Mac vs Windows. Windows vs Mac. Why choose if you can get the best of both worlds by dual booting? Install Windows on Mac so you can jump back and forth from one operating system to another on the same computer.
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. How to get windows on mac Install Windows 10 on Any Mac using boot camp! How to get windows 10 for free on mac! Bootcamp Macbook Install windows 10 in 2017 /.
By now, the practice is well-established and Windows can work on Mac well. In this article, we’ll have a deep look at installing Windows on Mac. Don’t worry, we’ll have your back the whole way through!
Boot Camp for Mac vs virtualization software
If you want to install Windows on your Mac, you have two options. You can either use Mac Boot Camp, a native feature of the macOS operating system, or you can use a third party virtualization program. Both methods have their own pros and cons, so let’s dive in.
Boot Camp is built into the operating system of all Macs. If you go to your Applications > Utilities folder, you’ll see the Boot Camp Assistant app. It makes the separate partition on your hard drive for installing and running Windows. Once Windows is installed in Boot Camp, every time you turn on your Mac, you will be asked to choose the operating system you want to run. This means that in order to switch from macOS to Windows, you need to reboot your computer.
Advantages
- built into your operating system
- easy to use — Boot Camp Assistant guides you through the installation process
- puts less strain on your Mac’s memory and processing power
- completely free (not Windows of course)
- easy to update
Disadvantages
- you need to reboot your computer to switch between the systems
- transferring data between operating systems isn’t easy
Virtualization programs are third-party applications that allow to install a separate operating system on one machine. They run like any other app on your Mac, so you can see the entire Windows desktop within a window on your computer.
Among the most popular virtualization programs are VirtualBox, Parallels, and VMware. Each one has its peculiarities, but we’ll try to sum up what they have in common.
Advantages
- you can run both operating systems at the same time
- easy file integration between systems
Disadvantages
- you need at least 8 GB of RAM for Mac to run smoothly
- virtualization apps are not cheap
- updates are not free
Can You Download Windows On Mac For Free
Depending on your specific needs, you can choose the option that works best for you. But we suggest using Boot Camp. It’s a free native feature of your operating system, running directly on your hardware. Therefore, it will be faster than any other method. And below, you’ll find all information on how to run Boot Camp on your Mac.
How to use Boot Camp: Preparing your Mac
1. Check the system requirements
Some versions of Windows require a certain processor and more hard drive space than the others. Therefore, you have to check the documentation that came with your copy of Windows to learn what you need.
You also need to make sure that your Mac is compatible with the version of Windows you want to install. For instance, Windows 10 is supported on these models:
- MacBook (2015 and later)
- MacBook Pro (2012 and later)
- MacBook Air (2012 and later)
- iMac (2012 and later)
- Mac Mini (2012 and later)
2. Clean up your hard drive
You need to have at least 55 GB of free disk space on your startup drive for installing Windows on a Mac. And if you don’t feel like spending the next several hours cleaning your Mac manually, you can use a powerful utility CleanMyMac X to find and remove all the junk from your startup disk.
CleanMyMac has everything to finish the 3-hour task of cleaning your hard drive in less than 5 minutes. It will scan every inch of your system and remove gigabytes of junk in two clicks. By the way, CleanMyMac finds about 75 GB of junk on average — more than enough for a smooth Windows installation.
Here’s how to clean your Mac with CleanMyMac X:
- Download CleanMyMac here.
- Run the app and click Scan.
- Click Run.
That’s it! Gigabytes of junk are gone from your computer forever.
3. Back up your Mac
Finally, you should also perform a backup of your Mac in case something goes wrong. Although, it happens very rarely, it’s always better to back up your important data. There are a few methods of backing up your Mac, so choose the most convenient one for you.
You can make automatic backups with Time Machine — software that comes with your Mac. It backs up all data, so you can recover individual files or your entire system from your backups. You may also store files in iCloud and access them whenever you need. iCloud comes with 5 GB of free storage but you can upgrade it any time. If you have an external storage device, you can copy some files and folders on it.
