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Best CAT Tool for Mac?
Thread poster: Minna Helminen
Minna Helminen
Minna Helminen  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:38
Sep 11, 2014

Hello all,

I know that, from time to time, CAT tools for Macs have been discussed here. As some of these discussions seem to be a few years old, I thought I'd ask your views on the subject.

I've been working as a freelance translator for different agencies and companies for a while without a CAT tool. So far, my projects have been rather varied and relatively small, so I haven't felt the need to get a CAT tool. However, now it seems that the time has come to get a Trado
... See more
Hello all,

I know that, from time to time, CAT tools for Macs have been discussed here. As some of these discussions seem to be a few years old, I thought I'd ask your views on the subject.

I've been working as a freelance translator for different agencies and companies for a while without a CAT tool. So far, my projects have been rather varied and relatively small, so I haven't felt the need to get a CAT tool. However, now it seems that the time has come to get a Trados-compatible CAT tool of some sort. I'm familiar with Trados Studio 2011, as this is a tool I used during an internship, but Trados is not an option.

I have a macbook (Mac OS X 10.6.8) and Microsoft Office. I don't have the capacity (or the inclination, to be honest) to run Parallels on my laptop or to buy/get Windows. Buying another laptop + expensive software is also not really an option at the moment. From what I've read, my best bets seem to be CafeTran, WordFast Anywhere or OmegaT. Especially CafeTran looks good (and I was an Ubuntu user for three years, so I'm relatively comfortable with community support etc., even if I don't want to go back to Linux).

In your opinion, which one of the above works best? Are they all compatible with Trados/MemoQ? In your experience, are some of them more/less popular with agencies?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post, I look forward to your comments

Best,

Minna
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Mulyadi Subali
Mulyadi Subali  Identity Verified
Indonesia
Local time: 22:38
Member
English to Indonesian
+ ...
OmegaT Sep 11, 2014

I'm using OmegaT on my MBP. It doesn't have the sleekest interface, but it gets the job done. It's simple to use, just read the 5-minute guide on the main window, and you're ready to work. More importantly, OmegaT can handle most file formats I'm assigned with, including Trados TTX.
Unfortunately, I found its XLIFF compatibility is still buggy. (Maybe it's just me, I haven't got time to tinker with it.) Th
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I'm using OmegaT on my MBP. It doesn't have the sleekest interface, but it gets the job done. It's simple to use, just read the 5-minute guide on the main window, and you're ready to work. More importantly, OmegaT can handle most file formats I'm assigned with, including Trados TTX.
Unfortunately, I found its XLIFF compatibility is still buggy. (Maybe it's just me, I haven't got time to tinker with it.) That's where Heartsome comes in, as it can handle XLIFF better.
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Meta Arkadia
Meta Arkadia
Local time: 22:38
English to Indonesian
+ ...
CafeTran Sep 11, 2014

I've been using CafeTran for the last four years.



Cheers,

Hans


 
Michael Dutton
Michael Dutton  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:38
Finnish to English
Server interaction? Sep 11, 2014

Hi / Moi! I've had the a similar problem for some time and have not found the ideal solution for me. I have an iMac and PC laptop as my work devices and nowadays end up spending (unhappily) most of my time using the laptop, as the majority of my clients and the nature of the bulk of the work I do demand the use of a CAT tool. Like you, I am disinclined to run parallels on my mac (tried it once before and it resulted in constant crashing) and don't have the current resources/desire to invest in n... See more
Hi / Moi! I've had the a similar problem for some time and have not found the ideal solution for me. I have an iMac and PC laptop as my work devices and nowadays end up spending (unhappily) most of my time using the laptop, as the majority of my clients and the nature of the bulk of the work I do demand the use of a CAT tool. Like you, I am disinclined to run parallels on my mac (tried it once before and it resulted in constant crashing) and don't have the current resources/desire to invest in new hardware solely for this purpose. I work with both Studio and memoQ on my windows laptop, but would love to be working on my mac more regularly. The main sticking point, aside from any compatibility issues, is how to solve the problem of server-based TM and term-base interaction. I have no experience of using anything other than Studio/mQ, and so would be grateful of any useful info about the OS X-compatible alternatives, particularly from the perspective of servers

[Edited at 2014-09-11 09:32 GMT]
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2nl (X)
2nl (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 16:38
CafeTran has support from the developer Sep 11, 2014

Hello Minna,

I'm a user of CafeTran on OS X too.

Minna Helminen wrote:

Especially CafeTran looks good (and I was an Ubuntu user for three years, so I'm relatively comfortable with community support etc., even if I don't want to go back to Linux).


The purchase price also includes technical support for a period of one year. The documentation project is indeed community driven. The user forum at https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/cafetranslators is a little crazy and slightly nerdy, but it can be very helpful.

Cheers,

Hans


 
Meta Arkadia
Meta Arkadia
Local time: 22:38
English to Indonesian
+ ...
CafeTran Server Sep 11, 2014

Michael Dutton wrote:
The main sticking point, aside from any compatibility issues, is how to solve the problem of server-based TM and term-base interaction.

