Plenty of other operating systems, including Window and Linux, will work on a Mac device. That makes the Mac among the most versatile computers you can buy. Here’s what we’d use to install Windows on a Mac. Because Boot Camp runs Windows directly on your Mac’s hardware (there is no virtualization or emulation to be performed) Windows can run at the best possible speed your Mac is able to deliver. Installing Windows on your Mac is no more difficult than installing Windows on a PC. Apple even provides the Boot Camp Assistant to partition the startup drive to make room for Windows as well as to install all the drivers Windows needs for special Apple hardware. Virtualization on the Mac makes use of a software layer called a hypervisor to emulate all of the underlying hardware. As a result, the guest operating system running on the virtual machine does not run as fast as in Boot Camp. But unlike Boot Camp, both the Mac operating system and the guest operating system run at the same time. There are three primary virtualization apps for Mac:
Parallels: The first to bring virtualization to the Mac. Parallels supports a wide range of guest OS, including Windows, Linux, and Mac. VMWare Fusion: Fusion is the Mac virtualization app offered by VMWare — a leader in virtualization tech. Fusion supports the installation of many different operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. VirtualBox: Oracle supports an open source virtualization app known as VirtualBox. This free virtualization app runs on multiple computer systems, including Mac. Like the other virtualization apps, VirtualBox can be used to run many different operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Installing the virtualization apps is similar to any other Mac app. Guest OS may be more involved with some customization required to obtain the best performance. All three apps have lively forums and support services to help with tuning the performance. As a result, the Windows app can run using the host operating system’s API instead of Windows. At least, that’s the promise. The problem is that trying to convert all of the Windows API calls is a huge undertaking, and there is no guarantee that an app you want to use has had all of its API calls successfully translated. Although the task seems daunting, Wine does have quite a few success stories, and that’s the key to using Wine: checking the Wine database to make sure the Windows app you need to use has been successfully tested. Installing Wine on the Mac can be a challenge for those not used to installing open-source Linux/UNIX apps. Wine is distributed via tarballs or .pkg, though we recommend using the .pkg method, which includes a semi-standard Mac installer. After the installation is complete, Wine has to be run from the Terminal app, though once a Windows app is up and running you will be using the standard Mac GUI. There is no need to venture into Terminal as is required with Wine. Crossover Mac hides all the underlying UNIX bits and bobs behind a standard Mac user interface. While Crossover Mac is a better user experience, it still relies on the Wine code for translating Windows APIs to their Mac equivalents. This means Crossover Mac has the same issues as Wine when it comes to apps working correctly. Your best bet is to use the database of working apps on the CrossOver website to ensure that the app you want to run will work. The results are the Windows desktop appearing in a window on your Mac. Within the window you can manipulate the Windows desktop, launch apps, move files around, and play games, though graphic-intensive games or apps are not a good choice due to the bandwidth demands. Installation and setup are easy enough. Download the app from the Mac App Store. Once installed, enable remote access on the Windows system, and then select the Windows system within the Remote Desktop app to access and use its apps.
