Triple Booting Windows, Mac OS X and Ubuntu

Ever wanted to have all three different worlds on your computer at your fingertips? Or did you ever want to have a computer that only has Mac OS X and Ubuntu? Don’t hold your breath, it’s possible! Here’s how.

There are two approaches that you can take to achieving this. One approach is to successfully dual boot Windows and Ubuntu and then follow the Hackintosh series. Another, the way I used, is to successfully dual boot Windows and Mac OS X and then throw in Ubuntu shortly after. You could also dual boot Mac OS X and Ubuntu and this can be done installing one or the other first (I would recommend Ubuntu as you can manage boot flags better).

So let’s go through a few approaches and show you how it works.

Adding Ubuntu to a Successful Hackintosh Dual boot

1. First, install Windows, then follow the Hackintosh series.
2. Now, create a new partition in Windows and mark it as the active partition.
3. Insert the Ubuntu CD or USB key and go through the installation.
4. In Ubuntu, download and install GParted Partition Editor from the Ubuntu Software Center
5. Select the partition containing Mac OS X (uses HFS file system) and right click and choose manage flags.
6. In the manage flags pop up, check off the boot option (refer to video).
7. Close GParted and your computer will boot into the boot loader that you installed on the Hackintosh partition where you can access all three operating systems at any point in time.

Dual booting Windows and Ubuntu and then Adding Hackintosh

1. Install Windows or Ubuntu and in either one create a third partition using either Disk Management in Windows or GParted in Ubuntu. Make that partition active.
2. Follow the Hackintosh Series

Dual booting Ubuntu and Hackintosh and then adding Windows (these extra steps will be italicized)

1. Install Ubuntu
2. Make a new partition using GParted
3. Make this partition the boot flag partition in GParted.
4. Follow the Hackintosh Series
5. In Ubuntu, create a new partition and set it to the boot flag in GParted.
6. Install Windows
7. Make the Hackintosh partition active using diskpart