Apps To Make Mac Like Windows

Apps To Make Mac Like Windows Average ratng: 4,1/5 8984 reviews
  1. Make Windows 10 Like Mac
  2. Make Windows Feel Like Mac
  3. Make Mac More Like Windows
  4. Make Windows Look Like Mac Os
  5. Make Windows Work Like Mac

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Every now and then, a Mac user is going to say, 'Man I wish there was a version of (insert program here) for Mac. I'd buy that in a heartbeat.' It's happened to me more times that I really wish to count. Thankfully, most of the apps I want to run on my Mac exist as native apps.

However, there are a couple that slip through my fingers, like Microsoft's Visio Professional. It doesn't exist on the Mac side and I really need it for my day job as a software quality vice president.

Thankfully, there's more than one way to run Windows apps on your Mac.

  1. You can use Apple's Boot Camp and run a full installation of Window natively on your Mac
  2. Use a virtual machine like Parallels Desktop
  3. Install Windows apps directly with CrossOver and use a Windows app like any other native Mac App

There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but that last one – installing Windows apps directly under CrossOver – is a bit different, and it offers some distinct advantages if you know how to get things going.

With CrossOver, you don't install Windows and then the app. It's all about the app, and only the app. Thankfully, while CrossOver is different, it's not difficult to use. However, there are a few things you need to know. For example, CrossOver doesn't run ALL Windows apps. Some run better than others, and some won't run at all.

What's the best way to install Windows apps?

When trying to determine the best way to install a Windows app, consider the advantages and disadvantages of the three different ways to run Windows on a Mac — natively, via VM or via CrossOver:

FeatureDual BootingVirtual MachineCrossOver
Run without RebootingNoYesYes
Run without Windows OS LicenseNoNoYes
Runs ALL Windows AppsYesNo. Not all graphic-intensive features are supportedNo. Some run. Some run OK. Some won't run at all
Runs Apps at Native SpeedYesNoYes
Needed to Run an AppWindows License, App LicenseVM License, Windows License, App LicenseCrossOver License, App License
Approximate Costs (App not included)$120 - $200 for Windows 10$80 for Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion, $120 - $200 for Windows 10$40 - $60 for CrossOver

How to install Windows apps on your Mac using CrossOver

If you want to install Windows apps on your Mac without all the overhead associated with Windows, follow these steps.

  1. Navigate to CodeWeavers and download CrossOver.
  2. Go to your Downloads folder and locate the Zip file you downloaded. Double Click it to open it. Archive Utility will Open it up and decompress the contents of the archive.

  3. Double click the CrossOver.app in your Downloads folder. It will offer to move itself to your Applications folder.

  4. CrossOver will start for the first time. When it does, it's going to ask you how you want it to run. By default, it runs in trial mode. However, you also enter in your registration information or buy a license right from this page.

  5. From the screen that appears, click the Install a Windows Application button.

  6. Type the name of the application you want to run. CrossOver will search its database and display appropriate matches.

  7. Click on the application you want to run. CrossOver will display compatibility information on it from its database, telling you how likely and how well it will run.
  8. Click the Continue button.

  9. Select an installer source.
  10. Click the Choose Installer File. A Finder window will slide down over the app and allow you to navigate to where you have the installation file stored.
  11. Select the app.
  12. Click the Use this installer button. You'll return to the Select an Installer Source screen.
  13. Click the Continue button. Remember: CrossOver will not find and download the software you want to run for you. You actually have to have the installation file for the software you want to run.

  14. Select a bottle.

Make Windows 10 Like Mac

What are bottles?

CrossOver is powered by the Wine Project. As such, all Windows apps are installed in 'containers' called bottles (get it?). When you install an application for the first time, CrossOver will create a bottle and automatically place your application in it. When you install new applications, CrossOver will also give you hints about which apps can work and play well in the same bottle. If your apps can be installed in the same bottle, putting them together will save some space. If they can't, CrossOver will tell you and suggest creating a new bottle. It will also suggest a name for it. Keep the suggestion or give the bottle a name of your own choice.

  1. Click the Continue button.

  2. You'll be taken to the Ready to Install screen. CrossOver will give you a summary of what it's installing, where it will install it from, and the name of the bottle where it will install it. CrossOver will also install any needed support software (such as .NET Framework, or the link).
  3. Click the Install button.

  4. The software will install. CrossOver displays a progress screen where it will run through not only the creation of the bottle, but it will download any needed support software, and then run the installer you chose. Once the installation process completes, you should be ready to run your software.

  5. Click Done. The Installation process will close.
  6. Click the CrossOver icon in the Dock. CrossOver's Collections screen will appear, listing all the bottles you have installed on your Mac.
  7. Find the bottle you just created and run your software.

Running Windows and Windows apps on a Mac can be challenging. Finding the right method for you and your needs can be equally as challenging; however, if you think about it, there are a number of ways to run Windows on a Mac.

Some are expensive. Some aren't.

Some take time and are complicated. Others aren't.

