No, Virginia, there is not a version of Act! For “the Mac.” In fact, there has not been a version of Act! That was Apple compatible since Version 4.
And yes, I agree, it would be nice to have one. So please, don’t call me looking for a Mac compatible version of Act! And no, I don’t know of any Mac CRM product that comes close to Act! Mac users: Swiftpage is listening to you and I keep hearing rumors so stay tuned.
However, until the announcement comes of a new Act for Mac version I can offer you a few alternatives for using Act on your Mac. ACT for Mac Work-Arounds Use Act!
For Web offers approximately 90% of the functionality of the desktop version of Act! And is a great alternative for companies that have mixed environments of Windows and Mac machines. There are a number of ways you can deploy Act! For Web. Purchase Act!
There is not an official Act for Mac software. Someone else be responsible for the maintenance of the Act! Database since it will not reside on your machine. Perfect Database Icons for Mac OS v.2009.3 A collection of royalty-free ready-made icons for use in various database products, including software applications, information websites and presentations. The icons have been carefully created pixel by pixel by professional artists.
Premium and install the software on your own Web server. Pay someone to host your database for you. The pricing may vary but will cost you about $400/year. This will give you the best of both worlds in that you’ll be able to access the entirety of your database on your Mac machine. You’ll also have the benefit of having someone else be responsible for the maintenance of the Act! Database since it will not reside on your machine. The downside is that if for some reason you don’t have access to the Internet, you won’t have access to your data.
For Mac Virtualization Virtualization, via programs such as Parallels or VMWare, allows you to run both the Mac and Windows environments on your Mac. In essence you are partitioning of a part of the Mac’s hard drive and installing Windows. That will allow you to install Act! On the Windows portion of the hard drive, and continue to use all of your other products on the Mac side of things. This option is a bit pricey as you’ll need to purchase several items:.
Abundant RAM memory for your Mac. The Windows operating system. Virtualization software such as VMWare or Parallels You can typically purchase a bundle that will include the Windows operating system and the virtualization software for around $500. Synchronize Your Act! Data to Your Mac If the above solutions seem a bit too rich for your blood I do have one final solution which is to sync your ACT! data from a PC into your Mac using a program like. However, this solution has two huge caveats:. You must have Act!
Installed on a windows computer. You must be willing to be content with just viewing your contacts, activities and a few notes on your Mac. Granted, these two areas might be regarded as deal breakers by many Act! Users and you will be foregoing most of Act!’s wonderful CRM functionality.
However, if at the end of the day you only need to view your contacts and appointments, this solution might just work. You will also have the added benefit of seeing your contacts and appointments on all of your mobile devices including your smart phone and tablet.
If you would like to learn more about Act! CRM please contact one of the at.
Hi Don, We’re seeing a lot of that lately. Ironically we see larger and larger desktop monitors and smaller and smaller monitors on tablets and other mobile devices. Needless to say it’s hard to view something as graphically intense as Act on those tiny monitors when most layouts were designed for larger ones. The number one culprit is changing the Windows default font to “large;” try setting it to small and see if things look better. You might also take a look at this Knowledge Base article that offers additional suggestions:.
Hi Mark, I actually just came back from the Act Global conference. The new version, v18, is slotted to release on December 8 of this year. And no, there has been no discussion of Mac compatibility other than making improvements to the web product to make it work better with the various browsers including Chrome. I did see a lot of the “Swifties” walking around with Macs. For the most part they use Parallels to run Act on their Macs, or use Act on a hosted environment. The price of hosting has gone way down so that is a good alternative. Hi Bob, The big problem for Mac users looking for a CRM solution is that most CRM solutions require an SQL back-end which will not work in a Mac environment.
One solution is to install a virtual Windows environment on the Mac using something like Parallels or VMWare. However, those environments can get a bit costly once you purchase the extra software and memory required. The other option is to run a hosted version of your CRM solution which works great for the majority of users. Offers act e-marketing which means you can send out email blasts in the Mac environment. However, in your case you want to send snail mail and Act for Web will not recognize your Mac for Word.
However, you could use the Act Word Processor; although it doesn’t contain all the bells and whistles of Word it might just work for your basic mail merge needs. Hi Edan, Absolutely all of your Act data would be shared between your 2 machines. When we host your database we allow you to use either the web/browser version and/or a desktop remote “offline” database. In your case you would use the browser on the Mac to view your Act data, and could either use a browser or an “offline” database on your PC. If you decide on the offline database option (my favorite) you would use Act exactly as you’ve used it in the past with one exception. Any changes you make would automatically transfer to the cloud (and therefore be viewable on the Mac) and any changes you made on the Mac would transfer from the cloud back down to your PC.
Switching between CRM products requires that you can both export information OUT of the existing product and then IMPORT it into the new product. An ACT user can export out Contact, Opportunity, History, Activity and Company information using Excel but not your Notes.
Then like Humpty Dumpty you’ll have to put it all together again in the new product. Most vendors will require “GUID’s” to import the information and these do not come as part of the basic Act exports. Other vendors will allow you to import Contacts and Companies but not extras like Notes and Histories. To get this done by an expertise could become pricey. My recommendation before you move to Salesforce – and their pricing model – is to move to Act for Web which you can use on your Mac at a fraction of the Salesforce price.
Hi Doug, Wow – seems like everyone is hopping on the subscription band wagon. Not that I can blame the manufacturers – they need to have recurring revenue in order to remain in business.
Plus Microsoft updates have been playing havoc on many software programs lately; we all need our vendors to keep on top of changes and that takes money. No one can be expected to work for free.
I took a look at Parallels and it seemed pretty cheap at $20/year. Don’t think you could get a new computer for that price! Plus there just aren’t any comparable products to Act in the Mac world. If you like your Mac I’d stick with Parallels.