So you have a Mac but also want to run Windows? You’re in luck: shortly after the first Intel-based Macs arrived on the market in 2009, Apple released a tool called Boot Camp, which lets Mac owners install and start their machines natively in Microsoft Windows. With the press of a button, you can switch between Mac and Windows every time your computer turns on. Probably the most common reason Mac owners use Boot Camp is to play Windows-only games. For instance, PC MMOs such as Star Trek Online, Tera, and Star Wars: The Old Republic only run on Windows. Boot Camp is also better at running Windows software than virtual machines like Parallels or, which are programs that simultaneously run Windows inside Mac’s operating system. Without further ado, here’s how to set up Boot Camp and install Windows.
Why run a Mac OS X virtual machine? There are a few circumstances when a Windows user might need access to a Mac OS X installation. If when starting the Mac OS X virtual machine we get the message 'Mac OS X is not supported with binary translation'.we need to activate the virtualization.
Check system requirements, then buy Windows First off, you’ll need a 64-bit edition of Windows. Which version depends on your Mac’s age: Those from mid-2012 and newer support Windows 8 and 10, while models from early-2012 only support Windows 7 and 8. For Windows 10, you can get a copy of the Home version as either a USB stick or download. For older versions of Windows, you’ll have to go through retailers like.
Since different versions of Windows have different system requirements for the amount of RAM, hard drive space, and processor speed, you’ll want to double-check to make sure your system can run that edition comfortably. Here’s how:. Examine the system requirements for the version of Windows you plan on buying:,. Next, click on the Apple menu in the upper left and choose About This Mac. Compare your Mac’s specs for Processor and Memory (RAM) against those listed in the Windows system requirements. If your Mac doesn’t meet the criteria, you’ll need to choose a version of Windows with lower system requirements.
Make sure your Mac has enough hard drive space To use Boot Camp, you’ll need at least 55 GB of free space on your Mac’s hard drive. Boot Camp says it only needs 50 GB, but Apple’s own online support document recommends 55GB. Play it safe and go with the large allocation. To see available hard drive space, click on the Apple menu in the upper left and then select About This Mac.
Click Storage so you can see how much free space on your hard drive. If you don’t have 55 GB free, you’ll have to delete or transfer files until you do. Of some of the best tools to free up space on your Mac. Check for updates and backup Before you run Boot Camp, Apple recommends you have the latest software update and that you backup your important files.
(Need help backing up your data? Our sister site Macworld has put together.). Click the Apple menu in the upper left and then hit App Store. Go to Updates and install any software updates for macOS. Restart your computer if prompted. After restarting, check for software updates again until no new ones are available. Because Boot Camp will be moving and re-allocating space on your hard drive, you should back up any important data before you continue, in case anything becomes corrupted during the process.
Install Windows Time for the main event. If you have a Mac from 2015 or later, the process is a bit simpler. Have an older Mac or a copy of Windows on a DVD or flash drive? Skip to “Installing Windows on pre-2015 Macs” or “Install Windows from flash drive or external optical drive,” below.
Post-2015 Macs: Install Windows from an ISO file This method is probably the easiest way to install Windows, but it only works for Macs from 2015 and up. or another licensed distributor. Quit all open applications and then open up a Finder window. Click on Applications and then go into the Utilities folder. Open Boot Camp Assistant, then click Continue. Now select Choose to the right of the ISO Image box to locate your Windows ISO file. The next step is to partition your hard drive. You’ll see a slider representing your hard drive, which lets you decide how much hard-drive space to allocate to your Windows partition.
Move the slider to give your Windows partition more or less space. Remember that any space you assign will be taken from the available space for your Mac, and that macOS will run more efficiently if you leave at least 30 to 40GB of space free on its partition. Equally, keep in mind that you’ll need enough space for Windows’ system files, any software you plan on installing, and a buffer of free space. (We recommend a 5GB margin at minimum.). Once you’re satisfied with your partition, hit Install.