CrossOver isn't just easy to use, it's affordable. For less than 1/4 the price of Windows plus the price of the application you need to run, you can run it on your Mac. For the odd app out, this is a total no-brainer; and it's fairly easy to do. If you want to make sure your app works with CrossOver before you give it a shot, you can always search for it on their website.

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As Mac users, it’s easy to turn our noses up at running Windows, but the truth is that it sometimes can’t be avoided. Be it for work or for playing video games, running Microsoft’s operating system on Apple hardware isn’t nearly as hard as it seems like it would be.

There are two main ways to go about this: virtualization and Boot Camp. The former involves running a macOS application that allows you to run Windows within, while the latter equips you to reboot your Mac fully into Windows.

There are several factors involved in picking the correct path, including price, ease of use, and flexibility. It’s also important to consider what sorts of tasks you need to achieve with your Windows installation, as that may make the right decision more clear.

If you need access to a couple of Windows apps while you’re running macOS, it’s best to virtualize. Running Windows in a virtual machine (dubbed a “VM”) also allows you to store it all on something like an external SSD, as Boot Camp requires a chunk of your boot drive.

For that trade, Boot Camp offers direct, native access to your Mac’s hardware. If you want to game in Windows on your Mac, it’s the way to go.

Bonus! One more thing…

The Complete Guide to Managing Tasks in Things (Video)

If you struggle to keep up with all your tasks, we can show you some organization tips that may help you.

We put together a video that shows you everything you need to know about a task in Things:

  • The difference between start dates and due dates and how to use them effectively.
  • How to set up reminders so you never forget an important task again.
  • How to use checklists for tasks that require more than one step.
  • How to configure daily, weekly, monthly, or even annual repeating tasks.
  • And more…

You don’t have to use any of these things in your tasks if you don’t want to. But knowing what they are and how they all work will help you be more organized, save time, and ensure you are using Things in the way that suits you best.

This video is something we have made available for free to our email subscriber community. You can get it right now. By joining the Sweet Setup community you’ll also get access to other guides, early previews to big new reviews and workflow articles we are working on, weekly roundups of our best content, and more.

Virtualization Apps

There are three virtualization apps worth considering.

Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion are very similar options. Neither are free, but they come with great customer support if you need help:

  • Parallels runs anywhere from $79.99/yr to $99.99/yr, depending on your needs. That subscription means your software is always up to date, ready for new versions of both macOS and Windows.
  • Fusion follows a more traditional model. The current version is $79.99 for a new license, while an upgrade license will set you back just $49.99.

The third option is VirtualBox, an open-source (and free) option. While there is a vibrant online community around this application, if you are virtualizing Windows for work, I think it’s more than worth the price of admission to pick up Parallels or Fusion.

Parallels

Parallels Desktop is the best way to run Windows on your Mac. It offers lots of flexibility when it comes to which operating systems it can run and it offers a customizable experience to make it your own.

Set-up & Settings

Installing Windows 10 from an .iso downloaded directly from Microsoft’s store took just a few minutes. While most people will probably be installing Windows, Parallels can host all sorts of operating systems:

Apps To Make Mac Like Windows

You can install Windows from an ISO, as I did, or even download a trial of Windows from Microsoft within the application. Additionally, Parallels can download a bunch of Linux distros and even download Modern.IE virtual machines, which are helpful when you need to test websites in old versions of Internet Explorer.

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Parallels can transfer information from an existing PC, including that computer’s operating system. You can boot your Boot Camp partition as if it were a VM.

For my purposes, I installed the 64-bit version of Windows 10. After installation, I was prompted to create a Parallels account. This ties the app to Parallels’ website, keeping your license keys and subscriptions updated. After logging in, I was greeted with my Windows 10 VM:

There are a whole bunch of settings that can be tweaked. Things like how much RAM is allocated to the VM and what sort of network access it has can be adjusted. You can grant access to hardware like your Mac’s SD card slot, USB ports, and more as needed.

Parallels comes with a bunch of creature comforts too, though.

It can automatically share the contents of your Mac with the VM and vice versa. This means if you create a text file and save it to your Desktop, it will appear on the desktop of your macOS virtual machine:

It can open Mail.app on your Mac if you click an email link within the VM itself, and even automatically pause the VM when you aren’t using it, giving macOS more resources when possible. Parallels can even sync your clipboard across your Mac and its VMs and add your printer to your VM’s operating system automatically.

For those of us with macOS shortcuts engrained into our hands and brains, Parallels can pass those to your VM so you don’t have to hit Ctrl + C to copy when you are used to Cmd + C.

If you want your VM to be completely isolated from its host Mac, you can enable that, too.

Coherence Mode

The integration between host is even visual with Parallels. Running Windows apps can appear in your macOS dock, for example:

By default, Parallels VMs are in their own windows, but in Coherence mode, the lines are blurred. Here’s Finder and File Explorer, side by side, for example:

There’s no Windows background anymore. My Windows apps still look like Windows, but they operate like macOS apps. They appear in the Dock and even the Cmd + Tab switcher. Task bar items are even added to the Mac’s menu bar:

The clever features don’t end there. The Windows start menu can be opened via the VM’s Dock icon or the Parallels menu bar item when in Coherence mode.

