5 top ways to run Windows on a Mac. For instance, while Boot Camp 6.1, which installs Windows 10, is not supported for my Mac Pro 5,1 (2012) test platform, Windows 10 can still be installed. The vast majority of the time you don’t actually need to use Boot Camp, and you’d be better off using a virtual machine. If, however, you’re looking to play Windows games on your Mac, Boot Camp might be a good choice. RELATED: How to Seamlessly Run Windows Programs on Your Mac with Parallels.
Only suckers pay sticker price for a new Windows PC or Mac If you're patient and willing to do some research, you can save hundreds of dollars and get a more powerful configuration than you ever dreamed possible. You can run Windows on a Mac. That's a big selling point for Apple, which gives this feature a marquee position on its page. Apple pitches it as the way to run 'specialty software.' You know, 'that one Windows application.
That's not available for the Mac.' That's actually a pretty compelling pitch for me.
I have a handful of Windows programs that don't have Mac alternatives, and I have. So if a virtual machine can handle both Windows and OS X apps gracefully, I would have a much easier time moving back and forth. On the Mac, I originally installed Windows 7. But after a recent memory and disk upgrade I've been looking at virtualization software for OS X, which allows me to run Windows without having to first shut down OS X. It's not exactly seamless, but it works. Before you try it, though, you should learn about the costs-some of them not so obvious at first glance.
There's the monetary cost of software, of course, but there are also some hidden performance costs. In this post I discuss both. The cost of software.
You can pay for virtualization software or find a free alternative, but Windows itself isn't free. And if your can't-live-without it Windows app is Microsoft Office or an accounting program or a point-of-sale system, well, you have to pay for that too. Let's run the tape:. Windows 7 Professional $250 Under Windows license terms, the only option a normal consumer has for Windows 7 in a VM on a Mac is what's called a Full Packaged Product (FPP) license. (Upgrades are only allowed if you are replacing the installed copy of OS X or a previous version of Windows installed in a VM. OEM copies are allowed only on new physical hardware.) At the Microsoft Store, costs $300.
You can find it discounted from legitimate resellers for roughly $250, so let's use that price. Virtualization software $0-80 I've been testing. A full license for either one costs $80. I've been able to find discounts that take the cost into the sub-$60 range. Is a free option, but when I looked at it a few months ago it was behind the others in terms of Windows support. If you plan to use Boot Camp exclusively, you can skip this line item.
That's a bare minimum of $250 on top of the premium cost you pay for Apple's hardware. It's at least $300 if you use commercial virtualization software, and possibly much more if you need to pay for additional licenses for Windows apps. The hidden performance costs What I found even more interesting was the decrease in performance that you get when you run Windows on Apple hardware. To measure performance, I looked at the raw data that Windows captures when you run the Windows System Assessment tool (WinSAT.exe). You can look at the five numbers that make up the Windows Experience Index (WEI), but the detailed numbers are much more illuminating.
I looked at these numbers on my late-2009 Mac Mini, with a decent Core 2 Duo CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and a 7200RPM Seagate Momentus XT hybrid disk. The latter two pieces of the puzzle are recent upgrades, with the disk being a substantial improvement over the original sluggish 5400 RPM drive. I have Windows running in Boot Camp and in multiple virtual machines.
In addition, I collected performance information from my colleagues Zach Whittaker and Christopher Dawson, both of whom have new MacBook Airs running Windows on the side. I was shocked at the differences in performance. Here are the side-by-side WEI scores for all systems. The top group shows scores for my Mac Mini; the bottom chart shows the two MacBook Airs.
All of these scores are on a scale of 1-7.9. The color coding is simple, bright green is the best, dark red is the worst, with yellow in the middle. The two MacBook Airs have different CPUs, but both have the same 128 GB SSD and Intel onboard graphics. The default VM configuration sets aside a mere 1 GB of RAM for the VM. For the optimized setup, I increased RAM to 3 or 4 GB.
Click to enlarge chart You can see at a glance that virtualization takes a significant chunk of CPU capability away. On my system, the Boot Camp installation scored 308 MB/s for the CPUCompression2Metric and 470.9 MB/s for the Encryption2Metric, versus 152.5 and 223.0 for the same metric under Parallels. For those two tasks, you're essentially losing half of the CPU by running in a VM. The difference is even more striking in the two MacBook Airs, where the different CPU models account for part of the gap but the VM adds a further penalty.
