Apple this week updated macOS Sierra to version 10.12.5 with more than three dozen security patches, and a change that lets users install Microsoft's latest version of Windows 10 on their Macs.
If you want to run Windows in a virtual machine to play games that you can’t play on a Mac, then you’ll want to use Parallels Desktop 7. In my testing, it handily outperformed Fusion.
Sierra 10.12.5 'adds support for media-free installation of Windows 10 Creators Update using Boot Camp,' the update's brief release notes read. Creators Update was the name Microsoft assigned to Windows 10 1703, the upgrade issued last month.
Boot Camp, which is baked into macOS, lets Mac owners run Windows on their machines. A Windows license is required. Boot Camp, while not virtualization software like VMware's Fusion or Parallels International's Parallels Desktop, serves the same purpose: Running Windows applications, including custom or mission-critical corporate software, on a Mac personal computer.
Previously, Mac users were forced onto a circuitous road to put Windows 10 Creators Update into Boot Camp. According to a Microsoft support document published before the upgrade was released, Mac owners first had to install an .iso of 2016's Windows 10 Anniversary Update, aka 1607, to Boot Camp. Once 1607 was in place, they could then upgrade Windows 10 to 1703 from within Boot Camp.
Monday's macOS update voids that workaround: Mac owners may instead directly install a disk image -- in .iso format -- of Windows 10 1703 into Boot Camp.
Sierra 10.12.5 also patched 37 vulnerabilities in macOS. Apple also released security updates for Sierra's two predecessors, 2015's macOS El Capitan and 2014's macOS Yosemite.
Mac users take heed, you can’t try out the new version of Windows 10 on your Mac yet. Trying to install the Creators Update using Apple Boot Camp will end in failure for now.
The Windows 10 Creators Update was released yesterday for PCs and the ISO’s were made available for advanced users to clean install. The ISO also allows Mac users to install Windows 10 on their Macs using Apple’s Boot Camp software. But if you try to do so, you will be greeted with a0xc000000f in winload.efi.
Windows Creators Or Windows Anniversary For Parallels Mac Management
Microsoft is aware of the issue and has posted a workaround on their support page. You have to download the Anniversary Update ISO and then use Windows Update or the Upgrade Assistant to get the Creators Update.
Windows Anniversary Update
What causes the error is unknown but Microsoft is working on a fix. For now you just need to spent a bit more time to install your favourite OS on a Mac.