Video games have become part of something most common in society. Since the 1990s began to become popular, new updates and developments in the Gamer world have not stopped emerging. We have seen how different brands were renewing video consoles such as Play Station or Nintendo. In the case of computers, we find brands such as Dell or HP which have launched exclusive designs for this, for example Alienware or HP Pavilion Gaming.
I have been trying to find a way to play Windows-only Steam games on Mac, like the FNAF tetralogy, which I, at the moment, have wasted a $25 gift card on. (I have an iMac) This is a simple, easy process that I am very thankful for.
The novelties in this field have not stopped evolving, and that is that during this last year we were faced with the presentation of augmented reality glasses which move us to a parallel reality or to a fantastic world within video games just by putting them on.
- PlayStation VR
- HTC Live
- Oculus Rift
- Samsung Gear VR
No doubt video games in any of their formats have not gone unnoticed by many of us, and we have spent some time, when we have been able to allow it, playing with them.
The question arises when the owners of a macOS Sierra team want to implement a Windows game and, for obvious compatibility reasons, it will not open, and the question is: How to play macOS Sierra? Solvetic today brings the answer and is simpler than we think, but we must be careful in how to carry out this process. We will analyze different options to be able to play our Windows games in a normal and dynamic way on a computer with macOS Sierra.
1. Use a virtual machine
Today it is the easiest option to implement and easy to install since it consumes few resources of the physical equipment and meets the same functionalities of the real machine. We can use two of the best known tools to create virtual machines:
- VMware
- Virtualbox
One of the options we have is to install Windows 10 on macOS Sierra using both products. In this case we will use VirtualBox.
Step 1
The first step that we must take is to use the option to share folders to be able to transfer files between the macOS Sierra computer and the Windows 10 virtual machine. To do this we will go to the Devices - Devices menu in VirtualBox and select the option Shared Folder or SharedFolders .
Run Mac Os On Windows
Step 2
Once we select this option the following window will be displayed:
Step 3
In this case we have already shared the Images folder which is located on the macOS Sierra desktop, but to add a new location we must press the + icon located on the right side and there we will locate the folder to share.
Step 4
Once the folder is selected, we must check the options Auto-mont - Auto-Mount and Make Permanent - Make permanent. If we go to our Windows 10 virtual machine we can open the browser and see the shared folder between macOS Sierra and Windows 10 in the Network Locations tab.
Step 5
This in order to share files such as the game executable, etc. For this study we are going to install the Need For Speed game so that we can see how it works in Windows 10. We copy the executable file to the virtual machine's desktop and double click on it to start the installation process and the respective configuration of the game.
Step 6
As we see the game has been installed correctly in the Windows 10 virtual machine, then we can run it to enjoy the game.
And in this way we can play all Windows games in our macOS Sierra machine in a normal way.
2. Run Windows directly on a macOS Sierra partition using BootCam
One of the alternatives that macOS Sierra gives us is to create a partition on our hard drive to install Windows 10 there so that the boot of our computer is dual, that is, when we start the computer we can press the alt key and decide if we start macOS Sierra or if we start Windows 10.
This may be a practical solution but Windows would consume us more resources than a virtual machine and if it is for games it is not really worth partitioning our disk for that purpose. In the following Solvetic tutorial we can see information about how to implement Boot Camp in macOS Sierra to create a space for Windows 10.
implement bootcamp
3. Run Windows games on macOS Sierra using WineBottler
WineBottler is a tool that allows us to run Windows programs directly on macOS without the need to virtualize or create partitions.
winebottler
Winebottler features
- WineBottler provides access to browsers, audio and video, games, etc.
- It allows you to run Windows own .exe files.
- Run 32-bit programs
- Not all the programs we run will run as we wish.
Step 1
Once we have downloaded WineBottler we proceed to run it on macOS Sierra:
Once the download has been validated we will see the following window with everything associated with WineBottler.
Step 2
In this window we will run the WineBottler application by double clicking on it and we will see an authorization message. Click Open and the following window will be displayed where we can see the various applications that we can run with WineBottler.
Step 3
From this window we can install any program that is included there, but in our case we have a file that is not included in this package (the Need For Speed) so we will do the following:
We look for our .exe file (in this case setup.exe) and double click on it, select the Open with option and choose Wine (By default)
We will see that the following message is displayed:
Step 4
Click Open and the file association process will begin.
Step 5
There we must click on Go for the application to run directly on macOS Sierra.
We will see that the file creation process begins.
We see that the creation of the respective file has been completed.
Now we can see that the installation file has been created on the macOS Sierra desktop and from there we can begin the installation process. This way we can easily run any Windows application on our macOS Sierra.
Alternatives play MacOS Sierra
- DOSBox: This tool allows us to play the classic DOS games on various platforms including, of course, macOS Sierra.
- Steam: It is a utility that we can download from its website and with it we can send audio and video between computers allowing the execution of games remotely.
As we see, we have no obstacles to enjoy our free time and to play thousands of interesting games that we thought we could not do in macOS Sierra.
Remember that Mac has a series of emulators so you can also enjoy the mythical games of the most famous video game consoles of the 90s.
Mac emulators
Apple’s Mac OS X and Microsoft’s Windows Operating Systems are different in both architecturally and structurally. Both of these rival operating systems provide different look and feel. So, users who start with any of these operating system, (whether Windows or Mac), become comfortable with it and hence, will stay with that operating system only and avoid using the other.
