-1

I am currently developing applications for Windows, but am very unfamiliar with the Operating System on a Mac. I am hoping an avid Mac user can tell me how they would go about running an application designed for Windows. For example: Would you need to use a Windows Virtual Machine? Does it only work with particular Mac Operating Systems? Is it easy to do?

So you being the avid Mac user, if there was an application you really liked only designed for Windows, is it easy to get this application to work on the Mac? (or would this contain a lot of messing around and configuration on the user part?)

SomeRandomProgrammer
  • 314
  • 4
  • 12

1 Answers1

1

It depends on whether you'll need access to both systems at once. If you're going to dedicate most of your development time to Windows and don't mind switching OS's every so often, I would suggest using a dual boot. You can use Boot Camp Assistant, located in the Utilities folder on your Mac, to partition the drive and install your Windows software. Dual-booting would also allow all of your RAM to be available for the Windows OS whenever you use it.

Then you can use an application called BootChamp to boot between your operating systems. Windows has a Boot to Mac option included, but the Mac doesn't have that option the other way around. So BootChamp is there to make up the difference.

If you will need access to both systems at once, then yes, a virtual machine will be needed. You can get VirtualBox for free, or if you want a paid one that is a step or two up, I'd suggest VMWare Fusion.

Ryan
  • 96
  • 1
  • 2