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Run Mac Apps On Your PC



If you have some apps that are designed for Mac but you only have a Windows system available there are some possible solutions. The easiest and most obvious would be to either buy or borrow a Mac, but not everyone can do that. So, what other options are possible?


While there are a few ways that you can run Mac programs on your windows machine, as I will show below, ultimately the best way to run them is on a Mac. Using a Mac system will give you the best performance and experience when using any program designed specifically for Mac.




Run Mac apps on your PC




Virtual Machines or VMs for short are a wonderful solution for many who would like to run Mac apps on a Windows system. A VM allows you to, in essence, run a whole computer system in a window on your desktop.


This can work great for those who own a Windows computer but only need to use a Mac app every once in a while. You will need to use an application like Virtual Box or VMware. These applications will allow you to load and run a macOS on your Windows desktop.


Once you have a macOS running on your Windows desktop, you can easily install Mac applications from the AppStore or wherever else you may get them. Doing this will take some work and a bit of configuration to get up and going.


Virtual Machines use the resource of the host computer (your Windows machine) and they use a lot, so if your host machine is lacking, you will have a difficult time with how slow the VM may be and you may experience random crashes due to the lack of computing power.


The difference with cloud VMs is that they are not running on your local computer system but a remote computer or server. They are in the cloud. Because of this, you can easily access them through a browser or client application and run them without using all of your resources.


There are some Mac cloud VM services available and these could be suitable to run your applications. Mac Mini Vault and Mac In Cloud are a couple of popular ones, but there are others available out there.


Thankfully there are a few options available to you, just keep in mind that it may take some time to research and figure out which one is best for you. In the end, if you find yourself spending mounds of time and money to get this working you may be better off just purchasing a new Mac.


Installing a virtual machine is the best way to overcome any problems between you and the Mac application you want to run on your Windows PC. Imagine a virtual machine like an operating system within your operating system. It will allow you to open the macOS interface in a window on your PC and access all the apps only available on Mac.


Installing a virtual machine locally can be demanding for your device. On the lowest recommended settings, you might notice your computer lagging. You can leverage the same idea by using a cloud service to save your device from such hardships. A virtual machine on the cloud gives you the same options as a local one without taking up valuable space.


Have you ever found a piece of amazing software, only to realize it is Mac-only? With such a vast range of software available for Windows machines, it is a rarity. But, at times, there are just some apps that are better on macOS.


From here, downloading and using an Apple app is very similar to the regular macOS experience. You still need to log in to your Apple account to download and use apps from the App Store. It's the same as you'd use on any other Apple devices you own or use. If you cannot remember your Apple ID password, you'll have to reset it using a different device.


Once you sign into your account, you have the run of the App Store. As a result, you can install almost any macOS software you want on your virtual machine. Alternatively, you can use the default macOS apps.


Select the App Store from the Dock at the bottom of the screen. You may well have to enter your Apple ID credentials again. Browse to the macOS app you want to download. Hit Get, then Install. After installation completes, select Open, and you're good to go.


Saving the state of your macOS virtual machine session is easy. Why? Well, you're using a virtual hard disk. The changes you make to the virtual machine save in the virtual hard drive, ready for the next time you want to open the macOS virtual machine and continue using the Apple Apps on your Windows machine.


The best way to shut down the macOS virtual machine is from within macOS itself. Both VirtualBox and VMware have an option to power down on command, but as with physical hardware, this can cause an issue. In fact, a sudden shutdown on your virtual machine can corrupt the virtual drive.


VirtualBox users also have the option to take a snapshot. A snapshot saves the virtual machine's current state, allowing you to create a string of snapshots as you use Apple apps and the macOS operating system.


Snapshots are handy if you are about to attempt something that might damage your virtual machine. A snapshot allows you to restore the virtual machine to the previous state, picking up where you left off.


Still, you shouldn't rely on a snapshot to back up your virtual machine activities, nor are snapshots suitable as an alternative to shutting down your virtual machine using the macOS Shut Down option.


Remember that your virtual machine doesn't have the same processing power as your host machine. That is because your virtual machine is sharing the system resources of the host. You may well have a very powerful host machine with incredible amounts of RAM and a multi-core Intel i9 processor. But the vast majority don't.


Running a macOS virtual machine to use Apple apps isn't an option for everyone. While you can get away with running your macOS virtual machine with 4GB RAM, your experience will suffer. Older machines certainly won't handle the requirements.


One alternative is to use a cloud-based macOS environment, like MacinCloud. macOS cloud environments are predominantly for Apple app and macOS development, but you can still run an app if you wish. The downside is the cost of the cloud service and the latency between your system and the cloud server, not to mention the cost of purchasing the cloud environment subscription to begin with.


The vast majority of Apple apps now also have Windows equivalents or alternatives. Many have a Linux equivalent, too. All it takes is a quick internet search, and you will find the equivalent app, perhaps saving you a heap of time in the process.


Click the CD icon at the bottom of your screen when the installation finishes and you see a black screen with white text. Select the Hackboot 2 ISO so your virtual machine will properly boot when you restart it.


If you have an Intel-based Mac, your best choices for installing a virtual Windows machine are Parallels Desktop ($79.99 for Standard Edition) and VMware Fusion ($199 for VMware Fusion 12 Pro). On an Apple Silicon-based Mac (such as those with an M1 chip), Parallels Desktop is your top option. Parallels is more approachable for beginners and faster. VMware Fusion is friendly enough for any experienced Windows or Mac user, but it's more suitable for corporate use. As mentioned, whichever software you choose, you'll still need to purchase a Windows license (Windows 10 Home currently costs $139 to download) and enter it when Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion prompt you.


Once the app launches, click the Update button to download the latest version of the Wineskin Wrapper; this is the software responsible for actually launching your programs. Next to the New Engines Available menu item, click the plus sign. An engine with a complex name (WS11WineCX64Bit20.0.2 at the time of testing) will appear. Click the Download and Install option. The list of available engines may be different depending on when you read this guide; find the highest-numbered one with the CX64Bit string in its name and download it.


Depending on the app or game container you build, you may need to customize it so that it can access folders on your Mac system. To begin, right-click on the Wineskin-based app that you just created (in my example, the Mac app called Axialis IconWorkshop) and choose Show Package Contents (this option is available only for macOS apps or packages; it won't be available if you try to right-click on the Windows app within the drive_c folder.) The resultant Finder window shows several items inside the package, including the aforementioned Wineskin app and drive_c folder.


By default, the security and privacy preferences of your Mac are set to allow apps from the App Store and identified developers. For additional security, you can chose to allow only apps from the App Store.


If you have set your Mac to allow apps only from the App Store and you try to install an app from elsewhere, your Mac will say that the app can't be opened because it was not downloaded from the App Store.*


If macOS detects that software has malicious content or its authorization has been revoked for any reason, your Mac will notify you that the app will damage your computer. You should move this app to the Trash and check "Report malware to Apple to protect other users."


* If you're prompted to open the app in Finder and you're sure you want to open it despite the warning, you can control-click the app, choose Open from the menu, and then click Open in the dialog that appears. Enter your admin name and password to open the app.


Once done login to your Apple account to start downloading apps from App Store. To access App Store click on App Store icon present in the dock. Log in to your Apple account > look for the app you wish to download > click on Get > Install.


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