How to Install Windows on a Mac

WARNING for Apple M1 users

As of January, 2021, there is not a way to run Windows on an Apple M1 Macbook at this time.

Apple discontinued Bootcamp and neither Parallels nor VMware have released an update that supports the new M1 chip.

Mac memory and drive space requirements

The College of Engineering requires the following minimum specifications for Macs:

• You need 16 GB of RAM (memory). A Windows VM needs 8 GB and your Mac will need another 8 GB in addition.
• You need at least 250 GB of storage with at least 75 GB of free drive space (more may be needed depending on the number and size of Windows applications).

Note: Windows will not run on a flash/USB drive. If you don't have enough free drive space, you will need to either free up space or find a different computer.

Where to get the software

• Windows 10 - visit UA's webstore via this link: https://oit.ua.edu/software/windows-10-education/ and click on the Microsoft tab.
• VMware Fusion - visit the same webstore: https://oit.ua.edu/software/windows-10-education/ and click on the VMware tab and select the latest version of Fusion.
• Bootcamp - built into MacOS. Look in Applications, Utilities for the Bootcamp Assistant.