Logos for Mac versus Logos for Windows

Donovan R. Palmer
Donovan R. Palmer Member, MVP Posts: 2,886
edited November 2024 in English Forum

I am curious if there are any users out there that are running both Logos for Mac and Logos for Windows either on the same computer or on separate machines.  If so, what are your experiences of the two? Logos for Mac after all these years of being in full release is still buggy. Is the Windows version less problematic?  If so, I am considering running Parallels again and ditch the Mac version so that I can have reliable access to resources that I have invested in for many years now.  

And yes, before someone gives me a bunch of wiki links to posting logs and asking me to describe every problem that I have had, I have worked hard to resolve this and have also spoken to customer support. I don't have time to chase these issues any more and some of the issues that I have are already being reported in the Mac forum. Logos for Mac is the only software package on my computer that consistently has had issues, so my goal is to get back to problem free computing again and not spend any further time trying to fix it.

Comments or views on the two programs compared to each other appreciated.

Comments

  • LimJK
    LimJK Member Posts: 1,068 ✭✭

    Donovan,

    Yes, I am running both L4M and L4W on Parallel 7 (my specs below).

    Personally I was hoping for the day to be able to run only OS X Lion Applications, unfortunately the experiences for the sort of things I do on Logos, it is not very satisfactory on L4M at this point (I know this is subjective). I am keeping Parallels 7.0 and Windows 7 (64bit) just to run L4W. I am very thankful for people like KS4J for keeping the PC vs Mac parity list for all of us, always with a smile.

    The total cost of ownership to run Logos this way is quite expensive though, including costs of Parallels 7.0 (I upgraded over the years all the way from 3.0, and briefly defecting to Fusion VMware), Windows 7 Retail copy, RAM and SSD (for my case))

    However, I am quite happy with the overall experience of running L4W under Windows 7 on Parallels 7.0. Both the performance (responsiveness) and power requirement (battery life) are very respectable now compared to the earlier days. So, I think you should go for it.

    Let me know if you need any comparison type information for setting up, I will be happy to share that.

    JK

    MacBookPro Retina 15" Late 2013 2.6GHz RAM:16GB SSD:500GB macOS Sierra 10.12.3 | iPhone 7 Plus iOS 10.2.1

  • Andrew Chuter
    Andrew Chuter Member Posts: 118 ✭✭

    Donovan,

                  My experience is similar to the previous respondent. I run Logos for Windows using Windows 7/Parallels 7 on a 17" MacBook, aswell as Logos for Mac. (I also use it for running Bible Works which is my preferred biblical languages programme so I am not using the Widows virtual machine solely to run Logos). Overall I am very happy with the way Logos for Windows functions. Occasionally there can be a bit of a delay before it is up and running smoothly - but this seems to be the result of non-Logos issues such anti-virus and Windows updates - however, once it is up and running it is fine.

    While I prefer the visual side of Logos for Mac (I find the Windows visual presentation a bit 'washed-out') and would like to just use Logos for Mac, I tend to use Logos for Windows because it is less buggy and has greater functionality.

                       Andrew Chuter

  • mab
    mab Member Posts: 3,071 ✭✭✭

    I run both, using Remote Desktop to access my PC's Logos installation in a separate computer. The Win app is faster and perhaps we might expect L4M to be playing catchup for longer than anyone would like. But I don't really have any major concerns on L4M. It's very usable even on my dinosaur machine. 

    I just did a clean installation on my PC--something I've never had to do on my current Mac. This is the second time around. The issues and considerable user knowhow for that pale in comparison to those on L4M. Most people who complain about Mac issues tend to forget how much better they have it overall.  

     

    The mind of man is the mill of God, not to grind chaff, but wheat. Thomas Manton | Study hard, for the well is deep, and our brains are shallow. Richard Baxter

  • If so, what are your experiences of the two? Logos for Mac after all these years of being in full release is still buggy. Is the Windows version less problematic?

    Typically Logos 4 on Windows is less problematic than Logos 4 Mac.  Caveat: Windows is periodically more problematic than Mac OS X.  Personally have crashed Logos 4 on Mac and PC many times: Mac much more than PC.

    If have adequate disk space, would recommend two or three Logos 4 installations so if something bad happens in one installation, have a viable alternative.  A number of Logos 4 users on Mac and PC have experienced SQLite database corruption in various files.  Due to potential data loss, personally use Personal Books instead of Notes and Clippings.  Logos 4 stores notes and clippings as XML snippets in SQLite database files.  If a file becomes malformed, then all content (notes or clippings) become inaccessible, the SQLite database file needs to be deleted so a new (empty) one can be created then can sync stuff from Logos servers.  If sync does not propagate data, having a second or third Logos 4 installation provides the option to change a little bit in an item to cause sync.

