diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 87fa33dd3..061109c1b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ To install Tuplex, simply install the dependencies first and then build the pack
 #### MacOS build from source
 To build Tuplex, you need several other packages first which can be easily installed via [brew](https://brew.sh/).
 ```
-brew install llvm@9 boost boost-python3 aws-sdk-cpp pcre2 antlr4-cpp-runtime googletest gflags yaml-cpp celero
+brew install llvm@9 boost boost-python3 aws-sdk-cpp pcre2 antlr4-cpp-runtime googletest gflags yaml-cpp celero protobuf libmagic
 python3 -m pip cloudpickle numpy
 python3 setup.py install
 ```
diff --git a/doc/source/gettingstarted.rst b/doc/source/gettingstarted.rst
index 3ff373853..a04a66c20 100644
--- a/doc/source/gettingstarted.rst
+++ b/doc/source/gettingstarted.rst
@@ -242,13 +242,13 @@ A convenient option to install packages under Mac OS X is `Homebrew <http://brew
 
   brew install git cmake python@3.9 llvm@9 boost \
                boost-python3 aws-sdk-cpp pcre2 antlr4-cpp-runtime \
-               yaml-cpp celero gflags libmagic
+               googletest gflags yaml-cpp celero protobuf libmagic
 
-Further, you need to install the ``cloudpickle`` python module in order to compile Tuplex.
+Further, you need to install the ``cloudpickle`` python module and ``numpy`` in order to compile Tuplex.
 
 .. code:: console
 
-  pip3 install cloudpickle # or use python3 -m pip install cloudpickle
+  pip3 install numpy cloudpickle # or use python3 -m pip install cloudpickle
 
 
 Note: Per default Tuplex uses static libs. However, recently brew changed the AWS SDK to be with shared libs, i.e. running ``cmake`` might complain about missing ```*.cmake`` files. To deal with this, you've multiple options:
diff --git a/tuplex/CMakeLists.txt b/tuplex/CMakeLists.txt
index 544bedc02..8dd965b9b 100755
--- a/tuplex/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tuplex/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -100,6 +100,26 @@ endif()
 
 message(STATUS "build type is " "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
 
+
+# fix for Mac OS X/ brew, find openSSL (required by some dependencies)
+## check for ICU
+IF(BREW_FOUND)
+    IF(APPLE)
+        # MESSAGE("brew on Mac found")
+        EXECUTE_PROCESS(COMMAND brew --prefix openssl OUTPUT_VARIABLE OSSL_ROOT_DIR ERROR_VARIABLE BREW_OPENSSL_NOTFOUND OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
+        IF(BREW_OPENSSL_NOTFOUND)
+            MESSAGE("did not find brewed openssl, you might install it via brew install openssl")
+        ELSE()
+            set(ENV{OPENSSL_ROOT_DIR} /usr/local/opt/openssl)
+            MESSAGE(STATUS "found brewed openssl under: ${OSSL_ROOT_DIR}")
+        ENDIF()
+
+    ELSEIF(UNIX)
+        #MESSAGE("brew on Unix found")
+    ENDIF()
+ENDIF()
+
+
 # Options:
 # build for CI (disable some tests)
 option(BUILD_FOR_CI "Build for the CI - disable tests that require AWS credentials." OFF)
diff --git a/tuplex/codegen/CMakeLists.txt b/tuplex/codegen/CMakeLists.txt
index bd2b7ce1e..a5e17e5b8 100755
--- a/tuplex/codegen/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tuplex/codegen/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ ENDIF()
 IF(LLVM_ROOT_DIR)
     message(STATUS "Given LLVM_ROOT_DIR=${LLVM_ROOT_DIR}")
     message(STATUS "CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH}")
-    message(STATUS "LLVM_ROOT=${LLVM_ROOT}")
     EXECUTE_PROCESS(COMMAND "ls" "/opt" COMMAND_ECHO STDOUT)
     EXECUTE_PROCESS(COMMAND "ls" "${LLVM_ROOT_DIR}" COMMAND_ECHO STDOUT)
     # make cmake find in config mode the right LLVMConfig.cmake file which is located here
diff --git a/tuplex/core/CMakeLists.txt b/tuplex/core/CMakeLists.txt
index 884e83d7c..99ae1762a 100755
--- a/tuplex/core/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tuplex/core/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,24 +8,6 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 
 find_package(YAMLCPP REQUIRED)
 
