ETKA for Mac: running the VW parts catalog on macOS

Installed ETKA is Windows software

ETKA, short for Elektronischer Teilekatalog, is the Volkswagen Group’s official parts catalog. LexCom, a Munich software house, produces it for Volkswagen AG, and it replaced parts books and microfilm catalogs in 1989. It covers Volkswagen, Audi, Škoda, SEAT and Cupra.

The installed version was built for Windows dealer PCs, and that is the version people mean when they search for ETKA for Mac. Our guide to ETKA explains what the catalog holds and how it reads a VIN.

ETKA on an Intel Mac with Boot Camp

Apple’s Boot Camp Assistant installs Windows 10 on an Intel-based Mac, and you pick macOS or Windows each time you restart. Apple lists supported models from 2012 to 2020, such as the 2012 to 2020 MacBook Pro and iMac, and every iMac Pro.

Boot Camp needs a 64-bit copy of Windows 10 Home or Pro and free disk space for a Windows partition. Once Windows runs, installed ETKA behaves as it would on any Windows PC, and so do its licensing and update requirements.

Apple’s instructions ask for a full Windows installation, not an upgrade version, when you install Windows on the Mac for the first time. Keep that in mind if the Windows license you own came as an upgrade.

ETKA on Apple silicon Macs

Macs with M-series chips do not appear on Apple’s Boot Camp list, so the dual-boot route is closed on them. Microsoft names two authorized ways to run Windows 11 on M1, M2 and M3 Macs: Parallels Desktop versions 18 to 20, which run the Arm edition of Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise, and a Windows 365 Cloud PC streamed over the internet.

The Arm edition of Windows runs x64 and x86 programs through emulation. Microsoft lists its limits: no apps that rely on DirectX 12, no nested virtualization, so no Windows Sandbox or Windows Subsystem for Linux, and no 32-bit Arm apps from the Store.

A parts catalog does not need those features, but Microsoft’s list is no promise for any single program. Test an older catalog installer before you depend on it, especially one that expects a USB hardware key.

The cost of keeping Windows around for one catalog

A virtual machine needs a Windows license, a Parallels license, disk space and updates, all to open one parts catalog. The catalog data inside it also ages from the day it was installed unless its update service keeps running.

Our comparison of online and installed EPC software sets out the trade-offs for a workshop that runs several brands.

ETKA online: the browser route on macOS

An online ETKA runs on the server and shows in your browser, so the operating system on your desk stops mattering. Safari or Chrome on macOS, an Intel Mac or an M-series one, opens it the same way as a Windows PC.

On VINsearch, ETKA online covers Volkswagen, Audi, Škoda and SEAT. You enter the VIN, the catalog applies the factory build and PR codes, and you read genuine part numbers with their supersessions. There is nothing to install and no dongle.

Which route suits you

If you already run Windows on an Intel Mac for other workshop tools, Boot Camp or a virtual machine may suit you. If ETKA is the only Windows program you need, browser access saves you the Windows license, the virtual machine and the updates.

VINsearch access starts with a $5 Day Pass, and the same login opens 53 official catalogs, from Toyota to Mercedes-Benz, in any Mac browser.