VMware Fusion is friendly enough for any experienced Windows or Mac user, but it's more suitable for corporate use. Parallels is more approachable for beginners and faster. On an Apple Silicon-based Mac (such as those with an M1 chip), Parallels Desktop is your top option. If you have an Intel-based Mac, your best choices for installing a virtual Windows machine are Parallels Desktop ($79.99 for Standard Edition) and VMware Fusion ($199 for VMware Fusion 12 Pro). The combination of those three expenses means you will likely end up paying several hundred dollars. One other note: You must factor in the costs of purchasing a Windows license, virtualization software, and any software subscriptions for this method. Microsoft Expression Web, my favorite WYSIWYG web-page editor for quick-and-dirty HTML editing, is one example.

Some Windows apps and PC games simply won’t run on a Mac unless you install them within a full Windows system, so the other methods I describe later may not even be an option. The reason for the slower performance is that this method requires you to run an entire Windows system in the background in addition to the app you want to use.

The VM behaves as if it’s running on real hardware with a real hard drive it just runs a bit slower than a Windows system running on physical hardware. You can run this virtual system (which uses a complete version of Windows) entirely inside a macOS app. If you want to run complex software such as the Windows version of Excel or any high-end game, then you need to set up a virtual Windows system, sometimes known as a virtual machine (VM for short). (Opens in a new window) See all (4 items) No extra points for guessing that I prefer the emulation option. The emulation layer option, if it works with the Windows app you want to run, is fast, light on system resources, and free. The Windows virtualization option is pricey (if you want the best performance), consumes disk space and system resources when running, and-if you have a Mac running Apple Silicon-only works with the prerelease ARM version of Windows. The other is to use special software that runs some, but not all, Windows apps in an emulation layer on top of macOS. Your options fall into two broad categories: One is to set up a complete virtual Windows system and run Windows programs within that environment. You’ve got several different choices for running Windows applications on your Apple system. You’ve switched from a Windows machine to a Mac and you’re probably delighted about the change-that is until you discover that there’s no macOS version of your favorite Windows app or game. How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication.How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.

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