Installing windows 7 on mas. How to install Windows on Mac: instructions for installing a new OS. Combined use of Boot Camp and virtualization

Installing Windows 7 on MacBook Pro

InstallationWindows-7 onMacBookPro

First: Why is this needed? Why do you need Windows 7 on MacBook Pro?

The answer is very simple. I constantly use Microsoft Access, as well as several programs for customs clearance of goods; there are no analogues for Mac OS and there are no plans for them.

This article does not cover the general principles of installing Windows on Mac. It describes the steps I had to perform on my early 2008 MacBook Pro Model Number A 1260 during the installation of Windows -7, and also contains comments, links and installation guides for all the necessary components that will be needed for successful and high-quality work your Mac computer in a Windows environment.

You can read in detail about the first installation of Windows XP on a Mac in the manual that is included with the sale. If the English language is difficult for you, then look for information about it on the Internet. There are many useful articles about this in Russian.

However, I will draw your attention to the most common mistake that almost everyone makes who installs Windows on their Mac for the first time, and then cannot understand why the system does not want to start, even if the installation is done from a licensed disk. This error is as follows: During the installation process, Windows prompts you to format the disk on which the installation will be performed. Despite the fact that Boot Camp has already partitioned the disk of your MacBook and formatted the required partition, IT IS NECESSARY TO FORMAT THE PARTITION DURING INSTALLATION! Otherwise, the system will not start under any circumstances!(unless this is the first time you've installed Windows on your MacBook).

We will now look at the process of installing the Windows-7 operating system on a MacBook Pro using the 32-bit one as an example, since practice has shown that 32-bit Windows-7 on a MacBook Pro works faster.

Some of the information for writing this material was taken from this article:

Required tools and programs:

1. Windows -7 installation disk.

2. The first disk from the set that came with your MacBook Pro, which contains Boot Camp and drivers for Windows XP. Don’t despair that these are old programs and drivers (as was the case in my case), all this will be needed and will work as it should, I promise you.

5. External mouse (preferably).

NO DOWNLOAD NEEDED! Just waste your time and traffic!

System installation:

Turn on the MacBook, insert the installation disk with Windows-7, hold down the key "alt" and install the system. There is nothing more to write about here.

Important! Correct installation of drivers:

Windows -7 installation is complete. And what do we see:

The keyboard does not work properly. Apple function keys do not work and CD cannot be ejected.

The trackpad does not work properly. Doesn't even work in right-click mode (two fingers on the trackpad and pressing a button doesn't open the context menu)

Sound doesn't work. Even though when checking the equipment, the audio playback indicators show that sound is being played, there is still no sound. A characteristic sign of its absence is that the headphone jack is illuminated from the inside with red light.

This means that you need to install all the drivers for your MacBook Pro to run its hardware in a Windows 7 environment. There are several secrets here. We will talk about them now. So attention:

1. Installing Boot Camp:

a) We take the first disk from the MacBook kit. It will not be possible to run setup directly from this disk; an error will appear "The installer encountered an unexpected error while installing this package. The package may not have been installed correctly. Error code 2229".

When you run any of the files from the disk directory: Boot Camp\Drivers\Apple, (for example, " AppleMultiTouchTrackPadInstaller") we get an error "DPInst.exe cannot run on your operating system". The second error occurs due to the Russian interface language. After all, the Russian version of Windows-7 simply does not exist and will not exist. It will be like in Vista, just official Russification. That's why:

b) IT IS NECESSARY TO CHANGE THE INTERFACE LANGUAGE TO ENGLISH DURING INSTALLATION. THIS MUST BE DONE, OTHERWISE THE DRIVERS WILL NOT BE INSTALLED!!!

c) Create a new folder on the C:\ drive and copy the entire contents of the CD into it. You will have to use an external mouse or keyboard shortcuts (select all); (copy); (insert).

