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Hello,

I know and use some OR applications on Windows but my home computer is a Mac (with Mac OS X), so when I'd like to work at home I always have to boot Win to run those apps. So my question is, what are my possibilities?

In fact, I tried to google this problem with no success so far. To me it seems like this need of mine can't be satisfied, or at least not with a full-GUI app, which I require, at least in part since I am not a programmer and I prefer a GUI over command line. Not like I found any app at all, so every recommendations would be welcome.

Thanks in advance!

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7 Answers

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Besides (IBM ILOG) CPLEX & Optimization Studio, there's a (somewhat) "new" kid in town /avail. for Mac OS X - also offered full-fledged, free-of-charge to students and academics: Gurobi (LP/MIP solver) - that may be used in combination with various commercial and non-commercial frontend interfaces, e.g. GAMS (also avail. for Mac OS X, of course).

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Thank you! I'm going to try this! – Ben Jul 6 at 16:10
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Following Paul's suggestion, another repository for Linux code that's been ported to Mac OS X is MacPorts: http://trac.macports.org/wiki. That's another place to look in case you don't find what you're looking for in Fink.

If you want a GUI for CPLEX, you can use ILOG's OPL Studio (which is also available (I guess) through IBM's academic initiative). I also use a Mac at home, and I have successfully installed CPLEX 12.1 and solved some problems via the command line interface (haven't tried OPL Studio though).

There's an issue with compiling C++ programs that use concert technology on the Mac OS X (see: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=14458988&tstart=0), so I haven't been able to do that yet. But since you said you don't want to write code, that shouldn't be a problem for you (though I'd appreciate if someone around here knew how to solve this issue :-)

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OPL Studio is no longer available for Linux, so I'd be surprised if they still support a Mac port. It's written on top of Eclipse, which is available for all platforms. I tried installing the Windows version of OPL Studio in Linux, thinking I could tweak a few things and get it to run, but fairly quickly bumped into serious problems and gave up the effort -- which is not to say that it can't be done, just that I'm not going to be the one to do it. – Paul Rubin Jul 6 at 14:55
@Paul: Hm, prove me wrong - but: IBM ILOG OPL-CPLEX Analyst Studio Teaching Edition 6.3 Trial ( j.mp/dCT4hQ ) is available for Linux, MacOS (which ought to be Mac OS X 10.x), Windows - isn't it? – fbahr Jul 8 at 13:00
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 @fbahr: There's only one download option for the trial version, and it's an exe file. I doubt they'd require you to run an installer in Wine to get a Linux version. (At 220 MB, I was reluctant to put this to the test.) I did download both the Windows and Linux versions of IBM ILOG OPL Development Studio V6.3. The Windows version includes libraries, a command line version of OPL and OPL Studio (the IDE). The Linux version, name notwithstanding, contains the libraries and command line OPL but not the IDE. – Paul Rubin Jul 8 at 14:51
Well, that's... somewhat unexpected (besides the misleading product & download description that claims: "An integrated development environment for CPLEX and CP Optimizer for Linux, MacOS, Windows") - since IBM is one of the biggest commercial Linux supporters out there... – fbahr Jul 8 at 16:51
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I don't use a Mac, but my impression is that Fink allows you to run a lot of Linux software (including OR apps). Some commercial OR software (including CPLEX, which is free to academic faculty if they register under IBM's academic initiative) is also available either for Linux or directly for Mac OS. (CPLEX has a Mac OS version.)

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Thanks for the hint! I already knew both AMPL and CPLEX, of course but as I see, neither of the listed apps and solvers on the link have GUI, which for me is a must. – Ben Jul 5 at 21:38
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I've just got a new Macbook Pro as my primary machine after a lifetime of Windows use, and there are some programs I absolutely need in Windows. If I need them to use the full processing power of the machine I reboot as Windows in boot camp. However, if its not that intensive (almost all the time) then I use Parallels in OS X.

Parallels is virtual machine software, but it also lets you use your boot camp partition as the virtual machine, so you can have windows running in a window in OS X, with only a slight performance hit. Really useful. It also offers a mode where the virtual machine becomes invisible - so you launch Windows programs from the OS X dock, and they look like Mac windows and Mac programs... the virtual machine is running in the background but you don't need to think about it.

It's the perfect solution for my Windows needs in OS X, and I think it would work for you too. Parallels costs about US$80. Of course, you also need a Windows license, for the boot camp partition. But at least you can use your existing Windows OR software and won't need to buy anything new, and the learning curve should be small.

(It also seems like if you're trying to work at home then you really should have the same software that you're using at work, otherwise you won't be able to transfer anything and would have to have completely separate models at home and at work...?)

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Thank you! This would be good but I already know this method, of course. And I use VMWare, which is perfectly good for me, but I thought there has to be a native Mac OR app with GUI, just like Win has it all (like IBM ILOG Studio, AIMMS - which is my favourite, most easy to use application). Maybe I was naive. :) – Ben Jul 6 at 16:10
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The AMPL Web page offers links to a couple of (rather primitive) GUI front ends for AMPL that should work cross-platform. One is Java based and the other is TCL-Tk. (There's a Visual Basic version, too, but I doubt that speaks to the question at hand.)

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Here's another idea, just based on my previous comment: My favorite OR app is AIMMS. It's easy to use, easy to build models, with a full-fledged GUI, I don't have to write one byte of a code, I just have to click a few and all is done. I'm looking for something similar, to Mac. What do you think, is it possible?

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No ideas..? Anyone? – Ben Jul 7 at 10:29
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Halloooo? Any more ideas?

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