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Windows on Mac Q&A - Updated March 22, 2010
Parallels For Mac Education Discount
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Is there a free alternative to Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion?
Both Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion are available for download with a free trial and are reasonably priced. However, Innotek released a free open source 'virtualization' program called VirtualBox that makes it possible to run Windows and other operating systems 'inside' or 'alongside' MacOS X in much the same way as Desktop for Mac and Fusion.
On February 12, 2008, Sun Microsystems purchased Innotek to 'strengthen Sun's leadership in the virtualization market' and this acquistion has greatly increased awareness of VirtualBox.
Sun describes the program as 'the world's most popular open source virtualization platform because of its fast performance, ease of use, rich functionality, and modular design.' No doubt the fact that it's free has something to do with it as well. Please note that although VirtualBox is free, the license needed to run a version of Windows is not.
Photo Credit: Sun Microsystems
In general, VirtualBox is not quite as full featured as the commercial alternatives, but it still has numerous features including 'seamless windows', shared folders, a shared clipboard, and more. It may meet your needs quite well.
Download VirtualBox for yourself and see. MakeUseOf.com has provided a great walk-through covering installation and configuration of the program that you may find to be useful and ArsTechnica offers an in-depth 'quick look' as well.
If VirtualBox does not meet your needs, site sponsor Other World Computing sells the latest versions of Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion.
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I just purchased Parallels for Mac in order to use a program that requires Windows. Are there any free versions of Windows (7 or higher) and where safe places to download them from?
closed as off-topic by Ramhound, Xavierjazz, fixer1234, DavidPostill♦, karelSep 7 '16 at 10:57
Parallels For Mac Free
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave these specific reasons:
- 'This question is not about computer hardware or software, within the scope defined in the help center.' – Ramhound, karel
- 'Questions seeking product, service, or learning material recommendations are off-topic because they become outdated quickly and attract opinion-based answers. Instead, describe your situation and the specific problem you're trying to solve. Share your research. Here are a few suggestions on how to properly ask this type of question.' – Xavierjazz, fixer1234, DavidPostill
2 Answers
As mentioned in the comments, Windows is not a free product and so if you want to use Parallels for Mac you will have to buy a genuine copy of Windows as well.
As an alternative, in order to run a windows program on a Mac (depending on the Mac version and the program you are trying to run) you could always have a look into WineHQ:
There are a few decent references in the following links:
Hopefully this is a reasonable answer for you.
The closest thing you will get to a free, legitimate copy of Windows is going to be a 90-day evaluation. The Microsoft Evaluation Center currently offers 90-day eval copies of Windows 8 Enterprise, Windows 8.1 Enterprise and Windows 10 Enterprise. These resources are usually for students, or IT personnel looking into upgrading and not meant for long-term personal use.
The only other legal way I know of is if you are a student at a college/university that has a DreamSpark Premium membership with Microsoft. All students with an edu email can get the basic DreamSpark account and get access to full versions of Windows Server, SQL Server, etc. However, the premium account grants access to full copies of client Windows operating systems.
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