Mac OS plugin Testing Using a virtual machine on Windows 11

Rhino Developer
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Hi all,

Yesterday I was able to compile my plugin in Rhino 8, and start it with my shiny new ETO interface. It feels a bit like putting on a new pair of underwear, but it looks really good… just like the new underwear.

The next thing I would like to try is to get it running in Mac OS. However, I have one issue, which is that I don’t own a recent mac os computer. I was wondering if anyone has tried to debug or beta a plugin in a virtual machine from windows 10 or 11. If so, does this work? Would you recommend it? (Is it possible to buy a copy of the latest mac os without an apple computer?)

Alternatively, I have an older mac os machine from 2010 or so using intel chips. Would using that machine be productive at all, or should I indeed have one of the newer M-series processor style macs to do this effectively?

It’s fine if the answer is buy a mac - but just want to make sure I really need to spend those resources.

Thanks,
Arthur

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not a lawyer, but I read their eula as meaning you have to own a mac, and run the virtualization software in macos, on that mac

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if your old mac is somehow capable of running a more current version of the OS under virtualization, then maybe you would be in the clear to do that

but even if possible, if the point is ensure things work well on end user machines, I would not (and do not) personally trust any virtualization for that, especially an odd configuration like mentioned above

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It is interesting, because there are virtual box projects posted online that would make it possible to run MacOS in a virtual box on a windows machine, but they suggest that you need to legally obtain a copy of the OS… If there is no way to do that, then obviously this is a non-starter…

Arthur