Home Patrol / Sentinel on MAC?

[dave95sps]

I am thinking about purchasing a BC Home Patrol 1 scanner. Do I need to have a PC to support the software ? I have an iMac at home. My present scanner is a BCD 396T, but is complicated for me. The Home Patrol looks more my speed

Thanks for any responses or guidance.
Dave

 

[Paulsan]

You'll need Windows. I used Bootcamp to load a copy of Windows on a separate partition.

 

[dave95sps]

Thank you Paulsan. I sent you a PM. Just wondering if "Bootcamp" is a software program that can be downloaded to an iMac. Is your computer a MAC ?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[RBMTS]

Bootcamp is part of Mac OS-X. However you need to then boot up into Windows and your machine is "slaved" as a PC at that point. I strongly suggest you look at buying Parallels or VMWare Fusion. These programs allow your Mac to run the PC OS as a "virtual" machine in a separate window. So you can have both OS-X and Windows running concurrently. Personally I use "Parallels". It is extremely simple to use.
BTW - I have never had a program that didn't run correctly in the virtual machine environment. The only issues I sometimes have is the audio handling if you are trying to use a program that feeds audio to a different external source. Otherwise they are flawless in my humble opinion.

 

[dave95sps]

Thank You

Randy and Paulsan,
Thank you for your help - truly appreciated. Your guidance has put me on track.
Best wishes.

 

[Paulsan]

I run Ham Radio Deluxe and have always wanted all my resources to be dedicated to that so I avoided the VM solutions. If you are simply running scanner programming software it probably isn't necessary and the VM solution will work fine for that purpose.

 

[mikewazowski]

I've used Sentinel under VMWare Fusion and have had no problems with it.

 

[dave95sps]

Than you guys. You all have been most helpful.

One more question please - If I purchase and download either of these programs...Parallels or Fusion, would I then need to also download a PC OS such as Windows 7 or Vista ?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[RBMTS]

Yes sir you will. Parallels or Fusion is simply the "Virtual Machine" software. You will still need to provide and load the specific OS that you want to run. The folks that make Parallels offer specials on licensing of Windows products but if you have your own CD in install image (with a viable install key), you can use that instead. You do not have to purchase the Windows license from them.

 

[skibomp]

Than you guys. You all have been most helpful.

One more question please - If I purchase and download either of these programs...Parallels or Fusion, would I then need to also download a PC OS such as Windows 7 or Vista ?

Thanks,
Dave

I had to go through the same process. I run parallels w/ windows. It is a shame they have not come out with a MAC version. Mac owners that would like to use HP and the HP software have to spend so much more money...