15 Windows 10 Tips for Mac Users
In Windows Settings, click Apps, or in Control Panel, click Programs Programs and Features, and then uninstall PS4 Remote Play. Support information. For more information about (PS4 Remote Play), visit the customer support website for your country or region. Update information. Main features of the (PS4 Remote Play). For most Mac users that just want to install Windows only programs or games on macOS, this is not necessary and so you can enjoy Windows 10 for free. Here we show you how you can easily get Windows 10 on your Mac for free in little more than 10 minutes. The best way to run Windows on a Mac is to install it in a virtual machine. 16 tips for Mac users who must use Windows I was forced to use a Windows PC the other day. It was a shock, particularly because search engines generally generate tips for switching from Windows to.
The Menu Is in the AppSo you’re a diehard Mac user who’s decided to dip your toes in the Windows PC waters. Here’s our primer of tips that can help you after you take the plunge.
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Best Apps For Windows 10 Mac Users
There is a large group of people who have never used a Mac and a set of ardent Mac users who claim they’d never use a Windows PC. This article is for neither group. It's for the Mac users who have some curiosity about what’s going on in the other camp, particularly with the arrival of new Windows 10 features and hardware like the Surface line, from the massive Studio down to the Surface Go.
Maybe you're fascinated by the vast selection of Windows computer formats, including ultraportables, like the LG Gram, a full-size laptop that weighs just two pounds, and convertibles that do double duty as tablets and laptops. Then there are super high-powered gaming rigs, which you can build by yourself with hand-chosen, upgradeable parts. On the other end of the spectrum, if you want a teeny tiny computer, you can get something like the Intel NUC that's less than half the size (and price) of Apple’s smallest option, the Mac mini. You can even get a USB stick that’s actually a PC that you can plug into the back of an HDTV, such as the Lenovo Ideacentre Stick 300.
Maybe you're intrigued by Windows 10 capabilities like touch-screen support, face-login, VR, and accessibility features. Or maybe it's the more extensive library of software you can run on it, including PC games not available or less full-featured on the Mac. Perhaps you’re an Android user and like the ability to see texts and photos from your phone using Windows 10's Your Phone app.
Maybe you're starting a new job in a Windows-centric office, and learning Microsoft's OS is less a matter of choice than necessity.
I’ve used both operating systems for years, and I appreciate both, though I feel like I can get the Windows interface to work for me more efficiently. I will admit that macOS is somewhat easier to maintain and more trouble free than Windows. It’s a trade-off, as my feature-by-feature comparison of macOS and Windows shows.
So, if you decide to take the plunge from Cupertino to Redmond, here are a few tips to get you started and to smooth your journey into the land of Windows 10.
The Menu Is in the App
This, along with Finder-vs.-File Explorer (see next section), is perhaps the biggest paradigm difference Mac users will encounter. I’ve had Apple-centric friends tell me it’s hard to see where the menu is when they’re working in Photoshop or Word. For me, it’s more natural for the app menu to be in the app, rather than part of the operating system. You don’t need to look as far from what you’re doing. It’s just a design choice, but it's one that I approve of.
Get to Know Finder's Cousin, File Explorer
File Explorer is just what it sounds like: A window on all the files and folders on your PC. It’s similar to the Finder in macOS, though you’re less likely to use it to work with applications. The left side panel shows your folders and drives, and the right side shows their contents. You can expand and collapse subfolders in this panel, showing where in the folder structure a particular item exists. The right side of the window can show a preview or details about the currently selected item; for example, you can see a small version of a photo or document text here.
You have several view choices for the central panel: Details, List, Content, and small to extra-large icons. I prefer the details view, since it lets you sort items by name, date, size, and more. There’s no column view, and File Explorer windows aren’t tabbed, so you’ll just have to open multiple windows to see the contents of multiple folders.
Atop Explorer is a toolbar, or ribbon, with icons for common tasks like creating a new folder, moving and deleting, and renaming. You can collapse the ribbon if you find it adds clutter. The ribbon has Home, Share, View and custom tabs for things like images or compressed folders.