-# fix for Mac OS X/ brew, find openSSL
-## check for ICU
-IF(BREW_FOUND)
-    IF(APPLE)
-        # MESSAGE("brew on Mac found")
-        EXECUTE_PROCESS(COMMAND brew --prefix openssl OUTPUT_VARIABLE OSSL_ROOT_DIR ERROR_VARIABLE BREW_OPENSSL_NOTFOUND OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
-        IF(BREW_OPENSSL_NOTFOUND)
-            MESSAGE("did not find brewed openssl, you might install it via brew install openssl")
-        ELSE()
-            set(ENV{OPENSSL_ROOT_DIR} /usr/local/opt/openssl)
-            MESSAGE(STATUS "found brewed openssl under: ${OSSL_ROOT_DIR}")
-        ENDIF()
-
-    ELSEIF(UNIX)
-        #MESSAGE("brew on Unix found")
-    ENDIF()
-ENDIF()
-
 set(CURL_LIBRARY "-lcurl")
 find_package(CURL REQUIRED)
 
diff --git a/tuplex/io/CMakeLists.txt b/tuplex/io/CMakeLists.txt
index b9d766baa..5015c31ef 100644
--- a/tuplex/io/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tuplex/io/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -24,17 +24,56 @@ get_filename_component(Protobuf_HOME "${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS}" DIRECTORY)
 
 include(ExternalProject)
 set(EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/third_party)
+
+# For MacOS, check whether certain 3rd party libs are already installed via brew
+# check if snappy is already installed under MacOS
+if(BREW_FOUND)
+    if(APPLE)
+        EXECUTE_PROCESS(COMMAND brew --prefix snappy OUTPUT_VARIABLE BREW_SNAPPY_DIR ERROR_VARIABLE BREW_SNAPPY_NOTFOUND OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE)
+        if(BREW_SNAPPY_NOTFOUND)
+            set(SNAPPY_LIBRARIES "${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/libsnappy.a")
+        else()
+            set(ENV{SNAPPY_HOME} ${BREW_SNAPPY_DIR})
+            set(SNAPPY_HOME ${BREW_SNAPPY_DIR})
+            message(STATUS "Found locally installed snappy under $ENV{SNAPPY_HOME}")
+            # set variables
+            file (TO_CMAKE_PATH "${SNAPPY_HOME}" _snappy_path)
+            find_library (SNAPPY_LIBRARY NAMES snappy HINTS
+                    ${_snappy_path}
+                    PATH_SUFFIXES "lib" "lib64")
+            if(SNAPPY_LIBRARY)
+                message(STATUS "snappy lib: ${SNAPPY_LIBRARY}")
+            endif()
+            find_library (SNAPPY_STATIC_LIB NAMES ${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}${SNAPPY_LIB_NAME}${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX} HINTS
+                    ${_snappy_path}
+                    PATH_SUFFIXES "lib" "lib64")
+            if(SNAPPY_LIBRARY)
+                set(SNAPPY_LIBRARIES "${SNAPPY_LIBRARY}")
+            elseif(SNAPPY_STATIC_LIB)
+                set(SNAPPY_LIBRARIES "${SNAPPY_STATIC_LIB}")
+            endif()
+            message(STATUS "Snappy libraries: ${SNAPPY_LIBRARIES}")
+        endif()
+    endif()
+endif()
+
+# set to third-party build
+if(NOT SNAPPY_LIBRARIES)
+    set(SNAPPY_HOME "")
+    set(SNAPPY_LIBRARIES ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/libsnappy.a)
+endif()
+
 ExternalProject_Add(orc
         GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/apache/orc.git
-        GIT_TAG main
+        GIT_TAG rel/release-1.7.0
         TIMEOUT 5
-        CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-Wno-poison-system-directories" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION} -DBUILD_JAVA=OFF -DBUILD_TOOLS=OFF -DBUILD_CPP_TESTS=OFF -DBUILD_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_LIB=ON -DPROTOBUF_HOME=${Protobuf_HOME}
+        CMAKE_ARGS -DBUILD_LIBHDFSPP=OFF -DSNAPPY_HOME=${SNAPPY_HOME} -DOPENSSL_ROOT_DIR=${OPENSSL_ROOT_DIR} -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-Wno-poison-system-directories" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION} -DBUILD_JAVA=OFF -DBUILD_TOOLS=OFF -DBUILD_CPP_TESTS=OFF -DBUILD_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_LIB=ON -DPROTOBUF_HOME=${Protobuf_HOME}
         PREFIX "${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}"
         UPDATE_COMMAND "" # Disable update step: clones the project only once
         BUILD_BYPRODUCTS
             ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/liborc.a
             ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/liblz4.a
-            ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/libsnappy.a
+            ${SNAPPY_LIBRARIES}
             ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/libz.a
             ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/libzstd.a
         )
@@ -62,7 +101,7 @@ target_include_directories(libio PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include
 target_link_libraries(libio libutils
         ${AWSSDK_LINK_LIBRARIES} ${LibMagic_LIBRARIES}
         ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/liblz4.a
-        ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/libsnappy.a
+        ${SNAPPY_LIBRARIES}
         ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/libz.a
         ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib/libzstd.a
         liborc)
diff --git a/tuplex/python/tuplex/context.py b/tuplex/python/tuplex/context.py
index a781cec16..e6af62a43 100644
--- a/tuplex/python/tuplex/context.py
+++ b/tuplex/python/tuplex/context.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 import glob
 import sys
 import cloudpickle
-from tuplex.utils.common import flatten_dict, load_conf_yaml, stringify_dict, unflatten_dict, save_conf_yaml, in_jupyter_notebook, is_in_interactive_mode, current_user, host_name
+from tuplex.utils.common import flatten_dict, load_conf_yaml, stringify_dict, unflatten_dict, save_conf_yaml, in_jupyter_notebook, in_google_colab, is_in_interactive_mode, current_user, host_name
 import uuid
 import json
 from .metrics import Metrics
@@ -109,6 +109,8 @@ def __init__(self, conf=None, name="", **kwargs):
             mode = 'shell'
         if in_jupyter_notebook():
             mode = 'jupyter'
+        if in_google_colab():
+            mode = 'colab'
         host = host_name()
 
