Machines

A Machine is a computer that runs software for you. It has its own files, processes, and tools. When you open a Terminal or start a Machine Agent, you choose the Machine where it will run.

Where a Machine runs

A Machine can be your physical Mac, a Linux virtual machine running locally on your Mac, or a computer running in the cloud.

Your physical Mac already exists as a Machine. Local virtual Machines and Cloud Machines need to be launched before you can use them. There is no Default Machine: you select the computer for each task.

Machines and your workspace

Machine Applications run on a Machine. You see and interact with them through Frames in your Workspace or Workbench. A Terminal Frame, for example, shows a shell running on the Machine you selected.

Thinair Native is the installed app you use to work with those Machines. Native itself is not a Machine.

Starting with a reusable setup

A Machine Definition describes how to prepare a Machine, including its software and configuration. The definition is the recipe; the Machine is the computer that runs it.

See Get Started to begin using Thinair.