Using from a Mac with appropriate Windows accommodations

Many engineering apps only work in Windows which is why we specify having Windows in the ME laptop requirements.  If you have an Mac, you can run Windows in BootCamp (Intel-based Macs only) or install a virtual machine.  For either, you can get a copy of Windows from https://students.engr.utexas.edu/it-resources/software

• • M-series Mac owners

    M-series Macs do not support running Windows in Boot Camp and virtual machine options have not been verified to work. We do not assist with installation of a virtual machine or support any compatibility issues.

    Setting up BootCamp - https://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/

  • Do NOT use VirtualBox as a VM utility.  It is not supported by Solidworks, and Solidworks will not license, activate, nor download if VirtualBox is used.

  • For virtual machine utilities, you have two supported options:

    • Parallels Desktop For Mac - can be purchased through the UT Campus Computer Store or directly through Parallels' website

    • VMware Fusion Pro - free for personal use - register and download through Broadcom

    • Please note that you will lose some performance (about 10%) by using a virtual machine utility.

    • Treat the virtual machine like any other computer. It needs updates and can become compromised. Shut down the VM when not in use as it is taking up significant CPU and RAM resources from the Mac side.

    • You will usually need at least 30GB of available drive space for a Windows VM. Depending on your Solidworks installation selections, you may need up to 40GB more for the download and installation. Running a VM on a Mac with 8GB of RAM will struggle.