PC tricks

So you downloaded an .iso or .dmg file, and now you want to burn it to CD or DVD on your Mac. Fear not! No extra software is required.

The delightfully useful Disk Utility built into OS X can burn disk images to optical media in a few easy steps. Read on for how to go about burning your new disc.

Windows users: You should check out the free ISO Recorder for similar functionality.

Launch Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities).
Insert your blank DVD or CD.
Drag and drop your .dmg or .iso file to the left pane in Disk Utility. Now both the blank disk and the .iso/.dmg should be listed.
Select the .iso/.dmg file you want to burn to disc, and click on the Burn button. A dialog box confirming the destination (your blank CD/DVD) will appear.

Sit back and wait while your new disc gets written!
All discs burned on the Mac work across platforms; you’ll notice in the screenshot that I’m burning the Ophcrack Live CD, which is obviously for use on Windows. This is a great way to back up software installation .dmg’s to optical disk to free up space on your Mac’s hard drive