So, you will basically have both the operating systems installed on your Mac hard drive, or SSD, and you can choose the one you want to boot into, every time you power up your Mac. If you want the full horsepower of your Mac hardware to be available to the Windows’ application that you want to run, then your only option is to use Boot Camp Assistant.īoot Camp Assistant is a utility that Apple includes with the Mac, which allows users to dual boot their Mac with Windows.
So, let’s check out how to run Windows software on Mac. In this article, we have shared some of the best possible methods to run Windows programs on macOS. However, if the application you want to run requires the full horsepower of your Mac (a high-end game, for example), then allocating all those resources to a virtual machine might spiral into a recipe for disaster. Running Windows applications on Mac is not that easy, but it’s not impossible either. Dual Boot Windows using Boot Camp AssistantĬhances are, that a Windows VM would have allowed you to run pretty much any Windows’ software that you might have wanted to. If you want to deploy a virtual machine on your Mac, you can read our detailed article about running Windows on a Mac.Ĥ.
The good news is that Mac users can run Wine to install Windows applications as well. Linux users will know that you can use Wine to install and run Windows applications natively. We will be experimenting by installing a game called Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure the procedure is the same for any game or app. So, Wineskin creates a wrapper for your Windows apps that can run in OS X.
If neither of the methods mentioned above work for the app that you want to use, you can deploy a Virtual Machine, with Windows installed on it. This will effectively let you use a Windows PC inside the macOS environment itself, and you can install any Windows’ application in the virtual machine. If you are using Mac OS X and want to run Windows applications, the most popular option is to install Windows OS using Bootcamp, or run Windows in a virtual machine. Wineskin wraps the windows application that you want to run in a package that can operate as a Mac application. Once you have installed CrossOver, simply launch it, and click on “ Install a Windows Application“.To get started with using CrossOver to run Windows’ applications on the Mac, simply follow the steps below: Part 3: How to Run Windows APPs on Mac The question now is not whether you want to run EXE files on your Mac, but rather how to go about it conveniently. However, unlike Wineskin, the CrossOver app is commercial, and is available for purchase (for $15.950), however the app also offers a 14 day trial, that you can download from the Codeweavers website.ĬrossOver officially supports a large number of Windows’ applications, and if you have any trouble with using the officially supported apps, you can call tech support and they will definitely try and fix it for you.
In case Wineskin doesn’t work out for you, you can try out the next method.ĬrossOver, by Codeweavers is essentially built around the Wineskin Winery wrapper itself.
In my experience, trying to use this method to run heavy games usually does not work, but you might have better luck. Do note that this method might not work for all applications, but it usually does. Well, that was all that you needed to do in order to get a Windows’ application working on your Mac.