Many Developers and other IT Professionals use macOS (via a Macbook Pro or other Apple computer) and do need to run Windows on their machine under virtualization using Parallels or VMWare. Doing this allows you to run both macOS and Windows, or even Linux, operating systems and software on a single computer at the same time. When running Windows on top of macOS through virtualization you can use developer tools like Visual Studio, Windows Terminal, and others on macOS! However, using Windows Hyper-V to be able to run Windows VMs within your Windows VM requires the Intel VT-x virtualization support of the Intel CPU in the macOS computer to be enabled. This feature may not always enabled by default on macOS.
Let’s take a look at checking for status of Virtualization (VT-x) support, and enabling it so you can use Hyper-V and other virtualization within your Windows VMs running on macOS. This is something that may be necessary for running things like the Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2) successfully within your Windows VM on top of macOS.
New in Fusion is updated support for the Open Virtualization Format which includes an effortless installation walkthrough of the VMware vCenter Server Appliance OVA. Retina and 6K Display Ready VMware Fusion looks great on the latest 5K iMac and 6K Apple Pro XDR displays, and supports mixed retina and non-retina setups. This process loads virtualization properly. In my case, I had to hold option and select OS X, enter my FileVault password (my OS X is encrypted) and then wait to boot into OS X desktop. Reboot to Windows. Soft reboot via the Apple menu i.e. Top left Apple icon = restart. During bootup select Windows/Bootcamp (via the option key).
Windows Virtualization Mac
The virtual machine runs in its own window on the Mac desktop, and can then run your Windows apps on screen at the same time as conventional 'native' Mac apps, such as Apple Mail and Safari. Free Virtualization Software For macOS: In this article, we’ve discussed about the best and free virtualization software for Mac devices. Have a look at them! When talking about running another operating system on Mac, we cannot ignore Boot Camp, Apple’s own utility to run Windows on Mac.
Check if VT-x is supported on macOS
To see if the CPU within your macOS computer (Macbook Pro, Mac Pro, or other Apple machines) support nested virtualization via the VT-x feature of the CPU, you will need to open the macOS Terminal and execute a command.
Run the following command:
Virtualization Support For Mac Computers
This command will output the instruction sets supported by your machines CPU. When running this command, look for the
VMX
feature in the list. If this is listed, then your CPU does in fact support VT-x virtualization.You can run the following command to check for hardware virtualization support on macOS as well:
The command output will look as follows when turned on showing the
kern.hv_support
value returning 1
:Just because the
VMX
feature of the CPU is listed, doesn’t mean it’s enabled within macOS, so let’s look at that next.Enable VT-x Virtualization on macOS
All macOS computers that have an Intel i7 or i9 cpu should have VT-x virtualization support enabled by default. It is possible that if it’s not turned on for your computer, then you will need to update your computer to the latest software / firmware. This can be done through the Software Update feature of macOS, or by downloading Apple’s Firmware Update utilities.
It is also possible that for some reason it was disabled, and to re-enable the VT-x virtualization support, you will need to Reset the NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac. This can be done with the
Option + Command + P + R
keyboard combination at startup of your Mac.Unfortunately, if you still don’t have the VT-x virtualization support enabled, even though your CPU does support it, then you may need to wait for a new update from Apple to enable it if the above methods do not work. There’s no BIOS update setting you can access on Mac computers like other traditional desktop computer hardware.
FYI, If you are using Parallels Desktop for Mac Home Edition, this edition of Parallels does not support Nested Virtualization. To get Nested Virtualization support you will need to upgrade to the Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro edition to get this feature.
Happy running Windows or Linux in virtualization on macOS!
Chris is the Founder of Build5Nines.com and a Microsoft MVP in Azure & IoT with 20 years of experience designing and building Cloud & Enterprise systems. He is also a Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect, developer, Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), and Cloud Advocate. He has a passion for technology and sharing what he learns with others to help enable them to learn faster and be more productive.
Apple’s macOS is a great operating system. But even amazing operating systems have shortcomings, one of them being not being able to execute some important applications. In the case of macOS, there are software like Microsoft Access, Adobe Photoshop and other Windows based applications that demand Microsoft Windows for operation. However, Microsoft and Apple despite being competitors, have always tried to fill the gaps in terms of supporting each other’s applications. Virtualization has helped them achieve this task allowing Mac devices to run Windows applications and vice versa.
Hence, if you are a Mac user who also wants to run Windows operating system with macOS, this article will benefit you.
Free Virtualization Software For macOS:
In this article, we’ve discussed about the best and free virtualization software for Mac devices. Have a look at them!
Boot Camp
When talking about running another operating system on Mac, we cannot ignore Boot Camp, Apple’s own utility to run Windows on Mac computers. Even Though, Boot Camp is not a virtualization software, there’s no better software you can lean on when it comes to playing Windows-based games on Mac PC.
The software comes preloaded on Mac and permits Mac users to use both Windows and macOS on the same device. Additionally, as the operating system directly executed from the hard drive, it also renders better user experience compared to virtualization software.
The only disadvantage other than only being able to run Windows is that you need to restart the computer every time you want to switch to the other operating system. Therefore, like virtualization software, you can’t use both operating systems parallelly.
Free Virtualization Software For Mac
Note: – Many Mac users use both Boot Camp and a virtualization software for quick access and better performance. You can do that too if you’ve got enough resources on your Mac device.
QEMU
QEMU or Quick EMUlator is another great software that is open source and supports Linux, Windows and macOS. What it does is, it emulates (imitates) software and hardware types and controls administrative privileges in order to run the guest operating system.
Virtualization On Macos
The source code is directly injected into the host machine, which helps QEMU to offer near-native performance. QEMU is perfect if you want a pint-sized virtual machine that can be stored in a compact flash drive. However, you need some patience to install QEMU. Here’s how you can install QEMU on your Mac: –
- Download and install Homebrew. Visit the official website https://brew.sh/
- Open terminal on Mac
- Type “$ brew install qemu” in the terminal
Further, get an image file of the operating system you want to use on Mac (you can find it online) and run it until you’re bored!
See Also: 5 Best Photo Management Apps For Mac In 2018
VMWare
If you want things to be simple, use VMWare. The free version of VMWare allows its users to run all major operating systems on your Mac machine. VMWare is pretty old and popular in the game and hence over time evolved a lot according to user requirements. It offers three versions: The Free VMWare Workstation Player, VMWare Fusion ($79.99) and VMWare Workstation ($249.99).
The paid versions are generally used by professionals. But if you’re a home user, VMWare Free can cater your needs. Popular operating systems such as Linux and Windows are efficiently supported by VMWare.
The software is user-friendly and installs conveniently unlike QEMU. You can seamlessly switch the operating systems and can be called as one of the most dependable options available out there.
VirtualBox
VirtualBox is a skillful virtualization application that is entirely free! Yes, the source code of the software is owned by Oracle. VirtualBox is a powerful software that offers smooth switching capabilities on macOS. The software can be quickly installed and supports all major operating systems.
VirtualBox comes together with software packages that are specially created to benefit users to transfer files between the host and the guest operating systems. The program offers laudable hardware support, multi-screen resolution, 3D virtualization and many other features. Basically, VirtualBox deserves a thumbs up when it comes to the number of features for no money at all. Click here to download VirtualBox.
These are the best free Mac software that are stable and can be used to deploy various operating systems on your Mac. Use them and share your experience in the comments section below. Also, do not hesitate to ask any questions related to installation or usage.
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