See Memory Server
I'm afraid I don't (need to) understand this, so you may want to contact Igor (the developer) about it: [email protected]

By the way, Minna, CafeTran can handle Trados projects and files, as well as many other project and file formats.





Cheers,

Hans


[Edited at 2014-09-11 15:03 GMT]

[Edited at 2014-09-11 15:19 GMT]


 
Minna Helminen
Minna Helminen  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:38
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! Sep 17, 2014

Thank you all for your replies, it's great to have a few user opinions to help me choose!

Best,

Minna


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:38
Member (2008)
Italian to English
I don't like any of them Sep 17, 2014

I don't like any of them because as a Mac user I expect things to be intuitive. I don't want to have to read instructions or learn stuff before using a piece of software. I'm used to things being easy. (That's what using a Mac does to people !)

CAT tools on the Mac have a long way to go before they become Mac-like.


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2nl (X)
2nl (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 16:38
Apple's own CAT tool Sep 17, 2014

Tom in London wrote:

CAT tools on the Mac have a long way to go before they become Mac-like.


That's an interesting statement, you make there. I've never seen the GUI of Apple's own CAT tool. It would be interesting to see how Apple itself solved part of the problem.


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:38
Member (2008)
Italian to English
The first Sep 17, 2014

2nl wrote:

Tom in London wrote:

CAT tools on the Mac have a long way to go before they become Mac-like.


That's an interesting statement, you make there. I've never seen the GUI of Apple's own CAT tool. It would be interesting to see how Apple itself solved part of the problem.


I see a very lucrative opening here.

The first person to design a really Mac-like CAT tool, not only with a Mac-like GUI but that functions in a Mac-like way, will make a lot of $$$$ !!


Bima Sudiarto
Elena Dyer
 
Meta Arkadia
Meta Arkadia
Local time: 22:38
English to Indonesian
+ ...
Discontinued Sep 17, 2014

2nl wrote:
It would be interesting to see how Apple itself solved part of the problem.

I think it was a disaster.



And apart from that, the manual was very unclear. For CafeTran, however, users don't read the manual...

Cheers,

Hans


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:38
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
Sorry to rain on your Mac party, … Sep 17, 2014

… but there is often a price to pay for hiding everything away and making it more Mac-like: users no longer know what they are doing on a technical level. I suppose this is fine in certain areas, but in others it can lead to problems. Mind you, I'm not saying that Linux (the ‘opposite’ side of this spectrum) is the way to go either, or that software should be wilfully geeky, just that a slick, minimalistic UI isn't necessarily the be-all and end-all of UI design, at least when it co... See more
… but there is often a price to pay for hiding everything away and making it more Mac-like: users no longer know what they are doing on a technical level. I suppose this is fine in certain areas, but in others it can lead to problems. Mind you, I'm not saying that Linux (the ‘opposite’ side of this spectrum) is the way to go either, or that software should be wilfully geeky, just that a slick, minimalistic UI isn't necessarily the be-all and end-all of UI design, at least when it comes to CAT tools.

In an ideal world, a CAT tool would have several modes: one newbie / Mac-user-friendly (oh dear: ‘Mac-user-friendly’? ‘Mac-user friendly’? ‘Mac user-friendly’?) mode, and one geek mode perhaps.

Michael
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2nl (X)
2nl (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 16:38
What WOULD be the Apple way? Sep 21, 2014

Tom in London wrote:

The first person to design a really Mac-like CAT tool, not only with a Mac-like GUI but that functions in a Mac-like way, will make a lot of $$$$ !!


Could you please describe what would be the Apple way here (apart from the obvious dragging and dropping)?

Hans


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:38
Member (2008)
Italian to English
The Apple way Sep 21, 2014

2nl wrote:

Tom in London wrote:

The first person to design a really Mac-like CAT tool, not only with a Mac-like GUI but that functions in a Mac-like way, will make a lot of $$$$ !!


Could you please describe what would be the Apple way here (apart from the obvious dragging and dropping)?

Hans


OK. Here are a few things, just off the top of my head.

1. No manual should be necessary. There should be no learning process.
2. A graphical user interface that doesn't look like some horrible relic from the Windows world with_ all_those_underscores_and_that_Windows_typeface.
3. Completely automatic import (via drag-and-drop) of previously completed translations and memorisation of all the terminology used in them, without any need for user input (except perhaps for a query pop-up asking you how you want to save a particular phrase or term).
4. It should work directly with a range of normal files (eg. Word, Excel etc.) and not need a special file type of its own.
5. It should be fail-safe and not require frequent upgrades that then don't work or generate new problems, as we constantly seem to be seeing with other CAT applications.
6. it should not cost the earth.


Other Mac users will be able to think of other "wants".

[Edited at 2014-09-21 13:03 GMT]


Fabrice DABOVAL
Anjana Lachman
Stephen Jensen
Bima Sudiarto
 
Meta Arkadia
Meta Arkadia
Local time: 22:38
English to Indonesian
+ ...
Summary Sep 21, 2014

For me, Pages vs Word summarises it.



Cheers,

Hans


 
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