12 replies to this topic

[pughpl]

Just curious, but there are a lot of people switching to Mac (including me).  Are there any plans for making a Mac verson of Autostar?  Fortunately my I old Dell is still working, at least for now. But I would sure like to put Autostar on my Mac.

[Mark Sibole]

As of right now I dont know of any plans for a mac but who knows maybe in the future something will come up.

Regards

Mark

[pcowell]

Well done John......... How to win friends an influence people? Yup behave like a Microsoft exec when you don't get the answer you want.

Mark is there anyway of finding out who to get in touch with for a possible Mac or Linux version?
Either would work well for me and it would help Meade sell more hardware.

Also Mark has Meade any plans to get a version with some functionality that runs under wine on Linux?

Thanks
Phil

Pathetic.

[Mark Sibole]

I can check into this for you and see what they have to say.
Give me a few days on this please and ill respond either way.
If for some reason I get forgetfull feel free to drop me an e mail at Meade_help at qteaser.com to remind me.

Regards


Mark

[Mark Sibole]

Phil
I have recieved an e mail from meade with an answer for you.

"Currently our focus is on PC only. But with the increased interest in Apple products because of ipod and the new iphone, we may see an increase in mac users. I would personally hope that we will eventually move in that direction. "

I think this is a very good thread and our hopes are that Meade will see there is a need for Mac software and will address this issue for Mac users. This is the kind of stuff that Meade needs to see, so they can find out what customers want.

When I find out more ill let you know and Thanks for bringing this up.
Personally I think this is a very good thread and a good start to see if we can get a Mac based aurostar.

regards

Mark

[RJTYREE]

Meade has a very good business reason for not supporting niche operating systems....
It's very expensive to do so and.... unless the users/potential users' raw nubmers warrant it
the cost is just to great.....and if you look at the numbers.....well ....they just don't even come close....
for any flavor of unix or it's derivatives including linux and Mac's OS with there graphical windowed overlays.

It's sad...     On some level ...it would be nice to have some kind of 'Universal OS'.....you'd think after 25 years they'd...............

Ty 

[MikeBY]

Have you tried running Virtual PC on the MAC?  Or BootCamp and WinXP on a Intel based MAC?
I know it kind of defeats the purpose, but it's an idea..

[jon]

FWIW:  I would also like to see Mac support from Meade.

Jon

[brimus]

I too would like the Mac version, and yes it will work with bootcamp but why would I want to boot into windows when I run a perfectly good OS that is safer and with less problems? At this time after spending over $5k for my new LX200R 12" I would expect not to have to pay more money to another company for a product that should have been included with that size of a purchase.

Just a new user who wishes I had looked into competition more just for this reason as I prefer to buy from companies that provide for my desired platform not theirs (since I pay for it).

Brian

[adegutis]

but why would I want to boot into windows when I run a perfectly good OS that is safer and with less problems?

Brian,

Maybe you should say "safer for now". I think that OS X is a great OS (I'm a newly converted Mac user) but as Macs grow in popularity, they will become more of a target. Also, just this month Apple released an updated with 25 security fixes. Last month (March) they released an update with 40 security fixes. While Microsoft's security fixes will probably surpase OS X later in the year, Apple has the lead so far.

My two cents.
Al
http://www.astrophotoinsight.com

[jimsz]

I'll also add the need for Meade to support Macs.

From looking through the various offerings Meade has, it's not like there is much support for leading edge windows systems either.

When I purchased my meade scope I had planned on purchasing a number of add-ons from meade (as well as the new MySky), since none of Meade products suppor the Mac, I have and will spend my money elsewhere. meade got my Telescope money, but could have easily had me purchase more than that in peripherals (including eye-pieces, etc.).

I'll spend my money with companies that have inclusive support policies for their customers. Supporting 1 OS is shortsighted.

[wardenmsp]

FWIW, it might well be an underestimate to apply the Mac overall market share to the amateur astronomy market. The Mac holds significantly higher share in the creative world (graphic design, music, etc.); it might be interesting to do the market research and find out just how many Mac users there are in the Meade community.

Bill Arden