Use Windows10 on a Mac, side-by-side

6 min readNov 22, 2020

Introduction:

We all have been frustrated of not being able to use Microsoft compatible applications on a Mac. We have tried to find MacOs versions of Applications such as Microsoft’s PowerBI or other Microsoft specific applications. As a Mac user i was frustrated for a long time for not being able to use Windows OS and utilize many of its amazing features and softwares. But there is a very simple way of using Windows 10 OS on ur Macbook. The added advantage is that you can use MacOs and Windows10 side by side. Lets see as to how we can make this possible Mac users. We can follow the exact same steps to create a Linux Virtual Environment which is easier.

VirtualBox:

What is VirtualBox? VirtualBox is a software developed and produced by Oracle which is used mainly for Virtualization purposes. What does that mean? It means that you can now use VirtualBox as a “Virtual” computer, where you can run any other Operating System such as Windows, MacOS or any Linux Distribution. All you have to do is download the “.iso” file for the Operating system and you are good to go.

Downloading VirtualBox:

Oracle VM VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is…

www.virtualbox.org

Navigate to the official page of VirtualBox and select the latest version. Download VirtualBox and wait for some time.

Along with that Download the Extension pack as well

Downloading Windows 10:

Navigate to the given link to Download the Windows 10 ISO file. But before doing that we could try to enable GoogleChrome to do the job faster. If you are using GoogleChrome, you can make the Downloading process faster than normal by following these steps.

Type in the following.

Search for “Parallel Downloading” and select Enable. Relaunch the Browser.

By selecting this option we have enabled GoogleChrome to take large files and break them up and Download it in parallel.

Now that we have enabled Parallel downloading we can Download the Windows 10 ISO file.

Download Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File)

Make sure you have: An internet connection (internet service provider fees may apply). Sufficient available data…

www.microsoft.com

Confirm the Download and wait for some time. You will be able to notice that the Download speed is much more faster. Windows 10 ISO file will be downloaded in a few hours.

Setting up VirtualBox:

Now that everything has been Downloaded, we can proceed to set up our Virtual Windows 10 environment.

Open VirtualBox on your Mac. Double click on the Extension pack and it will be Installed onto VirtualBox automatically.

Select New to create a new Virtual Environment. Enter the Name you desire for the Virtual Computer. Select the Os from the list, which is Windows 10 64Bit. Click Continue.

Now Specify how much RAM you wish to set for your Windows VirtualMachine. Set about 3000 MB which is 3GB of RAM. You have to know how much RAM your Computer has and set up accordingly.

Now just keep moving forward, by clicking next.

Make sure you give as much space as you can and more than 50Gb. We can start with 50GB for now.

And the Virtual Machine is created. But we have to make a few more tweaks to get it up and running.

Settings:

Select the new Virtual Environment that you can created and navigate to Settings.

Under Settings select Storage and then Empty to import the ISO file to your newly created Machine.

Select Windows 10 ISO file which you just Downloaded by clicking on the small Disc icon. You can Navigate and Search your Computer by selecting Choose a disc file.

The Windows 10 iso file will now be loaded.

You can now view the Details by selecting the Windows Virtual Environment.

Details about the newly created Windows Virtual Environment

Installing Windows 10 on the Virtual Environment:

Double click the newly created Windows 10 Virtual Machine or select Start, the green arrow. A new window will popup indicating that the Virtual Machine is booting up.

Select Next and follow the steps to download Windows 10 as usual. You can keep selecting Next.

Make sure you select I dont have a product key.

Select Windows 10 Home

Select Custom Install and then select Next

Now the Installation would commence. Let everything happen automatically. By that time Windows 10 will ask you to enter your Microsoft Account details. Enter the requested details. If you dont have a Microsoft Account you can easily create one on their official Website.

Adjusting Windows 10 to your Preferences:

Now Windows 10 has been installed. Congratualtions. But it doesnt look right. Its small and not fun. We can do something about that. Boot up Windows Virtual Machine. Go to Settings and change the Resolution to fit the Entire screen.

After changing the resolution of your Windows Machine, move your pointer to the top to select View from the Navigation Bar of your MacOs. Select Full-screen Mode.

Next Navigate to Devices > Insert Guest Additions CD image. A Virtual CD would be inserted into your Virtual Machine.

In your Windows Machine, Go to This PC (My Computer) and you will notice that a CD has been inserted.

Select that and Download the software by following the processes. Keep selecting Next.

When the software is downloaded, the Windows Machine will reboot. After rebooting you will notice that the Windows 10 Virtual Machine fits to screen and remains in FullScreen mode like running the OS as the Host.

Now you can use Windows and MacOs Side by side with ease.

For more efficient and fast use, MacOs allows finger movement patterns to Switch between two or more Virtual Screen. Swipe four fingers on the Trackpad left and right to switch between full screen apps and screens.