Virtual Machine Software FAQ

Have you ever heard of the terms “virtualization” or “virtual machine” and didn’t know what they meant? Rest assured, you’re not the only one; these tools can be important assets to Mac users, so why not find out exactly what they are and how they are used?

What is a virtual machine?

At its core a virtual machine is an application that emulates an operating system. It’s essentially a software computer, which – just like a regular computer – runs an operating system and compatible applications. A virtual machine consists of a set of specification and configuration files that are collected while running the setup wizard.

A virtual machine could also be described as a “fake computer” as it doesn’t actually have any physical hardware of its own except for the storage disk on which it is stored. Upon launching, the virtual machine – or VM – creates a virtualized environment where all the hardware devices of a computer are emulated by software.

This fake computer runs in a separate window (since it is emulated by an application) and will allow the actual computer (in this case the Mac) to boot up another operating system from an install disk and works as though it is a physical computer.

The virtual machine terminology defines the main operating system (in our case macOS) as the host because it provides space for the software to be installed. The secondary operating system (let’s say Windows) is called the guest because it runs through a third-party app – the virtual machine software – and isn’t directly running on the hardware as an OS traditionally is.

Why use a virtual machine?

There are several reasons why you’d want to use a virtual machine. First, it gives users flexibility of movement between operating systems. In a work environment, for example, where someone might need to run a certain application to get their tasks done, virtual machines overcome the restrictions created by the initial choice of operating system. By deploying a virtual machine anyone can run the operating system required by a certain app used by the company, regardless of the OS of their choice.

Secondly, virtual machines have the great benefit of running as sandboxed software, meaning that its apps and files are kept separate from the host OS. This creates a safe environment for studying malware, for example, which otherwise would represent a serious security risk to the user’s computer.

Thirdly, software developers can save on the cost of multiple computers for testing their apps. Virtual machines support all popular operating systems and their presence creates a safe environment for testing the developed app without crashing – or worse, damaging – the primary computer.

What are the disadvantages of using a virtual machine?

Users should be aware that every virtual machine software includes a set of compromises or disadvantages that they will need to accept. First, users may well be saving on the cost of a new computer but, depending on the chosen software, they will have to pay a cost for a license cost to use the VM.

Secondly, when setting up a virtual machine to run a guest OS, users need to allocate hardware resources on their computer for a smooth experience. Every virtual machine puts pressure on the limited hardware resources, so if you are running it on a laptop, then you’ll notice a shorter battery life because the system is dealing with running two operating systems at once consuming energy at the same time.

Which are the most popular virtual machines?

Thanks to the availability of trial versions for virtual machine apps, users can test most existing solutions. The most popular ones are the following:

• VirtualBox, free software developed by Oracle.
• VMware Fusion, paid software developed by VMware, a Dell subsidiary.
• Parallels Desktop, a paid app developed by U.S.-based Parallels, Inc.

Download any of the above to start working with virtual machine software, or alternatively run Windows on a Mac using macOS’ built-in dual-boot utility, Boot Camp.

Often defined as an efficient, isolated duplicate of a real computer, a virtual machine is actually software that emulates a physical computer. Both businesses and individuals might turn to virtual machines as an effective way to reduce IT expenses while still being able to get the job done.

But how do virtual machines actually work?

The basics of virtual machines

As you may already know, the operating system installed on a Mac or on any other computer is not able to run more than one operating system simultaneously. To do that, there is a need for another layer in the setup, a virtual machine monitor (often referred to as hypervisor).

A virtual machine monitor (VMM) is a third-party application that enables the required platform to operate an emulation of another operating system on the same hardware. Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, and VirtualBox all provide software that is installed on the Mac, after which it is possible to install and run a secondary operating system.

The virtual machine monitor software is essential to this process because after installation on macOS – the host platform – it provides an abstraction of a complete computer system for higher-level software. Only after the abstraction has been made is it possible to install the guest platform and any associated apps. The reason for this is simple: upon installation on a host machine, a VMM enables the creation of individual virtual machines each with a separate operating system (OSs) and applications. The VMM software manages the backend of the running these virtual machines, allocating processor, memory, storage, and other hardware resources to the processing of this VM’s functions.

