Installing Windows on an Apple Laptop

There's more than one way to do it

There are a few applications that students will need to use that are best run on Windows, or are only provided for Windows. If you are using an Apple laptop there are a few options available for running Windows.

If you need a copy of Windows 10 for the installation, you can download a copy for free via UCL's Microsoft Azure Dev Tools for Education subscription.

If you have an apple device with an M1 or M2 processor, your only option to run Windows at the moment is to pay for a version of Parallels. The Parallels Windows install is compiled for the ARM CPU architecture. Please be aware that many x86 Windows applications may not run on a Windows ARM install running on an M1 mac. Running windows on this platform is likely to be of limited use (We don't think MultiSim will run on this setup).

Installing Windows via BootCamp (Intel CPUs only)

This option is free, but it will require you to repartition your hard drive and reserve a partition for your Windows installation. You will also need to reboot your Mac every time that you want to change what Operating System you are using,

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201468

Installing Windows via VirtualBox (Intel CPUs only)

This option is also free. It allows you to run Windows within OS X. It will only be usable if you have enough RAM to run both OS's at the same time (Minimum of 8Gb).

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

User Manual - https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/UserManual.html

Installing Windows via Parallels (Intel/M1/M2 CPUs)

Parallels is a commercial application. We recommend Virtualbox, but Parallels may be a better option for you if you want something simpler to use, with vendor support, and you don't mind paying for it.

https://www.parallels.com/uk/products/desktop/

Installing Windows with Parallels (Intel CPU): https://kb.parallels.com/en/4729

Installing Windows with Parallels (M1/M2 CPU): Install Windows on a Mac with Apple M-series chip (parallels.com)