One of my favorite features is Quick Access, similar to the Recents view in macOS, but Quick Access shows frequent-and-recent folders at the top and recent files at the bottom. With this feature, you almost never have to worry about where you saved a file. There are set library top folders for Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Pictures, and Videos, each of which can contain multiple folders from different drives and folder locations.
The Taskbar, Not the Dock
The Windows Taskbar is analogous to macOS’s Dock, but there are differences in the behavior of the two. A Taskbar entry is wide when it’s running, and pinned apps or documents are square by default; you’ll also see a bar below Taskbar entries for running apps. When you click on any Taskbar item, its window appears on the desktop and has the focus. Always. This is not always the case with the macOS Dock: I’ve often clicked an icon there to find that no program window of the clicked app appeared, sometimes prompting an expletive.
You also don’t need to worry about the stacked icons at the right side of the Dock, which behave differently from all the other dock icons. At the right of the Taskbar is the Notification area, formerly called the System Tray. That’s analogous to the top-right notification area of macOS. It's where you’ll see icons for services that run all the time, like VPN and Wi-Fi. Communication apps like Skype or Slack and syncing services like OneDrive, Google Drive, or online backup also use this area for small icons that bring up menus.
Hovering the mouse pointer over a Taskbar item pops up thumbnails of running instances. Right-clicking shows you actions for the app, along with recent documents or webpages. You can customize the taskbar in many ways and drag buttons around to change their positions.
Right-Click Is Your Friend
In many programs and Windows system tools, right-clicking (clicking on the right-side mouse button) gives you options and info. If you’re perplexed as something you’re seeing on the screen, try right-clicking. For example, in File Explorer, right-clicking on a file offers choices of opening, sharing, copying, and seeing properties of the file.
Right-clicking on an image in the default Photos app lets you Add to Favorites, Delete, Rotate, Edit, Add to Album or Video, Share, Print, Save As, Resize, and on and on. Right-click in Word, and you get quick access to font styles, highlighting, paste, synonyms, and more.
Right-clicking on an image in the default Photos app lets you Add to Favorites, Delete, Rotate, Edit, Add to Album or Video, Share, Print, Save As, Resize, and on and on. Right-click in Word, and you get quick access to font styles, highlighting, paste, synonyms, and more.
Minimizing, Maximizing, and Resizing Windows
One adjustment to get used to is that the window resizing buttons are at the top right of a program window, rather than the left. Rather than colors, they use clear icons indicating what they do. The more recent Mac versions finally, truly full-screen an app when you hit the green button, while Windows’ maximize button has done that forever. A difference on the Mac is that whenever you full-screen an app, it creates a virtual desktop for the maximized app, which can be a bit mind-bending. On Windows, it’s just a window that’s the full size of the screen; nothing else changes. (See below for more on virtual desktops in Windows.)
Installing and Uninstalling Apps
Both macOS and Windows have multiple ways of installing programs, but with Windows you never have to drag an install disk image onto a system folder. You just run a downloaded installer or choose Install on the app’s page on the Microsoft Store. Like the Mac App Store, the Microsoft Store handles updates automatically and lets you use a purchased program on multiple machines. Unfortunately, users and developers alike haven’t really bought into the stores, so you’re more likely to find software to download on the web. To uninstall a program (whether it’s from the store or downloaded), you head to Settings > Apps & Features, where you can list all installed applications by alphabetical, size, or date-installed order.
The Start Menu
Yes, you go to the Start button to shut down your PC, to see all your applications, to get to Settings, and to open folders. Unlike the Mac’s separation of system actions and settings, everything starts from the Start menu—Mac users will be familiar with the Apple menu at the top being separate from where you start apps and access folders.
Windows 10 Start menu’s Live tiles show you the weather, your latest email topics, and your social notifications. They’re especially convenient for touch screens, but you can click them with a mouse just as well, and setting different size tiles—bigger ones for more important apps—can be helpful, too.
Windows 10 Start menu’s Live tiles show you the weather, your latest email topics, and your social notifications. They’re especially convenient for touch screens, but you can click them with a mouse just as well, and setting different size tiles—bigger ones for more important apps—can be helpful, too.
