.

web tutorials

Using Mac and Windows computers together for testing and such

With all the differences in interpretation of Javascript, styles, and such, it’s important to test Web sites on more than one platform. Too many sites lock out large audiences because they’re “optimized for IE” or Windows-only. However, many webmasters work from relatively small spaces and don’t want to spend their space on dual monitors, keyboards, and mice. The solution can be using a KVM (keyboard/video/monitor) switch, accessing one computer through the other, or both. This also cuts back on generated heat (if you use CRT displays), electricity use, and cost (the KVM is cheaper, in most cases, than a second display).

Note: this page is a little outdated. Now, you can just get any ol’ Mac - they all use Intel processors - and run Windows at nearly full speed using Parallels Workstation... within a window. This actually beats booting into Windows in one regard - you can back up your entire installation as a single file, running around 5-10 GB, and if Windows gets corrupted, you can replace it in one swoop with a fresh copy! No need to spend days reinstalling and searching for codes...!

What platforms should I test with?

Most browsers use a limited number of “engines” to draw web pages. These are:

We test with IE (Windows and Mac), Firefox, and Safari, and rely on reader reports to tell us of problems with Opera, though we may start using Opera for testing too. IE 6 for Windows is kind enough to provide detailed bug reporting on javascript errors, which can be handy. We also test with IE5 when we suspect there might be issues; we run that from a virtual PC emulated on the Mac, running Windows 98. (Our PC has XP.)

KVM: switch back and forth

The most satisfying performance can be gained by having both a Mac and a PC share a monitor, keyboard, and mouse with a KVM switch. With the switch in one position, you can use one computer; in another position, you can use the second one with the same keyboard, video-monitor, and mouse (hence KVM). What's more, since Macs don’t have PS2 ports, you'll need a USB KVM.

Getting a cheap KVM doesn't pay; even an expensive one, such as our test IOGEAR 1712, isn't a good idea if it doesn't work properly (and come with a money back guarantee!) We had a number of problems with that first KVM, mainly dealing with its inability to handle common keyboard items such as Scroll Lock. (Other IOGEAR models don’t have those problems.) Cheaper models can have problems with monitors and not be able to deal with healthy refresh rates (75 Hz and up). A Dr. Bott MoniSwitch USB was a wonderful substitute; the only installation needs were plugging it in. The only problem is that if you don't plug your mouse into the keyboard, you'll end up with either two mice or two keyboards, since it only provides one USB port! Monitor sleep is another issue to investigate - our first IOGEAR didn't allow monitor sleep.

You pretty much need to use two-button mice to use Windows, but it’s not a wasted purchase: Mac OS X is fully two-button enabled, and you’ll start loving the extra button for all those contextual menus. PC keyboards are dirt cheap and while many are rubbish, quite a few are rather nice and easier for people with long fingers and a firm touch, like me, to use. With both keyboards, we found uControl, a free key-swapping utility, to be essential, and made a donation to the writer; uControl easily swaps the control and command keys so a PC keyboard will be mapped like a Mac keyboard. (DoubleCommand does the same and can be more flexible but harder to use; and on the PC side, KeyTweak.) There are also a number of OS 9 utilities—we tested the Moniswitch briefly with OS 9, and it worked perfectly. If you use a Mac keyboard, you won't need a key swapping utility.

Remote control

After using this setup for a while, we started to access the PC from the Mac using Microsoft’s free Remote Connection utility, which works on systems using OS X and tapping Windows XP (and presumably Windows 2000) computers. It worked faster and better than VNC did. To increase speed, we set up the PC to hibernate on the press of a power button, or after 15 minutes of non-use; thus, we could quickly wake up the PC (around 15 - 30 seconds), start Remote Connection, test or use Access, and then re-hibernate the PC, neatly avoiding the lengthy startup process.

This provided us with the ability to very quickly log into the PC from the Mac, do a few quick PC things, and even copy and paste from the PC to the Mac (using, confusingly, Control-C on the PC and Command-C on the Mac). We ended up pasting into Word or Eudora first and then copying and pasting into BBEdit a lot of the time, since BBEdit refused to take PC text until it had been through another program.

Using Remote Connection means we don’t have to use the switch as often, can have Windows running in windows, can copy and paste, and can very, very quickly switch from computer to computer as easily as from program to program. Not only that, but Remote Connection passes your Mac mouse through to the PC, so that thing about having two mice becomes a non-issue most of the time. (You will still probably have to have a KVM or small monitor for the PC at times.)

Using hibernation keeps the noisy, hot, energy-sucking PC off most of the time, letting our quiet, efficient Mac do our day to day work. We get the benefits of efficiency, a good user interface, stability, easy backups, freedom from most viruses and malware, and quietness, without sacrificing the wealth of odd Windows software (most of which we never, ever need to use anyway.)

The tradeoff with Remote Connection (other than owning two computers) is, as one might expect, screen lag, which isn’t a big deal most of the time, but sometimes can make it difficult to work properly. Still, that's more than worth it.

VirtualPC

Those with less frequent testing needs or no need to use other PC software, such as Access, on a regular basis will probably be happiest with VirtualPC, which emulates a PC. It takes considerable hard drive space, since you still need to have Windows, but you can strip out the rubbish (Outlook, Messenger, etc.) and have a barebones system with Internet Explorer, Opera, and Firefox for testing. Indeed, you can have several base systems, Win98, WinXP, and Linux, limited only by your hard drive space and software licenses. VirtualPC is moderately slow, but if you are patient and don't want two computers, it costs a little more than a quality KVM, and doesn't need to be sitting next to your Mac, radiating heat and noise.

For a more in-depth discussion of the KVMs, see About This Particular Macintosh.