Have found a tool that requires the Windows flavor of MS-Office to run its macros, so its the perennial old question of how to go about.

Cheap PC (probably laptop) vs which Mac VM with MS-Windows?

Use case is pretty intermittent, so the laptop can be a cheap one;
wondering if (laptop+OS+Office) is cheaper than (VM+OS+Office),
and if the "Macs on ARM chip" complication that Tom had mentioned
awhile back is still an issue or not.

-hh

On 2022-08-22 06:42, -hh wrote:
> Have found a tool that requires the Windows flavor of MS-Office to
> run its macros, so its the perennial old question of how to go
> about.

Which tool is that? I like knowing about little gotchas like this.

>
> Cheap PC (probably laptop) vs which Mac VM with MS-Windows?
>
> Use case is pretty intermittent, so the laptop can be a cheap one;
> wondering if (laptop+OS+Office) is cheaper than (VM+OS+Office), and
> if the "Macs on ARM chip" complication that Tom had mentioned awhile
> back is still an issue or not.

Windows 10 Home is $189CAD and (I think) Microsoft charges $149USD for it.

Adding in $99 for Parallels standard or $149 for VMWare Fusion, and I
think you'll still be struggling to buy a Windows laptop you want to use
for less than that.

As for the question of Apple Silicon...

....I'm not sure what the future holds.

On Monday, August 22, 2022 at 9:54:58 PM UTC-4, Alan wrote:
> On 2022-08-22 06:42, -hh wrote:
> > Have found a tool that requires the Windows flavor of MS-Office to
> > run its macros, so its the perennial old question of how to go
> > about.
>
> Which tool is that? I like knowing about little gotchas like this.

Some Excel financial models that are known to not run under Mac;
not sure if it’s macros or Access.

> > Cheap PC (probably laptop) vs which Mac VM with MS-Windows?
> >
> > Use case is pretty intermittent, so the laptop can be a cheap one;
> > wondering if (laptop+OS+Office) is cheaper than (VM+OS+Office), and
> > if the "Macs on ARM chip" complication that Tom had mentioned awhile
> > back is still an issue or not.
>
> Windows 10 Home is $189CAD and (I think) Microsoft charges $149USD for it..
>
> Adding in $99 for Parallels standard or $149 for VMWare Fusion, and I
> think you'll still be struggling to buy a Windows laptop you want to use
> for less than that.

Agreed; concern is that the mini may need replacement to have the horsepower

> As for the question of Apple Silicon...
>
> ...I'm not sure what the future holds.

I’m thinking of Tom’s comment about Win on ARM chips.

-hh

On 2022-08-22 19:55, -hh wrote:
> On Monday, August 22, 2022 at 9:54:58 PM UTC-4, Alan wrote:
>> On 2022-08-22 06:42, -hh wrote:
>>> Have found a tool that requires the Windows flavor of MS-Office to
>>> run its macros, so its the perennial old question of how to go
>>> about.
>>
>> Which tool is that? I like knowing about little gotchas like this.
>
> Some Excel financial models that are known to not run under Mac;
> not sure if it’s macros or Access.

Probably Access.

>
>>> Cheap PC (probably laptop) vs which Mac VM with MS-Windows?
>>>
>>> Use case is pretty intermittent, so the laptop can be a cheap one;
>>> wondering if (laptop+OS+Office) is cheaper than (VM+OS+Office), and
>>> if the "Macs on ARM chip" complication that Tom had mentioned awhile
>>> back is still an issue or not.
>>
>> Windows 10 Home is $189CAD and (I think) Microsoft charges $149USD for it.
>>
>> Adding in $99 for Parallels standard or $149 for VMWare Fusion, and I
>> think you'll still be struggling to buy a Windows laptop you want to use
>> for less than that.
>
> Agreed; concern is that the mini may need replacement to have the horsepower
>
>
>> As for the question of Apple Silicon...
>>
>> ...I'm not sure what the future holds.
>
> I’m thinking of Tom’s comment about Win on ARM chips.

Well, you might want to read this:

<https://kb.parallels.com/125375>

On Tuesday, August 23, 2022 at 11:41:02 AM UTC-4, Alan wrote:
> On 2022-08-22 19:55, -hh wrote:
> > On Monday, August 22, 2022 at 9:54:58 PM UTC-4, Alan wrote:
> >> On 2022-08-22 06:42, -hh wrote:
> >>> Have found a tool that requires the Windows flavor of MS-Office to
> >>> run its macros, so its the perennial old question of how to go
> >>> about.
> >>
> >> Which tool is that? I like knowing about little gotchas like this.
> >
> > Some Excel financial models that are known to not run under Mac;
> > not sure if it’s macros or Access.
>
> Probably Access.

