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How to Install and Run Windows on Mac – Guide
Prior to the release of the M1 Macs in November 2020, one of the benefits of using a Mac was that you had the option to run macOS on its own or install Windows for those cases where you just need to run Windows apps and games. It is still possible to run Windows on a Mac, but for now this only works on an Intel-based Mac. In theory, you can run Windows on a Mac with Apple’s M1 chip, but this is just the ARM version of Windows, which is not readily available, and many Windows programs will not run on it.
There are several ways to do this: you can use Apple’s dual-boot Boot Camp Assistant, use third-party virtualization software, or run Windows apps through an emulator. With the latest version of the popular Parallels Desktop app, you can easily install the x86 version of Windows 11 on an Intel-based Mac. Apple’s new M1 chip Macs are more complicated as they can only handle ARM-based versions of Windows. But you can make it work using Microsoft’s Insider Preview of Windows 11 for ARM.
Windows 11 runs as a virtual machine in Parallels Desktop, similar to how it would run in a Windows VM application such as VMware Workstation or Oracle VM VirtualBox. You need a Windows product key to activate it in Parallels Desktop.
How to Install and run Windows on Mac
Get a Windows 10 Disk Image (ISO File) on a Mac
To install and use Windows on a Mac, you need a Windows 10 disk image (in the form of an ISO file). The good news is that you can download the latest version of Windows 10 directly from Microsoft:
Run Windows on a Mac via Boot Camp (Dual Boot)
You also need 64GB or more of free storage space on your Mac startup disk, a Windows 10 disk image (see the How to Get the Windows for Mac chapter) and a USB flash drive with a storage capacity of 16GB or more (unless your Mac doesn’t need a flash drive to install Windows). If you meet all these requirements, just follow the instructions below. To run Windows on a Mac via Boot Camp:
Run Windows in a virtual machine on a Mac
In addition to installing Windows along with macOS on your hard drive, you can also run Windows directly from macOS in a virtual machine. That way, you can easily access both operating systems at the same time and transfer files between them without restarting your Mac. To run Windows in a virtual machine on a Mac, you need to install the virtualization software. The two most popular solutions at the time of this writing are VMware Fusion and VirtualBox. The former is proprietary software that costs $199 for the Pro version, while the latter is open source and available for free.
Unless you plan to use Windows in a virtual machine on a daily basis, we recommend that you start with the free solutions and only consider purchasing a VMware Fusion license if VirtualBox does not meet your expectations and needs. Keep in mind that VirtualBox (like VMware Fusion) only runs on Intel-based Macs. Apple computers with the new M1 chip are NOT supported. To virtualize Windows on M1 Macs, you’ll need an emulator like QEMU (and lots of time and patience).
To install Windows on a Mac using VirtualBox:
Final note
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