Another WWDC has come and gone, leaving in its wake an impressively powerful piece of hardware: the. But while the Mac Pro will make some creative professionals happy, the machine's $5,999 sticker price may send others looking for alternatives.Truth is, while the Mac Pro now leads the pack, many other Macs have been left behind by cheaper, better options on the Windows PC side of the fence. With that in mind, I've put together a list of excellent Windows (and one Linux-based) alternatives to the most popular Mac models, from to beastly 32-core prosumer rigs.Sure, macOS has its advantages, but Windows 10 is a mature, stable platform that's updated and improved on the regular.
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Linux, FreeBSD, and More. RELATED: What Is a Linux Distro, and How Are They Different from One Another? No list of alternative PC operating systems could be complete without Linux. It’s the alternative PC operating system. Linux comes in many different flavors, known as Linux distributions. Ubuntu and Mint are some of the most popular. If you want to install a non-Windows operating system on. Alternatives to BitMeter OS for Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, Android Tablet and more. Filter by license to discover only free or Open Source alternatives. This list contains a total of 25+ apps similar to BitMeter OS.
Switching to PCs means you'll be able to grab the latest and greatest computers at a wide array of prices from any number of PC manufacturers, without having to light prayer candles at a shrine dedicated to Steve Wozniak. After years of neglect, the MacBook Air was with a refined look, improved specs, and a high-resolution display.There are out there, but its best Windows equal may be the 2019 Dell XPS 13. If you opt for the touch model, you'll get a screen that Apple's 13-inch models can't match, along with a new processor and a solid keyboard, all in an ultra-slim package that still manages to offer 3 USB-C ports. The XPS 13 recently saw a minor redesign that moved the much-maligned 'nose cam' from the bottom of the screen up to the top, where it should have been all along.
That eliminates our main gripe and makes the XPS 13 an excellent MacBook alternative. The XPS 13 starts at $950 and manages to outclass Apple's 13-inch offerings. The best match for Apple's powerhouse MacBook Pro is the.
It even carries the same powerful Intel Core i9 processor. Since much of the use-case for this class of machine is video related, the Asus' color-accurate AdobeRGB 4K display is even better than what you get in a MacBook Pro. The rest of the specs match up well, including the touchscreen touchpad—which is about as gimmicky as the Touch Bar, though reportedly more useful. Where the Asus struggles is battery life. Great power requires great batteries, and in this showdown, Apple wins.from Best Buy or theRazer's flagship Blade laptop is another contender for MacBook Pro replacement. With a six-core Intel processor and Nvidia 10-series graphics as the standard configuration, it's positioned to make the mightiest Mac notebook look downright antique. It even has USB-A ports, Thunderbolt 3, and RAM that you can ( gasp) upgrade!
The Mac Mini was updated late in 2018 with Intel Coffee Lake processors and a slew of USC-C ports. If you love tiny yet powerful mini computers, try the Intel NUC. These computers are mini-er than Apple's Mini and feature newer seventh- and eighth-generation chips that run rings around the li'lest Mac. You can buy them either as or as where you add your own RAM, storage, and OS of choice.If you're a gamer or want to get into VR, there's even, with powerful AMD Radeon Vega graphics under the hood. And, whereas Apple charges you beaucoup bucks for a three-year AppleCare warranty, you'll get that standard with each NUC. If you'd like something a touch more powerful than a NUC, there's the Asus VivoMini PC.
At just 5 inches square, it's tiny enough to mount out of sight and still powerful enough to support up to three 4K monitors. The Asus features the seventh-generation Intel i7 chip, room for an M2 drive and a traditional 2.5-inch solid-state drive, as well as up to 16 GB of RAM (it ships with 8 GB, which you can upgrade to 16 GB). To hit this price point, Asus sells it bare-bones. You need to supply the hard drives and operating system, but even then you'll come in under the Mac Mini's $799 price and have more processing power. HPI'll be the first to admit that the is a super-nice desktop computer. While many other PC makers try to ape this stylish, slim all-in-one, few truly match its appeal. It's also one of the models Apple's been the most consistent about keeping fresh; the current lineup runs on Intel's ninth-generation chips and Radeon Vega graphics to boot.The machine I'd recommend checking out is HP's epic desktop, the HP Envy Curved All-in-One.