Action Center
Action Center is similar to macOS’s Notifications panel. You slide out Action Center by tapping the lower-rightmost icon on the Taskbar, or, on a touch screen, by swiping in from the right. In addition to showing recent emails, news, and app notifications, Action Center’s Quick Actions buttons let you adjust screen brightness, turn on Wi-Fi, and set other system options.
Search Box
In Windows, the search box is always there, just to the right of the Start button, for you to start typing in; no need to know a keyboard shortcut or click an icon. The updated search feature proposes recent apps and documents to open, but also lets you search the web along with stuff on your own PC. Clicking the microphone icon lets you talk to Cortana for your search or app opening, saving you some typing.
Task View
Windows was late to the party with virtual desktops, which didn’t arrive as a standard feature until Windows 10’s 2015 launch. I find them incredibly useful, and the feature is easily accessible from the Task View. You get to that view by tapping the little filmstrip icon to the right of the search bar or by swiping in from the left on a touch screen. If you use the Mac’s Mission Control, this Task View will be somewhat familiar. The only added feature is the Timeline, in the bottom section of the view. At the top are your virtual desktop controls. In the middle are big tiles for currently running apps.
Adding a new virtual desktop is completely intuitive in this view, using the New Desktop choice with the big plus sign. Switching among desktops is a snap with Ctrl-Windows Key-Right Arrow or Left arrow. I like to put my personal apps like music and messaging in the second virtual desktop and my main work apps in the left, or first desktop.
Now, about that Timeline. If you opt in, Windows can keep track of your sites visited and documents worked on and make it easy to get back to a task. Timeline keeps a month's worth of activity. If you use Chrome or Firefox, you can install an extension that will add activity from those browsers to the Timeline. Activities from private browsing are not included in Timeline. You can have your Timeline synced via the cloud, say, between your home and work PC, or just keep it on the local machine.
Adding a new virtual desktop is completely intuitive in this view, using the New Desktop choice with the big plus sign. Switching among desktops is a snap with Ctrl-Windows Key-Right Arrow or Left arrow. I like to put my personal apps like music and messaging in the second virtual desktop and my main work apps in the left, or first desktop.
Now, about that Timeline. If you opt in, Windows can keep track of your sites visited and documents worked on and make it easy to get back to a task. Timeline keeps a month's worth of activity. If you use Chrome or Firefox, you can install an extension that will add activity from those browsers to the Timeline. Activities from private browsing are not included in Timeline. You can have your Timeline synced via the cloud, say, between your home and work PC, or just keep it on the local machine.
Tablet Mode
Macs don’t have a tablet mode, since the operating system is restricted to computer use, and you need to switch to iOS (or iPadOS) to use the ecosystem’s tablets. Windows 10 gives you the option to switch to a touch-centric tablet mode for convertible PCs. That mode still allows the use of a mouse and keyboard, unlike Apple’s mobile OS. In Tablet mode, the Start screen tiles take up the full screen, as do running apps. In either mode, you can swipe in from the left to see Task view and from the right to see Action Center.
New Screen Capture Utility
Windows has finally caught up with the Mac’s convenient screen capturing capabilities. The most full-featured way to snap a screen is by hitting Windows Key-Shift-S. This dims the screen and lets you draw a rectangle for your screenshot. You then get a notification with a large thumbnail of the shot, which you can tap to open the Snip & Share utility. This lets you crop, mark up, and save the image to disk. It also lets you share it to any store app in the share panel that accepts images, such as Instagram, Messenger, Skype, Twitter, and email.
You can still use good-old PrtSc (or on some keyboards Print Screen) to capture the screen to the clipboard and then paste it into an image-editing app. But an even cooler option is to have the output automatically saved to a OneDrive cloud folder of your choice. If you have this option enabled in OneDrive, you see a notification in Action Center telling you that the screenshot was saved; click on the notification be be taken right to the folder where the screenshot is.
