Can Windows be installed on iMacs?

[Keopx]

Hello... my dad has been flirting with the idea of getting an iMac, and he asked me if it can run Windows just as the MacBook Pro does... couldn't answer that, hehe... so, i checked the iMac specs and noticed it comes with an intel processor too, so i supposed it can run it... so i did some googling about people installing Windows on iMacs and found that they had to do some very tricky stuff to get it to run... so, the question i have for you all Mac gurus... Can Windows be run on iMacs? (using Parallels or Bootcamp). Thanks in advance

 

[robbieduncan]

Any Intel Mac can use Bootcamp, Parallels or VMWare Fusion to run Windows. iMacs are no more or less difficult in this respect than any others.

 

[Tallest Skil]

All iMacs made since January 2006 can run Windows natively.

All Macs made since August 2006 can run Windows natively.

 

[dXTC]

Yes.

My iMac currently runs Windows XP in a Boot Camp partition, and XP runs just fine.

 

[J@ffa]

i did some googling about people installing Windows on iMacs and found that they had to do some very tricky stuff to get it to run

It's not complicated at all. It's as easy, probably marginally easier than installing Windows on an actual PC, since Boot Camp supplies all the drivers for you. There's nothing to worry about, the good folks on this forum and/or the Apple Store will be able to walk you through what to do if you need help following Apple's guides on it.

Also, once you're up and running, you can do everything you would normally do with a PC. Some people have the idea there are limitations, but niet. You can play games, run pro apps, play solitaire, whatever you like — depending on your specs, obviously. Well, not for Solitaire.

 

[TEG]

Yes. Bootcamp, Fusion, or Parallels are just the mechanisms used to access Windows.

TEG

 

[Keopx]

Thanks everyone

Thank you all for your quick answers... my dad will surely be happy, haha... he has been really interested on Apple's products since i bought a MacBook Pro, and recently the iPhone 3G... so he wants to experience a different system, but not missing some specific applications he can use on Windows. Well, again, thanks everyone and have a good day.

 

[big duck]

Yes.

My iMac currently runs Windows XP in a Boot Camp partition, and XP runs just fine.

my bootcamp xp is better than my pc xp ever was.

 

[dXTC]

my bootcamp xp is better than my pc xp ever was.

I mostly agree with you.

I had only one beef when I finished installing XP on my iMac so that I could use Cakewalk SONAR, a pro audio app comparable to Logic Studio. The iMac's built-in audio hardware has absolutely horrid latency in XP (yes, I double-checked the drivers). Luckily, I had an Edirol USB audio interface sitting around unused; it's an acceptable workaround for me, as it also works fine in OS X.

I haven't checked out the rest of XP performance-wise under Boot Camp. When I'm done with music production, I switch back to OS X. I'm not much of a gamer, so video performance isn't a high priority for me.