With a wide 34-inch curved display, you get the real estate of two separate monitors in one contiguous LCD panel. But whether you're popping full apps next to one another with room to spare, or just blowing up a widescreen movie to take up this entire screen, HP's Envy stands apart. The bad news is that there are no other displays of this calibre at this price. You could get a reference display from Sony, but that'll set you back somewhere in the neighborhood of $18,000. Right now, the PC world cannot match the Pro Display XDR. Check back in a year.What about the Mac Pro itself? To get that kind of power in a PC you're probably best off buying the components and building it yourself.
This is what, for example, film studios do to create powerful editing workstations, but it's complicated, expensive, and time-consuming. The closest Windows option is the Dell Precision 7820, which starts at $1,579 for a six-core Xeon-powered workstation and works its way up from there to a dual Xeon Platinum 8268 machine, but it's still not as powerful as the Mac Pro. Another option would be to move to a Linux-based machine like System76's Thelio desktop. The Thelio is made in the USA and features a beautiful wooden, sci-fi-inspired tower that wraps around AMD's Threadripper chip. The base model of Thelio Major, matches up well against the Mac Pro. As an added bonus, it will only set you back $2,099.At the high end, the Thelio Massive can take on the maxed out Mac Pro as well, besting it in CPU cores and several other areas, but we've again entered the rarefied world of professionally priced machines. A Thelio Massive specced to match the top-of-the-line Mac Pro will set you back $18,801.
(A completely maxed-out Thelio Massive goes for $63,168.) At the time of writing, the price of Apple's most powerful Mac Pro is still unknown.While the Thelio is a powerful machine that can hold its own against the Mac Pro, it does lack the ProRes RAW accelerator card, which means it likely won't perform quite as well with high-resolution video. The other gotcha for creative professionals is that Adobe's photo and video editing software does not support Linux, the operating system that ships with Thelio.
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Not only allows you to open MS Access files but even edit them although you have to make an in app purchase to do the latter. It supports Access 2000 files and upwards and allows you to filter, sort, export data and more.The real attraction is the ability to edit MDB files on a Mac though and for in-app purchases starting at $4.99, you can unlock the editing features. These include the ability to update table row data, add new tables, create databases, import CSV data and even build a customized user interface for your database.
If you need maximum control over your database files, then Database Manager is probably your best option. Allows you to export data directly into SQL or CSV and open it in Excel. It’s one of the simplest ways to open database files on Mac but does have several serious limitations. It only works with Databases in Access 2007 or below format – it does not work with 2010/2013 files and above. It’s also only suitable for small databases because although it can open large databases, it’s extremely slow.
And although you can view tables, it does not support queries, forms or reports.is a clear and simple tool that opens both MDB and MDE files on Mac and supports exporting to SQLite, CSV, TXT, XML, XLS and XLSX to open in Excel. MDB Explorer supports Access 97-2003 (.mdb) files but if you want to use 2007-2013 files, you must pay extra and upgrade from within the app itself for an extra $12.99. However, MDB Explorer has limitations. You can only view and export tables and forms, queries cannot be displayed and you can’t modify database data using MDB Explorer. You can try a of MDB Explorer first before deciding whether to buy.is by the same developer as MDB Explorer but is more powerful as it allows you to access tables from multiple ACCDB, MDB, ACCDE and MDE databases without Access on your Mac. It can convert databases to CSV, TXT, XML, XLS and XLSX and SQL for use in applications such as MySQL, Oracle and SQlite. It also reads all formats from 1997-2013.
However, note that ACCDB MDB Explorer is only designed for viewing and exporting tables – forms and queries cannot be displayed and you can’t modify data. There’s a of ACCDB MDB Explorer so you can try it for yourself first.is the simplest but most limited option of the lot. It only works with Access 2003 files – it does not work with 2007 or higher. The only way to open Access 2007 files with MDBLite is to export them to 2003 format and convert that file instead. MDBLite is however very easy to use. Just drag and drop MDB files into MDBLite and it automatically converts MDB databases to SQLite.
