Is there a program that will run pc programs on the mac?

well sure. Might try Wine for single software, but limited. http://www.winehq.org/

Otherwise you need to install the Windows operating system for full access.

Bootcamp

ParallelsDesktop

Fusion

VirtualBox

Yes. CrossOver Mac, WineBottler, VirtualBox, VMware Fusion, and Parallels Desktop.

(65846)

Windows on Intel Macs

There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.

1. Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows XP w/Service Pak2, Vista, or Windows 7. Follow instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the computer into OS X or Windows.
2. Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. Parallels is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
3. VM Fusionand Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. VM Fusion is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
4. CrossOver which enables running many Windows applications without having to install Windows. The Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
5. VirtualBox is a new Open Source freeware virtual machine such as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris. It is not as fully developed for the Mac as Parallels and VM Fusion.

Note that Parallels and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system. See MacTech.com's Virtualization Benchmarking for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion. Boot Camp is only available with Leopard or Snow Leopard. Except for Crossover and a couple of similar alternatives like DarWine you must have a valid installer disc for Windows.

You must also have an internal optical drive for installing Windows. Windows cannot be installed from an external optical drive.

Niel wrote:

Yes. CrossOver Mac, WineBottler, VirtualBox, VMware Fusion, and Parallels Desktop.

(65846)

WineBottler has been an abandoned project for about a year and a half... better off to use Wineskin.

of course thats not as bad as Kappy copy and pasting that same response to so many posts that still mentions Darwine which died like 5 years ago...

Windows in BootCamp or Virtual Machine?

doh1231 wrote:

of course thats not as bad as Kappy copy and pasting that same response to so many posts that still mentions Darwine which died like 5 years ago...

Kappy thinks I plagiarize his information, perhaps he thought he would be slick and keep that in there. 😁