Keep in mind that it is currently possible to remove the Windows -7 installation disk only using an external mouse, or by temporarily booting into the Mac.

d) If you haven’t downloaded it yet, then download the patched Boot Camp from here: http://www.speedyshare.com/404462147.html. There are three folders in the archive with the Boot Camp LIMO patch. We need three files from it: both files from the folder " AppleBootCamp 2.1”: BootCamp And BootCamp 64, as well as a file from the folder “ Apple Boot Camp 2.1 32-bitlatencyissue”: KbdMgr. We take these three files and copy them, replacing them, into the created folder in the Boot Camp\Drivers\Apple directory.

e) WE MAKE SURE THAT THE INTERFACE LANGUAGE IS INSTALLED IN ENGLISH. We launch one of the BootCamp files in accordance with the bit depth of the installed system and perform the installation. ATTENTION, IMPORTANT: After installing Boot Camp, before clicking the “finish” button and restarting the system, be sure to replace the KbdMgr file in the directory: C :\Program Files\Boot Camp with the file from the patch!!! (in a 64-bit environment, according to the author of the patch, this does not need to be done).

The first stage has been completed. Now you can reboot. After the reboot, all devices will appear in Device Manager. Almost all the missing keyboard and trackpad functions will appear. However, not all of them are what we would like. Now you can switch to the Russian interface language. But I wouldn't recommend it yet. Let's continue:

2. Installing an updated Trackpad driver:

In a Windows environment, clicking on the trackpad on a MacBook Pro with one finger (left mouse button) and two fingers (right button) does not cause any reaction. This was the case until recently. This problem has now been resolved. An updated Trackpad driver for Windows-XP-Vista has appeared on the Apple website. We will use it and add the missing functions. True, you have to do a little magic, but it’s even useful. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, then download the updated driver here: http://support.apple.com/downloads/Multi_Touch_Trackpad_Update_for_Windows_XP___Vista. Looking ahead a little, I’ll say that to install this updated driver in Windows-7 you will definitely need Universal Extractor. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, download it here: http://www.legroom.net/software/uniextract and install it.

Have you downloaded the driver? Then try to install it and you will see that it either does not fit your computer (designed for models from late 2008) or does not fit your operating system, so you need to unpack it using Universal Extractor. When installing Universal Extractor, select the default language “Russian”. After installing Universal Ex tractor, click on the executable file “ AppleMTTUpdate” right-click and select “UniExtract here”. The executable file will be unpacked into two folders " AppleMultitouchTrackpad" And " AppleMultitouchTrackpad64" Let's remember their location. Now let's go to Device Manager, open "HID Devices", in which we see "Apple Multitouch" and "Apple Multitouch Mouse".

FOR BOTH we update drivers, by specifying manually the path to one of the above folders obtained during unpacking in accordance with the system bit depth. Drivers are installed without problems this way. We check that the drivers are installed correctly: In the properties of both devices, the driver must have version 2.1.2.100.

DO NOT TOUCH THE BOOT CAM P SETTINGS YET, AND BE SURE TO REBOOT FIRST, otherwise not all functions will work.

After starting the system, select Boot Camp in the control panel. (or right-click on the Boot Camp icon in the system tray and select “Control Panel”). Open the “Trackpad” tab that appears and set the necessary options. The translation into Russian is not entirely correct, so I recommend looking at the English version. That's it, now the trackpad responds to touches with one and two fingers, as if clicking the left/right mouse button!

3. Installing the Audio Driver (we solve problems with sound).

So we have no sound. The driver is installed, the speaker indicators blink when checking, but there is no sound. For some reason, the headphone jack is illuminated from the inside with red light.

In order for sound to appear, you will need an updated version of the Realtek driver, which already understands what Windows-7 is. You need to download it from here: http://www.realtek.com/downloads. On the page that opens, select the link: “ High Definition Audio Codecs (Software) »

Or a direct link (but sometimes it doesn't work): http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false .

In the window that appears, check the box, agreeing with everything that is offered and click “Next”.

In the window that opens, select the desired file Vista,Windows-7Driver (32/64bits)Driveronly (Executablefile) and press " GO" opposite one of the sites: Site1, Site2 or Site3, but not the opposite Express, so as not to enter unnecessary passwords later.

After downloading the specified driver, you just need to install it. And the sound will appear! Reboot.

4. Installing Video Driver.

Yes, the video card driver has been installed and it works. But trust me, its performance is not great. Therefore, I strongly recommend installing the latest video driver for your NVidia video card. You need to download it from the manufacturer’s website, namely from here: http://www.nvidia.ru/object/geforce_notebook_win7_186.03_whql_ru.html.

Measure performance before and after installing the driver. The difference is obvious:

Now Windows 7 is installed correctly on your MacBook Pro.

