#Windows 8 download for mac bootcamp activation code
#Windows 8 download for mac bootcamp mac os x

ItвЂ™s almost like OS X, which has no activation codes! Except with activation codes!ДЇor Windows Preview 8, Parallels can even provide you with an activation code.

#Windows 8 download for mac bootcamp activation code

Select a language, and Parallels will then even provide the activation code for you. Downloading Windows 8 is an option on the main screen. Once youвЂ™ve installed the software, launch Parallels. Parallels Desktop makes the process of getting Windows as painless as anything involving Windows can be.

Parallels kindly offers a two-week trial period after that the software costs $80 for a license. ItвЂ™s possible to use a USB disk image, but that also requires an existing Windows install as well as MicrosoftвЂ™s USB/DVD download tool.ДЇirst download and install Parallels from that companyвЂ™s website. Click on the disk image and burn it to a blank disk.

Once youвЂ™ve downloaded the disk image, open Disk Utility on a Mac with an optical drive and mount the image in the sidebar. YouвЂ™re the one who wanted to use Windows, remember? DonвЂ™t shoot the messenger. AppleвЂ™s dual boot manager hasnвЂ™t been updated yet to recognize MicrosoftвЂ™s latest operating system. When itвЂ™s time to install the Windows 8 Preview Release in Boot Camp, make like youвЂ™re installing Windows 7. Remember to make note of the activation code. Since weвЂ™ve already determined that youвЂ™re using a recent Mac, youвЂ™ll want the 64-bit release. So, assuming you have a relatively recent Mac, the first thing youвЂ™ll need to install Windows 8 Preview Release via Boot Camp is, not surprisingly, a copy of Windows 8 Preview Release, which Microsoft is providing for download at the cost of only a valid email address and your immortal soul. It is possible to extract the install into a new disk image with a normal boot sector, but itвЂ™s complicated, and youвЂ™d need an existing Windows install to attempt it. I was actually able to install an earlier preview release on a 2006 Core Solo Mac mini, but not the latest release, which is unfortunate.

#Windows 8 download for mac bootcamp mac os x

You might want to run Windows on an older machine, as Windows 8 actually has much less stringent hardware requirements than Mac OS X Lion, but the problem is that only Macs since about 2008 have firmware that can boot from disks with the modified boot sectors Microsoft started using in Vista.