Fencing Time on a Mac


Many people are interested in seeing Fencing Time brought to the Mac.  Due to the amount of effort that would entail, a Mac port is unlikely to ever happen and Fencing Time will remain a PC-only product.  However, this does not mean that Mac users are completely left out in the cold - many people have been running Fencing Time on their Macs for some time now. 

If you have an Intel-based Mac, there are two commonly-used PC virtualization programs that allow you to run Windows programs on a Mac:

Parallels Desktop:
http://www.parallels.com

VMware Fusion:
http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion

Another option for Intel-based Macs is to use Apple's Boot Camp program, which allows you to dual-boot to Windows.

Some general information on running Windows applications on Intel Macs can be found at http://www.macwindows.com/winintelmac.html

If you are using an older PowerPC-based Mac, you can use the VirtualPC software to run a simulated PC environment on your Mac.  Unfortunately, Microsoft discontinued VirtualPC some time ago, so it may be hard to find a copy.


Tips for Running Fencing Time on a Mac

Once you have configured your Mac to run PC applications, all you need to do is install Fencing Time in the identical way you would do it on a PC. Once installed, here are a few tips on how to speed up Fencing Time on your Mac:

  • Set the printing options for your printer (in OS X) to print using the "Fast" or "Draft" printing mode.
  • Disable color printing if possible. Printing is much faster in black-and-white.
  • In Fencing Time, turn of the printing of logos on your printouts (via the Tools->Preferences menu.)