Unfortunately, Internet Explorer on Windows is the better environment for using the MapGuide Viewer. However, Macintosh and UNIX users may be able to view the MapGuide maps using the Java Edition of the MapGuide Viewer. Macintosh and UNIX users of the Java Edition MapGuide Viewer will not get all of our site's features as some features only work with Internet Explorer on Windows. Macintosh users may also be able to run Windows (along with Internet Explorer and the MapGuide Viewer) to have the same optimal MapGuide Windows environment as explained below.
The "short answer" is that the MapGuide Java Edition Viewer version 6.5 works only on Macintosh OS X with Internet Explorer 5.x as the web browser. Microsoft no longer makes Internet Explorer available for the Mac. Most say that version 5.2.3 is the latest Mac version but we've seen references to version 5.5 for the Mac. If you can find Internet Explorer 5.x for the Mac, it's the preferred browser on OS X for MapGuide. We see that Pure Mac and OldApps.com have Internet Explorer 5.2.3 for Mac available for download.
Other Macintosh web browsers will not support all our site's map features and maps do not appear as intended. It has been reported that the MapGuide Viewer Java Edition 6.5 may work with the Safari browser, works with the OmniWeb browser but won't close properly, works with Firefox, and Opera. In these cases "works" means a map displays and some of the map features do not work.
Anther option for Mac users is to to actually run Windows and Internet Explorer on your Mac using Parallels Desktop for Mac (Intel-based Macs), Virtual PC (Power PC Macs) from Microsoft, or Boot Camp (Intel-based Macs) from Apple. With these tools, you would install and use the MapGuide Viewer ActiveX Control (not the Java Edition MapGuide Viewer) with all features just like real Windows users, but probably somewhat slower in a virtual PC environment.
The Java Edition of the MapGuide viewer is supported on the following UNIX platforms:
Read the material above to see if you have a supported Macintosh or UNIX configuration.
Generally, the Java Edition MapGuide Viewer downloads dynamically like any other web file and no special installation is required. You may want to try to do a manual installation of Java Edition if you are already a Java Edition user and want to speed up starting your MapGuide map initial display.
If you have a supported Macintosh or UNIX configuration and want to try a manual install see Autodesk MapGuide Viewer Java Edition Manual Install or Uninstall.
Autodesk's installation web pages look at your current operating system and web browser. Therefore, it's best to download from the same system that will run the MapGuide Viewer. We recommend trying the automatic installation first and then the manual installation if that doesn't work.
If you get the message "Do you want to trust the signed applet distributed by 'Autodesk, Inc.'", pick the "Always trust content from Autodesk, Inc." option. Otherwise, when loading our maps you may get a message like "Security violation requesting dynamic map layers...". This may also appear as "JavaScript or a Java Applet from 'Autodesk,Inc.' is requesting additional privileges." in which case check "Remember this decision" and pick "Grant".
The MapGuide Java Edition Viewer has a few features that work differently. See About the Java Edition of Autodesk MapGuide Viewer. Also, if you have a one button mouse, remember to use Control-click to "right-click" in the MapGuide map.
We have a number of MapGuide maps on this web site.
Not all of them are enabled for the Java Edition of the MapGuide viewer.
If you have a problem using the Java Edition with any of our MapGuide maps, contact
.