How to best run windows on my mac and what version?

I want to run windows on my mac by partitioning part of an external hard drive. What version of windows should I license, use parralels or fusion, and any other recommendations?

There are two ways to run Windows on an Apple computer.
1. Use Bootcamp Assistant to create a Bootcamp partition then install Windows on the Bootcamp partition. http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/. Use Windows 7. Windows in a Bootcamp partition will not boot nor run from an external drive. You must use the first internal drive.
2. Use a virtual machine like Parallels, Fusion, or VirtualBox and install Windows as the guest operating syste. See the virtual machine sites for instructions. Use whichever version of Windows you want.

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How do you run Windows on a Mac?

I have had a Dual Core MacBook Pro since last July, but I have never run Windows on it. Could someone here please explain to me how I can run Windows on my Mac, how to switch between Windows and Mac OSX, and if Windows Vista is able to be run on a Mac. Or, at least point me in an article already posted on this subject. Thank you!
MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8) 17" Screen, 2.16 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive

Please search the discussions before posting. You'll find hundreds of threads detailing how to run Windows on a Mac and could have answered your own question. Or better yet, just search Google.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

How can I run Windows on my Mac?

I want to place games on my computer. However, some of the games I want to play are not compatible with my Mac and I want to know how to run Windows on my Mac.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Your Intel Mac comes with Boot Camp, that allows you to install Windows into your Mac. See > http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp
Go to this website, look for your Mac model under "Boot Camp requirements by Mac model" and choose one Windows version.
Then, open Boot Camp Assistant and follow the steps to install Windows. Follow Apple's steps > http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1636/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_ 10.8.pdf

How do you download windows on to mac and get it setup?

HELP ME!!!!!!!

Windows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.
   1. Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows
         XP w/Service Pak2, Vista, or Windows 7. For Boot Camp
         4.0 and above you can only use Windows 7 or later. Follow
         instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on
         installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and
         installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the
         computer into OS X or Windows.
     2. Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business,
         Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. Parallels is software
         virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently
         with OS X.
     3. VM Fusion and Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate,
         or Windows 7. VM Fusion is software virtualization that
         enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
     4. CrossOver which enables running many Windows
         applications without having to install Windows. The
         Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
     5. VirtualBox is an Open Source freeware virtual machine such
         as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris.
         It is not as fully developed for the Mac as Parallels and VM
         Fusion.
Note that VirtualBox, Parallels, and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system. See MacTech Labs- Virtualization Benchmarks, January 2013 | MacTech for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion. Benchmarks of all of the above except Crossover can be found in Benchmarking Parallels, Fusion, and VirtualBox Against Boot Camp - The Mac Observer. Boot Camp is only available with Leopard or later. Except for Crossover and a couple of similar alternatives like DarWine you must have a valid installer disc for Windows.
You must also have an internal optical drive for installing Windows. Windows cannot be installed from an external optical drive.

How do I run Windows explorer on mac

I need to run Windows 7 for some applications. How do I do this?

I vote VMWare Fusion for your needs, Kevin.
I've got a 2.4MHz Macbook 7.1 & I've been using Fusion to run Windows 7 Ultimate for quite a while now. I've got Win7 all updated, it shares my Macbook's network connection just like it had its very own, shares Mac folders so that those Mac folders (or even the entire Mac file structure, if I wanted to) are accessible inside Win7, & I can Copy [Cmnd-C] & Paste [Cmnd-V] info back & forth between the two OS's by just Cmnd-Tab switching back & forth between the two. Nearly seamless integration between the two.
My Windows 7 actually works better & more problem-free on my Mac, in fact, than any Windows I've ever had running on any PC machine. Believe it or not. Just as fast too, if not faster. And I don't think I have EVER seen one of those mean nasty little Windows popup messages with text and a "So whatya wanna do, bucko?" question in 'em that only a Redmond software engineer could understand.
A couple of caveats though......
Hard drive space: Lots of it. Not knowing how much it'd take, I initially set the space my Win7 would take up on my Mac at 60GB, though Windows 7 itself is now taking up only 37GBs inside that initial 60GB allotment. I haven't yet discovered how to make that allotment size smaller, to 40GBs for example, without maybe messing something up, & I don't have the harddrive space to duplicate the 60GB file as backup. Gotta break out my external drives I guess.
And in addition to the 60Gigs of static, unchangeable space it takes up on my Mac's SSD, it uses another quarter Gig or so of my SSD's free space for its virtual memory requirements (see the Activity Monitor screenshot below).
RAM: Lots & lots of that, too. Right around 2.25GBs of Real RAM Memory it uses. I outfitted my Macbook with 8GBs though, so running Win7 along with 6 to 10 other Mac apps, including Photoshop, is usually not a problem. Close with that many other apps, but usually not a problem.
If VMWare Fusion looks like a good way to you for you to get Windows 7 running on your Mac (personally, I think it's SO cool), I'd use Craigslist to find a good deal on a copy of Fusion, Kevin.
Here's a Google hitlist showing a nationwide Craigslist search result for people selling VMWare Fusion disks last month & this month. Looks like $25 or so bucks is all it'd take, on average:
site:craigslist.org mac OR macintosh AND "vmware fusion" AND "intext:2012-09" OR "intext:2012-10" -macbook
Happy Mac'in, Kevin!
Kevin Kendall

