Egyptian Apple

Regardless of which operating system is preferable, one should get to choose that for themselves. Apple made it possible to do so in two different ways:

• As a virtual machine
• As a bootable drive

As a Virtual Machine:

It was possible to run Windows on Mac since forever using a Virtual Machine (VM) ware. This basically that you can run windows, as if it were any other program, inside the regular OS X operating system.

Advantages would include:

Popular VM Wares:

• VMware Fusion
• Parallels Desktop

Advised If:

• You don’t need heavy usage of windows, such as development software (Example: Microsoft Visual Studio)
• You use both operating systems for complementing one another; thus, preferable if run concurrently
• You need windows rather than want it (You’ll finish whatever you need while enjoying what OS X has to offer you)

As a Bootable Drive:

Although VMs for mac existed since a long time ago, one of the most encouraging features of Intel-Based Apple computers is their ability to install windows as a separate partition. That is, on booting up you can boot up your machine as regular windows instead of logging in to your OS X operating system. That way it is as if you are running a regular PC, yet arguably much more efficiently. Consequently, those conservative users falling in love with Macs, but fearing the unknown, could now accept change knowing that a contingency plan exists. This option is exclusive to Intel-based Macs with a program called Boot Camp installed.

Advantages would include:

• Getting access to full windows functionalities without confusion
• No need to use Mac OS X if users don’t want to convert to Mac users, yet still want to make use of its powerful hardware

Boot Camp:

• This is the official support page with installation guides and steps
• Useful Tip:

If you have an old version of Boot Camp and would rather use it than pay for an update, change your system date to an earlier year when the newer version wasn’t yet out

Advised If:

• You’re anti-mac or just not accustomed to it yet 
• You’re a heavy windows user (Especially in the development field)
• You have no dependencies on your work between both Operating Systems
• You don’t have too many shared resources to worry about

written by Ghalia \\ tags: Boot Camp, Mac, Operating System, Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, Windows