Microsoft Access on a Mac

There is currently no version of Access that is guaranteed to run correctly on a Mac. Older versions of Access for Macs were available, but recent changes to Mac hardware and operating systems made these incompatible. However, you can run Access on your Mac by installing Windows 7 on your Mac as an optional operating system. You can provide an optional boot to Windows 7 whenever you need to run Access. The instructions for doing so are given below.

On your Mac (located in /Applications/Utilities/) is an app called Boot Camp Assistant. Run the application and specify how much space you would like to allot to Windows. (20GB is sufficient). Towards the end of this process, you will be prompted to download drivers for Windows, do so and put them on a USB drive that is either formatted as FAT or NTFS (it needs to be readable by Windows). The last step is to insert a Windows disc and restart to install windows; keep this window open and do the following to acquire the disc:

• Proceed to MSDNAA.
• Sign in using NetID.
• Add Windows 7(recommended) and Access 2010 to your cart and go through with purchasing process. The price for each will come up as free.
• Burn Access to a disc.
• Burn Windows 7 to a disc, insert disc, and go back to your Boot Camp Installer and click to restart your computer and begin installation process.
• Complete Windows installation process, and then install Boot Camp drivers in Windows from your USB drive.
• Insert Access disc and install it You now have both Windows and the usual Mac OS on your machine.
• Upon seeing the white screen when you turn your computer on, hold down option to choose which operating system you wish to boot.

If you have any difficulty with this, you can contact Tristan Valentino, who provided this solution.