    If so, I am considering running Parallels again and ditch the Mac version so that I can have reliable access to resources that I have invested in for many years now.

    Oracle's virtualbox is a free alternative to Parallels.  If using Windows to only run Logos 4, could customize internet options to change home page to Logos.com and ponder what additional software is really needed on Windows.  Many malware downloads start by visiting a web site or opening email.  When using 64 bit kernel on Mac for noticeable speed improvement, learned 64 bit Windows is noticeably faster than 32 bit Windows in a virtual machine.

    Logos for Mac is the only software package on my computer that consistently has had issues, so my goal is to get back to problem free computing again and not spend any further time trying to fix it.

    If wiki Feature Parity list does not have your top two or three Logos 4 Mac annoyances, please consider starting Logos 4 Mac thread(s) with steps how to repeat annoyance(s).  The Feature Parity list has links to threads with repeatable issues experienced by two or more Logos 4 Mac users, which helps Logos developers know which discrepancies between Mac and PC have been experienced by their customers.  Logos release notes typically include links to forum thread issues and often updates thread when issue has been fixed.  Option is following thread so an email is sent.

    Personally dreaming of Logos Bible Software that consistently works well on Mac and PC with awesome study capabilities.  Thankful for many Logos 4 Mac improvements.  Personally was disappointed by Logos 4.5b stable release on Mac with many buggy regression issues so Feature Parity list expanded;  Logos 4.5c stable release fixed most of the 4.5b regressions.

    Thankful for mobile access to many resources.  Recently bought a Dell Latitude ST tablet (on sale for less than a new Pad with retina display) running Windows 7 for portable use since Logos 4 on Windows has many more features than iOS mobile app (especially visual filter highlighting).  With 2 GB of RAM and Intel Atom 1.5 GHz CPU, am anticipating tablet to have some Logos 4 sluggishness; planning to copy a Logos 4 installation from PC with indexing complete.

    Keep Smiling [:)]

  • Donovan R. Palmer
    Donovan R. Palmer Member, MVP Posts: 2,886

    I already have Parallels... but quit using it when I thought Logos for Mac was close to being sufficient to get rid of it.  However, things really haven't improved and in some aspects regressed. Hence, my interest in setting it up again only to run Windows for Logos. Logos 4 Mac is a really sub par.  I keep hanging in there thinking that it will get better, but after a couple of years I am hitting the limit of my patience.  

    Other comments welcome, but I am about to delete Logos 4 Mac and start to run it under vitalised Windows to get the level of performance that I expect.  It was ok to deal with this for the first year or so and I really don't like being down on it, but I am afraid it is really a reflection of how poor the software is.  It really is the poorest piece of software on my computer at present which is sad because I used to be a real Logos promoter.

    I am certain this is not what Logos wants, but until something improves it looks like I am going to have to run Parallels/Windows.

    Any other comments welcome, but I guess I need to dust off my license and get set up again.

  • Any other comments welcome, but I guess I need to dust off my license and get set up again.

    If have enough disk space, could change Use Internet setting in Logos 4 Mac to No.  To avoid downloading resource files, could share Logos 4 Mac resource folder with Parallels so could use scan command in Windows to copy resource files from Mac, see => Method 3   Wiki Quick Installation onto Multiple Macs has resource paths in Copy Logos 4 Resources to Mac OS X

    With Use Internet set to No, still have option to manually download Logos 4 Mac application and update; wiki has => Update Error

    Caveat: turning off internet does cause sync information to queue up.

     It really is the poorest piece of software on my computer at present which is sad because I used to be a real Logos promoter.

    Understand disappointment.  Thankful that Logos 4 is very similar on Mac and PC so switching between operating systems is easy.

    Historical observation: Logos 4.5c on Mac has many more features and study capabilities than Logos for Mac v1 (initial Libronix 3 port to Mac).  In some ways, hoping for return of some new beta releases that have many feature parity improvements on Mac (reminders of pre-release Alpha that felt like opening a gift every couple weeks).

    Likewise looking forward to Logos 4 improvements since a number of Libronix 3.0g capabilities are not (yet) in Logos 4.5c => What is more useful in Libronix 3.0g ? (especially compared to Logos 4.5a)  Windows virtual machine could have Logos 4 and Libronix 3.

    Logos 4 on Windows has custom installation option for placement of Logos 4 folder so added one more item to Feature Parity list:


    • PC Installation has custom option for Logos4 folder location while Mac does not

    Keep Smiling [:)]