A 32-bit Windows 7 will work with older Intel machines, but the 64-bit Windows 7 works with all current Apple machines. You will need a full (not upgrade) copy of Windows, and the license key(s) to run it on as many machines as you will need. The benefit of virtualization is that you can run both Windows and MacOS at the same time, but it requires a powerful machine with a lot of RAM to run well. The benefit of dual boot instead of virtualization (programs like Parallels or VMWare Fusion) is that all of the resources of the computer are dedicated to either the Mac side or the Windows side (you pick your OS at startup) so you can run multiple OSes on a less powerful machine with less RAM. With dual-boot systems, we just ask them if they prefer Mac or Windows and then boot up the machine accordingly.

Why would one choose to do this? When training faculty, it's easier for them if they are working on a system they are familiar with.

It is even possible to do a triple boot Mac/Windows/Linux system, but that's a bit more involved. You can set up a dual boot Mac/Windows system on a current iMac, Mac Mini or any modern Intel Mac. Managing a Dual-Boot Computer Lab Managing a Dual-Boot Computer Labĭisclaimer: This information changes with every release of Windows and OS X, so something that worked when I wrote this tutorial may not work in future.

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