How does the MacBook Pro Touch Bar work with Microsoft Windows 10?
It would have been only a matter of time before the question would arise, on how the new MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar would work with Windows 10.
The Touch Bar is designed to work with many Mac-based programs, in a way that allows almost complete fullscreen freedom when editing images in Photoshop, editing video in Final Cut, or making music in GarageBand.
With Touch Bar support by Windows developers yet to be seen, Apple brand new feature is a device that replaces completely the default hardware function key row, as well as the physical escape key, on which many Windows programs still rely for many different actions. For instance, when working in Adobe AfterEffects, the F4 key is used to toggle the visibility of layer switches and modes, while the F10, F11 and F12 keys are used to switch to different 3D views, with the Esc key necessary to return to the previous view.
Those who want to use Windows 10 on a MacBook Pro can do so through Boot Camp, an application built into the macOS that creates a separate partition on the hard drive, and installs any supported operating system, including Microsoft Windows 10.
When it comes to installing Windows 10 on a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, the absence of physical function keys, as well as the Esc key, may raise questions in regard to the ability to interact with the operating system.
Good news: the Apple Touch bar on the new MacBook Pro will default to a digital version of the physical function keys row, Escape key included, even if no Windows apps currently support the Touch Bar.
Another good news which should appease the most suspicious users, is that if a third-party app refuses to work with the Touch Bar at all, pressing the Fn (function) key will cause the Touch Bar to revert once again to a regular row of function keys.
Finally, those who may be wondering if Parallels will feature support for the Touch Bar are in luck, as the likelihood of Parallels to add Touch Bar integration with apps is very high according to sources.
It’s still unclear when Windows apps developers will begin work on Touch Bar integration, but depending on the popularity of the new laptop, Parallels or Boot Camp users may be in for a few surprises.
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