         # pass above options as env.user, ...
diff --git a/tuplex/python/tuplex/repl/__init__.py b/tuplex/python/tuplex/repl/__init__.py
index 939251e35..06e54e015 100644
--- a/tuplex/python/tuplex/repl/__init__.py
+++ b/tuplex/python/tuplex/repl/__init__.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 import os
 import sys
 
-from tuplex.utils.common import is_in_interactive_mode, in_jupyter_notebook
+from tuplex.utils.common import is_in_interactive_mode, in_jupyter_notebook, in_google_colab
 from tuplex.utils.interactive_shell import TuplexShell
 
 from tuplex.utils.version import __version__
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ def TuplexBanner():
 # if the module is imported in interactive mode, overwrite shell with own shell
 # else, provide code-closure functionality through readline module
 
-if is_in_interactive_mode() and not in_jupyter_notebook():
+if is_in_interactive_mode() and not in_jupyter_notebook() and not in_google_colab():
     os.system('clear')
 
     from tuplex.context import Context
diff --git a/tuplex/python/tuplex/utils/common.py b/tuplex/python/tuplex/utils/common.py
index 533d5d3f5..c55275d85 100644
--- a/tuplex/python/tuplex/utils/common.py
+++ b/tuplex/python/tuplex/utils/common.py
@@ -107,6 +107,30 @@ def in_jupyter_notebook():
     except NameError:
         return False  # Probably standard Python interpreter
 
+def in_google_colab():
+    """
+        check whether framework runs in Google Colab environment
+    Returns:
+        True if Tuplex is running in Google Colab
+    """
+    found_colab_package = False
+    try:
+        import google.colab
+        found_colab_package = True
+    except:
+        pass
+
+    shell_name_matching = False
+    try:
+        shell_name_matching =  'google.colab' in str(get_ipython())
+    except:
+        pass
+
+    if found_colab_package or shell_name_matching:
+        return True
+    else:
+        return False
+
 def is_in_interactive_mode():
     """checks whether the module is loaded in an interactive shell session or not
 
diff --git a/tuplex/python/tuplex/utils/reflection.py b/tuplex/python/tuplex/utils/reflection.py
index 86ce2b655..50aed36a8 100644
--- a/tuplex/python/tuplex/utils/reflection.py
+++ b/tuplex/python/tuplex/utils/reflection.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
 from tuplex.utils.globs import get_globals
 from tuplex.utils.source_vault import SourceVault, supports_lambda_closure
-from tuplex.utils.common import in_jupyter_notebook, is_in_interactive_mode
+from tuplex.utils.common import in_jupyter_notebook, in_google_colab, is_in_interactive_mode
 from tuplex.utils.interactive_shell import TuplexShell
 
 # only export get_source function, rest shall be private.
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ def get_function_code(f):
     function_name = f.__code__.co_name
     assert isinstance(function_name, str)
 
-    if in_jupyter_notebook():
+    if in_jupyter_notebook() or in_google_colab():
         return extract_function_code(function_name, get_jupyter_raw_code(function_name))
     else:
         return extract_function_code(function_name, dill.source.getsource(f))