Using Parallels Desktop, you can use Windows and macOS side-by-side without constantly restarting your Mac to switch between operating systems. You don't have to be a tech expert to use Parallels Desktop, as it has a fairly user-friendly interface. Although a bit costly, Parallels Desktop works on all Intel and Apple silicon-based Macs. It is possible to run OS X in a VM and it is also possible to run Apple's server software both Server.app and Snow Leopard Server in a VM.The most famous virtual machine program to run Windows on a Mac is Parallels Desktop.

(Greater than twelve.)Īpple's Server software does not provide anything for running VMs, nor does OS X itself. So a Mac Pro with 128GB of RAM and 2 x 6-core CPU processors plus the fact each CPU core does hyper-threading can run lots of VMs. The maximum number of VMs you can run will depend on the amount of RAM you have and the number of CPU cores you have. Some of the above cannot yet run Mac virtual machines - only Linux or Windows. You can run as many virtual copies of Linux and/or Windows as you want even at the same time as a couple of virtual Macs instances. You are allowed to run a maximum of two virtual copies of OS X on a real Mac.

This however cannot run Mac virtual machines. Hypothetically you could also install Windows Server natively via Boot Camp and then use Microsoft's Hyper-V to run virtual machines. The following are all the currently available options.

Yes it is possible to run VMs (Virtual Machines) on a Mac.

Virtual machine for mac to run windows