You can still use good-old PrtSc (or on some keyboards Print Screen) to capture the screen to the clipboard and then paste it into an image-editing app. But an even cooler option is to have the output automatically saved to a OneDrive cloud folder of your choice. If you have this option enabled in OneDrive, you see a notification in Action Center telling you that the screenshot was saved; click on the notification be be taken right to the folder where the screenshot is.
Snapping Windows Into Place
One of Windows’ strengths is, well, windowing. You can arrange program windows literally with a snap. Just drag a window’s title bar all the way onto either side of the screen and it snaps to occupy exactly half the screen. Drag it into a corner to have the windows take up an exact quarter of the screen. If you snap one app to one side and another to the other side, you can drag the barrier between them to resize each to taste, while still using your entire screen.
To show the desktop, you can click in the extreme bottom right corner. To have a window stay the same width but maximize vertically, double click with the cursor right over the top or bottom edge of the window. And one of my faves: To hide all other windows except the one you’re working in, grab the title bar with the cursor and shake your mouse.
To show the desktop, you can click in the extreme bottom right corner. To have a window stay the same width but maximize vertically, double click with the cursor right over the top or bottom edge of the window. And one of my faves: To hide all other windows except the one you’re working in, grab the title bar with the cursor and shake your mouse.
Learn the Essential Keyboard Shortcuts
Even though Macs now, too, have a Control key, on Windows, their use is more prevalent. For example, Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V are the always-useful copy and paste key combos. Other oft-needed shortcuts include Alt-Tab to switch between running apps. Ctrl-F will open a search feature in most apps; Ctrl-Z is for undo. The PrtScn or Print Screen key does what it sounds like: Captures a screenshot. To see processes and performance, hit Ctrl-Shift-Esc, which opens the Task Manager. For a fuller list of available shortcuts, check out our Essential Windows Shortcuts.
Use Cortana!
Especially if you’re on a desktop. You can open apps, play music, navigate to websites, check the weather, get sports results, look up factual info, and even shut down the computer with your voice. With our fingers constantly at risk of carpal tunnel syndrome, who wouldn’t welcome a way to save them from unnecessary keystrokes? Siri has arrived on the Mac finally, and can do a lot for you via voice, but it still can’t do some things that Cortana can, like the aforementioned shutting down the computer (though it can put your Mac to sleep).
Apple macOS or Windows 10?
For a feature-by-feature comparison between the two market-leading desktop operating systems, read our feature, macOS vs. Windows: Which OS Really Is the Best?
As Mac users, it’s easy to turn our noses up at running Windows, but the truth is that it sometimes can’t be avoided. Be it for work or for playing video games, running Microsoft’s operating system on Apple hardware isn’t nearly as hard as it seems like it would be.
There are two main ways to go about this: virtualization and Boot Camp. The former involves running a macOS application that allows you to run Windows within, while the latter equips you to reboot your Mac fully into Windows.
There are several factors involved in picking the correct path, including price, ease of use, and flexibility. It’s also important to consider what sorts of tasks you need to achieve with your Windows installation, as that may make the right decision more clear.
If you need access to a couple of Windows apps while you’re running macOS, it’s best to virtualize. Running Windows in a virtual machine (dubbed a “VM”) also allows you to store it all on something like an external SSD, as Boot Camp requires a chunk of your boot drive.
For that trade, Boot Camp offers direct, native access to your Mac’s hardware. If you want to game in Windows on your Mac, it’s the way to go.
Bonus! One more thing…
The Complete Guide to Managing Tasks in Things (Video)
If you struggle to keep up with all your tasks, we can show you some organization tips that may help you.
We put together a video that shows you everything you need to know about a task in Things:
- The difference between start dates and due dates and how to use them effectively.
- How to set up reminders so you never forget an important task again.
- How to use checklists for tasks that require more than one step.
- How to configure daily, weekly, monthly, or even annual repeating tasks.
- And more…
You don’t have to use any of these things in your tasks if you don’t want to. But knowing what they are and how they all work will help you be more organized, save time, and ensure you are using Things in the way that suits you best.