We do recommend you to back up your Mac before installing Windows as it minimizes the chance of losing important data.
How to Install Windows with Boot Camp
Here’s how to install Boot Camp. The installation can be a little time consuming, but it is by no means difficult. Check out the details below.
Step 1: Get a Windows disk image
First of all, you need to get the Windows disk image (ISO file) from the Microsoft website. Here’s how to download it:
- Visit the Windows 10 disk image download website.
- Go to the Select edition menu and choose Windows 10.
- Click Confirm.
- Choose the language of installation and click Confirm.
- Click 64-bit Download and then click Save.
The ISO file now will be downloaded to your Mac.
Step 2: Open Boot Camp Assistant
Boot Camp Assistant guides you through installing Windows on your Mac. You just have to follow the onscreen instructions. To launch the Boot Camp Assistant, go to Applications > Utilities folder. Click continue and Boot Camp for Mac will automatically locate the ISO file on your system.
Step 3: Create a partition for Windows
When you are done with the Assistant, your Mac restarts to the Windows installer. When you are asked where you want to install Windows, choose the BOOTCAMP partition and click Format.
*Note that this step is only required if you’re using a flash drive or optical drive to install Windows. In other cases, the right partition will be selected and formatted for you automatically.
Step 4: Install Windows
To finish the installation, you have to follow the onscreen instructions. Take a long breath — the next 12 steps may seem like climbing Everest, but it’s much easier than you think. Here’s how to install Windows on a Mac:
- Choose your ISO file and click the Install button.
- Type your Password and click OK. You will see the Windows Setup screen.
- Select your language.
- Click Install Now.
- Type your product key if you have it. Otherwise, click 'I don’t have a product key'.
- Select Windows 10 Pro or Windows Home and then click Next.
- Click Drive 0 Partition X: BOOTCAMP.
- Click Next. Windows 10 will be installed.
- When the Setup screen appears, click either Use Express Settings or Customize Your Installation. We recommend you to choose the Customize button and disable most, if not all of the switches.
- Then you’ll be asked to create an account. Type a username. You can also add a password if you want.
- Click Next.
- Choose whether you want to use the Cortana personal assistant or not. You can disable it by clicking Not Now button.
Windows will boot fully so you can use it normally.
On the Welcome to Boot Camp Installer box, click Next and accept the terms in the license agreement. Then click Install to proceed. When the installer completes, click Finish to reboot your machine.
Step 5: Restart your Mac
By default, your Mac will still boot to macOS. To access Windows, you have to turn your Mac off and then turn it on while holding the Option (Alt) key. You will be asked from which drive you’d like to boot.
Note that while in Windows, the Mac’s Command key functions as the Windows key, while the Option key functions as the Alt key. If you have a Touch Bar, you’ll see a complete set of buttons, similar to the Control Strip in macOS.
How to remove Windows from your Mac
If for some reasons you don’t need Windows anymore, you can permanently remove it from your Mac. Follow these steps:
- Boot into macOS, launch Boot Camp Assistant and click Continue.
- Choose 'Remove Windows 7 or later version' or 'Remove Windows 10 or later version'.
- Click Restore when you see the Restore Disk to a Single Volume option.
The Boot Camp Assistant will automatically remove Windows from your Mac.
Warning: All data, including software and files, stored on the Windows partition will be deleted, so make the backup copies first.
That may seem like a lot of steps, but it doesn’t take all that long to install Windows on a Mac. Now you can enjoy two operating systems and switch between them right when you need. Cheers!
Can't Download Windows On Mac Windows 10
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This tutorial will show you how to create a Windows To Go USB drive that supports Mac computers, then you can run Windows to go on a Mac computer to complete the work that must be done under Windows.