How do i run windows programs on mac

How do i run a windows program on my mac? Is there a particular application for it? or do i need to download and install a virtual windows software? - if so, can anyone suggest any names for software. I've heard about virtual box.

Why ask here instead of the ones for Macbook series, or for Windows on Mac, aka Boot Camp.
VirtualBos is just the VM free for running Windows as guest OS under Mac OS, and then why exclude what or type program? Maybe game that needs to run natively, or that your notebook would have troubke with disk spa e, RAM, or your processor.
Windows runs hotter, too, so that is another concern.
Mire Q's than answers.

How can I run windows 7 on mac

Can anybody help me to run windows 7 on my macbook pro?

go to your applications folder - then go to your utilites folder and click on bootcamp assistant and follow instructions - make sure you have blank dvd handy since it will download drivers for windows then burn in your dvd.
Click here for detailed instructions.

What do I need to run Windows on a Mac and Word for Windows?

I have a Mac OS X Lion and would like to run Windows programs which are only programmed to run on Windows. What do I need so that I can run Windows and Microsoft Word.

kphhim
"I have a Mac OS X Lion and would like to run Windows programs which are only programmed to run on Windows."
Your best bet is to use VirtualBox to provide a virtual machine capability allowing the installation of a guest OS like windows. I've used VB extensively for years and I highly recommend it's use for your issue.
If you have a full version of windows, you could use bootcamp as an alternative to VB but you lose the ability to access the OSx environment while booted in windows.
Best of luck
Dan

What is the best way to run windows on my Mac? And What are the pitfalls I should watch for?

What is the best way to run windows on my Mac? What are the pitfalls/

If you need Windows as your main operating system you would be better off buying a Real Windows PC.
Running windows on a Mac is always a compromise. Whether in a Boot Camp partition or in a Virtual Machine.
In boot camp you can't easily Re-Partition and or Re-Size the drive it is installed on. You can't use both graphics cards as Apple has limited Windows to use the discrete graphics only, that is if your mac has 2 graphics cards (15" MBPs), which will shorten the battery run time in Windows.
The trackpad only has limited functions in Windows, less then is available on the Mac side and a real Windows PC.

What is the best way to run windows on my mac?

What is the best way to run windows on my mac?
I have a particular program that i need to run, and it only runs on windows. I have a macbook pro

