The Mac may be a better computer than a windows box, but even so, most games don’t support OS X. Even on Steam, the leader in cross-platform computer game support, most games run only on Windows. See full list on howtogeek.com.
Windows on Mac Q&A - Revised March 22, 2010
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Can you install and play Windows games directly in MacOS X without installing Windows?
For maximum performance, the best way to play Windows games on an Intel-based Mac is to install Apple Boot Camp, install Windows, and then boot into Windows to play Windows games. However, Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 (and higher) supports DirectX and OpenGL and a number of games have been tested and found to work, VMWare Fusion 1.1 (and higher) supports 'select games' and CodeWeavers Crossover Mac supports some games as well.
There also is the long gone TransGaming's Cider which the company refered to as a 'Mac portability engine' that made it possible for game developers to 'encapsulate the original source code' of a Windows game. In turn, a Mac user would then be able to install and run the 'encapsulated' game within MacOS X.
Can Macs Run Windows
TransGaming further explains that:
Cider is a sophisticated portability engine that allows Windows games to be run on Intel Macs without any modifications to the original game source code. Cider works by directly loading a Windows program into memory on an Intel-Mac and linking it to an optimized version of the Win32 APIs. Games are simply wrapped up in the Cider engine and they work on the Mac. This means developers only have one code base to maintain while keeping the ability to target multiple platforms. Cider powered games use the same copy protection, lobbies, game matching and connectivity as the original.
Cider is based on WINE like CrossOver Mac although Cider is specifically 'targeted at game developers and publishers' rather than end users.
In 2006, MacWorld published an interview with Vikas Gupta, the CEO of TransGaming, who made a number of bold promises about Cider's abilities. The full piece is well worth reading, but in particular Gupta claimed that 'Cider games [would] run as if they were made for Mac OS X' and 'the average user won’t be able to discern any difference'. On the other hand, the interviewer was able to extract that 'users are bound to see 10 to 15 percent lower frame rates than they would in a truly native game.'
Cider sounds great, but so does Cedega, TransGaming's Windows 'portability engine' for Linux that the company claims 'delivers an amazing gaming experience that matches the Windows experience'. However, from reading through a couple of Slashdot postings about Cider and Cedega, it is safe to say that opinion is decidedly mixed.
An article on Linux.com provides more insight into the performance of Cedega, which the author refers to as a 'melding of Wine and DirectX'. The complete article should be read for the full perspective provided by the author, but in particular, referring to Civilization 4 (an 'officially supported' game), the author reports that:
I haven't been able to play Civ4 under Cedega; the menus worked great, the intro movie as well, but as soon as it is finished loading a scenario or a quick game -- crash, boom, bang.
The author also says:
For older games, sometimes Wine alone is a better option. . . Generally speaking, games do work with Cedega, but most of the time (even for officially supported games) you should stay away from 'high' details, and expect crashes.
He ultimately concludes:
Cedega may not be the answer to games under Linux, but it's better than not being able to play at all, until gaming companies notice Linux users as a market and release games for Linux. The sad part is that even as an intermediate solution, Cedega is still more like 'plug and pray' than 'plug and play.' Run Windows On Mac Free
Since August 3, 2006, when Cider was introduced, a number of games have been ported to the Mac via Cider and review and commentary has been somewhat divided.
Generally, Mac users using Intel-based Macs have been pleased to have more games available and find the performance acceptable, but as performance running any Windows game 'inside' MacOS X -- regardless of method -- will always be at least modestly inferior to that of the native Windows experience, many comment that -- at least for 'serious' gaming -- they prefer to use the Windows version of the game via Boot Camp.
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Summary :
It is impossible to directly run Windows games on Mac. But, due to some reasons, you want to do it. How to play Windows games on Mac? This post shows you some possible ways. While to solve data loss issue on both Windows and Mac, you can ask MiniTool Software for help.
Yes, you can play many games on your Mac computers. However, compared with Windows devices, there are always limits on Mac. Most Mac devices are lacking in the graphics department, and even worse now, there is a lack of decent macOS-supported AAA games.
In this situation, you may ask is it possible to play Windows Steam games on Mac? In fact, the answer is yes and there is more than one way to run Windows games on Mac.
In the following contents, we will show you how to play Windows games on Mac in different ways. You can select one accordingly.
GeForce Now for Mac
Pros: Easy to operate, no need to download it, huge library of AAA games are available
Cons: Needs internet connection with high speed and recommends Ethernet cable over Wi-Fi
The best and easiest way to play Windows Steam games on Mac is to use GeForce Now for Mac, an Nvidia’s cloud-based game streaming service for macOS and Mac OS X users.
Currently, it has a Beta form in Europe and the US. With it, you can play many games from the Steam or Battle.net accounts instantly without worrying about the machines’ graphical power.
How to play Windows games on Mac via GeForce Now for Mac? You can search for a guide online.
Shadow
Pros: full cloud-based Windows experience, high-end specs for gaming
Running Windows Games On Mac
Cons: a high-speed internet connection is needed, expensive
If you want the full Windows experience, Shadow is your best choice. Unlike GeForce Now for Mac, Shadow can offer you a full copy of Windows 10, enabling you to install many launchers, like Steam, Origin, Epic Games Store, etc. and modify settings as you do on a Windows computer.
Besides, some applications are available on Mac, Windows, Android and iOS. With Shadow, you are able to access to the virtual PC from almost any device.
Additionally, the internet speeds of Shadow are very fast. The virtual computer can offer up to 1GB/s download speeds and 100MB/s upload speeds. That is the game downloads and updates are lightning-fast.
However, you need to pay for this service with price at £26.95 per month now.
Boot Camp
Pros: cost-efficient
Cons: needs more hard drive space.
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If you don’t want to pay for playing Windows games on Mac, you can choose to partition your hard drive with Boot Camp. Then, you can run Windows on a separate partition. This means that you need to use hard drive space on your Mac to run Windows. By the way, you’d better install Windows 10 on the separated partition. Then, you can play both Windows and Xbox games on your Mac computer.
To do this job, you can also search for a guide on the internet.
Are you bothered by Xbox One green screen of death issue? Do you want to fix it? Now, you can read this article to get some available solutions.
Virtualization Software
Pros: allow you to run Windows and Mac side-by-side.
Cons: decreased computer performance, expensive.
Using virtualization program to run Windows games on Mac is another choice. The software includes Parallels, VMware, VirtualBox, and more.
But, you should know that this will hit the computer performance since the virtualization software is running on the same partition and your computer need to run other programs in the background.
Can Macs Run Windows 10
Tip: To recover data from a virtual machine running Windows OS, you can use a professional data recovery software: MiniTool Power Data Recovery.
There are also some other choices for you to run Windows games on Mac. For example, you can use Wine to build an additional layer on your Mac. Then, it tells Mac to run Windows Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to run Windows programs without error, but, it is not fully compatible with all games. Besides, if you are old school DOS gamers, you can choose to use Boxer to play Windows Steam games on Mac.
Run Windows Programs On Mac
How to play Windows games on Mac? Now, you can choose a way based on your actual situation.
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