[6/16/2015: We now have a full blog post detailing how to set up AWS to run UBot Studio on a free VPS. See here: Set up UBot Studio on a Free Amazon VPS in ten minutes]

The short answer is that UBot Studio is designed to run in Windows, and the bots that you can compile work only in Windows.

But if you’re a design geek, an Apple fanboy, or just a big fan of Macs–don’t worry. There are many resources for you to use UBot Studio even if your main OS is OSX.

Get started here with some great information on  The best way to run Windows on your Mac as well as  5 Ways to Run Windows Software on a Mac.

We also spoke with several of our customers about how they do it.

Boot Camp or Parallels:

Cost: Windows Required, $0 – 200

Boot Camp and Parallels let you run Microsoft Windows on your Mac. Learn how Boot Camp runs Windows and what the installation requirements are by clicking the first link above, or check out Parallels at the second. Both require that you have a Windows license, and the Windows software, but a copy of Windows can usually be had for under $30.

If you are looking for a cheap version of Windows, check out Ebay.

Wine:

Cost: $0

Wine (originally an acronym for “Wine Is Not an Emulator”) is a compatibility layer capable of running Windows applications on several POSIX-compliant operating systems, such as Linux, Mac OSX, & BSD. Instead of simulating internal Windows logic like a virtual machine or emulator, Wine translates Windows API calls into POSIX calls on-the-fly, eliminating the performance and memory penalties of other methods and allowing you to cleanly integrate Windows applications into your desktop.

It might sound complicated, but it isn’t. Check out some additional instructions: http://www.cultofmac.com/185565/how-to-run-almost-any-windows-game-on-your-mac-without-boot-camp-or-parallels-feature/. (We don’t know for sure if Wine works for UBot Studio, but it should.)

Wine Bottler

Cost: $0

With Wine Bottler, there’s no need to actually install Wine itself., or for your customers to install Wine. “No need to install emulators, virtualizers or boot into other operating systems – WineBottler runs your Windows-based programs directly on your Mac.

WineBottler can pack your .exe into an Mac .app. Double-click your .exe or .msi and convert it into an app with WineBottler. You can run the generated app like every other program on your Mac. For advanced users, WineBottler gives you a selection of options: install special dependencies and even turn your .exe into a self-contained app – that is an app, that contains everything to run it… even on other Macs. Porting to OS X never was easier ;).

You don’t care about generating an app and just want to run it? Double-click the .exe, choose “Run directly” and Wine will run it in a generic environment.”

Virtual Private Server

Cost: Variable, $40 – $200/month. (Various providers, LiquidWeb recommended by some customers)

A Virtual Private Server running windows lets you host your websites, your apps, and your bots. Many customers run their UBot Studio-created bots on VPS, but you can also run UBot Studio itself there. With a VPS there’s a monthly fee, usually, but no maintenance fees, no electricity costs, no bandwidth costs, and often times a very quick processor/ram. And a bonus is that you get to use what is usually significantly faster internet connection than the one you have at your house.

Amazon Web Services VPS

Cost: Variable, $0 – $4/hour

When Amazon got into the cloud business, they didn’t screw around. Amazon Web Services has a free tier VPS which for tiny instances of bots is a great idea. You can pay on an hourly basis if you want a faster VPS with more GB and bandwidth. Uploaded and running software basically freezes when you turn off the instance, and, you can turn on and turn it off remotely with a mobile app.

A cheap/refurbished Windows machine

Cost: Variable, $30 – $250

Newegg, EBay

You can easily buy a computer for running UBot Studio (and the many other applications that only run on Windows). Check Newegg, EBay, or your local computer shop for something around $100-200. (It should fit these requirements to run UBot Studio properly.)

So, if you’re on a Mac, and you want to use UBot Studio – there are plenty of options. We don’t plan on building an OSX version of UBot Studio currently, but we want you to have access to the best web automation software on the planet.