But I really, really, really want my Windows apps

There are going to be times when you just can't do without your windows programs, when this is the case all is not lost there are ways that you can run Windows programs...Here's how...

There are essentially four ways in which you can run Windows on your mac...

Emulators

Emulators (and compatibility layers) allow programs from one computer (a PC for example) to run on another computer (a Mac for example) by pretending and behaving as if they are the first computer (a PC in our example), this method involves some very clever programming. An example on the Mac is CrossOver, this works very well and will install and run the windows version of office on your PC without any issues (with the exception of Outlook which will run, but can't use secure connection methods). CrossOver comes with a free trial period and is therefore highly recommended.

Virtual Machines

Virtual machines are similar to emulators, but from a user perspective it will very often appear that you have an entire Windows computer running in a window on your mac desktop. Parallels for Windows is a popular example, and boasts the ability to run Windows 7 with Aero enabled. Personally I prefer VirtualBox, this is a cross platform virtualisation system, that works well enough to allow you to run VirtualBoxes that you have created on Windows to run on box mac or Linux. If there are Windows programs that you want to run, that won't run in CrossOver then you can create a VirtualBox running Windows and install your programs in this environment. If you have never created a virtual machine before then there are many guides, this one from Lifehacker is a good start though.

Remote Desktop

If you're planning to keep a Windows PC, then one solution to run Windows applications is to leave them installed on your Windows PC, and remote desktop to this computer from your mac. There are a number of remote desktop solutions, my preferred choice for connecting to Windows PCs from the mac is Remote Desktop Connection Client 2 (snappy name huh?).

Bootcamp

Personally, this is my least favoured choice, and involves installing Windows on your mac along side OS X. Whilst this is safe and supported by Apple; it does mean that you will have to reboot your mac into Windows every time you need to use a Windows app. This isn't makes the solution less than ideal for many applications, but it is useful particularly if you need to run processor intensive Windows applications or applications that for whatever reason won't run correctly using any of the alternative solutions above.