Vadim Yurasov.

Installing Windows on Mac OS is possible and quite simple if you come prepared. In this article we will tell you how to install Windows on Mac OS - possible methods and options, as well as additional information and subtleties of the process.

MacOS users may need to use the Windows operating system for several reasons, ranging from the habit of using Microsoft's operating system to the need to use special software that is designed only to run on Windows. To avoid purchasing a new device, but to take advantage of excellent hardware characteristics and the use of the desired system, MacOS allows you to use multiple systems on one device.

What should I do before installing another OS?

• Find out about the compatibility of equipment and OS versions (compatibility with Windows 10 and compatibility with version 7 of the system).
• Check for updates to MacOS and utilities and update if found.

Boot Camp

Installing Windows 10 on Mac OS Sierra can be done through the special BootCamp utility.

Utility "Boot Camp Assistant"- Software from Apple, which allows you to create an additional partition on the disk for installing an additional OS and further use.

Before installation, you must download an image of the desired Windows system. This can be done on the official Microsoft website.

• Go to the Windows 10 image download page (or version 7, but this will require a key).
• Select the desired system and language, and then begin downloading the image.

To start Boot Camp, open Programs – Utilities and select "Boot Camp Assistant".

In the Boot Camp window, you will need to select the amount of free space that will be allocated for Windows. When choosing, we recommend taking into account your needs - whether you will play games and install “heavy” applications or rarely use the system.

It is worth noting that if you allocate 100 GB of free space in Boot Camp, after installing the system, about 75 GB will be available to you.

In the ISO disk image line, specify the path to the downloaded system image. Click the “Install” button and the software will begin downloading for further configuration.

After the device reboots, the standard Windows installation process will begin. Using the “ten” as an example, let’s look at the main points.

• Initially, agree to the terms of the agreement.
• Select the OS version and bit level.
• At the stage of selecting a partition where files will be copied, you need to select a partition called BootCamp.

• The process of copying files and preparing the main components of the system will begin.

• After all reboots are complete, you will be greeted by a system pre-configuration window, where you will need to specify a Microsoft account to log into the system; if you don’t have one, create a local profile. You will also need to specify privacy settings, which are recommended to be disabled - this will speed up the device a little and Microsoft will receive less of your data.
• When finished, you will be greeted by the Windows desktop and a small BootCamp application window. You will need to allow the application to configure the system drivers so that the screen resolution becomes correct and all components such as network connectivity, Bluetooth and others.

Installing Windows 7 on Mac via BootCamp is done in the same way, the only difference is the welcome screen and the initial screen.
It's also worth knowing a few additional facts about Boot Camp if you want to know how to install Windows on a Mac using BootCamp:

• All device drivers necessary for correct operation are also updated via Boot Camp.
• It is recommended that you initially download the required driver package from the Apple website.
• The system will work quickly and responsively, using the device's resources to the maximum. There is also a low probability that problems will arise from the drivers, since Apple treats this very seriously and carefully. But no one has canceled the bugs and problems on the part of Windows, although on version 10 there are fewer and fewer problems (until the release of a major update).
• Using MacOS and Windows at the same time is not possible, since the device can only operate and use resources with one system running. And here virtualization tools come to the rescue, which will be discussed further.

Important! Sometimes, when installing Windows on a Mac, you may get the no Bootable device error. To solve this problem, use the following tips:

• Using a legal image (no pirated builds).
• Try changing the boot priority to MacOS and repeat the installation.
• Try using USB drives or ISO files when using Boot Camp.

Parallels Desktop

There may be situations where you may need to install Windows 7 or 10 on a Mac without using BootCamp. For example, when you need to use both MacOS and Windows at the same time, but having 2 devices is too expensive and inconvenient. Virtualization tools will come to the rescue, one of which is Parallels Desktop for Mac.

Parallels Desktop is a software solution for creating a virtual machine and then installing Windows, Linux and other operating systems. Allows you to use another operating system without rebooting the device and enjoy the functionality of different operating systems at the same time.

The latest version of Parallels Desktop 14 is currently available at a price starting from 4,990 rubles.

The application has truly outstanding functionality:

• Common desktop for Windows and MacOS.
• Using Win applications in the MacOS interface without having to start a virtual machine.
• Backup, shared clipboard, Drag-n-Drop, huge tools for working with a “windowed” OS and much more.

