#1 2009-08-19 11:32:48

**_leure_**

Presenter and MAC

Is it true that I cannot use presenter with a MAC? If not are their any alternative?
Lisa

**_Jeff_at_RealEyes_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

Hi Lisa,
True, unfortunately, Presenter is a Windows only installation, there is no version that will install to PowerPoint in Office for Mac.

You can install Windows on your Mac through Parallels or any other virtual PC application, and install PowerPoint or Office. From there, you can install Presenter to that deployment in the virtual environment. Also, you can use Keynote on your Mac to build a presentation, and export to .ppt, or to .swf to play back in a Connect Pro Meeting Room. Please keep in mind though that you may have to make some serious tweaks prior to exporting in order for it to play back as intended.

In most cases, installing and deploying Windows, and then MS Office in a virtual environment on your Mac will be the best route to go, and will eliminate further trial and error sessions to get it right. This method is widely used and practiced more than using Keynote to build and then export accordingly.

And to further note, Captivate for Mac is in the beta stages at the moment, and once released, it will offer all of the features that Presenter does, as well as many, many more. Presenter is the "little sister" application to Captivate. I am very excited for this release, as I am a hardcore Mac user at home, and would absolutely love never having to use Windows for my work PC anymore....

**_leure_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

Ok I had the same issue with Flash Paper :(

**_bobneedham_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

I'm going to have a presentation this weekend with a group from a data cabling company and was thinking of using adobe presenter. I'm using mac too. I wish I saw this thread earlier. I had to transfer all my files to my daughter's pc, and listen to her ranting too!

I hope adobe creates a new version, one that works for mac. Are there any plans?

**_dyun_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

If you have a Connect Pro account (and are a member of the Authors group), you could also just upload your PPT file to the Content Library to convert it into Flash.  You can then either send a link to the uploaded file for on demand viewing, or download a zip file that allows you to play it back locally.

**_BeepBeep_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

Yeah, I recently bought a Mac book only to realize that all my Adobe software is useless on it. I am having a hard time understanding why Adobe wouldn't make their software compatible with Mac as popular as it is. I am thinking they must have some arrangement with Microsoft. Maybe a worthy competitor will develop software that can be used on Mac, then perhaps Adobe will reconsider this policy.
Business Process Automation

Last edited by **_BeepBeep_** (2011-01-03 13:18:36)

**_heywardjr_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

Reply to: BeepBeep:

"Yeah, I recently bought a Mac book only to realize that all my Adobe software is useless on it. I am having a hard time understanding why Adobe wouldn't make their software compatible with Mac as popular as it is. I am thinking they must have some arrangement with Microsoft. Maybe a worthy competitor will develop software that can be used on Mac, then perhaps Adobe will reconsider this policy."

Unfortunately, the problem is that Microsoft Office for Mac does not allow plugins because Mac OSX won't allow plug-ins.  There is no method for Adobe or anyone else to add applications inside another one.  So, be aware that Adobe is one of Apple's largest software developers by far and there are lots and lots of Adobe applications that are native Mac applications. Many of Adobe apps are sold on Apple's Store.

Adobe released Adobe Captivate for the Mac in 2010 with many of the very same features that Presenter provides.  We just could not imbed Presenter as an add-in to Powerpoint on the Mac because there is no way to do it like there is on Windows. Long answer but true!  Try using Captivate!

**_heywardjr_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

YannaKhoro,

Inappropriate spam link posted. Adobe Presenter is not available for the Mac because of plug-in design of Presenter is forbidden by Apple in the OS. Microsoft does not have a plug-in module for thrid parties for Office on the Mac because of this.

The answer would be to use Adobe Captivate for Mac which has many of the same features as Presenter but it is not a plug-in to Powerpoint.

**_oldkingcole3_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

I'm relatively new to Adobe Presenter and very new to Captivate. However, it seems that when importing a PowerPoint deck into Captivate, Captivate does not honor (retain) any internal hyperlinks that you put in the original PowerPoint deck. Additionally, Captivate does not have the "sync" tool that Presenter has, so synchronizing bullet points or other PowerPoint animations with audio is much more tedious in Captivate. Captivate doesn't show PowerPoint animations on the Captivate timeline, either, so editing them is difficult.

Until Captivate gains these capabilities, my guess is that most users will feel that moving from Presenter to Captivate is a step down, despite Captivate's many features that Presenter doesn't have.

**_Jorma_at_RealEyes_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

Captivate does suffer from having to convert a PPT deck to something else, just like any other software that does the same. So Captivate does lose a step to Presenter there, as Presenter does let you retain control of your PPT content better.

As to the "sync" tool, Captivate does give you the timeline, which I feel is faster and more accurate than Presenter's sync tool. However, it does take some getting used to if you are used to Presenter.

Personally I don't think of Captivate as a step down from Presenter, but there are use cases that are better for Presenter. I think both tools are great and have good utility, but it all comes down to know when to use each tool.

Captivate is a great software workflow capture and training tool. Over the years it has grown closer to an Adobe alternative to PowerPoint, but it is not quite there in terms of ease of use. I find that if my presentation is easier to build in PPT (or already exists in PPT), I'll use Presenter because of it's simplicity and retention of control and quality with my PPT content. I know some people knock Presenter because of it's simplicity, but I love it for it. If I want complicated, I'll go to Captivate every time.

**_Purnima_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

Captivate has a very strong use case when you want to create online demos that can be used with Connect as well.
Presenter is best utilised when you want to create learning material in form of Presentation. These two are similar yet very different and have use case for themselves

**_stevewinkel_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

As a new Mac user, what's the time and cost implications on creating a virtual Windows environment on a MAC? I have the mac, and need presenter... wondering if I'm just better off getting a separate PC at my desk from a cost perspective.

**headache**

**_Jorma_at_RealEyes_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

You can always get VMWare or Parallels for your Mac, then install Windows as a VM on your computer.

As to cost, you would looking at purchasing the VM software, Windows and MS Office for Windows.

**_UsedCarsInChennai_**

Re: Presenter and MAC

Hi Lisa,
True, unfortunately, Presenter is a Windows only installation, there is no version that will install to PowerPoint in Office for Mac.

You can install Windows on your Mac through Parallels or any other virtual PC application, and install PowerPoint or Office. From there, you can install Presenter to that deployment in the virtual environment. Also, you can use Keynote on your Mac to build a presentation, and export to .ppt, or to .swf to play back in a Connect Pro Meeting Room. Please keep in mind though that you may have to make some serious tweaks prior to exporting in order for it to play back as intended.

In most cases, installing and deploying Windows, and then MS Office in a virtual environment on your Mac will be the best route to go, and will eliminate further trial and error sessions to get it right. This method is widely used and practiced more than using Keynote to build and then export accordingly.

And to further note, Captivate for Mac is in the beta stages at the moment, and once released, it will offer all of the features that Presenter does, as well as many, many more. Presenter is the "little sister" application to Captivate. I am very excited for this release, as I am a hardcore Mac user at home, and would absolutely love never having to use Windows for my work PC anymore....

May I know is the captivate works as expected. I would like to give a try rather than having a virtual machine running on MAC. It is really slow and I would like other alternatives