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Citavi runs beautifully on Macs under Windows, using a so-called virtual machine to run Windows without having to restart your Mac. And since Windows is kept within a "sandboxed" environment, it can't cause problems with the Mac. By carefully setting up your virtual machine, you can make working with Citavi almost seamless.

There are three virtual machine products on the market:
If you're migrating to a new Mac from a working PC, first check that you meet the system requirements, then scroll to Moving your Windows PC with Citavi to Parallels or VMware. Finally, follow the instructions below to optimize Citavi.

If you've got a Mac and do not have a PC you want to migrate, first check that you meet the system requirements, then follow the instructions for the virtual machine product you chose:

And scroll to Additional Tips to learn how to keep your Citavi data safe.

Moving your Windows PC with Citavi to Parallels or VMware
 Of course, you could install a virtual machine and then manually install Windows and all the programs you need, but if you already have a PC that's set up and working, you can migrate it seamlessly into a virtual machine. Parallels and VMware both offer programs that "pack up" the existing PC — Windows, programs, settings, documents and all — and copy it to a virtual machine, saving you the trouble of setting everything up again. (Don't worry, everything is left on the PC, too, in case you need to keep using it.) For Parallels, the migration tool is called Parallels Transporter, and for VMware, it's called VMware Converter.

The advantage of migrating is that you save the time and trouble of setting everything up again. The disadvantage is that any software problems with the computer you are migrating will be migrated as well, so you don't want to do this if the Windows PC has viruses or other problems that you want to avoid.

The principle of migration is this: virtual machines use a single file that pretends to be the Windows hard disk. The migration tools copy the entire hard drive of the physical PC into this single file and then copy that file to your Mac. That file is then opened by the virtual machine software on the Mac, so you pick up right where you left off, with your programs, settings, and documents intact.

Important
We do not support Citavi under Parallels 5 or earlier. Use Parallels 6 or later.

To begin, click the links in the text for each virtual machine vendor's instructions and downloads. The other things you need to check:
  • You must be running a Mac with an Intel processor. Older Macs with PowerPC processors cannot run these virtual machines. (There is an obsolete emulator, Virtual PC, which allows Windows to on some PowerPC Macs, but it is discontinued and runs slowly.)
  • You must have enough free hard disk space on your Mac to hold the contents of the Windows PC you are migrating.
  • Running Windows at the same time takes a lot of memory (RAM), so we recommend having plenty of RAM in the computer, 2GB minimum for regular use. If you have too little RAM, it will still work, but everything will run slower when Windows is running.
  • The Windows PC you are migrating must be operational. You cannot use the migration tools if the PC doesn't boot.
Links summary:
Setting up Parallels Desktop
  1. Install Parallels.
  2. Using the Parallels setup assistant, install Windows. Parallels 7 even lets you purchase Windows 7 right from the setup assistant.
  3. Start Windows.
  4. Install Citavi: http://www.citavi.com/download
  5. Set Parallels to Coherence mode (View > Coherence) to make the Windows desktop go away.
  6. Start Citavi from the mock Start menu Parallels provides in your Mac menu bar by right-clicking the Parallels menu.
  7. Configure Citavi as described below.
Setting up VMware Fusion
  1. Install Fusion.
  2. Using the Fusion setup assistant, install Windows.
  3. Start Windows.
  4. Install Citavi: http://www.citavi.com/download
  5. Set Fusion to Unity mode (View > Unity) to make the Windows desktop go away.
  6. Start Citavi from the mock Start menu Fusion provides in your Mac menu bar by clicking the Fusion menu.
  7. Configure Citavi as described below.
Setting up Oracle VirtualBox
  1. Install VirtualBox.
  2. Following the VirtualBox instructions, install Windows.
  3. Start Windows.
  4. Install Citavi: http://www.citavi.com/download
  5. Start Citavi.
  6. Configure Citavi as described below.
Configuring Citavi for a Virtual Machine
  1. Open a project in Citavi.
  2. In Citavi, on the Tools menu, click Options.
  3. On the General tab, under Publication Assistant, select a word processor. (It doesn't matter which, since Citavi won't communicate with it anyway.)
  4. Set the Double-click reference and knowledge item options to Copy.
  5. Your Citavi is now set up optimally.
Mac System Requirements
Here's what you need:
  1. A Mac with an Intel processor. This is any Mac model introduced beginning mid-2006.
    To check, click About This Mac in the Apple menu. If the processor has "Intel" in the name, you're fine.
  2. At least 2GB of RAM, but 4GB or more is recommended.
  3. Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) or later.
  4. One of the following virtual machine products:
    • Parallels Desktop 6 or later.
      We do not support Citavi under Parallels 5 or earlier.
    • VMware Fusion 3 or later.
    • Oracle VirtualBox (free, but harder to set up and less elegant).
  5. A copy of Windows (7, Vista, or Windows XP Service Pack 3 with all updates).
    We recommend Windows 7 because of its enhanced security. 
Publishing Tips
  • Because Citavi cannot communicate with your Mac's word processor, you must use the Clipboard to copy placeholders and quotations. You can then paste them into your document.
  • If you use OpenOffice.org Writer as your word processor (or any of its relatives, such as LibreOffice or NeoOffice), you can format your documents directly in Citavi.
  • If you use Microsoft Word as your word processor, you must first manually convert your document to RTF format before you can format it in Citavi. Don't worry, your document layout and formatting will remain intact. After formatting, open the formatted RTF document in Word and save a copy in Word format.  
Additional Tips
  • To ensure the integrity of your data, always shut down Windows properly using the Start menu in Windows. Never force a shutdown by clicking Stop and confirming it.
  • If you use the Shared Profile (in Parallels Desktop) or Mirrored Folders (in VMware Fusion) feature, then your Citavi data will be automatically backed up by Time Machine on your Mac, which is highly recommended.

Article ID: 120, Created On: 11/18/2011, Modified: 1/18/2012

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