Using Bootcamp for Creative Cloud
- Published on October 23, 2019
You can use Bootcamp for Creative Cloud which is good news for Mac users that need to work in a Windows environment. We’ve tested Apple Bootcamp with Creative Cloud including Adobe CC 2019, and earlier versions dating back to CC 2017, CC 2015, CC 2014, and CC versions. Creative Cloud runs under Bootcamp and has provided stable with good results that are consistent across all these versions of the Adobe Creative Cloud applications. We’ve tested Bootcamp and Creative Cloud on iMacs, MacBooks, and the high-end Mac Pro, even using these systems when teaching Creative Cloud classes and workshops.
Why use Bootcamp with Creative Cloud
If you want to run Creative Cloud using a Windows operating system and have an Apple computer, you’ll first need to install Windows on the computer. Bootcamp enables Creative Cloud and other apps to run using Windows on an Apple computer.
How Bootcamp works for Creative Cloud
Bootcamp devotes all the computer resources to either a Mac or Windows operating system. The computer is either entirely running Windows or the Mac OS. If you want to switch between Creative Cloud on Mac OS and Windows, the computer must be fully shut down when using Bootcamp. By devoting all the computer’s resources to one operating system, Bootcamp allows the Creative Cloud applications to operate most efficiently, using all systems from the computer. With Bootcamp, the computer’s processor, memory, and video are devoted entirely to either the Windows or Mac OS.
Best Mac for Bootcamp and Creative Cloud
While all modern Mac computers tested were able to run Bootcamp and Adobe CC applications, the Apple Mac systems that include discrete video processors are the best Mac computers for Creative Cloud using Bootcamp. This is especially true if using Adobe video applications such as Premiere Pro and After Effects with Bootcamp and these benefits are extended to using the 3D tools win Photoshop using Bootcamp as well.
Bootcamp alternatives for Creative Cloud
There are a number of virtual environments that allow for Mac computers to run Windows, which include VMware Fusion and also Parallels. In testing VMWare Fusion and Creative Cloud as well as Parallels and Creative Cloud, they consistently performed worse than Bootcamp across all types of Mac computers. The virtual environments require the computer to first start-up as a Mac, then Windows starts on top of the MacOS. Certain Creative Cloud apps, especially those that require 3D processing and benefit from discrete video cards, operated much more slowly with VMware Fusion as well as Parallels when running Creative Cloud. This leaves Bootcamp as the best option for running Creative Cloud in a Windows environment on a Mac computer.
About the author
Christopher Smith is president of American Graphics Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the publisher and editor of the Digital Classroom book series, which have sold more than one million copies. At American Graphics Institute, he provides strategic technology consulting to marketing professionals, publishers and to large technology companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and HP. An expert on web analytics and digital marketing, he delivers Google Analytics training along with workshops on digital marketing topics. He is also the author of more than 10 books on electronic publishing tools and technologies, including the Adobe Creative Cloud for Dummies. Christopher did his undergraduate studies the at the University of Minnesota, and then worked for Quark, Inc. prior to joining American Graphics Institute where he has worked for 20 years.