As Templeton noted, it depends and will at least be somewhat subjective.
There are basically three options out there. You can use a Windows emulator (Wine or the commercial version of it, Crossover Office), use Boot Camp to "dual boot" or use virtualization software (Parallels, VMWare Fusion, or VirtualBox). Each has its advantages or disadvantages.
The Windows emulators have the advantage of being the one option that doesn't need the purchase of a copy of Windows. Unlike Boot Camp, but like the virtualization options, this allows you to run Windows programs and OSX programs side by side. The big problem, though, is that it is the least compatible option--a lot of Windows software either has "issues" or will not function at all. The Crossover website has information on which programs are known to work and how well they are known to work.
Boot Camp is the option that Apple ships OSX with. You'll need a copy of Windows to install into the partition. You'll effectively divide your disk into two parts and have two machines. The major advantages are, first, you don't need to acquire separate software *AND* the Windows license. As well, it's the highest performance Windows system. What you have is truly a Windows machine. That's both the good and the bad--you aren't going to be able to use OSX software at the same time, and you have to reboot to get back to OSX. I've always thought it was best for someone who likes the Apple hardware and wants to use it for a Windows box--in that case Boot Camp is clearly a great solution.
Finally there's virtualization which seems to be the most popular way to handle Windows, especially if you need to run one vertical market package. It has the advantage of allowing you to use your OSX software at the same time, and the virtualization gives an extremely high level of compatibility. About the only thing that won't run is a virtualization package (and there's not a lot of reason to run that in a Windows VM). There is a performance hit compared to Boot Camp, but it's minimal for all but the most demanding applications (that being high end games).
It will chew up RAM on the OSX machine, but if you have at least 4 GB of RAM it will probably be manageable, especially if you only need to run one Windows program.
You will need both a virtualization program (there are three major ones) and purchase Windows. Two of three programs are commercial packages (Parallels and VMWare Fusion), while the other is an open source option (VirtualBox). Virtual Box has the advantage of being free, but it's by far the least polished of the group.
Which way is best? As was noted, it depends. I run VMWare Fusion on my machines, and I have used CrossOver Office for limited purposes. I've not yet seen, in my use pattern, a reason to go to Boot Camp but I certainly can see cases where it might make sense.

On the mac mini 2011 how can I run windows 7 without the optical drive, On the mac mini 2011 how can I run windows 7 without the optical drive

On the mac mini 2011 how can I run windows 7pm bootcamp without an optical drive. I watch lots of football on sop cast and other such windows based programmes but can't work out how to do it.

Actually Windows can be installed and booted from an external drive if the drive is connected eSATA (external SATA), since the drive is treated as if it's an internal HDD. I used the same method previously to dual-boot from 2 different HDD instead of partitioning.
Most PC motherboards come with them as standard so it's pretty much plug and play but I don't recall seeing a recent Mac with eSATA connectivity though, so that might not be an option for you.

How to run windows on a mac

i have a stupid computers class which requires me to have a pc... which i refuse to get. i would like to know how to run windows on my new macbook pro for about the next 15 weeks or so... just until i finish this class...
if anyone knows how to go about doing this, PLEASE HELP (: thanks!!

Windows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.
Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows XP w/Service Pak2, Vista, or Windows 7. Follow instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the computer into OS X or Windows.
Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. Parallels is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
VM Fusion and Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. VM Fusion is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
CrossOver which enables running many Windows applications without having to install Windows. The Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
VirtualBox is an Open Source freeware virtual machine such as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris. It is not as fully developed for the Mac as Parallels and VM Fusion.
Note that Parallels and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system. See MacTech.com's Virtualization Benchmarking for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion. Boot Camp is only available with Leopard or Snow Leopard. Except for Crossover and a couple of similar alternatives like DarWine you must have a valid installer disc for Windows.
You must also have an internal optical drive for installing Windows. Windows cannot be installed from an external optical drive.

What are the best options for running windows on a Mac Pro

what are the best options for running windows on a Mac Pro

For gaming and other CPU intensive stuff: Boot Camp – https://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
For the rest: any virtualization software (Parallels/Vmware Fusion/VirtualBox)

I run windows on my mac for school. went into windows and cant get back to mac. how would i get back to the mac i love

i run windows on my mac for school. went into windows and now cant get back to the mac i love please help

Windows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.
1. Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows XP w/Service Pak2, Vista, or Windows 7. Follow instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the computer into OS X or Windows.
2. Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. Parallels is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
3. VM Fusionand Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. VM Fusion is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
4. CrossOver which enables running many Windows applications without having to install Windows. The Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
5. VirtualBox is a new Open Source freeware virtual machine such as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris. It is not as fully developed for the Mac as Parallels and VM Fusion.
Note that Parallels and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system. See MacTech.com's Virtualization Benchmarking for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion. Boot Camp is only available with Leopard or Snow Leopard. Except for Crossover and a couple of similar alternatives like DarWine you must have a valid installer disc for Windows.
You must also have an internal optical drive for installing Windows. Windows cannot be installed from an external optical drive.

How do I install Windows on my Mac?

i'm very new with mac, but i'm just concern if it's safe to put windows on mac?
and sorry to ask this, what are the procedures to have windows? how expensive?
Message was edited by: Macbeth Abuzo

You can either use Boot Camp, Parallels Desktop, or VMware Fusion to run Windows on your Mac. Many people have done this without running into problems.
(23570)

How to best run windows on my mac and what version?

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