Likewise, graphics performance in a VM suffers because Windows is unable to use the native Nvidia or Intel drivers and instead has to pass everything through virtualized graphics adapters. Both VMware and Parallels have decent drivers capable of delivering Aero support with transparency and other effects. All of those effects are smooth when running under Boot Camp, but I can see tearing and jerky movements in a virtual machine. The lower scores reflect the differences accurately Surprisingly, one area of Windows performance actually improves dramatically in a virtual machine. Look at the difference in performance on the Mac Mini, where the WEI score goes from 5.9 to 6.9.
The Random Read score is 1.2 MB/s under Boot Camp but increases to 2.7 MB/s when using Parallels. That's a huge improvement.
On the two MacBook Airs, you can really see the hit that the Intel graphics take when they're forced to run using virtual graphics drivers. The penalty is even worse because the VM only has 1 GB of RAM available, whereas the Boot Camp installation has 4 GB to work with. And once again you can see the effects of storage drivers. Under Boot Camp, the 128 GB SSD delivers Random Read throughput of 49.5 MB/s. In a VM, the same score is 182.9 MB/s, a fourfold increase. In Boot Camp, the SSD in that MacBook Air performs far worse than an SSD should. By way of contrast, a Samsung SSD in a 2009-vintage Dell notebook earned 130.2 MB/s on that score.
The SATA III SSD in the Dell desktop I'm using to write this post scores 209.2 MB/s. No matter which way you run Windows on a Mac, you're going to give something up If you use Boot Camp, Windows will probably get as much as it can from the CPU and graphics adapter, but you'll pay a performance penalty in terms of hard disk speed. By contrast, virtualizing Windows unlocks the full disk speed, especially with SSDs, but you pay a penalty in CPU and graphics muscle.
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2:51 Editors' note: This post was updated on August 12, 2015, with information on how to remove Windows from a dual-boot Mac. If you haven't already heard, Windows 10 is pretty great and worth installing on your PC. Apple fans won't miss out either, since the new operating system can be installed on your Mac as well. To install Windows 10 on a Mac, you will need the following:.
The Mac you plan to install Windows 10 on. A thumb drive with at least 5GB of storage space (for reference, I named mine 'WININSTALL'). A second computer that already runs Windows.
A fast Internet connection Note that you won't need a Windows 10 license for the installation, but you will need to buy one if you want to continue to use it on your Mac after the 30-day trial period. Following these instructions will install Windows 10 on your Mac in a dual-boot configuration, meaning you'll have the option to choose which operating system (Windows 10 or Mac OS) to use each time you turn on the computer. And, if you later on change your mind, the guide also includes the information on how you can remove Windows afterwords.
This guide is for a Mac that doesn't have already have Windows installed. If yours already has Windows 7 or Windows 8 on your Mac, you can. Part 1: Getting the Windows 10 file on your Mac Step 1: Insert the flash drive into your Windows computer and download Windows 10's.
There are and versions, depending on which Windows system you intend to use the tool on. If you're not sure whether your computer is using 64-bit or 32-bit Windows,. Only the version compatible with your system will actually run. Pick the option to create an installation media. Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET Step 2: Open the downloaded media creation tool, choose Create installation media for another PC then click Next. Make sure you pick the 64-bit architecture.
Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET Step 3: Select the Language, Edition and the 64-bit Architecture for Windows 10, then click Next. It's important that you select the 64-bit Architecture, unless your Mac specifically supports only the 32-bit architecture (very few do). If you select the 32-bit or both option, you may run into problems later on. As for what edition of Windows to get, check out this to find out if Pro or Home fits you best. Keep in mind that you will need to buy a license later when you need to activate Windows and the Pro edition is more expensive than the Home edition.
The N edition of Windows 10 is for certain European markets. Choose to save Windows 10 installer as an ISO. Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET Step 4: Choose to save Windows 10 installer as an ISO file then click on Next.
Don't worry, you won't need a DVD burner or a DVD at all. Note that you'll want to avoid using the USB flash drive option here since, in my experience, the Windows 10 USB installer drive created using Windows has trouble working on certain Macs. Save Windows 10 ISO file. Dong Ngo Step 5: Choose a location to save the Windows ISO file. For this guide, I chose to save that file on the flash drive, but you can save it anywhere on the computer and then copy it onto the flash drive later. Depending on your Internet connection, this will take between a few minutes and several hours.
Once the file has been saved on the flash drive, remove it from your Windows computer and insert it into your Mac. You will not need the Windows computer again for the rest of the process. Part 2: Getting the flash drive and your Mac's partition ready Note: At times you'll be prompted to type in the password for your Mac's admin account. Make sure you have that ready. Copy Windows 10 ISO file onto the Mac's desktop Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET Step 1: Insert and then open the flash drive. Copy the Windows ISO file onto the Mac's desktop. Leave the flash drive connected to the Mac for the rest of job.