So, if someone is comfortable with Apple’s Mac, he intend to use iMac as desktop and Macbook as notebook device while someone comfortable with Windows operating system always use PC as desktop and laptop as notebook systems. But, sometimes situations arrive when one need to use other operating system because the software/method are not available in their comfy operating system.
And, unfortunately Apple users face this problem more because Apple’s market is expensive, hence due to less customers-base here, developers create more software for Windows than Apple users. Moreover, tips/tricks, hacks, troubleshooting problems, support, help forums, etc. are available more for Windows than Apple Operating systems.
So, being a Mac user, if you face this problem a lot and you always fails to find any appropriate software in Mac for your required tasks but it is available for Windows, solutions to your problems according to Mac are not available but solutions are available in Windows manner, you might want to have a Windows OS, right?
But obviously, you will not buy a $300-400 laptop or PC just for these small needs. So, what to do if any other alternative is not available in your hand? Install Windows OS in Apple’s Mac. Yes, you read it correctly. You can have any Windows operating system up and running in your Apple Mac OS X system. Here, in this article, I am going to explain how to install Windows OS in Apple OS X step-by-step without proper details and screenshots. So that you’ll not have any problem in duplicating this process on your Mac OS X.
Using Boot Camp
Earlier, Apple’s Mac was running on PowerPC processors but back in 2005, they change their processors to Intel. So, as the architecture is now same, you can consider Mac as just another PC with Mac OS X pre-installed. You cannot change it but yes, you can install Windows OS in your Mac system. Apple even provided the built-in Boot Camp feature for users to let them easily install Windows separately.
Boot Camp install Windows in a dual-boot configuration. Upon boot, you are provided with the option to enter either pre-installed Mac OS X or Windows operating system every time you starts the system. So, one OS at a time.
It installs Windows in separate disk partition for which you will be required to re-partition your drive and create separate disk space for Windows. It will not available for Mac users as long as the Windows OS is available.
Steps To Follow are:
- Check System Requirements – Check Windows OS against your Mac system requirements to see if you can install your selected Windows OS version to your system or not.
- Get Windows Disk Image – You need to have the intended Windows’ disk image file (ISO) or installation disk/flash drive
- Open Boot Camp and follow procedure
- Format Your Windows Partition & Install Windows in it.
Using Virtual Machine
Usually, people only need to run few Windows software or explore Windows operating systems. If you also have only these few needs and your tasks aren’t going to take a lot of resources then don’t use Boot Camp method because it is risky and it provides a permanent solution, disk partitioning and separate Windows operating system that you don’t really need.
Just install any good virtual machine on your Mac which will allow you to run Windows inside Mac OS X. Some of the good virtual machine software are:
These virtual machine software allow you to load multiple disc images of different operating systems. You can provide them separate disk space and RAM partition, save and load any of them quickly whenever you want. Inside these operating systems, you can run the software of your choice which is compatible to those operating systems, enjoy and explore them to their full extent and save the instance of current OS that you are running in Virtual machine.
Run Windows Software on Mac
Lowering down the requirement, if you just need to run few Windows software on Mac OS X, you don’t even need to install a heavy virtual machine software like VMWare Fusion or obtain Windows disk image. You can run Windows software on Mac operating system by using some cool Mac apps available on the market.
WineBottler
Play Windows Steam Games On Mac
WineBottler is a third-party client that use Wine compatibility layer to convert Windows software (.exe files) to mac applications (.app files). Though Wine was originally developed to provide a compatibility layer for Linux, it doesn’t have official builds for Mac OS X but WineBottler somehow managed to use Wine to achieve this solution of converting Windows software to mac ones.
It can convert Windows software to mac application format or if you are in too much hurry, it can directly run Windows .exe files for you on Mac.
Crossover Mac
Crossover is simple Mac program which provides mac-compatible software versions of many software. With over 13,000 Windows programs in their compatibility database, CrossOver Mac can run the Windows software you need at home, in the office or at school. CrossOver runs popular Windows accounting software like Quicken; business and office software like Microsoft Office; lifestyle and hobby software like RootsMagic and gaming software like Steam for Windows.
You can easily switch between Mac and Windows programs without rebooting, without using a virtual machine and without purchasing a Windows license. Windows programs gain native Mac functionality like copy & paste, keyboard shortcuts, and Mission Control.
How To Play Windows Steam Games On Mac Winebottler
Remote Desktop
Without going to all the technical stuff, the simplest thing you can do to experience Windows operating system in your Mac is to connect a Windows-installed system using built-in remote desktop service. To do this, you need to have a good internet connection and a friend with internet and Windows installed system so that you can use his Windows system remotely from your Mac. It can help you in experiencing Windows OS or compiling some code in a Windows-based software, etc.
Mac has a built-in remote desktop facility you can either use that or install Teamviewer or any other similar remote desktop software on your Mac.
Run Windows Game On Mac
For both Boot Camp and Virtual machine, you need to obtain a license to use Windows but if you have the need to just run few Windows software on Mac, WineBottler or Crossover Mac can provide some solution but with remote desktop, you will have full access to a Windows-installed system. Every method has its benefits and flaws, choose according to your requirements.
How To Download Windows Games On Mac
If you know any other cool method to run Windows on Mac or if you have something to say about this article, feel free to type it in comment box provided below.