Please make VEX Easy C for mac. I don’t have a PC, and I don’t have an Intel mac, and i want to get a programming kit for my robot. It isn’t fair.
im not sure but i think the mplab might b mac compatible
let me check
srry but no there not
feel sry for u dude cause ive always wanted the kit im goin to get it but they should make it mac compatible then more ppl might get interested in robotics
Find an old computer that runs windows. EasyC doesn’t need very many resources.
If you’re on a mac, you could always run it in parallels.
tr,
By your use of that sentnece, I can see that owning a Vex kit has accelerated your education. 
You are right, it isn’t fair. So what are you going to do now? Company’s aren’t in business to be “fair”. They have to make a profit.
You either need to figure out a way to make your suggestion profitable, or figure out a way to work-around the problem.
Blake
i dont see why intellitek wouldnt want to make EasyC for mac users, its just another market they can sell to.
The biggest problem I see, is that Intellitek only make the Drag-and-Drop interface, that generates ‘C’ source code files, that have to be compiled with the mcc18 ‘C’ compiler, which Intellitek Doesn’t make.
Put more simply, EasyC is an addon to the mcc18 compiler, Both of them would have to be re-written for the Mac in order to get away from a Virtual System.
Now if someone wrote a Mac based ‘C’ and ‘Asm’ for the PIC 18, then only EasyC would need to be re-written.
you are so right, it isnt fair:(
Probably the only viable option for programming from PPC Macs is using the open source compiler SDCC in place of MCC. MCC runs only on Windows. SDCC will run on virtually any platform, including Unix, Mac, and Windows. Support for SDCC would open development not just to Macs, but to all kinds of platforms, including *BSD, Linux, Solaris, etc. It can be used with Piklab (a free MPLAB-like IDE) on Unix systems (including Mac OS X).
The problem is, some of the Vex libraries are closed-source, so it’s not a simple matter to port the default code to SDCC. I recently asked Vexlabs to provide some support for this compiler in this thread:
https://vexforum.com/t/programming-in-nix/14000/1
I expect it will take a while to get a response one way or the other, but the message was received. The more users they hear from, the more likely this will happen, so chime in if you’re interested in using any platform besides Windows.
I’ve been running EasyC on XP under Parallels and Win4BSD with pretty good results. It’s not as nice as running native tools, but it’ll have to do for now. However, Parallels does not run on PPC Macs. The only real option for running Windows binaries on a PPC Mac is MS VirtualPC, which is unbearably slow even on the fastest G5.
Cheers,
Jason
It looks as if mac does have a disadvantage…
Can’t you just emulate it? I have heard of this in mac but i don’t know if it works or not. In linux you can install a windows layer aka wine so that you can run your programs but i don’t know.
Just try and find an old pc, you can get p3 laptops off ebay for $100 maybe you could get one of those. Also many businesses throw out a crap load of computers at dumps so you could check there.
Yes, that is what folks are talking about when they mention “Parallels”. That allows you to run Windows in a virtual machine on an Intel Mac. I personally use VMWare Fusion (a similar product) on my Mac and that has worked fine for me.
As for the advice that several people have posted “Just get an old cheap PC”, that isn’t the point. I can get a nice new PC if I want to, but I really don’t want one. Vex is the only reason I run VMWare and Windows on my Mac, and I will happily remove that software from my HD the day I have a fully functional Mac-native development option. If it is SDCC, then I’ll support that effort. If it is a commercial product from Intellitek or IFI, then they will get my money.
Cheers,
- Dean
Disclaimer:
I don’t want to start a Mac-vs-Windows thread. I am not trying to convert anybody to Mac. I am a Mac user by choice, and I accept that this choice requires me to make some tradeoffs (which I believe are insignificant compared to the benefits). I was fully aware that the programming environment was PC-only when I purchased it, and I completely agree with Blake’s comments about fair-vs-profitable.
as a future mac user (hopefully, *cross fingers), yes!
although idc much because im heading to FTC (hopefully, *cross fingers)
MarkO pretty much hit the nail on the head. The Mcc18 compiler is not Macintosh/Unix compatible so we would have no way to compile our code
into assembly for the PIC in the vex controller.
The PIC 18 C compiler (mcc18) is just a Command Line program. If you did your editing on a PPC Mac, and ran MS VPC to run Win98 or ME to run mcc18 you could then Edit/Build and maybe Download.
(IIRC mcc18 will run on this basic of a system. I don’t know if the IFI Downloader will)
You’re right it isn’t fair. You have a Mac.
I am a Windows Vista user. sigh
Parallels works on any mac. its $60 (maybe 70-80?).
The intel mac only is boot camp, which is 100% free but can’t be run at the same times as mac os x
According to the Parallels Website, it supports only Intel Macs:
Right - Boot Camp allows you to install and run Windows on an Intel Macintosh. This essentially allows you to switch your Mac between Mac mode and PC mode, but you have to reboot to switch.
Cheers,
- Dean
I think 2.0 used to work with Mac, sorry about that