Windows on MacOS Overview

tl;dr

While x86/x64 emulation on modern Macbooks have made leaps and bounds since their initial release in 2020, the experience with traditional engineering applications in a 2020+ macOS virtualized Windows instance is extremely inconsistent and depending on application you may spend more time trying to troubleshoot compatibility issues than you will need to complete your homework assignment.

Using a Windows laptop, a legacy Intel-based Macbook, a campus computer lab, or CEAS Cloud Computing will be your easiest paths forward.

If you choose to pursue installing these applications through a virtual machine on macOS, it is at your own risk. No support can be provided by the ITLP or OIT for any documentation provided within these guides.

Overview

Starting with the MacBook M1, which released in November 2020, Apple computers converted from the common x86/x64 architecture Intel processors to ARM. While this made great advances in things like power consumption and performance, it came at the cost of leaving behind applications that were written for the architecture most commonly associated with PCs.

Many of the engineering applications used today such as ANSYS, LabVIEW, and Solidworks are slow moving behemoths whose development is unlikely to take any significant turns in support due to the inertia of their products. Of these three examples, only LabVIEW offers a version for macOS and it is generally considered feature incomplete versus its Windows equivalent.