So, I just bought myself an iMAC with OSx 10.8 and wanted to as soon as possible get UO up and running on this system. I never used an iMAC before so my knowledge about all this were = 0. My first encounter were to find out that an iMAC doesn't like .exe files, so now you know at what lvl I begun. Here is a step by step guide how to install an play UO in OSx. To begin with I would just point out that there are a few ways of doing this. I will explain this one way, my way, but will list some options below for starters before I start the step by step guide on how to set it up the way I did. Applications To play a windows game on an iMAC you will either need an application like CrossOver, a virtual Windows machine installed in for example Parallels, VM ware Fusion or Virtual Box or you can set up a dual boot with BootCamp. My first thought were to use the smart application called CrossOver who state "Run Windows Applications on Mac, Easily and Affordably". The application cost $59.95 USD and would be well worth the money if it did as promised. I checked the "What runs" tab on website and found this information: Supported Ultima Versions Unfortunately it does not work with UOR. My next thought were to run a dual boot with Boot Camp Link to: Boot Camp But I'd like to be able to switch to the OSx whenever I want while I play so I skipped that idea. I decided to install Windows XP as a virtual machine in Parallels, VM ware Fusion or maybe Virtual Box First I checked out Parallels since it seems to be the most used and have the best grades in compatibility and integration. When I saw the price I change my mind though, $79.99 and only 14 days of trial. Link to: Parallels I turned my attention on VM Ware Fusion, another well know application and a brand I'm used to use from work. VM Ware Fusion has a 30 days trial but are as expensive asParallels, 44,99 € Link to: VM Ware Fusion At last I turned to Virtual Box, an application who seemed to do what it said it would do but according to some people it is a bit more non user friendly Virtual Box is made by Oracle and is a freeware which makes it interesting. Link to: Virtual Box Keep in mind that all of these application[*]s come without any Window license. I installed both VM Ware Fusion and Virtual Box to see what would run the best and if the price on Fusion would be worth it. Now with Virtual Box and VM Ware Fusion installed I needed a freeware version of Windows XP. Someone in IRC, forgot your name sorry, gave me a tip on Windows XP Dark, a free version of Windows XP and totally legal. To get a hold on that I installed Bit Torrent. And simply searched for Windows XP Dark and found one version named Windows XP Darklite that I downloaded. Here is what I have so far on my OSx: [*]VM Ware Fusion free 30 days trial [*]Virtual Box freeware [*]Bit Torrent freeware [*]Windows XP Darklite freeware I started up with installing VM Ware Fusion and added WM Ware Tools, its a must have tool kit that makes it possible to drag and drop items from between the iMAC and the Windows operation systems within VM Ware. Then I created my virtual XP client. After the installation is done remember to change Network adapter to Bridged instead of the default NAT in WM Ware, seems to work better and disconnect less this way. You find the setting under "Virtual Machine/Network Adapter/Bridged" Furthermore you need to change a setting for the mouse, or it will only run at half speed of the host system wile in UO. You find that setting under "Virtual Machine/Settings/Keyboard & Mouse/Profile - Default/small gear in the bottom/Edit Profile/General" and change "Gaming" to: "Never Optimise Mouse For Games". Now you can install UOR client and Razor. You may have to play around a bit with the screen resolution since Windows XP Darklite is installed at 800x600 by default. Notes: I really like how easily you can transfer information between Fusion and OSx with a simple drag'n drop I also enjoyed that you can set screen resolution pretty much how you wish and are not stuck in standard sizes. Windows XP boots within seconds and runs like a dream without any problems at all. Somehow my enter key at the numpad doesn't work in Fusion, don't know why. The prize tag on Fusion is a bit too high imo. Now I installed Virtual Box The installation is pretty much straight forward, similar to Fusion, just next next etc. When done you also here need to change the Network to run as Bridged instead of NAT. You do that under Devices/Network Adapters. The XP installation went as smooth as on Fusion and all I had to change when done was the screen resolution. Here Virtual Box leaves more to want, you don't have as free hands to play around with different resolutions as in VM Ware but are stuck with standard resolutions ranging from 600x480 up to 1600x1280 It's doable but not optimal. Another not so good thing about Virtual Box is that you can not drag and drop items between the virtual machine and the OSx client or vice versa even though it has a setting for it. I would assume they correct this in a later release tough or there might be a tools application as in Fusion to download I still haven't found. Notes: Virtual Box is an OK working freeware that deliver what it promise without any special features. You do not have to edit settings for mouse speed, that took me about 1h to find in Fusion You can not drag and drop items between OS's meaning you will have to download all files u need directly int the virtual machine. You cannot tweak your screen resolution as you wish but are stuck to a few preselected settings. XP has a somewhat slower boot in Virtual Box than in Fusion. For me the Virtual Box with Windows XP Darklite is the optimal choice, it runs as smooth as the Fusion installation, it's free and I can live with the flaws it has. As a final note I would recommend you to buy a new mouse if you have the MAC Magic Mouse. Even though you have the option to activate right click on it it doesn't work as good as a conventional mouse and it takes alot of getting used to to play UO efficient with it. /Rand
As someone with a lot of experience with VirtualBox, I'd like to add a couple minor details. Overall, great guide As you mentioned, VirtualBox is fairly plain out of the box, but there is a utility you can install on the guest OS (Your XP or Windows 7 installation) called Virtualbox Guest Additions -- with Windows 7, it will prompt you on your first boot to ask if you wish to install them. In XP, you will need to go to the "Devices" menu, and select "Install guest additions". This package adds a lot of functionality; but the big one is the unified desktop. With this, you can make your windows desktop essentially the same size as your main desktop, and UO will feel like a native application on your Mac. The standard Windows desktop goes away, and the resolution becomes the same as the Mac desktop -- you can then resize your UO window to your hearts content. VMWare Fusion and Parallels both have this option as well; I quite like it myself. The file copy is currently not possible with VirtualBox, but I do believe its on the roadmap for the future. There are simple methods around this as well though, simply go to the Settings for the Virtual Machine within the VirtualBox manager, and select the "Shared Folders" tab. You can add a local machine path from your Mac desktop, and VirtualBox will automatically mount it every boot. Not nearly as elegant, but its functional. Overall, performance-wise, VirtualBox and VMWare are very similar, especially when it comes to playing UO. The biggest challenge will come with balancing the resources that your computer has, with what you give to the virtual machine. If you provide the VM with too much of the host system's resources, the performance of your other uses of the desktop can be dragged down to a halt. If you're only playing UO and browsing the web/using IRC at the time, it likely won't matter -- but the more things you add, the more likely this becomes.
Also, one last addition to one of your first points -- CodeWeavers CrossOver. This is a commercial fork of Wine, the free implementation of the Windows API's that can be compiled by hand, as per SIRSLY's guide here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1973 The real question for compatibility with the UO:R client, is compatibility with the Mondain's Legacy client, as we use. As you can see, its supported: http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibilit ... pp_id=3727 ...and it will work as well as it will with SIRSLY's guide, possibly a bit better due to the proprietary changes within WINE that CrossOver has done. There is a rub with this method, however; it does not seem to work with UO AutoMap. Nothing that SIRSLY or myself have attempted has been able to get UOAM functional through any method that utilizes WINE as its core. To me, having UOAM available is worth it enough that I tend to choose the VM method myself, but this would work perfectly well as well -- and may make other games you own Mac-compatible to boot.
