VMware Global Community
ALANHTAS
Contributor
Contributor
‎05-16-2018 05:54 PM

Can two versions of windows be run on one iMac

Is it possible to run Windows XP and Windows 7 or later version on the one iMac.

I have 2 Windows programs that I have to run for business

1. A specialised program that will not run on anything later than XP

2. A business accounting program that has to run on Windows 7 or later

The XP program would only be used occasionally as it is used as a standby.

If it is possible can they both be run simultaneously or would it be necessary to close down one Windows version and then bootup the other

thanks for any help.

Alan

0 Kudos
1 Reply
bluefirestorm
Champion
Champion
‎05-16-2018 07:45 PM

Presumably you are writing this forum with looking towards using VMware Fusion 10.x to run the Windows virtual machines.

That is what virtualisation software like VMware Fusion allows you to do. Provided the host machine has enough resources (CPU/memory/disk space) free/available, it is possible to run multiple virtual machines (of different OS makes/versions) simultaneously. So in your case, you can have a Windows XP VM and Windows 7 VM running simultaneously.

If you are new to VMware Fusion, the current version 10.x is available for 30-day evaluation/trial for free. Note that VMware Fusion 10.x can run on 2011 or newer models of the iMac. For 2010 iMac only certain models can run Fusion 10.x; while any iMac that is 2009 or older cannot run Fusion 10.x.

https://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/fusion-evaluation.html

Given that Windows XP is no longer supported officially by Microsoft, I would also recommend avoid connecting the XP VM to the public internet. You can use the "Private to my Mac" in the Network Adapter settings so that the VM is not exposed to the public internet but would still be able to copy files between the iMac host and the XP guest VM through features like shared folder or using a USB thumb drive.

0 Kudos