can you go on a macbook then use windows then switch back to mac again without deleting anything or restoring or restarting the mac? or once do you choose it when you're setting up your mac you can't change?
2007-01-20 17:56:44 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Laptops & Notebooks
I have a MacBook Pro and I have OS X and Windows XP on mine. However, I must restart to change mine if I want to change to Windows. You can add install Windows any time you want. It is best to take it to the Mac store, as they'll probably have all the drivers you'll need for Windows.
But if you need to change back and forth withour restarting your computer, you can get a virtual windows software package. There are many different brands out there.
Microsoft makes one called Vitual Windows for Mac, but as usual they are far behind and have yet to make one that runs with Intel-based Macs.
2007-01-20 18:50:37 · answer #1 · answered by A dad & a teacher 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Mac hardware can run either Apple's OS X operating system or the Windows operating system from Microsoft. To run both you have to have purchased a copy of both. OS X comes with the machine and MS will sell a copy you can install on the Mac.
1. You can use the Apple solution and you pick which operating system when you boot. You are running Windows or OS X at one time. The disk is more or less shared though it is configurable as to how much of the disk each operating system gets to use.
2. You can run a virtual machine and then you are able to run both operating systems at the same time. The commercial product with the broadest exposure if from Parallels. The link is below.
It is like running two computers on one machine. You can switch between the two of them on the fly. Hence you can use both a Mac OS X application and then switch over to a Windows only application if and when you want.
A word of caution. Anything that is likely to exposure you to a virus or spyware on a PC still exists when you run Windows. It is really Windows that is running so all the concerns that PC users face still exist. This neither good or bad. Just a warning that just because you bought a Mac does not mean you will be immune from the Windows viruses when you are running Windows. When running OS X you will have little to be concerned about in this area.
2007-01-21 03:51:23 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstation/mac/
2007-01-20 19:29:29 · answer #3 · answered by Elbert 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