Make sure there are no other flash drives or external hard drives connected to the Mac. Run Boot Camp Assistant Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET Step 2: Run Boot Camp Assistant, then click on Continue. Boot Camp Assistant is located in Applications Utilities folder. You can also quickly search for it using Spotlight. Make sure all tasks are checked. Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET Step 3: Make sure all three tasks Create a Windows 7 or later version install disk, Download the latest Windows support software from Apple and Install windows 7 or later version are checked.
Then click Continue. Prepare to make Windows 10 install disk. Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET Step 4: If you've copied the Windows ISO file to the Mac's desktop, it will be automatically located.
If you put it elsewhere on the computer, you'll need click on Choose and browse for it. The flash drive will be automatically chosen as the install disk if it's the only flash drive plugged in. Verify everything then click on Continue. Boot Camp Assistant will then confirm the erasing of the flash drive before turning it into a Windows 10 install disk (make sure you have no important information on the flash drive.) After that it will also download the latest Windows support software onto the flash drive. Make sure you choose the right partition size for Windows 10.
Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET Step 5: Boot Camp Assistant will prompt you to choose the size of the partition that you'll use for Windows. Use the slider to select the size. Windows 10 itself requires at least 20GB to install, so you'll want more than that to make room for software and data. Note that this is the only time you can pick the partition size for Windows so make sure you make up your mind before continue.
Once done, without removing the flash drive, click on Install. The partitioning will takes place and then the Mac will restart. This is the end of part 2.
Make sure the flash drive remained plugged in for the entire part 3. Part 3: Installing Windows 10 Windows 10 installation starts Dong Ngo/CNET Step 1: The Mac will automatically boot up from the flash drive and start the Windows Setup process. You'll be prompted to choose the Language, Time and currency format, and Keyboard settings for Windows. Do this, then click on Next. Note: If somehow the Mac doesn't boot from the flash drive, just restart it, hold down the Option key after the Apple startup sound for available boot options, use the left/right keys to pick the flash drive - which will likely appears as 'Windows' - and press Enter to boot from it.
Enter the Windows 10 product key or skip it. Dong Ngo/CNET Step 2: Enter the Windows 10 product key if you have it, then click on Next, or click on Skip. The installation process will then ask you to confirm the Windows edition you want to install, and ask you to agree to the terms and conditions.
Reformatting the partition for Winodws 10. Dong Ngo/CNET Step 3: Eventually, you will be presented with the all existing partitions, one of which is marked as BOOTCAMP. This is the partition you want to install Windows 10 on.
Select it then click on Format. Do not do anything about the rest of the partitions. Confirming the formatting of the BootCamp partition. Dong Ngo/CNET Step 4: Windows Setup will then ask you to confirm, click on OK and then click on Next. Windows Setup doing its thing. Dong Ngo/CNET Step 5: Windows Setup will continue the rest of the setup process by itself.
This should take about about 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the speed of your Mac. After that, the Mac will start up with Windows 10.
You will be asked to go through with the normal steps of setting up a new Windows computer, including creating an user account. Installing Boot Camp software is the last step that makes Windows 10 run well on your Mac. Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET Step 6: As you log in for the first time, you will be greeted with this Boot Camp installation message. Click on Next and follow the rest of the installation, reboot the computer, and you're done! If you don't see this message, open the flash drive, and double-click on the Setup file inside the BootCamp folder.
Once Boot Camp is done installing, you can remove the flash drive from the computer. It's no longer needed. Windows 10 brings new excitement to Mac computers. Dong Ngo/CNET While you have both Mac OS and Windows 10 on the same machine, you can only run one of them at a time. To manually select which operating system to run, during the startup, hold down the Option key after the Apple startup sound and then use the left and right keys to select which one you want to boot into, then press Enter.
To set which operating system to boot up as default, use the Boot Camp control panel (Windows) or Startup Disk in System Preferences (Mac). Removing Windows If for some reason, you don't want to have Windows 10 (or any version of Windows for that matter) on your Mac anymore, you can permanently remove it and regain the disk space the Mac OS. Here are the steps. Boot into Mac OS, run Boot Camp Assistant and click Continue. Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET 2. Pick the third option that reads Remove Windows 7 or later version then click on Continue.
Removing Windows means the entire Boot Camp partition will be earased. Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET 3. In this step, just click on Restore; you will be prompted for the Mac's admin password to confirm.
After a short process, Windows will be removed like it had never been installed. Note that removing Windows also means that all data, including software and files, stored on the Windows partition will be permanently erased.