Running Windows Apps on Mac

 



I'm a Mac (and iPhone) diehard. But occasionally there's no getting around the need to install a Windows app. Such was the case when I wanted to play around with Adobe's Campaign Classic (ACC). The Adobe Campaign Classic Client Console application is only available for Windows. There are options such as Parallels and BootCamp for running Windows. But dual boot is too intrusive an option for my liking. And Parallels is not free. So, here's the process I followed to install ACC on my Mac for free with just a few tips to keep in mind.

Before going into the steps and tips, here's a quick note on terminology. The following terms are synonymous. 
  • Host (in this case Mac OS X)
  • Guest (in this case Windows 10) is also known as virtual machine or VM or simply machine
Now let's get to the steps and tips.
  1. Download and install VirtualBox

  2. Create a new VM for Windows (this YouTube video covers the basic steps nicely but doesn't include some of the additional tips below)

  3. Set the disk space to at least 20 GB. That's what I used and it works fine since all I need it for is to install ACC. But be careful since this is the one setting that cannot be changed later (other than by blowing away the VM and starting from scratch). After my Windows Home installation, I still had 8.5 GB remaining. And the ACC Client only needed 9 MB.

  4. The RAM can be changed dynamically (stop the VM, change the RAM, start the VM) but I set it to 2GB which seems to work fine for me

  5. By default the Windows resolution is extremely low and the font/icon sizes are extremely small, making it nearly impossible to step through the installation steps. So, before you start the Windows installation (or immediately after starting it), set the scale to 200% (VirtualBox > Machine > Settings > Display > Scale Factor)

  6. Download the Windows 10 installation .iso file from Microsoft.com and point your VM to the .iso file using a virtual CD-ROM option in the VM settings

  7. During the Windows installation, disable all of the extra features like "location tracking", Cortana (Microsoft's equivalent of Apple's Siri), and sharing diagnostic data with Microsoft. They just use up the limited resources you want to dedicate to your Windows VM and are not needed for basic usage

  8. During the Windows installation, at least for me, the VM window kept disappearing every time I tabbed away from it. When this happened, the only way to get the window back was to do the following: VirtualBox > Machine > Right-Click > Close > Save State > Start. Once Windows was fully installed, I stopped having this problem and the machine window did not disappear on me. Note that normally the save state option allows you to save what is in RAM so that you can continue where you left off in the case of a running application that has not finished processing

  9. During the installation my ability to tab away got disabled. To restore it, I had to carry out the following steps: VM > Bottom Right > Keyboard Settings > Uncheck "Auto Capture Keyboard"

  10. During the installation, my keyboard entry did not work (but mouse worked fine). So I clicked on the bottom right of the machine window and brought up the "Soft Keyboard" and used it to enter things like my Microsoft Outlook email address which is apparently required to setup Windows

  11. After the Windows installation, you will get messages asking you to enter the activation key (which is not free) but you can safely ignore the messages and continue to use Windows. It is not all that annoying if all you're using Windows for is a very specific use case such as playing with the ACC Client app as in my case

  12. After Windows is installed, install the VirtualBox Guest Additions as described in the video. This resolves a number of host compatibility issues and allows you, for example, to see Windows in full-screen format on your Mac. In addition, I use the Magnet app for the Mac to maximize and tile apps while not obstructing the top menu bar and the dock (just my preference)

  13. Download the ACC Client (available to Adobe Solution Partners upon request from Adobe)

  14. In the VM, set up a shared folder so that you can access your Mac downloads folder from inside the Windows environment. This will allow you to access the ACC Client installation .exe file from Windows. If all you intend to use it for is to install apps, then make it read-only. For security reasons, I have not enabled internet access in my Windows VM. If you want to set it up for bi-directional sharing (i.e. copy files from the Windows VM to the Mac) then don't check the read-only box. By the way, you can't run the installation directly from the Mac downloads folder (at least with the read-only option), so copy the installation file to your Windows desktop and run it there

  15. I hope you find these tips useful. Enjoy running Windows apps on your Mac!

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