With Parallels Desktop, you'll learn how to quickly install Windows 10 on a Mac as a second system, with just the click of a button. What you need to do for this:

• Download and install the trial version of Parallels Desktop from the official website.
• And click Install to start

• And at the end of all procedures there will be a notification about the successful completion of installation

The developers have made sure that the process is as simple and fast as possible for Mac users. We will also look at how you can perform a clean installation of Windows 7 or 10 on Mac OS high sierra or later using Parallels, using version 11 as an example:

• Launch Parallels Desktop and select "Install".

• Specify the path to the installation disk, USB flash drive or system image.

• You can choose express installation of the system, which will require only a system key and a minimum of actions. Or you can uncheck the express installation box and configure the process yourself.

• You can choose not only the number of active cores, RAM or storage memory, but also video memory, system usage, boot priority and much more.

• After this, the standard installation procedure will begin. You will need to select a language and select an installation location.

• After which, Windows 7 will be successfully installed. You only need to give a name to your profile and PC, create a password (if required), enter an activation key, configure the time and settings for connecting to the Internet.
• The system is ready to use

The application is really very functional and solves many problems at once. But if you don’t have 5 thousand rubles to purchase a license, we’ll show you another way to install Windows 7.10 on Mac OS using VMware virtualization.

Oracle Virtualbox

VM VirtualBox is a virtualization tool from Oracle. A free application that will allow you to run Windows 7 or 10 without a separate installation on Mac or BootCamp. The functionality is not as rich as Parallels Desktop, but this solution is free and will allow you to use 2 systems simultaneously. What is needed for this:

• Download and install VM VirtualBox for OS X hosts from the official website.
• Download the image of the desired system, for example “Ten”
• Create a new virtual machine. Enter name, type and OS version

• Set the amount of RAM

• Set the storage capacity for the virtual machine and specify the disk type as VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image)

• Once the virtual machine is created, click on Settings.

• In the “Storage” tab, specify the path to the image of the loaded OS, and then launch the virtual machine.

• The standard system installation procedure will begin. You can find out about the procedure in the paragraph about Boot Camp.

As you can see from this article, it’s quite easy to install Windows 7, 8 or 10 instead of Mac OS, you just need to choose the option that’s convenient for you. Using the full power of the device, but putting up with only one active OS, or taking full advantage of all the advantages of Windows and MacOS, but with minor performance losses.

Have a great day!

Experts in the field of computer technology have long noted the priority of Apple in the field of personal computer development.

From the mid-70s of the last century to the present day, Apple has been confidently competing with IBM in the field of computer technology. In the old fashioned way, their computers are called “Macs,” despite the fact that real Macintoshes are already of museum value.

Their technical solutions are shamelessly copied by famous manufacturers. Macs are reliable and functional. At the same time, the Windows operating system is more familiar, so a number of users need to install Windows 7 on MAC OS.

Popularity of Apple computers

The main differences between Apple's developments:

• “closedness” of architecture;
• high reliability and ease of use;
• ease of working with graphics and printing;
• leader of new products in the computer industry.

The MacBook belongs to the family of popular laptops developed by Apple. The latest version of the MacBook laptop is distinguished by functionality, compactness and quiet operation. The dimensions are amazing: thickness about 13 mm, weight up to 1 kg. The developers were able to abandon the use of fans in the design and create a new motherboard with a high element density.

The keyboard has a highly stable press locking mechanism, and the keys have individual backlighting. The 13" Retina display is exceptionally thin and delivers high-resolution images. The touchpad panel is very sensitive to touch, capable of varying the degree of pressure when touched. The battery capacity has been increased by optimizing the housing design.

Aluminum parts create a strong and reliable mechanism for fastening the rotating part of the housing. The use of a new USB-C connector for charging, video and sound playback, and data transfer also makes it possible to ensure the declared geometric parameters of the product.

Two installation methods

There are two installation methods: using Apple's own Boot Camp software and using the Virtualbox virtual machine.

Boot Camp offers the user the following sequence of operations to install the Windows operating environment:

The virtualbox machine emulates the work:

• BIOS;
• RAM;
• hard drive;
• peripheral devices.

