Disklavier

Good evening, everyone.

Although I am not the programmer, I am a developer of MIDI software  
for both Macintosh and Windows.

I currently have Parallels 3.0 installed on my MacPro, and I use it to  
run both Vista and XP. Sometimes, I have even run both at the same time.

My Mac Pro has a 2 x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor. For my  
Windows needs, I have found that both XP and Vista run well in this  
environment. I hasten to point out, though, that I mostly use the Mac  
OS.

Parallels did not really offer a complete solution until version 3,  
which offered adequate USB support. I am happy with version 3.  
Unfortunately, I have not tired Fusion and cannot compare the two.

Not long ago, my dedicated Windows development computer bit the dust.  
It was a Windows 98 SE vintage computer on which I had additionally  
installed both 2000 and XP. I was able to boot directly into any of  
the 3 systems.

When it came time to replace this computer, I purchased a MacMini and  
turned it into a tri-boot machine that can natively boot into Mac OS  
X,  XP, and Vista. (No Parallels in this case.)

As a Windows development machine, the MacMini has worked great and  
never crashes. Admittedly, we rarely run any other applications other  
than what we are working on as well as the .net programming environment.

Regards,
PianoBench

www.georgelitterst.com
www.timewarptech.com

On Jun 22, 2008, at 2:33 PM, Spencer_Lists wrote:

