX-specific testing locally, but it's great to know progress is being made to open the possibilities on non-Apple hardware. 1: "Running Mac OS X as a QEMU/KVM Guest"
      - derefr 10y ago
        I've gone down that path; it was a big pain—Apple just doesn't bother to make drivers for what most hypervisors consider "generic" hardware. You basically need to do the same stuff Hackintosh builders do, to your VM, to get even some of the features working. By contrast, you can just create an OSX VM in VMWare Fusion in OSX and then copy it over to VMWare Workstation on Windows (or an ESXi server, or whatever else) and it'll work fine after being convinced[1] that it's allowed to try. [1] http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/files/file/339-unlocker/ http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/files/file/339-unlocker/
msie 10y ago
Ok, you can't setup an OSX VM on Windows but don't ignore the cost of that computer you are developing Windows software on. I am developing iOS apps on a 2012 Macbook Pro. Those aren't expensive nowadays.
- quanticle 10y ago
  >I am developing iOS apps on a 2012 Macbook Pro. Those aren't expensive nowadays. I would be willing to bet that a used Thinkpad is even cheaper, and has the benefit of having more upgrade options. To make a car analogy, your argument boils down to, "Well, you need a car anyway, so why not buy a Lexus?" I think a lot of the people replying to your posts are arguing that requiring luxury hardware (and, let's face it, Macs are luxury hardware) adds a pretty huge barrier to entry for software development. Trying to argue that the price difference between Apple hardware and Windows/Linux hardware is "insignificant" in the long run just doesn't cut it. Even the cheapest Apple laptop is a thousand dollars in the US. It costs even more overseas. Meanwhile, you can get similarly spec'd Windows machines for a half to three quarters of the price. There is a Mac premium, and it is a barrier to entry for developers. You can't make that barrier disappear by blindly asserting that it doesn't matter.

joshmn 10y ago

I've never had a problem setting up an OS X VM. Just need to look in the right places. Linux VM on a Windows machine was a thing in the early 2000s.

enobrev 10y ago
I'd like to hear more about this. Are you saying you've set up an OSX VM on non-apple hardware? I haven't tried in at least a year, so maybe things have changed, but I have put a significant amount of effort in trying to get an OSX VM running on non-apple hardware and was not even close to successful.
- sigjuice 10y ago
  http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~somlo/OSXKVM/ http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~somlo/OSXKVM/
  - enobrev 10y ago
    Thanks for this. Searching around for the title of that article[1] opened up plenty more resources as well. I ended up grabbing a refurb'd Mini last time I needed to do OSX-specific testing locally, but it's great to know progress is being made to open the possibilities on non-Apple hardware. 1: "Running Mac OS X as a QEMU/KVM Guest"
    - derefr 10y ago
      I've gone down that path; it was a big pain—Apple just doesn't bother to make drivers for what most hypervisors consider "generic" hardware. You basically need to do the same stuff Hackintosh builders do, to your VM, to get even some of the features working. By contrast, you can just create an OSX VM in VMWare Fusion in OSX and then copy it over to VMWare Workstation on Windows (or an ESXi server, or whatever else) and it'll work fine after being convinced[1] that it's allowed to try. [1] http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/files/file/339-unlocker/ http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/files/file/339-unlocker/

msie 10y ago

Ok, you can't setup an OSX VM on Windows but don't ignore the cost of that computer you are developing Windows software on. I am developing iOS apps on a 2012 Macbook Pro. Those aren't expensive nowadays.

quanticle 10y ago
>I am developing iOS apps on a 2012 Macbook Pro. Those aren't expensive nowadays. I would be willing to bet that a used Thinkpad is even cheaper, and has the benefit of having more upgrade options. To make a car analogy, your argument boils down to, "Well, you need a car anyway, so why not buy a Lexus?" I think a lot of the people replying to your posts are arguing that requiring luxury hardware (and, let's face it, Macs are luxury hardware) adds a pretty huge barrier to entry for software development. Trying to argue that the price difference between Apple hardware and Windows/Linux hardware is "insignificant" in the long run just doesn't cut it. Even the cheapest Apple laptop is a thousand dollars in the US. It costs even more overseas. Meanwhile, you can get similarly spec'd Windows machines for a half to three quarters of the price. There is a Mac premium, and it is a barrier to entry for developers. You can't make that barrier disappear by blindly asserting that it doesn't matter.