I wrote this blog because of an increase in calls from users working remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The users are either remoting into their machine at the station office or have MusicMaster installed on their device. Then there are the users whose personal preference at home or for their personal computer is an Apple Mac product.

While MusicMaster Scheduling is Windows-based software, you can use your Apple Mac machine with MusicMaster. Some have already begun using their personal Apple machine to remote in at the office. The most popular question has always been, “How can I get my F1-F12 keys to work for the shortcuts in MusicMaster if I am using my Mac to remote in?” If you’re a Mac user, you already know the F Function keys always are used to turn up and down your settings on the computer like your volume or the brightness of your screen. Let us get those F function keys to act “normal” so that you can move faster with the MusicMaster shortcuts.

First, go to your Mac machine settings by clicking its icon.

Next, go to the keyboard settings icon.

Now let’s make a change to how your F1-F12 function keys will work.

1. If you have a newer model, you may want to change your Touch Bar settings to show the F1-F12 Keys.
2. This screen is where the magic happens; select to use F1-F12 keys as standard keys, aka “normal” keys.

You can still use your Mac functions that were preassigned to your keyboard from Apple by pressing FN (Function Key) and any F1-F12 key at the same time to adjust things like your volume and brightness.

What if you prefer to work on your Mac and not remote into the office machine? The previous tips will also come in handy too. Now for the big question, how do we get MusicMaster on your Mac computer? First, you will need to install a virtual machine software on your Mac that will allow you to install Windows. Some of my personal favorites are listed below, but there are many options feel free to pick the one that best suits you.

Parallels

https://www.parallels.com

Fusion by VMWare

https://www.vmware.com/products/fusion.html

Once you have selected your Virtual Machine software, you will need a copy of Windows to install in it so that now you can have the best of both worlds: Windows, and Mac on one machine! Don’t tell Bill Gates I said this, but I think my Windows performs much better on a Mac than a PC.

Now that you have Windows on your Mac, you can install your MusicMaster software and work from your Mac the same way you would form your office computer. Here’s a little disclaimer, you will need your USB Dongle if you plan to work from your Mac machine and not remote into the office computer. When you have a Virtual Setting for Windows on your Mac, you will select which device you want to use your USB dongle with either your Windows or your Mac. If it does not ask you, there is usually an option on the menu bar like mine shown below to assign it.