Firefly for Mac OS X pages

As of February 23, 2009, Firefly team is proud to announce the availability of the first official release of the Firefly package for Mac OS X/Intel platform.

List of some key features:

• Free and fast! Proven reliability and performance of Windows/Linux Firefly.
• Feature rich - supports all the functionality of Windows/Linux-based Firefly.
• Parallel jobs run on SMP/multi-core hardware without additional software.
• Installation is straightforward with a native DMG installer. New drag and drop job submission applications make running jobs significantly easier and more intuitive than most other ab-initio computational chemistry programs on the Mac platform. Just drag and drop your input file on to the appropriate run application for the number of CPU cores desired (or double-click and select) and your job will simply launch and open the output in a suitable text editor. All the necessary output files that may be needed for future follow-up jobs are automatically delivered to the input file directory. Everything is intended to be Mac friendly including a set of Mac-specific step by step Quick Start and Complete install and usage guides that should cover 90%+ of all potential questions for new users.
• A batch job submission application and a STOP-FIREFLY-JOBS application which allows multiple job management.
• A good set of third-party Mac native graphical applications is available to prepare input jobs as well as to visualize the output of those runs (e.g., WebMO). Most visualization tools that are not available natively for Mac work fine through Darwine or Crossover Wine.
• There is an active community of Mac beta testers and Firefly community users to answer questions for new users.

The Firefly for Mac project was initiated by Thomas Patko in a effort to bring the excellent Firefly ab-initio software to the Mac platform. It was made possible by extensive collaboration with the main Firefly project team and tireless beta testing and suggestions from Nick Greeves. Although Thomas is the major developer of Mac-specific code, as well as primary documentation contributor in the "Mac Port" at present in this initial release, the primary goal of the project is to develop the Mac edition continuously to make it more accessible and easy to use for chemists worldwide operating the Apple Macintosh platform.

The best method to accomplish this is to have an active collaborative environment where users are free to request features, report any bugs, and to have multiple contributors to the codebase for the "Mac Port".

The most recent version of Firefly for Mac OS X is version 7.1.G

• 7.1.G Firefly for Mac Quick Start Guide Rev3, Last updated: March 7, 2010.

• License Agreement and Registration Templates

• Firefly version 7.1.G Install image for Mac OS X Leopard Last updated: March 7, 2010. Based on the Firefly v. 7.1.G build # 5620 source code

• Firefly version 7.1.G Install image for Mac OS X Snow Leopard Last updated: March 7, 2010. Based on the Firefly v. 7.1.G build # 5620 source code

• 7.1.G Complete Firefly for Mac Install and Usage Guide Rev3, Last updated: March 7, 2010.

• A set of drag and drop run applications to run Firefly jobs Last updated: August 26, 2011. These updated applications solve compatibility problem with OS X running on Intel's "Sandy Bridge" processors

The current source code and build instructions/documentation corresponding to the official 7.1.G release of the Firefly for Mac job launch and run apps for developers is available upon request.

• PC GAMESS/Firefly Quick Start guide for Mac OS X Last revised: February 16, 2009

• Download the application that will determine what dependencies need to be installed to ensure that your computer is ready to run PC-GAMESS/Firefly for Mac Last updated: February 16, 2009

• The PC GAMESS/Firefly license agreement and registration information/templates

• Darwine 1.1.21 Install image for Mac OS X Last updated: December 1, 2009.

• PC GAMESS/Firefly Install image for Mac OS X Last updated: February 21, 2009. Based on the PC GAMESS/Firefly v. 7.1.F build # 5211 source code

• Installation notes and usage guide for Mac OS X Last revised: February 16, 2009

• A set of drag and drop run applications to run PC GAMESS/Firefly jobs Last updated: February 16, 2009

• Source code for GUI for PC GAMESS/Firefly running under MAC OS X for your own development and tuning Last updated: February 16, 2009

• Documentation for GUI developers Last updated: February 8, 2009

• The main Firefly Homepage

• List of program capabilities

• Current Firefly documentation

• Download area: Windows/Linux Firefly, external basis set libraries, etc...

• Firefly and PC GAMESS forum

• Contacts

Firefly team is grateful to all beta testers. Our special thanks to Nick Greeves and Lyndsey Vernon, University of Liverpool. This Mac release of Firefly would not be ever possible without efforts and constant development made by Thomas Patko, who was the main driving force behind Firefly for Mac project.