I hav a late 2016 MacBook Pro with MacOS and Windows 10 Pro dual systems installed on it, so far so good, but I only use Windows 10 Pro to play some games that can't be run on MacOS. Now I'm trying to get rid of my Bootcamp installation, because of low space on main SSD drive. I noticed that WinToUSB can install Windows to a USB drive, can the Windows USB drive created by WinToUSB be started from a Mac computer? How do I make it? Could let me know step by step for using your tools.
Yes, the Windows To Go USB drive created by WinToUSB can be started from a Mac computer, but not all Windows To Go USB drive created by WinToUSB can be started from a Mac computer. So we need to understand what causes the WinToUSB USB drive to fail to boot and then we can effectively avoid it.
1. Now All of Apple's computers use Intel CPUs, and Apple selected the Intel-designed Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) as its BIOS firmware to replace the Open firmware used on the PowerPC architecture. So in order to boot a Mac computer, we have to make sure that the Windows To Go USB drive that we created supports EFI booting.
2. For booting Windows on an (U)EFI-based computer, the Windows version must match the PC architecture, that means a 64-bit (U)EFI-based computer can only boot 64-bit versions of Windows and a 32-bit (U)EFI-based computer can only boot 32-bit versions of Windows. Mac computers use 64-bit Intel CPUs, so make sure you use 64-bit Windows to create Windows To Go.
Tutorial to create and run Windows To Go on a Mac computer with WinToUSB.
Step 1. Download Mac Boot Camp Support Software for Windows To Go, please refer to:
How to download Boot Camp Windows Support Software for Windows To Go?
Step 2. Copy the Boot Camp Support Software downloaded in the previous step to the computer with an installed copy of WinToUSB, and connect the destination external hard drive or USB flash drive to this computer, then run WinToUSB.
Step 3. Click the button, then click the button and select the Windows installation ISO file from the open dialog box.
Step 4. WinToUSB scans for and lists available operating systems. Pleae select the edition of Windows you want to install, then click 'Next'.
Step 5. Select the destination drive in the drop-down list. If the drive is not correctly recognized by WinToUSB, please click the button for the program to recognize the drive.
Step 6. A pop-up will appear asking you if you want to format it to continue, select the partition scheme you want to use and click 'Yes' to format it. Mac computer is a UEFI based computer, so you have to select the 'GPT for UEFI' or 'MBR for BIOS and UEFI' option as the partition scheme. If you choose 'Keep the existing partition scheme', you need to manually prepare the partitions on the USB drive before this step, and here is the user guide on how to manually prepare partitions for Windows To Go. Please note that the 'Keep the existing partition scheme' option is valid only for an external disk.
Step 7. Select the system partition and boot partition from the partition list, the selected partitions will be marked as red, specify the directory of the additional drivers as the save path of Boot Camp Support Software, then click 'Next'.
Tips:- The directory of the additional drivers you specify should only contain drivers that need to be injected into Windows. If this directory contains too many useless files, the process of injecting drivers will become very slow.
Step 8. After clicking 'Next', WinToUSB begins installing Windows.
Step 9. It takes some time to install. After installation, safely unplug the USB drive from the Windows computer, then connect the USB drive to the Mac computer you want to boot. If you have only the USB-C interface on your Mac computer, you will need to use the USB-C to USB Adapter to connect the USB device to your Mac computer.
Step 10. Power on the Mac computer, and then immediately hold down the Option key, then select the USB drive and press Return to boot from it.
Step 11. Windows normal installation starts up and you have to complete all the installation steps. If the Mac's own keyboard or touchpad does not work, you have to use an external USB keyboard or mouse to complete the installation. After that, you can install Windows Support Software (Boot Camp drivers), programs, copy files, etc.
Now you know how to create and run Windows To Go on a Mac computer with the best free Windows To Go Creator WinToUSB, you can also use WinToUSB to clone existing Windows to a USB drive and then boot Windows from that USB drive on a Mac computer.
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