Dec 19, 2018 - Download VirtualBox for Mac. VirtualBox is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware, targeted at server, desktop and embedded use. Like VMWare Fusion and VirtualBox, Parallels Desktop allows you to create a 'virtual machine' (VM) that runs Windows within macOS itself, and you can either run the VM within a window on the Mac.

Whether you’ve chosen Windows or macOS, for the most part we love our computers, and they do pretty much everything we need. But from time to time the grass may look greener on the other side.

A Mac user may become interested in an app that only works on Windows. Or a Windows user may start to wonder why there’s so much interest in macOS.

Without purchasing a second computer, what can you do? Little app factory. Virtualization software is a fast and convenient solution that will let you have your cake and eat it too.

It enables you to run other operating systems and software without needing to reboot. It gives you many of the benefits of buying a new computer without making such a huge financial outlay. There are three major contenders in this space:,. We tested them all and concluded that Parallels Desktop is the best choice for most Mac users.

It’s the easiest way to access Windows apps on your Mac, is competitively priced, and performance is excellent. It is easy to install and easy to use.

The other two apps work on Windows as well. VMware may feel more at home in your company if it has a dedicated IT team. In fact, they may already be using it for more technical purposes. And VirtualBox is absolutely free, making it worthwhile if you value price over performance, or you’re just ready to get your toes wet.

Of course, virtualization products are not the only way to run Windows apps on your Mac. We’ll cover those options at the end of this article. In the meantime, let’s dig a little more into what virtualization software can do for you. Quick Navigation // // // // // // //. Why You Should Trust Me My name is Adrian, and I write about tech topics on SoftwareHow and other sites.

I’ve been working in IT since the 80s, providing training and support for companies and individuals, and I’ve spent a lot of time with DOS, Windows, Linux and macOS, using each on a long-term basis. Let’s just say I love tech. I currently own a 2009 iMac and 2014 MacBook Air. When I first switched from Windows to Linux in early 2003, there were still a few Windows apps that I needed to use most of the time. I was discovering a lot of Linux programs I loved, but I hadn’t found alternatives for a few old favorites. So I experimented with the best way to handle that.

I set my laptop up as dual-boot, so that both Windows and Linux were installed, and I could choose which to use each time I turned my computer on. That was useful, but took time.

It felt like too much work if I just wanted to use a single app for a few minutes. So I experimented with virtualization software, starting with the free VMware Player. I found that app a little too limited, but wasn’t ready to spend money on the full version. So I tried the free option, VirtualBox.

It did everything I needed, and I used it for a few years until I was fully weaned off Windows. After that I used it to try out new versions of Linux without risking my working machine. Along the way I sometimes experimented with WINE, a program that allows you to run Windows apps without having Windows installed at all. I managed to get quite a few Windows apps running that way, including Ecco Pro, and old favorite. But it was often quite a lot of work, and not all apps worked. While I loved the idea of WINE, I normally found myself using VirtualBox instead. With that experience of running virtualization software on Linux years ago, I was keen to try out the options today.

Read on to discover what I loved and what I didn’t. Mac mineralize time check lotion is it good for wrinkles face videos. What You Need to Know Up-Front about Virtual Machines A virtual machine (VM) is a computer emulated in a software program. Think of it as a computer within a computer, or software pretending to be hardware. It’s a substitute for purchasing a new physical computer. It’s less expensive, and often more convenient. The virtual hard drive is just a file on your actual drive, and a portion of your actual RAM, processor and peripherals are shared with the VM. In virtualization terminology, your real computer is called the host, and the virtual machine is called the guest.

In my case, the host is MacBook Air running macOS High Sierra, and the guest VM could be running Windows, Linux, or even a different version of macOS. You can have any number of guest machines installed. With that brief explanation out of the way, what real-life implications does that have for you? A virtual machine will run slower than the machine that is hosting it. A software emulation of a computer can’t possibly have the same performance as the computer it’s running on. After all, the host is sharing just some of its CPU, RAM and disk space with the guest. By contrast, if you were to install Windows directly onto your Mac using Boot Camp, it will have 100% access to all of your computer’s resources.