That's what I suspect too; wonder if it would work if uploaded to 365?

> >
> >>> Cheap PC (probably laptop) vs which Mac VM with MS-Windows?
> >>>
> >>> Use case is pretty intermittent, so the laptop can be a cheap one;
> >>> wondering if (laptop+OS+Office) is cheaper than (VM+OS+Office), and
> >>> if the "Macs on ARM chip" complication that Tom had mentioned awhile
> >>> back is still an issue or not.
> >>
> >> Windows 10 Home is $189CAD and (I think) Microsoft charges $149USD for it.
> >>
> >> Adding in $99 for Parallels standard or $149 for VMWare Fusion, and I
> >> think you'll still be struggling to buy a Windows laptop you want to use
> >> for less than that.
> >
> > Agreed; concern is that the mini may need replacement to have the horsepower
> >
> >
> >> As for the question of Apple Silicon...
> >>
> >> ...I'm not sure what the future holds.
> >
> > I’m thinking of Tom’s comment about Win on ARM chips.
> Well, you might want to read this:
>
> <https://kb.parallels.com/125375>

Found that earlier myself too; I thought i'd heard something about how MS
was going to be supporting ARM after the beta (or whatever). Overall, I'm
mostly debating if to replace the 'interim' mini I picked up last year that has
minimal specs with a Mac Studio with decent specs, as that transition from
the Mac Pro was never completed well (inadequate boot drive). There's a
NJ sales tax holiday next week that's an incentive to do something 'now' too...

-hh

On Tuesday, August 23, 2022 at 1:43:14 PM UTC-4, -hh wrote:
> On Tuesday, August 23, 2022 at 11:41:02 AM UTC-4, Alan wrote:
> > On 2022-08-22 19:55, -hh wrote:
> > > On Monday, August 22, 2022 at 9:54:58 PM UTC-4, Alan wrote:
> > >> On 2022-08-22 06:42, -hh wrote:
> > >>> Have found a tool that requires the Windows flavor of MS-Office to
> > >>> run its macros, so its the perennial old question of how to go
> > >>> about.
> > >>
> > >> Which tool is that? I like knowing about little gotchas like this.
> > >
> > > Some Excel financial models that are known to not run under Mac;
> > > not sure if it’s macros or Access.
> >
> > Probably Access.
> That's what I suspect too; wonder if it would work if uploaded to 365?
> > >
> > >>> Cheap PC (probably laptop) vs which Mac VM with MS-Windows?
> > >>>
> > >>> Use case is pretty intermittent, so the laptop can be a cheap one;
> > >>> wondering if (laptop+OS+Office) is cheaper than (VM+OS+Office), and
> > >>> if the "Macs on ARM chip" complication that Tom had mentioned awhile
> > >>> back is still an issue or not.
> > >>
> > >> Windows 10 Home is $189CAD and (I think) Microsoft charges $149USD for it.
> > >>
> > >> Adding in $99 for Parallels standard or $149 for VMWare Fusion, and I
> > >> think you'll still be struggling to buy a Windows laptop you want to use
> > >> for less than that.
> > >
> > > Agreed; concern is that the mini may need replacement to have the horsepower
> > >
> > >
> > >> As for the question of Apple Silicon...
> > >>
> > >> ...I'm not sure what the future holds.
> > >
> > > I’m thinking of Tom’s comment about Win on ARM chips.
> > Well, you might want to read this:
> >
> > <https://kb.parallels.com/125375>
>
> Found that earlier myself too; I thought i'd heard something about how MS
> was going to be supporting ARM after the beta (or whatever). Overall, I'm
> mostly debating if to replace the 'interim' mini I picked up last year that has
> minimal specs with a Mac Studio with decent specs, as that transition from
> the Mac Pro was never completed well (inadequate boot drive). There's a
> NJ sales tax holiday next week that's an incentive to do something 'now' too...

Looks like B&H has the Studio on a modest discount (-$200), which should stack
with the tax holiday; figuring a base config bumped to a 2TB SSD boot drive should
be ample horsepower as well as a good 5-7 year lifespan.

-hh