In this mode, Parallels truly blends the VM into the macOS experience. If you need access to a single Windows app and don’t want the visual clutter of actually seeing Windows, this mode is for you.

Personally, I like to think about VMs as being contained islands. I don’t mind some limited sharing, but I want there to be a clear separation.

Performance & Utility

It’s hard to measure the speed of virtual machines. Your mileage will vary based on what computer you have, how much RAM it is equipped with, and more.

In measurable aspects, like VM boot time, Parallels was faster than VMware Fusion across the board on my iMac Pro.

Parallels comes with a bunch of virtual machine management tools. You can create snapshots of your VM to restore to at a later time if a software update goes poorly.

The application comes with Parallels Toolbox, a collection of utilities. I’m not sold on the value of these tools, but they come with a subscription to Parallels.

VMware Fusion

Fusion is the big competitor to Parallels, and while it does not require an annual subscription, it lacks some of the polish of its rival. That said, comparing the two applications side by side, there is very little difference in terms of features.

For some users, it may come down to price. Some users simply don’t want an annual subscription. I understand that, but I have more faith in Parallels’ future. VMware is a huge company, owned by Dell. Fusion is just one product in their catalogue, and a few years ago, it was rumored that Fusion may not be long for this world. VMware denied the report, but I can’t shake the feeling that Parallels is a better long-term bet.

Fusion includes a feature named Unity, which is very much like Parallels’ Coherence mode. The Windows backdrop goes away, and Windows apps show up directly in the macOS interface, including the Dock and App Switcher. However, not all of the resources used are Retina quality, leading to blurry icons in places. Worse, the entire system feels slower than Parallels. Even on an iMac Pro, Unity mode will stutter and have to redraw windows instead of smoothly animating them.

Boot Camp

As virtualization — running Windows inside a macOS app — lets you use both macOS and Windows at the same time, it’s probably the best option for most people. The convenience of having your one or two must-have Windows apps right next to the data and apps on your Mac is hard to beat.

However, virtualization comes with a price: computational overhead. You’ll be sharing your Mac’s CPU, GPU, and RAM across what is effectively two computers. Most modern Macs have more than enough horsepower for this, but if you want to run Windows on your Mac for gaming, Boot Camp is your best bet.

Boot Camp is built into macOS, and supports Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7, depending on the age of the host Mac. If you’re running a Mac built in 2012 or later, you should be set for Windows 10.

Be sure to visit Apple’s support pages to verify which version of Windows your machine will support via Boot Camp before you run out and buy something. There’s a lot of fine print here.

Make Windows Feel Like Mac

Installing Windows via Boot Camp is pretty straight forward. There’s an app in your Mac’s Utilities folder named Boot Camp Assistant. You’ll need it, as well as a disk image file (.iso) of the Windows installer. If you purchase Windows online from Microsoft, you can download an ISO directly from the company’s store.

Boot Camp Assistant will walk you through selecting how much disk space you want to allocate to Windows. This will become a new partition on your Mac’s SSD; the space will be removed from the free space you can access in macOS.

Once the partition is created, you may be prompted to insert a USB drive for Boot Camp Assistant to download the necessary Windows drivers and the OS will install.

Once everything is complete, you can select which OS you’d like to boot into via the Startup Disk preference pane in macOS or the Boot Camp system tray item in Windows.

Boot Camp gives Windows direct access to your Mac’s hardware, meaning it’s a great option for things like gaming or heavy rendering, but for most users who may need access to one or two Windows-only apps, it’s simply too much trouble to reboot between operating systems.

Bonus! One more thing…

The Complete Guide to Managing Tasks in Things (Video)

If you struggle to keep up with all your tasks, we can show you some organization tips that may help you.

We put together a video that shows you everything you need to know about a task in Things:

  • The difference between start dates and due dates and how to use them effectively.
  • How to set up reminders so you never forget an important task again.
  • How to use checklists for tasks that require more than one step.
  • How to configure daily, weekly, monthly, or even annual repeating tasks.
  • And more…

You don’t have to use any of these things in your tasks if you don’t want to. But knowing what they are and how they all work will help you be more organized, save time, and ensure you are using Things in the way that suits you best.

Make Mac More Like Windows

This video is something we have made available for free to our email subscriber community. You can get it right now. By joining the Sweet Setup community you’ll also get access to other guides, early previews to big new reviews and workflow articles we are working on, weekly roundups of our best content, and more.

Make Windows Look Like Mac Os

In Closing

Make Windows Work Like Mac

To wrap this up, Boot Camp is great if you need the full hardware capabilities of your Mac to be funneled into your virtual machine. If not, Parallels is an excellent choice. It’s fast, easy to use, and comes with a lot of features that make living in two operating systems easier than ever.