Running Opticsbuilder on macOS and Linux

OpticsBuilder was written in C# using the .NET Windows Forms framework. It is well integrated with the Windows ecosystem, and allows fast building of business-oriented apps, without spending too much time with the GUI.

Even if today MolFlow and SynRad runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, rewriting OpticsBuilder from scratch in a new GUI would be a very large task that's not worth it. Therefore, there won't be a native macOS or Linux version. The good news is that you can use a Windows compatibility layer called Wine.

Installing Wine on macOS

1. I assume you already have Homebrew installed, since it's required to fulfill MolFlow or SynRad dependencies.
2. Install Wine by typing in the Terminal:
   brew install wine-stable --cask
   This will install Wine and its dependencies.
3. You can configure Wine by running winecfg from the Terminal

Run OpticsBuilder with Wine

1. Download the latest OpticsBuilder and extract it to a folder
2. Open a Terminal and navigate to the folder
3. Run OpticsBuilder through Wine:
   wine OpticsBuilder.exe

Tip

I haven't tested on Linux. Wine also exists there, the method should be similar.

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Last update: October 3, 2024