Part of the never-ending Mac vs. PC superiority debate has been that there is a plethora of software available for Windows that just isn’t available for the Mac. This is particularly true regarding business apps and games, and has served to polarize the entire computing world into two main camps (well, three if you count the Linux guys).
A solution to this problem would be especially useful for media companies, which tend to use Macs almost exclusively, as they often need to work with files provided by enterprise clients, which largely favor Windows-based PCs.
Well, while you can’t ever directly run a Windows program on a Mac OS, there are several workarounds that exist to mimic this functionality for Mac owners. Each solution has its pros and cons, so let’s explore them one by one.
Dual Booting
The most stable way to run Windows on a Mac computer is to install it on its own hard drive partition. Then Boot Camp, which is built into the latest Mac OS, is used to select the operating system to run upon startup. This the optimum solution for the best performance of graphics intensive games, video editing software, 3D modeling, etc. as the full memory resources of the computer are devoted to the Windows OS instead of being shared with the Mac OS.
Pros:
- Boot Camp comes included with Mac OS X.
- Highly stable.
- Full memory available to run applications.
Cons:
- Requires that you own a copy of Windows.
- Must exit the Mac OS to boot into Windows, and must reboot again to get back into the Mac OS.
- Reduces hard drive space available for the Mac OS.
Virtualization
The Virtualization software creates a “box within a box,” meaning your Windows installation runs in a window (like a browser) on the Mac platform, allowing you to switch back and forth between platforms easily. While not as stable as the dual-boot feature, the majority of Windows applications, except for the most graphics-intensive ones, can be run within this virtual environment. Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion are popular commercial solutions, with VirtualBox being the most acclaimed free solution.
Pros:
- Can run Windows and Mac OS simultaneously.
- Share files between Mac and Windows by dragging and dropping.
Cons:
- Requires that you own a copy of Windows.
- Processor intensive.
- Prone to crashing due to driver and video card issues.
Wine
Here Wine stands for “Wine Is Not an Emulator” and not the liquor! Wine is an open-source technology which wraps a Windows program into a package executable by other operating systems, such as the Mac OS and Linux. Although Wine is completely free and open-source, commercial vendors have improved upon the core product to provide more robust solutions, such as WinOnX or CrossOver. Developers have also released free permutations with their own improvements, including Wineskin and WineBottler.
Pros:
- Can run a Windows program without exiting the Mac OS.
- Open source.
Cons:
- Least compatible; so limited number of Windows programs can be run compared with other options.
- Notoriously prone to crashing.
None of the solutions described is one-hundred percent perfect, but each provides at least a modicum of functionality for those needing to run a Windows program in a pinch.
About the Author:
Jeff Fields writes for Allcases, a company that sells hard laptop cases. They can be found on the web here. When he’s not working or writing, he can be found playing Neil Young covers on his acoustic guitar.