For computers designed for the Windows platform, used to install a system other than MAC OSX. The program is distributed free of charge.

Installing Windows 7 on MAC OS X via Boot Camp

Installation requirements:

• the hardware platform must have a connection to the Internet;
• an OS X administrator account is used to access the “Boot Camp Assistant” program;
• have a working keyboard, mouse, trackpad;
• 2 GB or more of RAM and 30 GB or more of disk space must be available for the initial installation of Windows; to upgrade earlier versions of Windows, you will need 40 GB or more;
• an installation disk for Microsoft Windows is required when installing via a built-in or external DVD drive;
• You may need a USB flash drive with a capacity of at least 8 GB to install drivers.

What is needed?

Installation requires:

System update

Installing Windows 7 usually requires version 4 of Boot Camp Assistant (BCA) on a 32-bit platform and version 5 for a 64-bit platform. Update your Boot Camp software to install the latest Windows drivers on your Mac.

This can be done in two ways:

Logging into the BCA program may require knowledge of an account with administrator rights.

Video: Installing Windows 7 on Mac

Installation steps

The installation is lengthy and will require connecting a source adapter. We assume that the updates have been fully installed. Seven requires the use of the NTFS file system.

First remove all disks with lower numbers if the installation is not on the first disk.

Once the OS installation is complete, the data disks can be recovered. If installation problems occur, use disk recovery and data erase utilities and restart BCA.

Installation procedure:

Install OS using VirtualBox

To install, you need to download the program file and run it on your computer.

Installing the program

Installing VirtualBox is carried out by performing the sequence of operations 1-15:

1. run the installation file;
2. agree to the requirements of the license agreement, click “Next”;

   

3. go through the windows sequentially by clicking the “Next” button, call the “Install” command and agree to additional software installation prompts;
4. wait for the installation to complete and complete the process by clicking on the “Finish” button;

   

   Photo: VirtualBox installation completed

5. launch the program by double clicking on the desktop shortcut;
6. launch the virtual machine (VM) creation wizard by clicking the “Create” and “Next” buttons in the main program window;
7. enter the name of the VM, in the “OS Type” section, define the values ​​for the OS “Microsoft Windows” and the version “Windows 7”;

   

8. Determine the size of RAM allocated to the VM to be at least 512 MB and more than 50% of the total memory size, or select the recommended size. Click the "Next" button;
9. On the “Virtual Hard Disk” tab, make a checkbox for the bootable virtual hard disk. Set the switch to the “Create a new hard drive” position. Click the “Next” button;

   

   Photo: creating a virtual hard disk

10. select "Dynamically Expanding Image" as the file type because it takes up little space initially and expands gradually. Continue to the next section;

    

11. determine the location of the virtual disk to be installed. By default, a name is created that matches the name of the VM, and the disk is located in the same place where the real Windows 7 is installed;
12. set the virtual hard disk size. (The default is 20 Gigabytes.) Continue with installation;

    

    Photo: select the location, name and size of the virtual disk

13. click on “Finish” and we get the VM ready for use;

    

14. configure the VM, to do this, go to the “Properties” tab;
15. in the “Display” settings section, set the amount of video memory available for the VM from 26 MB. Check the boxes for 2D and 3D acceleration;

    

16. From the “Media” list, select the DVD disk icon.

Windows OS Installation Steps

Installation can take place via an installation disk or its ISO image. If the installation takes place using an installation disk, then it should be inserted into the DVD drive, in the “Attributes” column, select the “Drive” item from the drop-down list, and also check the “Allow direct access” checkbox.

Photo: Checking the Allow direct access checkbox

If there is an ISO image of the program installation disk, then the “Attributes” column is filled in through the “Virtual Media Manager” as follows:

Photo: Media item in Windows properties section

Next, you should exit to the main program window, where you click the “Start” button. When information windows appear, click the “OK” button. On the virtual machine screen, click the mouse and press the “Capture” button. Further installation of the OS on the VM does not differ from normal installation.

Once the installation is complete, VirtualBox will immediately launch the operating system. The VM blocks mouse and keyboard use when used in a host environment. Switching between VM windows and the main OS window is done using the Right Control host key. If you exclude the capture of the mouse cursor and keyboard of the VM, then you can use the mouse cursor in the virtual and main operating systems, and also have a common clipboard. To do this, use the “Devices” menu of the VirtualBox machine to go to the “Install Guest OS Add-ons” item.

