For a Mac, there are two options.  You can use VMware’s Fusion at $79.99 (which again allows access to all Windows functionality) or Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 for around $99.99.  Parallels was the first package, but Fusion is certainly popular now.

So you can run the Windows applications you want, and any nasty viruses or spyware will be constrained to the Windows instance on your machine, without compromising your main system.

If you are running Excel in Office 2008 for Mac, you should remember that this doesn’t support VBA.  So if you are using someone’s macro driven trading spreadsheet, you will certainly be able to open it and see formulas and cell details, but you won’t be able to run any macros.  If you want to develop your own macro driven spreadsheets, try NeoOffice instead.  This is a Mac specific version of Open Office.

If you are using Linux, Gnumeric is a very capable spreadsheet that supports Python integration.  This is part of GNOME Office.

Of course, using a Mac or Linux makes it easy to access the range of open source trading tools.  Open source software is generally free, and you can also look at the software code and modify it if you like.  Your system will have the software needed to support Python or Java based tools.  I had a look at SourceForge.net, and found plenty of good open source programs, including EclipseTrader and Merchant of Venice.  These are powerful tools that support features such as automated trading.

Remember, a lot of cutting edge research happens on Unix systems, and using a Mac or Linux system means that you can tap straight into the best hi-tech trading tools.

I have recently found one free trading package for Windows, Mac and Linux systems which is a very capable package for end of day stock, futures and options traders -  it is called SpiffyCharts.  Don’t be fooled by the name – it does a lot more than just charting.  It can read in data from data providers, there is a scan function to find stocks, it has a built in programming language for building new indicators or trading systems, and it also has a backtesting and optimisation function.  If that is not enough, it even has some free data to get you started.

In conclusion, using a Mac or Linux system does not necessarily constrain your choices of trading software.  You can run any Windows software you like, with the right emulation software, without compromising the integrity of your system of choice.  In addition you have some excellent choices for free trading software that will run very well in Unix based environments.

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Tags: excel, freeware, linux, mac, metastock, tradestation, Trading Software, vmware, wealthlab, win4lin

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Trading Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.