The question isn't whether Mac OSX, Windows, Linux, Macs, PCs, or Rasberry Pi are better, but which will do the job the user needs them to do.ĪFAIK from a friend that uses NINA and I use Kstars., The short answer is Kstars on Mac will do everything NINA does and more. If I wanted really simple, which I don't, then I'd buy a couple ASIAir units. For $900 I could buy two really robust mini PCs with Windows Pro already installed. I suppose I could buy Parallels Desktop and Windows 11 Pro for an extra $300. But it won't run the software I want and have found to do everything I need. It is the most convenient methodology for me. Yeah, I would like to stay in the Mac environment, but there isn't enough software support for what I want to do with my astro equipment. I haven't seen a Mac product that can do everything that NINA can. Plus, I use a lot of advanced features in NINA. The inexpensive mini PCs make it simple and don't need much computing power. But I often take them to remote dark sites. I could run my mounts with the Mac Studio.

My old MacBook Pro does everything else I could need for personal computing. I now have a Mac M1 Studio, mostly for post processing. I use both EQMac and INDI in my 12 core Mac Pro, running 10.13.6 On Mac you instal KStars and EKOS software which use a protocol called INDI.Īn alternative to INDI is EQMac software, which will control the mount, if you wish to use PHD2 as a stand alone program.

Parallels desktop 16 m1