This video is something we have made available for free to our email subscriber community. You can get it right now. By joining the Sweet Setup community you’ll also get access to other guides, early previews to big new reviews and workflow articles we are working on, weekly roundups of our best content, and more.
Virtualization Apps
There are three virtualization apps worth considering.
Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion are very similar options. Neither are free, but they come with great customer support if you need help:
- Parallels runs anywhere from $79.99/yr to $99.99/yr, depending on your needs. That subscription means your software is always up to date, ready for new versions of both macOS and Windows.
- Fusion follows a more traditional model. The current version is $79.99 for a new license, while an upgrade license will set you back just $49.99.
The third option is VirtualBox, an open-source (and free) option. While there is a vibrant online community around this application, if you are virtualizing Windows for work, I think it’s more than worth the price of admission to pick up Parallels or Fusion.
Parallels
Parallels Desktop is the best way to run Windows on your Mac. It offers lots of flexibility when it comes to which operating systems it can run and it offers a customizable experience to make it your own.
Set-up & Settings
Installing Windows 10 from an .iso downloaded directly from Microsoft’s store took just a few minutes. While most people will probably be installing Windows, Parallels can host all sorts of operating systems:
You can install Windows from an ISO, as I did, or even download a trial of Windows from Microsoft within the application. Additionally, Parallels can download a bunch of Linux distros and even download Modern.IE virtual machines, which are helpful when you need to test websites in old versions of Internet Explorer.
Parallels can transfer information from an existing PC, including that computer’s operating system. You can boot your Boot Camp partition as if it were a VM.
For my purposes, I installed the 64-bit version of Windows 10. After installation, I was prompted to create a Parallels account. This ties the app to Parallels’ website, keeping your license keys and subscriptions updated. After logging in, I was greeted with my Windows 10 VM:
There are a whole bunch of settings that can be tweaked. Things like how much RAM is allocated to the VM and what sort of network access it has can be adjusted. You can grant access to hardware like your Mac’s SD card slot, USB ports, and more as needed.
Parallels comes with a bunch of creature comforts too, though.
It can automatically share the contents of your Mac with the VM and vice versa. This means if you create a text file and save it to your Desktop, it will appear on the desktop of your macOS virtual machine:
It can open Mail.app on your Mac if you click an email link within the VM itself, and even automatically pause the VM when you aren’t using it, giving macOS more resources when possible. Parallels can even sync your clipboard across your Mac and its VMs and add your printer to your VM’s operating system automatically.
For those of us with macOS shortcuts engrained into our hands and brains, Parallels can pass those to your VM so you don’t have to hit
Ctrl + C
to copy when you are used to Cmd + C
.If you want your VM to be completely isolated from its host Mac, you can enable that, too.
Coherence Mode
The integration between host is even visual with Parallels. Running Windows apps can appear in your macOS dock, for example:
By default, Parallels VMs are in their own windows, but in Coherence mode, the lines are blurred. Here’s Finder and File Explorer, side by side, for example:
https://sitebro922.weebly.com/blog/subwoofer-box-design-software-for-mac. There’s no Windows background anymore. My Windows apps still look like Windows, but they operate like macOS apps. They appear in the Dock and even the
Cmd + Tab
switcher. Task bar items are even added to the Mac’s menu bar:The clever features don’t end there. The Windows start menu can be opened via the VM’s Dock icon or the Parallels menu bar item when in Coherence mode.
In this mode, Parallels truly blends the VM into the macOS experience. If you need access to a single Windows app and don’t want the visual clutter of actually seeing Windows, this mode is for you.
Personally, I like to think about VMs as being contained islands. I don’t mind some limited sharing, but I want there to be a clear separation.
Performance & Utility
It’s hard to measure the speed of virtual machines. Your mileage will vary based on what computer you have, how much RAM it is equipped with, and more.
In measurable aspects, like VM boot time, Parallels was faster than VMware Fusion across the board on my iMac Pro.
Parallels comes with a bunch of virtual machine management tools. You can create snapshots of your VM to restore to at a later time if a software update goes poorly.
