Going Mac, Will I look back...

I actually use a Mac at home, and I like it alot! Anyways, chess-wise, your options are limited.

Im not sure if someone suggested this, but ExaChess Lite is a decent GUI, which you can install any chess playing program on, and it comes default with Fruit. 

However, if you want to use Windows on your Mac, there are many options.

Instead of using VM Fusion, and VirtualBox (both are good options), but you might want to try using Apple's own program Boot Camp. 

All you need is a USB device with Windows (any version) on it, and follow the instructions.

I'm assuming you are new to the Mac OS, so here are a couple steps.

On your Dock, click the Finder icon (the one on the far left), and the window will open. Go to the search bar and type in boot camp, and at the top where it says search: press this mac. The application Boot camp is there, and just follow the instructions.

Oh and I forgot, Paralell Desktop is another option.

Why use a chess program... does this site not offer enough learning material? Please advise.

Danny, 

In Hiarcs you can easily output single games, sets of games matching a filter, and positions in FEN notation. Each of those options is just a mouseclick or hotkey away.

I know this will start a war, but Macs are better than PCs :)

Duck-of-Death:

I work in IT professionally, I've contributed code to the Linux kernel, I was one of the people that built the first multi-media lab using off-the-shelf components for the department of Energy on Amigas. I have a lot of experience with a lot of different hardware/software platforms.

It's not a question of chips, it's a question of the entire user experience.

Now, that said, there are some applications which aren't as fully realized on Mac as on Windows -- Chess software is an example of that. But there are other things Macs do that make them far superior to their windows counterparts in terms of the end-user experience.  Toss in that for power users, underlying Macs is a true Un*x system and there's quite a lot to like about what Macs can do. 

Windows has it's virtues too - but mostly they center around the number of software packages available, not around how the user experiences those packages.  

You've probably figured this out already, but the OP is IM Danny Rensch and titled players have different needs than us.  In particular for someone who is looking to score some GM norms it's necessary to both be on the cutting edge of chess theory and have the necessary tools to prepare for other titled players.  For the rest of us, you're probably right.

Even for the rest of us - if you're a serious OTB player having a database is extremely useful for cataloging your own games and your own analysis of those games. 

Danny,

I'm a MAC user and use Shredder 12.  It's a fantastic program!

I own and run every significant chess software which runs on the Macintosh. 

The best Commercial Macintosh software at this time is by far HIARCS Chess Explorer. I use it with the HIARCS, Stockfish, Critter, and Komodo 3. engines.

I also use the free application chessx extensively ( I have also done development of chessx and build the current builds to  www.box.com/chessx for others to use.

ChessX and HIARCS are similar in lots of ways due to the fact they share the same original developer and share much of his source code. In fact boards and chess fonts from one can be used in the other.

Lots of people use SCID vs Mac but I have trouble getting by the ugly user interface. You might feel differently.

I find I use ChessX and HIARCS about equally. You can also run chessbase in a virtual machine, but I find that if I had wanted to run windows I would have stayed in windows. I much prefer native Macintosh software.

Other software such as Shredder 12 hasn't been updated in a long time and badly needs a major update.

    Deep HIARCS Chess Explorer
        HIARCS Chess Explorer Graphical User Interface (GUI) v1.3!
        World Chess Software Champion Deep HIARCS 14 chess engine
        Multi-core/multi-processor version of Deep HIARCS 14 for maximum performance
        GUI access to online content of 1,000 Gb of chess endgame tablebases and GM+ opening books
        Packaged games databases with game annotations from International Masters and Grandmasters
        Includes an exclusive game annotation from World Chess Champion Vishy Anand

    HIARCS Chess Explorer

        HIARCS Chess Explorer Graphical User Interface (GUI) v1.3!
        Single core version of HIARCS 14 
        Packaged games databases with game annotations from International Masters and Grandmasters
        GUI access to standard online content

In my opinion its the access to the Opening books that provide the biggest difference between the two versions. The Opening Books are extremely useful for preparing your Repertoire.

"Again, what about quickly outputting PGNs or FENS? Need that for my job here at Chess.com..."

HIARCS does that with no problem.

Try downloading the free software chessX as well. It is similar to HIARCS in many ways. 

Both Hiarcs and ChessX are based on the Qt user interface which allows the same source code to compile for Macintosh, Windows and Linux. Meaning the features supported will be the exactly same on different platforms. The appearence and base platform support will be slightly different however.

I don't think the engine difference between single core and dual core should be an issue. Frankly you can download the stockfish engine for free. Which is the engine I use mostly anyway. However The Deep HIARCS version gives you other features as well which are much more important. The main feature is the opening books provided. If it wasn't for the great Opening book support in Hiarcs I would probably just use ChessX.

The online tablebase feature is also quite nice

Yes the online tablebase feature is nice but that is also supported by ChessX. I find that I use ChessX most of the time because I don't like the wasted screen real estate in HIARCS, but when I am analyzing openings I always switch over to HIARCS because their opening books are outstanding.

Wish I had a Mac...

I have an old macbook and I love it, but I'm looking for the same thing, a good chess program :/

I believe students and teachers still get discounts on new Mac computers

Yes critter seems to be significantly better in open tactical positions, often it will find tactics much faster than stockfish will, while stockfish seems to handle positional and closed positions a little better. You can also download Komodo 3 for the Mac for free.  They all work really well with ChessX and HIARCS Chess Explorer.