Logos MacI have used Logos on PCs before and I had also used the PC edition on a Windows emulator on a friend’s Mac but as a Mac guy I was never too interested in the software.  When I  heard that Logos was about to produce a Mac edition I was quite interested.  I have been using Logos for the Mac now for about a month and this will be the first a few posts reviewing the new product.

When I first received the DVD for installation, there was a slight problem.  The Libronix system installed just fine, but when I went to install the text that were included in the library I kept having a system error.  After consulting the Logos support staff, who were quite friendly, helpful and fast, I was informed that the texts are on the deeper level of the 2-Level DVD and disc drive may not be able to read it as an older drive.  The agent I spoke sent me the CDs (overnight!) so I could complete the install.  As I said, I had run Logos on Parallels before and it did not run very smoothly, but the new native Mac engine runs beautifully.  After the initial installation problem that was quickly remedied, I have not experienced a single problem running the program.

In addition to the excellent customer service and support I have already mentioned Logos has many videos and forums (most, though not all, are transferable to the Mac edition) to discuss how to best make use of all their product offers, and special section just for the Mac edition.  One great thing about the Mac edition is that if you already have Logos on a PC and now want to switch it over you Mac you only have to buy the Mac engine ($60 seems pretty fair to shift all your Windows to Mac) and crossgrade.  The one downside is that not everything works on the Mac edition.  According to the website:

“Nearly all resources will work on Logos Bible Software for Mac. The exceptions are the three syntax clause display resources (i.e., The Andersen-Forbes Phrase Marker Analysis of the Hebrew Bible, The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament: Sentence Analysis, and The OpenText.org Syntactically Analyzed Greek New Testament: Clause Analysis), audio and video resources, PBB resources, old LLS resources (most of which have been updated to the new Libronix format), and old PDF resources.

Some addins like the Compare Parallel Bible Versions Addin are built in to Logos for Mac. None of the additional addins available for purchase on Logos.com (like the Sermon File Addin, Lectionary Viewer Addin, the Greek and Hebrew Pronunciation Addins, etc.) will work on the Mac version at this time.” Read all about the crossover here.

Since it says “at this time” I am hoping they are working on making these available to Mac users.  All in all the installation, set up and support with Logos Scholars for Mac has been extremely encouraging.  The only reservation I would have i to suggest that if your Mac is more than a year old, ask for the CDs when you order instead of the DVD.  Up next will be an overview of the contents of software.