Your Mac will eventually boot into Windows’ setup. When the installation process asks to install Windows, be sure to select the drive labelled BOOTCAMP. Windows will now start to install. You’ll then need to make some selections for things like language, keyboard layout, and account details.
It’ll take several minutes to finish the setup process. Eventually, you’ll reach the Windows desktop. The Boot Camp Installer should then appear in a new window. Accept the terms of the license agreement and it will start installing any necessary drivers.
After it’s finished installing, you’ll be asked to restart the system, click Yes. If you installed Windows 10, you should also use Apple Software Update to prevent known driver issues. Make sure you’re connected to the internet and then click the Start button in the bottom left and open Apple Software Update. In the top box, select all of the available updates and then click Install items. (You can also choose to install New Software, like iCloud, if you want.) Windows will ask if you want to allow Apple Software Update to make changes, click Yes. After the installations complete, you’ll be asked to restart.
Click OK and your Mac should now reboot into a fully functioning version of Windows 10! To switch between your Mac and Windows partition, hold down the Option key during a boot or reboot sequence to bring up the OS-selection menu. Installing Windows on pre-2015 Macs While Macs from pre-2015 can still run Windows, the installation process is slightly more complex. The more straightforward method (and our preferred option) is to use Boot Camp Assistant, but you can also do it from a flash drive or disc.
Run Boot Camp Assistant. Quit all open applications and then open up a Finder window. Click Applications and then go into Utilities. IDG. In the Utilities folder, double-click Boot Camp Assistant to launch. Click Continue to begin setup.
Make sure Download the latest Windows support software from Apple is checked. This software will allow you to install the most current drivers for Windows. Now click Continue. IDG. If asked for your administrative credentials, fill them in. Then press Enter to start downloading the software.
You’ll need to install the Windows support software to a USB drive that you’ve plugged into the Mac. IDG. After the download finishes, the assistant will prompt you to create a Windows partition on your hard drive. This action segments your drive to devote free space only for Windows, without interfering with or erasing your existing macOS installation. At this point, you’ll see a slider representing your hard drive.
Here you can decide how much hard-drive space to allocate to your Windows partition. Adjust the slider to give your Windows partition more or less free space. Remember that any space you assign will be taken from the available space for your Mac, and that macOS will run more efficiently if you leave at least 30 to 40GB of space free on its partition. Equally, keep in mind that you’ll need enough space for Windows’ system files, any software you plan on installing, and a buffer of free space.
(We recommend a 5GB margin at minimum.). When you’re satisfied with your partitioning scheme, click Partition. OS X will begin partitioning and rearranging your hard-drive data, a process that may take some time. Install Windows from flash drive or external optical drive This method takes a bit of patience so bear with us. (An easier alternative is using an ISO management software like to mount a downloaded Windows ISO without a flash drive or DVD.). Insert your Windows installation DVD into an external USB optical drive.
Or if your version of Windows came with a flash drive, insert that. Once the media comes up in Finder, hit Go, then select Utilities Disk Utility. In Disk Utility, select the USB optical drive or the flash drive so it’s highlighted. Under File, select New Image and choose the Windows DVD or flash drive. From the Image Format menu, select DVD/CD and choose None for encryption. IDG.
Save the file with a name and enter your username and password if prompted. A progress bar will appear, and it may take awhile to complete. Once it’s done saving, eject your Windows DVD or flash drive. If you used an external USB drive, disconnect it after the DVD is ejected.
With Finder, locate the disk image you saved in step 6. Click on it just once to select it and then choose Enter to rename the file. You’ll want to rename it with the file extension “.iso” at the end. A window will appear where you should select “Use.iso”. Apple. Go back to Applications Utilities, and then open Boot Camp Assistant.
Make sure the boxes following boxes are checked: Create a Windows 8 or later version install disk; Download the latest Windows support software from Apple; and Install Windows 8 or later version. Apple. Locate your renamed ISO file when prompted and click OK to begin installing Windows.