> Greetings Carol,
>
> After writing this I realized that most of this letter is "off  
> topic" but I think people should read it for the warnings about  
> Vista which is one of my main reasons for renewed interest in the  
> Mac. I think that others should be thinking about this too. I am  
> very close to the limit of my tolerance for Microsoft garbage and  
> their total lack of consideration of the needs of their customers.
>
> I am very interested in getting the best software for running my  
> utilities on a Mac. We have a few Macs including a new Intel with  
> bootcamp and I will experiment on that one when I am in the same  
> state as it. Here in California I just have a first generation G5  
> PowerMac or whatever it is (I am a (be default not by design)  
> winsdowz programmer) and would like to put whatever third party  
> software on it that will allow me to run XP. All of my programs run  
> under XP and most actually work (just about as well as anything) on  
> Vista.
>
> What I want most is reliability. I would love to be able to run win  
> programs without rebooting. I am not concerned with saving a few  
> dollars.
>
> On a related thread. Most people probably already know this but  
> Vista is an absolute piece of almost total garbage. There are a few  
> cute features that almost imitate Mac interface but everything else  
> about it is horrible. I will not go into details but I have been on  
> the phone with microsoft support for over 24 hours (not just India  
> but onshore engineers) just trying to get Vista to network with XP  
> and they have no ideas yet. Vista is not compatible with a huge  
> number of standard programs, has serious driver issues, is unstable  
> in many regards and is so *!!*ing security (un)conscious and so  
> "smart" that you can barely get anything done other than answer  
> inane questions, changing options that do not stick and searching  
> for registry patches to make things vaguely useable. I bought Vista  
> pre-installed on a new machine and am not responsible for any of the  
> hardware/software issues and the machine barely works. Graphics  
> issues, mouse issues in addition to all the incompatibility problems.
>
> In spite of all that, my programs generally work but processing  
> large batches seems to exceed some explorer limit and they can crash.
>
> If the choice becomes (due to XP support being turned off) Vista or  
> Mac, I will take the months needed to learn to program directly on  
> the Mac. I have wasted so much of the last couple of months trying  
> to get Vista to work (and I am a rather advanced computer user who  
> can figure out almost anything or the person to ask for help or the  
> online resources to consult) and I have made almost no progress.
>
> Sunday, June 22, 2008, 10:58:59 AM, you wrote:
> > I am definitely interested in something that doesn't crash as that
> > is why I bought a Mac in the first place! All I want to do in the
> > future is to be able to put a PianoSoft floppy disk into my computer
> > and put the songs on either a playlist (yamplayer) or convert them
> > the MIDI files (dkutil) so I can burn another copy for back-up or
> > turn them down to play more quietly on my DKV. MarkIV owners do not
> > have this problem as their machines store the music on a hard drive
> > and already have playlist capability.
> >
> > That being said, do I still need to install virus software on the
> > Windows VM partition even though that partition will never be
> > online? If Safari is running, can my windows vm partition still be
> > harmed even though it is not active? Do I need to install at least
> > Windows 98SE to be able to use a floppy disk drive?
> >
> > I will definitely check out the Fusion as I know there are minor
> > differences between it and Parallels. I can't begin to thank you
> > guys enough for helping on this one!
> >
> > Carol Beigel
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Gary Connoley
> > To: <disklavier@yahoogroups.com>
> > Cc: <disklavier@yahoogroups.com>
> > Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 5:09 AM
> > Subject: Re: [disklavier] Re: Using Disklavier utilities on a Mac
>
> > I use vmware fusion for my macpro and have a number of virtual
> > machines such as win xp, homesever, win 2003 server etc for
> > different things. Within the vm you can set whether the USB devices
> > connected to the host are connected to the guest OS. I have used an
> > xp vm to run a home automation application with a USB to serial
> > adapter and two USB devices flawlessly. I just tested dkutil with  
> a USB floppy and it worked fine.
> > Fusion retails for 100bucks and there is a trial from the vmware  
> site.
> > Gary
>
> > Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On 22 Jun 2008, at 10:00, "david962548" <magic_midi@...>  
> wrote:
>
> > Hi Carol
>
> > Just don't throw out the old PC. I have a number of "old" PCs just
> > because the new one will not do what the old one did.
>
> > I have an old laptop because the new one does not have a RS232 com
> > port. An old PC win 98 because I have a number of programs that
> > don't like XP. I know you can get USB drives but they do not alwasy
> > work, my USB com port is com 40 but the software only goes upto com
> > 10.
>
> > Having played a little with Parallels for Mac, I found it to be, not
> > only very slow, but locked up and crashed all the time.
>
> > Good luck
> > Midi Magic
>
> > --- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, "Carol Beigel" <thecarolb@...>
> > wrote:
>
> >> My R&D time at the moment is being filled with playing Camp
> > Grandma. working, and setting up the new iMac, so I thought I would
> > throw this out to the list in the event someone else might try this
> > in a more timely fashion than myself.
>
> >> My Windows 98 computer developed a problem with the motherboard
> > and there does not seem to be a compatible replacement on the market
> > today. Bummer! It is just a matter of time before my Windows XP
> > computers suffer the same fate.
>
> >> True, the new version of Mac OS10.5 (Leopard) has an included
> > utility called Bootcamp that will let you install a Windows
> > operating system. However, it is sort of clunky because you need to
> > reboot each time you want to swith operating systems.
>
> >> I believe there is a better alternative called Parallels for Mac
> > Desktop. You can download a free 2-week trial or pay $79 to keep
> > it. This software allows one to run virtual operating systems from
> > the Mac Desktop without rebooting. They talk about Windows XP and
> > Windows Vista, but it will also run Windows 95 down through DOS6.2.
> > Lynux, and some other operating systems. You can install as many
> > virtual operating systems as you want. If you choose setting up a
> > virtual drive to less than 32G it will format it using the FAT32 -
> > which is compatible with those dkvutilities. You can also connect a
> > USB Floppy drive to copy or read Pianosoft disks.
>
> >> It is my thought that this virtual drive will run the Giebler
> > utilities and gnmidi programs. Remember to to also load some virus
> > protection software on your virtual drives if you use Windows!
>
> >> For those still running Windows XP, there is a free (?) program
> > called DOSBOX that will run older DOS utilities - probably the
> > Giebler. Most people use this software to run their favorite older
> > versions of games that are no longer available. I suspect it works
> > on Windows Vista as well.
>
> >> I must admit the new 24-inch iMac is the most elegant computer I
> > have ever owned. I will probably buy a Mac laptop as well next
> > year. By then the MarkIV Disklaviers will be able to record
> > audio. Eventually I will figure out the web software to update my
> > website and would like to include using Macs with Disklaviers.
>
> >> Let me know if anyone gets these things to work!
>
> >> Carol Beigel
>
> > 28c2a; font-size: 100%; line-height: 122%; } #ygrp-sponsor .ad a{
> > text-decoration: none; } #ygrp-sponsor .ad a:hover{ text-decoration:
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> > blockquote{margin: 0 0 0 4px;} .replbq{margin:4} -->
>
> > No virus found in this incoming message.
> > Checked by AVG.
> > Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 270.4.1/1512 - Release Date:  
> 6/21/2008 9:27 AM
> >
>
> -- 
> Best regards,
> Spencer_Lists Chase mailto:lists@...
> 67550 Bell Springs Rd.
> Garberville, CA 95542 Postal service only.
> Laytonville, CA 95454 UPS only.
> Spencer@...
> http://www.spencerserolls.com
> http://www.spencerserolls.com/MidiValve.htm
> (707) 984-8356
>