Power BI is a powerful BI tool, but it sadly doesn't support Mac devices.
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The flagship Microsoft Power BI tool is available at no cost and can be downloaded straight from the Microsoft Store. The free license will enable only some of the features of Power BI, such as a connection with 70+ data sources, the ability to publish to the web, and the ability to export to platforms such as PowerPoint and Excel. Seal Report is one of the best free BI tools for the Microsoft.Net Framework, entirely written in C#. This open source BI tool is quite easy to set up. Once installed, users can easily build reports and publish them quickly. It features pivot tables, web report server, HTML 5 charts, drill-downs, task scheduler, report tasks.
A couple of years ago, I was working for a company where 90% of our staff had a MacBook and loved it, but there was no way for our Data Team to work with Power BI to build out reporting. Then we turned to another tool named Holistics, a cloud-based one.
In this post, I will share my experiences implementing Power BI on Mac OS, which I hope is helpful to you if you are looking for a solution.
Disclaimer: I fell in love with Holistics at the previous company, and am now working for Holistics!
Our 3 solutions for running Power BI on Mac
Since Power BI can't run on a Mac, here are our recommendations to run Power BI on Macintosh Devices.
- Install and run Power BI on a Virtual Machine, then remote in to that Virtual Machine.
- Install and run Power BI on a PC, then use a remote viewer to control that PC.
- Use an alternative BI solution.
- Install Windows on Mac using Boot Camp
Power BI's support for Mac Devices
To give you a little context about Microsoft's plan on supporting Power BI on Mac devices, they are not considering developing Power BI desktop for Mac devices anytime soon.
You can also visit this link to keep track of their upcoming plans.
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1. Run Power BI on a Virtual Machine
You can set-up a Windows Virtual Machine on Azure, Google Cloud or AWS.
- Azure: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/virtual-machines/ (starting from $61/month)
- AWS: https://aws.amazon.com/getting-started/tutorials/launch-windows-vm/
Then you install and run Power BI on that Virtual Machine.
Finally, install Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac on each device to give your team access to that VM.
There are a couple of disadvantages to this approach, however:
- It's difficult to control permission access and version history.
- You can only have one person working on a machine at a time, since Power BI for desktop is not a collaborative tool.
2. Run Power BI on a PC then remote in to that PC
It's a little bit the same with the first method, however, this time, you use a physical machine.
You set-up a Windows PC, install and run Power BI on that PC.
Install TeamViewer, AnyDesk, or MS Remote Desktop to give people access to that PC and use Power BI from their Macs.
Cons: same with the first method, and you have to maintain a physical PC.
3. Use other alternative BI tools
Power BI is powerful — it helps your team consolidate data and build dashboards and reports with a powerful data modeling layer. It's not easy to find a great tool in the market to replace Power BI, but here are two alternative solutions I recommend which is 100% cloud-based, can replicate its functionalities, and in some cases do even more.
1. Holistics
Holistics is a powerful self-service BI (business intelligence) platform that allows non-technical user to create their own charts, without writing SQL. Data team can save time by setting up a re-usable and scalable data analytics stack, with minimal engineering resources.
It not only gives data analysts and data engineers a powerful SQL-based data modeling approach, but it also helps them minimize writing SQL queries and automate reporting. Holistics is also designed to empowers non-technical users to get insights with a strong self-service analytics offering.
Read more here on how Holistics compares with Power BI or start a free 14-day with Holistics now! No credit card required.
2. Looker + StitchData
Looker is a business intelligence and big data analytics platform that helps you explore, analyze and share real-time business analytics easily.
Looker is also a powerful server-based Data Modeling BI tool, however, they don't support Data Transforms and Data Imports, so you will need another tool for that called StitchData. Together, you get all the power of Power BI with none of the Windows lock-in.
4. Install Windows on Mac using Boot Camp
Boot Camp is a utility that helps you install Microsoft Windows 10 on your Mac, then switch between macOS and Windows when restarting your Mac.
You can learn more about how to use it here.
Conclusion
I like Power BI's product, but it is difficult to keep using Power BI given that the tool is built exclusively for the Windows Desktop. Instead of allowing your data team to work collaboratively, your data pipeline will depend on Windows. This is difficult and restrictive if your organization works primarily on Mac.
The upshot here is that if you do not use a Microsoft-stack at your organization, a 100% cloud-based solution would be a better fit for your needs.
MySQL GUI Clients and Tools make it easy to manage MySQL databases visually, without having to manually type SQL commands. These MySQL GUI tools allow you to design, manage, and administer MySQL databases using a visual interface. Here is a list of top 5 MySQL GUI tools for database developers and administrators.
Top 5 MySQL GUI Tools
Here are the 5 best MySQL GUI tools for Windows, Linux and Mac.
1. MySQL Workbench
MySQL Workbench is one of the most popular MySQL GUI tools available for Windows, Linux and Mac.
It is meant for database designers & architects, developers and administrators. MySQL Workbench is available in 3 editions – Community, Standard and Enterprise.
While Community edition is free to use, the Standard and Enterprise Editions are commercial.
Workbench allows you to monitor MySQL server health via intuitive dashboards. It also allows you to graphically design database schema as well as run SQL queries.
It also allows you to import/export data to/from your databases.
Bonus Read : How to Speed Up SQL Queries
2. dbForge Studio
dbForge Studio is one of the best MySQL GUI clients that allows you to easily create, develop and manage databases. You can create and execute SQL queries, build and debug stored procedures and routines.
You can even automate database management, and analyze data.
Open Source Bi Tool
dbForge enables you to easily convert one or more SQL queries into portable scripts. It also provides a rich-formatting code interface that allows you to easily write and debug SQL queries.
Bonus Read : How to Increase Max Connections in MySQL
3. PHPMyAdmin
PHPMyAdmin is also one of the most popular web-based MySQL Administration tool. It is very easy to install and use, and is completely free.
Although it lacks some advanced features available in other MySQL GUI tools, it is more than enough for small-medium databases.
Since PHPMyAdmin is web-based, it can be accessed from any workstation or laptop. Moreover, it is available in more than 80 languages.
Bonus Read : How to Store UTF8 Characters in MySQL
Cognos Bi Tools
4. HeidiSQL
HeidiSQL is a simple, easy-to-use GUI client for databases. It is free to use, and makes it easy to create, edit, manage database tables.
HeidiSQL also allows you to manager users, automate tasks and connect to your datbase via SSH tunneling.
It also supports batch insertion of ASCII and binary files into database tables.
HeidiSQL is available for Windows and Linux, and also a portable version that does not require any installation.
Bonus Read : How to Rank Over Partition in MySQL
What Are Bi Tools
5. Toad Edge for MySQL
Toad Edge is a database management tool that provides tons of features for database development and administration.
It supports schema comparison, database synchronization, data import/export, SQL query monitor, snapshot creation, and even JSON editor.
It even features a session monitor that allows administrators to monitor & terminate sessions, or even cancel queries. Toad Edge is available for Windows and Mac OS.
Conclusion
We have provided various MySQL GUI clients that are robust, feature-rich and mature products. If you are looking for free MySQL GUI tool for basic database development, you can try PHPMyAdmin, HeidiSQL, or Workbench Community Edition. If you need advanced features, go for Toad Edge, dbForge.
Power Bi Alternative For Mac
Hopefully, the above 5 MySQL GUI tools will help you manage MySQL databases.