You can then export the database as a CSV file or raw SQL statement. And at only $3.99, you haven’t got much to lose.is one of the bestselling and most powerful database creation tools on Mac (and also works on Windows).
Filemaker is actually owned by Apple and as a result looks and works great on Mac.FileMaker Pro is suitable for a wide range of database needs such as managing clients, employee databases, managing projects, tracking inventory etc.FileMaker does not support direct importing of MS Access files. However, it can import Microsoft Access databases if used alongside Actual ODBC Driver For Access (see review below).Filemaker Pro is also complemented by the which allows you to collaborate on projects and modify databases on the move or manage stock more effectively in the workplace instead of using lots of Excel sheets.The main problem with FileMaker is that it’s not as “transparent” as Access in the way it creates databases. For example, the tables in FileMaker Pro are basically hidden from the user whereas in Access, it’s much easier to access them.It’s also increasingly aimed at a corporate customers rather than individuals which is reflected in the pricing. Filemaker Pro for Mac costs although the Advanced version costs $549 and includes more development and diagnostic tools to create and manage custom apps.There’s also a of Filemaker Pro so you can try it for yourself.
Note that currently, Filemaker is not compatible with macOS Mojave so if you’ve already upgraded, you can’t use it. Allows you to connect Microsoft Excel on Mac or Filemaker Pro for Mac to Microsoft Access databases. If you’ve already got Microsoft Excel or Filemaker Pro on your Mac, it’s an excellent way to get Access on your Mac. There are other applications that it works with – such as OpenOffice and NeoOffice – but it’s most effective when combined with Excel and Filemaker Pro.
A simple setup wizard helps you connect Access databases to Actual ODBC Driver for Access and there’s very little to configure as all you need to give it is the name, DSN type, description and location of your Access database file.It works with Access 97 databases or higher and supports standard SQL “select” and “join” statements although note that read-only “insert” and “update” SQL statements and password protected databases are not supported. You can even and see how well it works in accessing and retrieving data from your Access database.is a free open source solution to create databases on Mac and part of the excellent LibreOffice free office suite which is a free alternative to Microsoft Office on Mac. It’s nowhere near as powerful or as glossy as FileMaker Pro but it packs a lot of features into a free package.LibreOffice Base supports opening of Access files as well as MySQL/MariaDB, Adabas D and PostgreSQL.
There’s also support for JDBC and ODBC drivers meaning you can connect to most other databases as well. However, you will need an ODBC driver in order to connect to Access databases such as (see review above) which costs $39.95.
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Even if Base doesn’t fit your needs, by downloading the LibreOffice suite, you’re getting an office suite absolutely free. LibreOffice Base is surprisingly powerful for a free package although has nowhere near as many features as FileMakerPro and unlike the latter isn’t designed specifically for Mac.Finally, is a very simple and inexpensive app to view both older MDB and newer ACCDB files on your Mac. Although its very basic, it does allow you to view and export data including Access database formats from 1997 to 2013. You will be able to see all of your stored data but you can’t modify data and you cannot see forms or queries.Although it can’t open Access files, is definitely worth a mention. Tap Forms is a user friendly database manager designed specifically for Mac.
It’s ideal for those that can’t handle the complexity or learning curve of Access but want to make databases or forms easily.Tap Forms makes it easy to create databases for accounts, recipes, inventories and more. You can include things like images, audio recordings and links to other database files.Tap Forms has filled the gap left by the demise of Bento on Mac and you can import old Bento files, CSV, text and other formats. You can also sync Tap Forms with iCloud, IBM Cloudant, WiFi networks and Apache CouchDB Sync Servers.If you’re looking for an easy way to create databases on Mac without MS Access complexity, Tap Forms is worth a look.You can try a before you buy.You can also watch how to migrate to Tap Forms from another app and see. Looking for some advice as my budget is limited and I can’t try multiple programs. I am in charge of a team of people, some of whom have PCs and some of whom have macs. We have an.ACCDB file (not password protected) already built in Access that we use to make printed reports for events that we manage with data customized for that event (e.g. Names and phone numbers).
If I don’t need the Mac users to be able to build databases or manipulate large amounts of data, but just update certain fields, create reports (with already-designed layouts) and print, which program would you suggest? Please feel free to reach me directly.
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January 2023
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