There doesn't seem be a lot of good (modern/supported) solutions for the Mac in the 3270 emulation space. Passport for Host Access on Windows is great, but let down by having to "remote" into a Windows Platform to run it. I've seen plenty of "web based" emulator options offered, but running 3270 emulation in a browser tends to miss on the important productivity features, like good keyboard mapping, script support etc. I have had some success in the past with W.I.N,E and CrossOver (emulating the required (Windows) functions/APIs, but not an option due to security concerns at my shop.
Is Rocket looking to port to a native client? - What is everybody else using, while we wait?
------------------------------
Eoin O'Cleirigh
ANZ Banking Group Limited
Melbourne VIC AU
------------------------------
There doesn't seem be a lot of good (modern/supported) solutions for the Mac in the 3270 emulation space. Passport for Host Access on Windows is great, but let down by having to "remote" into a Windows Platform to run it. I've seen plenty of "web based" emulator options offered, but running 3270 emulation in a browser tends to miss on the important productivity features, like good keyboard mapping, script support etc. I have had some success in the past with W.I.N,E and CrossOver (emulating the required (Windows) functions/APIs, but not an option due to security concerns at my shop.
Is Rocket looking to port to a native client? - What is everybody else using, while we wait?
------------------------------
Eoin O'Cleirigh
ANZ Banking Group Limited
Melbourne VIC AU
------------------------------
I've never used the Mac version, but I have used the Android and Windows version of Mocha TN3270. There is also x3270. I've used the Windows version of that and did not really like it. Biggest issue is I use a mod5 screen (27x132) and resizing the Window messed up the layout.
------------------------------
John Giltner
Network Specialist
Airline Tariff Publishing Co
Sterling VA US
------------------------------
There doesn't seem be a lot of good (modern/supported) solutions for the Mac in the 3270 emulation space. Passport for Host Access on Windows is great, but let down by having to "remote" into a Windows Platform to run it. I've seen plenty of "web based" emulator options offered, but running 3270 emulation in a browser tends to miss on the important productivity features, like good keyboard mapping, script support etc. I have had some success in the past with W.I.N,E and CrossOver (emulating the required (Windows) functions/APIs, but not an option due to security concerns at my shop.
Is Rocket looking to port to a native client? - What is everybody else using, while we wait?
------------------------------
Eoin O'Cleirigh
ANZ Banking Group Limited
Melbourne VIC AU
------------------------------
Hi Eoin,
I work with the host access team and we have had some customers using Reflection Desktop, Reflection for the Web (in a browser), and Rumba on a Mac, but most used a Windows-based Citrix Server to host the emulator and the Citrix client on the Mac to connect. This usually works well, as long as there are no Citrix bugs to prevent it from working correctly. We had one issue which was resolved by using the latest version of the Citrix Workspace client, and the other was actually a Rumba bug (on Windows) which had to be fixed.
If customers had issues with using "Parallels Desktop" on Macs to run one of our windows-based emulators, they would have to prove to host access support that the same issue occurred on a real Windows device, in order for support to address it. As far as I know, we have not had any calls on customers using Parallels Desktop, so it either just works, or is not being used much.
-Scott
------------------------------
Scott Kay
Sr. Tech Support Eng.
Rocket Internal - All Brands
------------------------------
Hi Eoin,
I work with the host access team and we have had some customers using Reflection Desktop, Reflection for the Web (in a browser), and Rumba on a Mac, but most used a Windows-based Citrix Server to host the emulator and the Citrix client on the Mac to connect. This usually works well, as long as there are no Citrix bugs to prevent it from working correctly. We had one issue which was resolved by using the latest version of the Citrix Workspace client, and the other was actually a Rumba bug (on Windows) which had to be fixed.
If customers had issues with using "Parallels Desktop" on Macs to run one of our windows-based emulators, they would have to prove to host access support that the same issue occurred on a real Windows device, in order for support to address it. As far as I know, we have not had any calls on customers using Parallels Desktop, so it either just works, or is not being used much.
-Scott
------------------------------
Scott Kay
Sr. Tech Support Eng.