How to set up a virtual machine

First, choose your virtual machine provider. The three most popular solutions for Mac are Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, and VirtualBox, so take a look at our reviews to help you make an informed decision.

After downloading the software provided by the selected virtual machine service provider, create the virtual machine monitor layer by installing it onto your computer. From that point on, installing another OS on a Mac is a simple task; let the virtualization software download the required ISO file (if this feature is available), otherwise ISO files need downloading manually. Then follow the instructions to install the guest operating system.

How to run Windows on a Mac using a virtual machine?

A major advantage of a virtual machine is its ability to run two (or more) operating systems at the same time. The guest operating system (in this example, Windows) runs in a safe, sandboxed environment.

To use a Windows application, users will first need to launch the virtualization software, let’s say Parallels Desktop. Once the software is active, you can either set it up to launch Windows automatically when the virtual machine launches or launch the operating system manually whenever you actually need it – which is much more energy efficient.

There is a good reason why you (or the IT department) opted for a Mac, the only ‘issue’ is that many the best games are developed for the world’s most popular operating system: sorry macOS – that’s Windows. Of course, you can always hit up your iOS device to play games but the screen size and computing power is really what matters. And in this case each new line of Macs have the necessary screen size and processing abilities, but often lacks support for popular big-budget games. Fortunately, there are still ways that you can play your favorite games on your Mac.

Play games on a Mac using a virtual machine

Virtual machines are convenient because users don’t need to switch computers to run two or more operating systems simultaneously. But this convenience has a cost and that is the performance penalty that you pay by using virtual machines.

The best paid hypervisors available are Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. Both of them provide OpenGL 3.0 and DirectX 10 support – which is essential for playing 3D games – but when it comes to processor-intensive games virtualization isn’t quite the best solution.

Of course, there are ways to optimize the guest OS (in this case, Windows) and its performance, but it’s better to build your own computer optimized for gaming. Unfortunately, the prefabricated nature of the Mac isn’t much help here.

What it does do well, however, is allow you focus on the task and get the job done by squeezing the most out of the installed hardware. Of course, the specifications of that hardware is key in terms of performance both for daily tasks but particular for games, so the better system specs the Mac has, the better the virtual machine’s and therefore the guest OS’s performance will be greater too.

What’s the best way to play Windows games on a Mac?

The best available answer to this is Boot Camp. Thanks to the built-in dual-boot utility macOS has users can take advantage of the Mac’s hardware to the full and use the device for playing games. Unfortunately, this also means that they cannot run both macOS and Windows simultaneously, but look at the bright side: at least this way gamers can focus 100% on playing the game while the hardware will deliver its best performance since it doesn’t have to share its resources with another operating system.

A secondary option is GeForce Now for Mac. NVIDIA’s cloud-based game streaming service is currently in beta, and so it is available for free to all users ready to get gaming on their Mac. What makes this service a good choice is that the games are processed remotely and delivered to the Mac through the internet – so if this is your preference, don’t forget to connect via Ethernet rather than Wi-Fi.

Virtual machines allow you to run an operating system inside another, something that would otherwise require a second physical computer. But are virtual machines slower than physical machines, and if so how much of a compromise are you making when you decide to go with a virtual machine instead of buying a new computer?

What happens when you are using a virtual machine?

Each virtual machine emulates a computer, which means that the Mac used to host the secondary operating system (the guest OS) will need to share its hardware resources with the latter. In other words, it is highly recommended to have a ‘beast’ of physical computer to be able to run more than two operating systems at once.

The host will share its CPU, memory, hard drive storage and what not with the guest operating system. Virtualization software itself requires resources while the host system also needs some to maintain itself, which limits the resources available for the VM. Resources are allocated according to preconfigured settings, but virtualization is used for optimizing resource use.

Is the virtual machine slower than a real machine?

Let’s assume that we have a very powerful machine with eight CPUs and we assign two CPUs to four virtual machines. As long as the VMs aren’t running simultaneously and are not using 100% of their resources, everything should be fine.