Photo: installing guest OS additions

In the “AutoPlay” pop-up window, click “VBoxWindows Additions.exe” and follow the program settings.

You can exit the VM by performing the following sequence of operations:

• in the virtual machine menu, select “Machine”;
• then go to “Close”;
• go to the item turn off.

An already installed Windows 7 is started using the “Start” button in the main program window. There are two ways to install the Windows 7 operating system on mac os: using the Boot Camp tool, which is an Apple development, and using the VirtualBox virtual machine. A more transparent installation is carried out using Boot Camp.

Hello dear readers.

There are several major operating systems that many users use. And Windows and Mac OS are considered among the most popular. The latter comes with computers from Apple. When purchasing such units, people try to use existing security. But sometimes some people need to switch to an OS from a “competing” developer. In the following article I will tell you how to install Windows on a Mac. This can be done in several ways - it all depends on the needs of the users.

There are several options for installing Windows on Apple computers. This could be a second system (installed on an SSD or external drive), built into the first, or even the main one. We will review each of these cases as they become popular.

So, one of the most common is the use of Win as a second system. Fortunately, the developers of the latest versions of Mac OS have foreseen a similar situation and have provided the appropriate tool. Therefore, this method describes the option of installing an additional OS via Boot Camp. The application is located in " Programs" In addition, it can be found in the search Spotlight.

For the procedure itself you need:

Download the image with the operating system from the official Microsoft website.

Availability of an empty 8 GB flash drive.

Sufficient amount of empty hard disk space.

It’s worth saying right away that this option is perfect for devices without a DVD drive, since the entire installation will take place from a flash drive.

So, now we need to do a number of actions:

To get back into the Microsoft environment after using Apple's OS, you need to reboot and hold down the Option button.

Parallels Desktop( )

In addition to the additional system, it is possible to place the required OS “inside” the main one. This can be done using a virtual machine. There are various software specifically that allow you to do everything you need. So, for example, you can install via Virtualbox- a good free solution.

But the most convenient and most suitable for OS X is considered to be placement via Parallels Desktop. At the same time, the application is also considered the best in terms of performance and battery life.

This option is perfect for users who need to use programs designed for Windows, but at the same time they only have a Mac at hand. It is perfect for clients who do not want to understand the tangle of settings.

True, there is one big drawback - the program is paid. Of course there is a trial version option. But it will end sooner or later. You can always find a demo version or buy the full version on the official website. It also provides detailed help on all features of the application.

So we need to do a few things:

As a result, users are offered a fully functional Windows that runs inside Mac OS. At the same time, in the future, users will be able to easily change various settings of the virtual machine.

If something suddenly becomes unclear to you, the application provides detailed help.

Not long ago, Apple released a new version of the 13-inch MacBook Air. Contrary to the usual year difference, the new product came out just six months later, however, the changes in it are small: a slightly more powerful processor, and that’s all. Zoom.Cnews reviewers decided on a desperate experiment - installing the Windows operating system on a MacBook Air. You can find out more about the results below.

In the standard configuration of the new MacBook Air 13, the default Intel Core i5-4260U processor with a clock frequency of 1.4 GHz is installed instead of the Intel Core i5-4250U with 1.3 GHz in the six-month-old model. This gives a very small increase in performance, it can only be noticed in benchmarks, however, the new product is offered to customers for the same money, and the previous model is cheaper. It is difficult to find adequate competitors for the MacBook Air. Models that are more or less comparable in price tend to have lower performance (despite the higher clock speed, the Intel Core i5-4200U itself is less productive than the i5-4250U/4260U).

On the other hand, you can find Windows laptops similar in size and performance, but they will cost much more - it will be a completely different price category, and some characteristics will be noticeably better (screen resolution, for example), which is not always justified in such laptops.

Well, moreover, it is impossible to find a Windows laptop that would last as long as a MacBook Air on battery power. This is due, among other things, to the energy efficiency of the OS X operating system.

How to Install Windows on MacBook Air

It is very difficult to install the OS X operating system on a regular Windows PC, and even then it is not a fact that everything will work. In most cases, the so-called “Hackintosh” is used - a special build of OS X, which, after performing special rituals “with dances and tambourines,” is capable of running on a regular PC. However, if the user is lucky with the motherboard, then after flashing the BIOS and replacing the bootloader, you can even install a completely official OS X distribution, which will even receive regular updates from the Apple server. Some, however, also call this method hackintosh.

