Running Windows on Apples

ChrisR · 23 Jul 2015

I need to distribute some software which is Windows only.
Some of the victims don't have anything running Windows.
I've heard of dual-booting Macs but

is that something that can be set up at any time, or only when first used?
does it apply to laptops too?
what about iPads - presumably not?

An alternative might be to get hold of an used old Windows laptop just to run the software, but that route's not without its complications especially for someone who's not used Windows.

Ta

Grizzly · 24 Jul 2015

http://www.parallels.com/uk/products/desktop/

mattylad · 26 Jul 2015

So this is possible is it?
Running windows apps without having to install a 2nd partition etc?

I was asked about this recently for software I support, I generally say no it won't work on a mac (or linux) unless they dual boot or install Wine & then it's not supported.
Which brings me to - if you install it on a mac with additional software to allow it to work, then your also accepting that you support it on that so you have to make it extremely clear that it's unsupported and if something cannot be reproduced on a true Windows PC then they just have to make do or get a Windows PC.

nflowers · 26 Jul 2015

You could run Virtualbox:- https://www.virtualbox.org/ and then install Windows as a guest OS. I do this on a Windows PC and have many different OS's installed. It's also supported on Mac's but I don't have experience of this.

anomaly · 1 Aug 2015

I would personally just use Apple's own Boot Camp Assistant. The Mac partition will be HFS+ which is re-sizeable meaning you can choose how big you'd like the Windows partition to be, and even get rid of it should you want a full size Mac partition again.

I prefer a native installation of Windows to a virtual version, less resource hungry I feel.

1. Also, yes Boot Camp (or dual booting) can be set up anytime, not just at the beginning. (Boot Camp assistant comes pre-installed on all Macs inside the Applications>Utilities folder)
2. Yes this includes Laptops/MacBooks
3. Not iOS devices though.

foxhole · 10 Aug 2015

I use parallels, work fine , you can see both desktops from mac or windows and you can run a variety of windows simultaneously, currently have windows 7 and XP on my mac.
You can even set the number of cpu's to assign to each.

TheVictorian · 10 Aug 2015

I sell software for a living and have a Mac, the easiest and cheapest way is using VirtualBox in my opinion - I do this often.

However, bear in mind that you will need a full license for Windows, which ever method you select.

timbook · 15 Aug 2015

I've used both bootcamp and parallels and I found Parallels worked better for me. Having said that, it still wasn't without it's annoying problems. Never tried VirtualBox but have heard good things about it.

Running Windows on Apples

Similar threads