Kevin, our tech support specialist put this together today after spending the day testing the system in the Mac environment to help users understand how the system may function differently in the Mac environment.
Running VISCO in native Mac OS X:
VISCO software will function on a Mac running OS X, however any Windows Active X functions will be disabled in this environment, which means Excel documents and their data will lose some interactivity with the client database. Specifically, reports and documents that use refresh, email, proceed, print buttons, etc, will not be able to use these button in the native Mac OS X environment.
Document information can be downloaded and viewed successfully in Excel on the Mac, and if a client prefers, VISCO software can be customized to export Excel documents in PDF format for Mac users. In both cases interaction between Excel and the client database is limited – meaning information cannot be exported back to the database from Excel. Specifically, this means if the user makes edits within the document, they will not save back to VISCO.
(Note: Macros must be ‘Enabled’ in Excel and MS Word under the “Tools” dropdown in both applications in order for Excel to initally generate the documents).
Running VISCO in the Mac OS using Parallels Desktop:
Utilizing Apple’s Parallels Desktop software, and depending on system configuration and internet speeds, VISCO performance in Parallels will equal that of a PC running Windows. Additionally, communication between Excel spreadsheets from Custom Reports, Data Updates, Email, etc. will maintain appropriate interactivity between a VISCO user and the client database.
In order to allow Active X functions, and consequently the Excel data, to work properly on the Mac the appropriate VISCO workstation setup must be performed in Excel, MS Word, and Internet Explorer applications as well as Google Chrome if that is the preferred browser. (note: the use of Internet Explorer 11 browser is highly recommended by VISCO). Additionally, firewall settings in Parallels must be set to allow communication with the appropriate database and document locations.
(Note: Users must upgrade to Parallels Desktop 10 if they are running, or plan to run, the Yosemite 10.10 Mac operating system. Yosemite 10.10 does not support Parallels Desktop 8.)