Rocket Internal - All Brands
------------------------------
Hi Eoin,
I think if you decide to try the Parallels virtual desktop s/w you will just need to test all the usage cases for your terminal emulator that matter to you and determine if the support is adequate for your needs. The features supported in Reflection (now Secure Host Access Desktop) and Rumba for macros, scripting and automation are quite extensive so you can only be confident by testing your existing macros/code. If you are talking about typical terminal emulation support with human interaction via the desktop UI then I am more confident you will likely be satisfied with the reliability and performance.
But like all software running in a VM or virtual environment YMMV depending on exactly what you do with the software, the machine you are using and what other applications you are using concurrently.
Best Regards,
-Scott
------------------------------
Scott Kay
Sr. Tech Support Eng.
Rocket Internal - All Brands
------------------------------
I've never used the Mac version, but I have used the Android and Windows version of Mocha TN3270. There is also x3270. I've used the Windows version of that and did not really like it. Biggest issue is I use a mod5 screen (27x132) and resizing the Window messed up the layout.
------------------------------
John Giltner
Network Specialist
Airline Tariff Publishing Co
Sterling VA US
------------------------------
Thanks John, Yes I've tried all of these - Mocha looked promising, but no extended screen size support and very limited keyboard mapping. X3270 (or the C3270 version for Mac) does "work" but because it runs as a terminal app, the keyboard support is crazy, multiple strokes and chord combinations, so potential as a fallback when there is no other option. I had hopes that Brown University would open source or upgrade their solution, but I think the shift to Silicon Macs was the bridge too far. Emtech's ZOCn might be the best I've seen so far, but Scott points out that Rumba might be an option...
------------------------------
Eoin O'Cleirigh
ANZ Banking Group Limited
Melbourne VIC AU
------------------------------
Hi Eoin,
I work with the host access team and we have had some customers using Reflection Desktop, Reflection for the Web (in a browser), and Rumba on a Mac, but most used a Windows-based Citrix Server to host the emulator and the Citrix client on the Mac to connect. This usually works well, as long as there are no Citrix bugs to prevent it from working correctly. We had one issue which was resolved by using the latest version of the Citrix Workspace client, and the other was actually a Rumba bug (on Windows) which had to be fixed.
If customers had issues with using "Parallels Desktop" on Macs to run one of our windows-based emulators, they would have to prove to host access support that the same issue occurred on a real Windows device, in order for support to address it. As far as I know, we have not had any calls on customers using Parallels Desktop, so it either just works, or is not being used much.
-Scott
------------------------------
Scott Kay
Sr. Tech Support Eng.
Rocket Internal - All Brands
------------------------------
Thanks Scott, Yes Citrix/WindowsApp to a Windows image, and Passport is my current daily driver - Latest Citrix still ahead of Microsofts WindowsApp, but they are catching up. I think I last saw Rumba on Windows, but a Mac version is interesting, now I have a name I can "search it up".
------------------------------
Eoin O'Cleirigh
ANZ Banking Group Limited
Melbourne VIC AU
------------------------------
Thanks Scott, Yes Citrix/WindowsApp to a Windows image, and Passport is my current daily driver - Latest Citrix still ahead of Microsofts WindowsApp, but they are catching up. I think I last saw Rumba on Windows, but a Mac version is interesting, now I have a name I can "search it up".
------------------------------
Eoin O'Cleirigh
ANZ Banking Group Limited
Melbourne VIC AU
------------------------------
Hi Eoin,
There are no Mac native versions of Reflection, Rumba or Secure Host Access. All of these products set themselves apart from the alternatives by their very thorough support of mainframe and AS/400 (TN3270 & TN5250) terminals and most importantly the support for macros/scripting/automation (HLLAPI...). If you are simply using a terminal for manual interaction I expect Passport will be just fine. If you start trying to do extensive macro, scripting, programmatic automation you may want to investigate SHA, or the predecessors Reflection and Rumba.
Best Regards,
-Scott
------------------------------
Scott Kay
Sr. Tech Support Eng.
Rocket Internal - All Brands
------------------------------