But installing Windows on any Mac is a piece of cake. No more difficult than installing Windows on any “regular” computer, perhaps a little longer. The simplest method of installing Windows on a Mac is to use the Boot Camp Assistant utility built into OS X, which will help you partition the disk, configure the bootloader and prepare a bootable USB flash drive with drivers and a distribution image (or without it, if you have a DVD at hand).

Note that even if you prefer virtualization to installing multiple operating systems on your computer, this is also not a problem in OS X: the most popular virtual machine for Mac, Parallels Desktop, allows you to work with Windows installed in Boot Camp and does not require additional manipulations: that is, you can use Windows both in virtualization mode and loading into it separately. But for the purposes of this article we will only work with Boot Camp.

So, we stock up on an external USB DVD drive, an image of 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium and an 8 GB flash drive. Now it's time to do something small - launch Boot Camp.

First, the utility will ask what we are going to do. The top checkbox: “Create a Windows installation disk or later” can be removed immediately - we don’t need this, because There is already a disc (DVD). Click “Next”.

Since we have already inserted the flash drive into the USB, Boot Camp suggests using it to save drivers and other useful utilities that will be useful to us when working in Windows. The next stage is disk partitioning.

Usually programs that deal with disk partitioning are quite complicated for beginners, but here everything is elementary - you don’t have to do anything by hand. Maybe just pull the slider, choosing how much space on the built-in drive will be allocated for OS X and how much for Windows. We chose the “Divide into equal parts” option.

Basically, that's all. After clicking the “Install” button, Boot Camp will begin preparing the USB flash drive. At this time, you can go have tea, having previously connected a USB-DVD drive and inserted the Windows distribution into it. Boot Camp will work for about half an hour, it all depends on how much you have to download from the Internet. Remember the checkbox in the first step: “Download the latest Windows support software from Apple”? This is what it is. You could turn it off, but we prefer everything fresh. After Boot Camp finishes, the computer will reboot and Windows installation will begin as usual. Select your country, select your keyboard, sit back, enter your product code, sit back again, and so on. Unless you have to manually format the newly created partition (it will be called BOOTCAMP) in NTFS. But Windows will warn you about this.

When Windows installs and finally boots, it will install the very same Windows support software from Apple that it includes.

In total, Windows 7 was installed via Boot Camp in just over an hour with minimal user interaction. Even a child can handle it.

Running Windows on MacBook Air

Windows 7 feels great on the latest MacBook Air.

This is not surprising - the hardware of poppies is quite ordinary.

To help a Mac driver who has just left the friendly and familiar world of OS X and entered Windows - a world little familiar to him and therefore hostile, there is a “Boot Camp Control Panel”, which is automatically installed from a USB flash drive. The icon of this application is placed in the tray and you can always call it from there.

The application has three sections: boot volume selection, keyboard settings, and touchpad settings.

In the keyboard settings - only selecting the operating mode of the functional row of keys F1-F12. Unfortunately, there is no key mapping. By default, the Alt/Ctrl control keys correspond to their Windows counterparts, and Cmd turns into the Windows key (accordingly, to launch Explorer, for example, you need to press Cmd+E). If you connect an external Windows keyboard, it will work as expected from a Windows keyboard. As for the layout, the default will be “Russian (Apple)” - completely similar to the standard Russian layout in OS X, but you can simply select “Russian”, and then the button under Esc, to the left of the “1” key, will turn into the letter “Ё” "

There are more parameters in the trackpad (touchpad) settings. In fact, they allow you to bring the use of the touchpad in Windows as close as possible to OS X - almost all the usual multi-touch gestures will be available.

By the way, the logical disk with OS X (which is formatted in HFS+) is also accessible from Windows. True, only for reading. You won't be able to delete anything from it, just like you won't be able to create a folder or file.

By the way, formatting will also not work - the system will throw an error. But it’s still better not to do this - after we tried to format the OS X partition from Windows, it crashed and we had to restore OS X via Recovery. In general, this is the only bug that we found. Although quite unpleasant.