Still having trouble installing Windows? Refer to your for more help. How to choose your operating system at startup Now that you have both macOS and Windows installed and functioning on your Mac, you can choose which operating system to launch at startup. When you turn on or restart your computer, hold down the Option key to bring up the OS-selection menu. Apple.
Make your choice by double-clicking either OS X or Windows.
Making the switch from a Windows based PC to a Mac makes a lot of sense. And rather than try to convince you why I feel that way, I’ll send you off to a page on the Apple site that really illustrates my statement: I’ll wait for you to go and take a look, but be sure to come back when you are done because I want to lead you through a few things that you can do to make the transition smoother. First of all you need to purchase the One to One Membership. (You can only purchase this at the time that you purchase your new Mac) One to One membership will give you the opportunity to work with a Mac Pro at any Apple store, by appointment, for an entire year. There is nothing like having your own personal tutor lead you through how to do things on a Mac.
Membership will also give you the ability to have an Apple specialist move all your files — email, contacts, music, photos, documents, calendar and desktop items to your new Mac. Go here to learn about One to One: You may not know that your new Mac can also run Windows and Windows only programs by using something called a virtual PC. This is accomplished by installing third party software which then enables Windows to run. There are two top notch choice for virtualization software, Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion.
Learn about Parallels Desktop here: and learn about VMWare Fusion here: Note: Apple makes a product called Boot Camp that will allow you to run Windows, but in my opinion it is a poor choice due to it’s many restrictions and the fact that you have to reboot to switch between Windows and Mac operating systems. Go here to learn more about Boot Camp: I have both Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion running and believe that you will be happy no matter which one you choose. It comes down to pricing and what is available when you decide to purchase.
Once you install one of the virtualization software products you can install Windows. This can be done in one of two ways. The first is to purchase a retail copy of Windows XP, 7 or 8 and install it. Then install all of the Windows programs that you want to run on your Mac. This may be the best method to go as you will have only the things that you need on a pristine version of Windows. Of course you will still need to have an antivirus package running on the Windows install (A Mac running Windows is JUST as vulnerable to Windows viruses as any PC when Windows is running on the Mac).
The other method is to use the cloning software that both Parallels Desktop and VM Ware Fusion provide. You simply install the cloning software on your existing PC and run it. It will make an EXACT copy of your PC and save it in a special file. (It’s best to have this file saved on an external hard drive.) Once it finishes making the copy you simply run Parallels Desktop or VM Ware Fusion and “import” that file into your Mac. You now have your old PC with all of it’s software running on your Mac – complete with all of your data and settings. (And every bit of your old PC’s software issues junk files, crap ware, viruses, etc) So this leads me to how prepare your old PC for the migration to the Mac.
If you are planning to clone your old PC onto your new Mac then there are a few steps to take to make sure that you are not bringing problems with you. You can skip this step if you are not planning to run Windows or are planning on a new install of Windows. You can rejoin us after this section! The first step is to make sure that your PC is free of viruses and other pestilential software. If you have up to date antivirus software, then run a complete scan (not the quick scan) and remove any viruses found.
If you don’t have A/V software or it has expired, the FREE Windows Security Essentials is a good choice. Get it here: Next step is to remove all of the junk that accumulates over the years by installing and running CCleaner. Get it for free here: Finally, if you are running Windows XP, it is a good idea to defragment your hard drive. This process gets the files organized in such a way that disk access is faster (supposedly). Microsoft has instructions here: OK, everyone can rejoin now as we move on.
You will want to move your data to your Mac, but is everything that you have stored on your old computer necessary? Now is a good time to take a hard look at all of the files stored on your Desktop and in your My Documents Folder. You may want to delete some files, some files you may want to move to a CD and others should always be available on a hard drive. You could always do this after you get them transferred, but the more you have to transfer, the longer the process takes. Best to spend the time now to clean up unnecessary junk before you get the shiny new Mac. Next, take a look at your email.
