Labview and Apple Desktops?

[Azazel]

Hello all,

Can you give any feedback concerning using Labview 8.5 on apple desktops?  I am currently using Windows XP, LV 8.5 and am thinking of switching over to the new Mac Pro to take advantage of it's 8 core processing capabilities.  Does anyone currently have this setup running or comment on pros/cons of making the switch?  All opinions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Azazal

[Spex]

I have been running LabVIEW on a Mac as a second machine for a couple years now (still have to use a PC for many work things).  IF you run an Apple OS, there are a couple of tradeoffs... mostly in the HW realm.

Shared variables cannot be created in the Mac OS, but you can use a project with shared variables created on a PC.
Unfortunately, no LabVIEW MODULES are supported, but many toolkits work.
NI-DAQmx is not supported, but you do have DAQmxBase, a VISA based implementation of the DAQmx driver.
For a list of supported DAQ devices on Mac OS X...

Those are probably the biggests gotchas with the Mac OS, but then again, you could waste , ahem, boot your Apple desktop in WinXP (using parallels or bootcamp) and run LabVIEW just the same as you are used to on a standard PC. 

If you are considering Mac OS X, I would also browse here for additional resources.

Cheers,

[Matt_W1]

You can run XP Pro on an 8-core system (dual-quad core, which is what the mac pro uses), if that's your only reason for switching over. More than 2 cpu sockets requires the bigger versions of windows if I remember right.

Matt W

[sth]

Azazel,

I have such a system running. It seems to be working very nice and multithreading away. But my big question is are you going to be using GPIB?

I think some of the other pitfalls were outlined before. In general OS X is very stable with very low interrupt latencies.

-sth

[antony.g]

I have been playing around with LabVIEW at home on my Mac, in general at work I use LabVIEW on Windows machines. There is very little difference between the two, although I do find the Mac to be a bit better for development due to OS X functions features such as expose.

I have used TestStand for the last few years but of course this does not exist on the Mac, and due to its major use of Windows technologies I guess it may never be ported. I decided to write my own test executive in LabVIEW, if anyone is interested they can download a copy from my website:

http://www.apgconsultancy.co.uk/

[Spectre_Dave]

Once You have gone Mac You will never look back!

The OS is far superior to anything micosoft can produce.  As far as drivers and tools - there are not as much support as in windoze.  You could run those in Xp on a virtual PC using Parallels or VMWare Fusion.

NI needs to give us our tools that will run on a stable platform!

[sth]

Every so often when missing a toolkit or a feature for our favorite platform, send a message to the LV product suggestion center.

http://digital.ni.com/applications/psc.nsf/default?OpenForm

Heck even ask them to update their support pages...  if one looks at http://www.ni.com/mac/support.htm the discussion is *if* they support intel macs rather than that they *only* support intel macs.  The discussion should be if they support PPC systems. 

[Cory_K]

LabVIEW 2009's auto-multithreading For loops FTW!

[hecmar.arreola]

@Spex - Your list looks like a list of lacking features, not tradeoffs.  What bennefit is there to running LabVIEW on a Mac, other than using a Mac environment.

I ❤️ Mac... don't get me wrong.  The OS is smooth and easy to use.  However, I wouldn't go as far as to say that it is superior to Windows OS, its just different and more intuitive.  I've installed some nasty things on my Mac before that totally wrecked the stability to the point that I had to reinstall...just like in Windows.  Anyway, this is something that has been somewhat of an over-debated subject on the Internet already so I'm going to just stop.

I tend to lean towards the platform that the majority of users are using because that is where you are going to get the best support from the users and from NI.  Clearly, NI's priority is with the Windows platform and not the Mac platform.

[sth]

"The OS is smooth and easy to use... more intuitive", I think you made the point!  🙂

and the famous sig line: 

"Claiming that the Macintosh is inferior to Windows because most people use Windows, is like saying that all other restaurants serve food that is inferior to McDonalds."