The application comes with Parallels Toolbox, a collection of utilities. I’m not sold on the value of these tools, but they come with a subscription to Parallels.
VMware Fusion
Fusion is the big competitor to Parallels, and while it does not require an annual subscription, it lacks some of the polish of its rival. That said, comparing the two applications side by side, there is very little difference in terms of features.
For some users, it may come down to price. Some users simply don’t want an annual subscription. I understand that, but I have more faith in Parallels’ future. VMware is a huge company, owned by Dell. Fusion is just one product in their catalogue, and a few years ago, it was rumored that Fusion may not be long for this world. VMware denied the report, but I can’t shake the feeling that Parallels is a better long-term bet.
Fusion includes a feature named Unity, which is very much like Parallels’ Coherence mode. The Windows backdrop goes away, and Windows apps show up directly in the macOS interface, including the Dock and App Switcher. However, not all of the resources used are Retina quality, leading to blurry icons in places. https://sitebro922.weebly.com/note-taking-app-mac-os-x.html. Worse, the entire system feels slower than Parallels. Even on an iMac Pro, Unity mode will stutter and have to redraw windows instead of smoothly animating them.
Boot Camp
Open Mac Apps On Windows
As virtualization — running Windows inside a macOS app — lets you use both macOS and Windows at the same time, it’s probably the best option for most people. The convenience of having your one or two must-have Windows apps right next to the data and apps on your Mac is hard to beat.
However, virtualization comes with a price: computational overhead. You’ll be sharing your Mac’s CPU, GPU, and RAM across what is effectively two computers. Most modern Macs have more than enough horsepower for this, but if you want to run Windows on your Mac for gaming, Boot Camp is your best bet.
Boot Camp is built into macOS, and supports Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7, depending on the age of the host Mac. If you’re running a Mac built in 2012 or later, you should be set for Windows 10.
Be sure to visit Apple’s support pages to verify which version of Windows your machine will support via Boot Camp before you run out and buy something. There’s a lot of fine print here.
Installing Windows via Boot Camp is pretty straight forward. There’s an app in your Mac’s Utilities folder named Boot Camp Assistant. You’ll need it, as well as a disk image file (.iso) of the Windows installer. If you purchase Windows online from Microsoft, you can download an ISO directly from the company’s store.
Boot Camp Assistant will walk you through selecting how much disk space you want to allocate to Windows. This will become a new partition on your Mac’s SSD; the space will be removed from the free space you can access in macOS.
Once the partition is created, you may be prompted to insert a USB drive for Boot Camp Assistant to download the necessary Windows drivers and the OS will install.
Once everything is complete, you can select which OS you’d like to boot into via the Startup Disk preference pane in macOS or the Boot Camp system tray item in Windows.
Boot Camp gives Windows direct access to your Mac’s hardware, meaning it’s a great option for things like gaming or heavy rendering, but for most users who may need access to one or two Windows-only apps, it’s simply too much trouble to reboot between operating systems.
Bonus! One more thing…
The Complete Guide to Managing Tasks in Things (Video)
If you struggle to keep up with all your tasks, we can show you some organization tips that may help you.
We put together a video that shows you everything you need to know about a task in Things:
- The difference between start dates and due dates and how to use them effectively.
- How to set up reminders so you never forget an important task again.
- How to use checklists for tasks that require more than one step.
- How to configure daily, weekly, monthly, or even annual repeating tasks.
- And more…
You don’t have to use any of these things in your tasks if you don’t want to. But knowing what they are and how they all work will help you be more organized, save time, and ensure you are using Things in the way that suits you best.
This video is something we have made available for free to our email subscriber community. You can get it right now. By joining the Sweet Setup community you’ll also get access to other guides, early previews to big new reviews and workflow articles we are working on, weekly roundups of our best content, and more.
In Closing
Remind 101 app for mac. To wrap this up, Boot Camp is great if you need the full hardware capabilities of your Mac to be funneled into your virtual machine. If not, Parallels is an excellent choice. It’s fast, easy to use, and comes with a lot of features that make living in two operating systems easier than ever.