Is it really necessary to have thousands of email in your inbox? I didn’t think so. Take the time now to Archive or delete the unwanted email. Empty your Spam and Junk folders and empty that Deleted email folder too. By doing this work ahead of time you will speed up the process of getting your important data moved to the Mac.
Speaking of important data, if you have been used to using Microsoft Outlook, Word, Powerpoint and Excel, you’ll be happy to know that Microsoft makes a Mac version of it’s office product. It works well, with a few differences. You might want to pick up a copy when you buy your Mac.
If you’ve got the One to One Membership you can have Apple install it for you at one of your sessions. But, why not cut loose from Microsoft altogether? Don’t you need Office to get your Mail or open Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents?
Your Mail is handled by Apple Mail, iCal handles the Calendar portion of what Outlook did, and Address Book handles the old Outlook contacts. You will need to buy Pages to replace Word and Publisher, Keynote to replace PowerPoint and Numbers to replace Excel. Each of those products costs $29.99 $19.99 and they are all available as a download from the App Store. You buy only the ones that you need. Since Pages will open Microsoft Word documents (both doc and docx and it will save as doc if you want) you don’t need Word. Keynote behaves the same way with PowerPoint files and Numbers does the same with Excel files. This is a much less expensive alternative to Microsoft Office and with the exception of Numbers you get software that in my opinion is much better than it’s Microsoft counterpoint.
(Excel is still the best number crunching software for power users). At this point you’ve gotten your Windows machine ready extract the data you want and/or you’ve prepared it to be cloned.
You’ve also learned about some essential Mac software. Now it’s time to prep YOU! Browse on over to to see a huge resource of information that Apple assembled to show you how things are done in the Mac world.
Starting on the left column, watch at least the first three videos which will give you a great overview of how things are done on a Mac and also info about running Windows on your Mac (If you want to run Windows that is!) Once you have done that it’s time to head out to the Mac store. Nothing beats getting your hands on a computer to see how you like it. Apple has a great line of laptops, from the tiny 13” MacBook Air up to the 15” MacBook Pro. You may prefer desktop machines, so there your choices are the just released 21.5” iMac and the soon to be released 27” iMac. You can even see the Mac Mini which needs to use your existing keyboard, mouse and monitor.
All of these machines run the same software, so everything we have talked about here would apply to any machine that you choose! Once you have settled on a machine that you like, go ahead and do an MLS search, check your email and do any other web based activity that you want to really get a feel on how it will work on the Mac. The final step is to make your purchase and get started with your new Mac! (OR as in the original premise of this articletell the person who is giving you the gift of a new Mac that you are ready to receive the gift! ) If all of this sounds too complex for you, remember that you can purchase the One to One membership and have an Apple employee help you out. To my knowledge they will not be able to help you with the Windows side of things though. For that you’d need someone with both Mac and Windows experience.
If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, I can come to your home or office to help. If you are outside of the Bay Area it is possible to help you via Skype and Team Viewer. My rates are reasonable and you’ll be pleased with the results that you’ll get! I hope that I’ve been able to help you make the transition, if so, please share this articleI’m sure that you know other people who could use this information! Jerry Kidd Jerry Kidd, GRI, CRS, CRB SRES, ePRO a 32 year veteran of the real estate industry, has listed and sold houses, managed real estate offices and has also been the IT Director for a major Northern California real estate company. Jerry earned his GRI early in his real estate career and then went on to earn his CRS and CRB setting the tone for a career-long focus on the importance of continuing education.
Along the way, Jerry has earned three Microsoft certifications, MCP, MCP+I and MCSE, as well as one from Cisco, CCNA. Rounding out his list of technology certifications are two from COMPTIA, an A+ and a Network+, as well as the ePRO from NAR. Jerry is currently the manager of the Danville, Blackhawk and Concord offices of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties as well as a California State Certified Instructor for the SRES and GRI programs, presenting courses on working with seniors, listing techniques, technology and advanced technology applications. Jerry is also a NAR Certified ePRO Trainer and a DocuSign Certified Trainer.