From OS X, the Windows disk (formatted in NTFS) is also readable, but not writable.

Download and select OS

On a Mac, there is no “traditional” OS selection menu. By default, after installing Windows in Boot Camp, the laptop will boot into OS X without issue when rebooted or turned on. If you want to boot into Windows, you need to hold down the Alt button while booting - then a menu for selecting a boot partition will appear. If you have not installed anything else, there will be three sections: recovery (OS X recovery), OS X and Windows. Select the third one and boot into Windows.

And since Windows will reboot much more often than OS X, which generally rarely requires a reboot, it makes sense to configure the Boot Camp utility on Windows to boot into Windows by default. Even if you very rarely use Microsoft operating systems, believe me, it will be easier. After all, you will have to turn off or restart your Mac under OS X even less often.

Performance test

Let's now see what MBA13 is capable of on Windows. First, a performance assessment based on the version of Windows 7 itself.

Everything is quite expected: fast RAM, a fast hard drive (which here, actually, is not a hard drive, but a solid-state drive), although the system clearly flattered the processor and graphics for games. But when working, as they say, with office applications, “everything really flies.”

We also ran PC Mark 7. The results are as follows:

Is it a lot or a little? See for yourself: Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro with Intel Core i3-4010U scored only 4286 points, and Acer Aspire S7-392-74508G25tws with Intel Core i5-4200U processor scored 5048 points.

But we have one more test left. As you know, the MacBook Air 13 is the longest-lasting thinnest laptop available today. Under OS X, it works for up to 12-13 hours without any “dim the screen brightness, turn off all wireless interfaces, move at least 10 steps away from the computer and try not to breathe.” Well, what about Windows? Easy to check. We carried out the following test: in each OS we launched a standard browser (Internet Explorer for Windows and Safari for OS X), opened three pages in the browser: Facebook, Twitter and Vkontakte (so that they were constantly updated), and also launched an MPEG video for loop playback. 4 with Full-HD resolution and expanded it to full screen. By the way, the screen brightness was set to maximum. In general - harsh conditions and no concessions.

In this mode, the MacBook running OS X worked for 9 hours and 32 minutes. Not a bad result, we approve. Well, what about Windows? Alas, the situation here is not so rosy: 5 hours 11 minutes. In principle, this is not so little compared to the same ultrabooks on Windows, whose manufacturers claim 6-7 hours of operation, but in reality they (if used approximately as we described above) are discharged after 4-4. 5 o'clock. But still, the difference is almost double with OS X. This, by the way, once again confirms the energy efficiency of OS X itself.

By the way, at first we wanted to test without launching the video player, but simply open the fourth page in the browser, from YouTube, where we could launch the Full-HD video. In OS X, MacBook Air 13 worked in this mode for 6 hours 26 minutes (such a low result is explained by the constantly running Flash Player - because of YouTube), and in Windows 7 - five hours, but for some reason in Internet Explorer it was impossible to select YouTube Full-HD resolution (1080p), only HD (720p), and when using Google Chrome, where there were no problems with Full-HD on YouTube, the laptop generally worked for 4 hours 15 minutes. We rejected this test - you can hardly trust its results, because... conditions were unequal. But, if anything, keep in mind: the Google Chrome browser drains your computer faster than Safari or Internet Explorer.

How to Remove Windows from MacBook Air

What should you do if you no longer need Windows on your Mac and need to remove it? Apple took care of this too. Boot into OS X, launch “Boot Camp Assistant” and select “Remove Windows 7 or later.”

That's it, nothing else is needed - the program itself will erase the disk partition that is no longer needed and fill the remaining space with the main partition.

Removing Windows has never been so fast - the whole procedure took less than a minute.

Practice shows that Apple still produces the best laptops in the world. Reliable, powerful, lightweight, energy efficient. But even if the Windows world doesn't let you go, all is not lost. Apple took care of the user and provided him with an amazing opportunity to use Windows on a Mac, if necessary.

If you have never reinstalled an operating system in your life, much less installed several operating systems on one computer, Boot Camp will still not let you get confused. You won’t even have time to get scared - a minimum of questions and Boot Camp will already start working. Well, if you are an experienced geek, then you will certainly be surprised by the simplicity and ease of the process. Although, it is worth noting that not every geek is able to appreciate the simplicity and ease.