How to install Paint.NET on macOS using Virtualbox

[ktg5]

Hello everyone!

Today, I would like to show you how to install Paint.NET on macOS using Virtualbox (VM Software).

There is no way Paint.NET can work on macOS even with Wine installed, so follow the steps in this tutorial.

VM are short for Virtual Machine which are an emulation of an Operating System (OS) being ran on your hardware without the need of extra hard drives to install the OS on, but kept on one drive..

This tutorial is very quick and can be easily done.

1. First thing to do is to download Virtualbox and select "OS X hosts". 

2. Open the .dmg file you downloaded and run the "Virtualbox.pkg" inside of the installer. 

3. Go through the installer and then run the Virtualbox software, which is located in the Applications folder.

 

IMPORTANT!!! - From this part of the tutorial, you will have to choose following "a" or "b"

a - For people who don't have a copy of Windows

b - For people who DO have a copy of Windows

 

a1. Download a virtual machine from here (which is a real microsoft website with VMs), and select "MSEdge on Win10 (which stands for Windows 10) Stable XXXX (the Xs stand for what build of Windows you'll be getting. At the moment, the latest build of Windows is "1809")" and then click on "DOWNLOAD .ZIP". This will take a bit of time, so go get yourself something to eat or drink.

a2. Open the .zip folder and wait for it to be done copying the folder to your downloads folder.

a3. Open the folder and run the .ovf (make sure you have Virtualbox installed and opened). 

a4. When you open the .ovf, you should get a window like this: Click on "Import" and wait.

a5. Double-click on the new installed VM and boot into Windows! (the password is "Passw0rd!")

a6. Install Paint.NET on the VM and Enjoy!

 

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b1. If you have a Windows CD, put it into your CD drive. If you have a .iso, follow along.

b2. On the top of your Virtualbox window, click on "New", this will create a new VM for you to use.

b3. Go through the new window the has appeared and make sure it's the correct bit (32-bit, or 64-bit. If it doesn't say, just choose 64-bit). 

b4. After you did that, you'll want to select the VM you made and click on "Start".

b5. You should get something like this pop-up...  If you are using your CD drive, select "Host Drive". If you are using a .iso, click on the little folder icon on the right of the window and locate where the file is and select it. When you are ready, click on "Start".

b6. Go through the Windows Installer until you get to here...  You'll want to click on "Custom Install" and select "Drive 0" and click on next. This will now begin the Install.

b7. When your VM has restarted, you will not need to boot to the CD as you just installed Windows.

b8. Setup everything and go install Paint.NET!

(b9. You can reject your Windows Installer from your computer (if using CD) or from the VM.)

 

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Now that we have the VM up and running with Paint.NET, you might be asking... "How do i share my files with the VM and me?". Watch this great video talking about this.

 

If you have any questions for this tutorial, please do reply to this post.

 

-ktg5

 

Edited April 6, 2019 by ktg5

[toe_head2001]

Your how-to guide is done well, but really has nothing to do with Paint.NET. (not to say it isn't useful)

 

I see it like this:

"How to install VBox and import a VM image on macOS."   "Then install Paint.NET normally."

 

Further more, those VM images are licensed for testing use only. Specifically, testing in IE/Edge.

 

[ktg5]

Quote

Your how-to guide is done well, but really has nothing to do with Paint.NET. (not to say it isn't useful)

 

I see it like this:

"How to install VBox and import a VM image on macOS."   "Then install Paint.NET normally."

Well yeah, you can say that. But the only reason why I made this was because of seeing this post, and I just wanted to make this post just for mac users who didn't really know any other way to run Paint.NET on macOS.

 

Quote

Further more, those VM images are licensed for testing use only. Specifically, testing in IE/Edge.

Yes they are, but you don't have to use those VMs from their website, you can use other copies of Windows for this as well. 

(edit: I made two parts to this now)

Edited April 6, 2019 by ktg5

[Rick Brewster]

Well, we can see how it goes  I do get requests for a Mac version on occasion and I just say "sorry but you can use Parallels/VMWhatever". This gives me a more concrete tutorial to link to.

[BoltBait]

I don't have a Mac.  So, I would like to hear from someone who follows this tutorial and actually gets it working.

[ktg5]

1 hour ago, Rick Brewster said:

Well, we can see how it goes  I do get requests for a Mac version on occasion and I just say "sorry but you can use Parallels/VMWhatever". This gives me a more concrete tutorial to link to.

At the moment, for me it is totally fine that there's not a macOS version. I can see it would be very difficult to make Paint.NET for macOS because you would have to rewrite lots of stuff, and that's understandable.

 

1 hour ago, BoltBait said:

I don't have a Mac.  So, I would like to hear from someone who follows this tutorial and actually gets it working.

Well hopefully something with one comes along and finds this post! (I don't own a mac too, I just use hackintosh)

[TrevorOutlaw]

I use Parallel as I think it is easier to have Windows installed without worrying about license, a major issue for Microsoft! I tried to use VirtualBox and found it to be clumsy to use.  The only reason I had to use Parallel, other than owning an iMac, is to use Visual Studio for my C++ programming class and the iMac version was terrible.  In addition, I use the Student edition of Windows for cost reason.

 

To install Paint.NET inside Parallel is just like installing the software on a Windows based machine.  Nothing to it.  A word to wise - make sure to have a very generous amount of RAMs as I have observed that Windows will bog down the RAMs when it's running Updates.

[ktg5]

On 4/6/2019 at 1:03 PM, TrevorOutlaw said:

I use Parallel as I think it is easier to have Windows installed without worrying about license, a major issue for Microsoft! I tried to use VirtualBox and found it to be clumsy to use.  The only reason I had to use Parallel, other than owning an iMac, is to use Visual Studio for my C++ programming class and the iMac version was terrible.  In addition, I use the Student edition of Windows for cost reason.

 

To install Paint.NET inside Parallel is just like installing the software on a Windows based machine.  Nothing to it.  A word to wise - make sure to have a very generous amount of RAMs as I have observed that Windows will bog down the RAMs when it's running Updates.

 

I just use VirtualBox because it’s free.

[yerick]

I am actually on macOS and it didn't work

 

 

[TrevorOutlaw]

On 3/18/2022 at 9:41 PM, yerick said:

I am actually on macOS and it didn't work

 

 

I encourage you to purchase Parallel and then go to the support forum at Parallel to find the issue you are having. As indicated several post above, you need to have generous amount of RAM available, otherwise, Windows will bog down your iMac. It’s one of the reasons I gave up on iMac and returned to PC.

 

paint.NET will work in parallel. Installing it is the same as if you were on a PC. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by TrevorOutlaw