As soon as we approach the 100% usage of available resources in the VM, the rule for multiple processes is applied: if multiple VMs are running, one or more of the VMs must wait, and therefore they cannot achieve 100% CPU utilization.

What’s important, though, is that users should keep in mind that fair comparisons and benchmarks comparing the two (virtual machines vs physical computers) are hard to perform. The main idea – backed by multiple studies – is that users can assume a roughly 10% performance penalty. That’s the cost of the convenience of running the desired operating system as guest on a Mac. But in some cases virtualization can actually deliver faster results than physical computers, as some studies have shown.

Can my Mac become slower when running Windows?

The short answer is no. However, the full answer requires an understanding of the following requirements:

• The virtualization software you are using.
• Available hardware resources.
• The resources assigned to the VM.
• What antivirus programs are installed.
• The number of VMs running at the same time.

When using virtual machines make sure to boot up only those that have memory allocations that the Mac is able to handle. And if you encounter any issues, then close the virtual machines and reduce the amount of memory allocated to virtual machines in the relevant settings menu.

If you need Windows on a Mac, then there are a few things to keep in mind for security reasons. It’s not a question of whether the Mac is more secure than Windows but instead whether running the latter operating system will crack a ‘black hole’ in macOS security to let the viruses, malware, worms, and what have you infect the system.

In this sense, think of transferring files from an old Windows computer to a brand-new Mac running Windows either via virtual machine or Boot Camp and the issues that this might bring.

Is macOS immune to malware?

There is a myth that Macs are immune to malware, which doesn’t quite hold true anymore as fraud, spam, and phishing scams are targeting every platform these days, including mobile operating systems. In fact, Apple has made a small but important change to the marketing message that it sends to users looking to get a Mac. Before 2012 Apple claimed in its marketing that the Mac “doesn’t get viruses” and that “a Mac isn’t susceptible to the thousands of viruses that plague Windows-based computers.”

After reviewing the state of macOS malware, Apple has decided to reword its message as “It’s built to be safe” and “Safety. Built right in.”

This statement is not meant to suggest that macOS isn’t safe anymore, instead it reflects the current state of macOS security. The Unix-based Apple operating system has safety protection utilities built in that don’t require user input (such as XProtect, for example), which offer superior protection compared to the Windows operating system.

Can a Windows virus infect a Mac?

The platform’s rise in popularity has turned cybercriminals’ attention to macOS; just consider the number of malware or ransomware attacks reported in the last couple of years. In fact, a Sophos Security study caused hysteria and forced the security research company to clarify its report since some have inaccurately reported that 20% of all Macs are ‘infected’ with Windows malware.

Why is this false?

Because there is a difference between the two operating systems and the malware must therefore be specifically designed for the targeted operating system. If the infected file is an executable (.exe or .app), then it contains code that is run once a user tells the computer to run it. The catch is that a Windows executable can’t run on a Mac and vice-versa, and therefore it cannot infect macOS. As a result, infected Windows executables are harmless on a Mac.

What does happen, however, is that the Mac becomes a ‘carrier’ of that virus or malware. For example, if the malware was received using Mail, the macOS app itself isn’t infected; if the user then sends it to a Windows user, however, then it will infect the recipient’s PC.

What can you do if Windows is infected on a Mac?

It doesn’t matter whether you are running Windows in a virtual machine or via Boot Camp, the platform is just as prone to viruses as a physical PC running Windows. For this reason you should think about installing an antivirus software on the guest operating system, in this case Windows. However, avoid using multiple antivirus packages on a single guest OS because it will affect the overall performance of the system due to software conflicts.

Although VMs run Windows in a sandboxed environment, virtual machine monitor software such as Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion allow the guest OS to access custom folders on a Mac.

While the actual Windows virus or malware won’t infect macOS itself, it may corrupt the content of the shared folders that are accessible from the Windows side. To avoid this issue:

1. Always use antivirus software on Windows.
2. Don’t store sensitive or important data in the shared folders.
3. Keep backups of any files that you don’t want to risk losing.