Can I Download Windows 8 On My Mac



Update 7/31/2020: Windows 8.1 is long outdated, but technically supported through 2023. If you need to download an ISO to reinstall the full version of the operating system, you can download one from Microsoft here.

If you are still using Microsoft Windows 8.1, we recommend you at least begin considering what OS you will use in the future. It’s mid-2020 and Win 8.1 will shuffle off the mortal coil in January 2023. You can still qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 10 if you own a valid Windows 8.1 license, despite the fact that Microsoft formally ended its upgrade program five years ago. Additionally, Windows 10 has the same system requirements as Windows 8.1, so if you can run the latter, you can also run the former.

Can I Download Windows 8 On My Mac

Owning a Windows 8 disk isn’t helpful if your Mac doesn’t have an optical drive. To make matters worse, Microsoft doesn’t offer an online install of Windows 8 OEM. You’ll need to use an. Appvalley for windows PC on 7/8/8.1/XP and MAC: AppValley is an app installer that lets you download variously tweaked, modded and paid apps on your iOS, Android and PC devices without jailbreak. All the apps provided by this amazing app installer is totally free of cost. Any other free or incredibly inexpensive Windows 8 or 8.1 download you find online is almost certainly illegal, including Windows 8 ISO files you might find on torrent sites. Legal issues aside, these Windows 8 downloads, unlike the official ones from Microsoft, run the very serious risk of containing a surprise or two. By now, the practice is well-established and Windows can work on Mac well. In this article, we’ll have a deep look at installing Windows on Mac. Don’t worry, we’ll have your back the whole way through! Boot Camp for Mac vs virtualization software. If you want to install Windows on your Mac, you have two options.

If you are somehow still stuck on Windows 8.0 and do not want to go to the hassle of a full OS swap, we recommend running Windows Update immediately and downloading all available patches for your system, including the Windows 8.1 update, which will likely be offered to you by default. If you want to download just the Windows 8.1 update files, you can do so here.

Original story below, from 2013:

Windows 8.1 has been released. If you’re using Windows 8, upgrading to Windows 8.1 is both easy and free. If you’re using another operating system (Windows 7, Windows XP, OS X), you can either buy a boxed version ($120 for normal, $200 for Windows 8.1 Pro), or opt for one of the free methods listed below. To download and install Windows 8.1 for free, follow the guide below.

How to download Windows 8.1 for free

If you don’t want to wait for October 17 or 18, there are two options for downloading Windows 8.1: You can obtain a copy (and a license key) from a friend/colleague with an MSDN, TechNet, or DreamSpark (student) subscription, or you can download a Windows 8.1 RTM ISO from your favorite file-sharing website (The Pirate Bay, Mega, etc.)

While we’re not going to write a guide on how to obtain Windows 8.1 RTM from non-official sources, we will at least tell you to check the SHA-1 hash of the ISO that you download to make sure that it’s legitimate. If you hit up the MSDN Subscriber Downloads page, and then click Details under the version that you’ve obtained from elsewhere, you’ll find the SHA-1 hash. If you then use File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV) on the ISO, the hash should match. If it doesn’t, assume the ISO has been compromised and download another. (But do make sure that you’re checking the right SHA-1 hash on the MSDN website; your ISO might be mislabeled).

The other easier, and completely legal, option is to download the Windows 8.1 Preview from Microsoft. It’s not as snappy as the final (RTM/GA) build, though, and has quite a few bugs/missing features. Bear in mind that if you go down this road, upgrading to a real version of Windows 8.1 will require a few more steps (discussed in the next section).

How to install Windows 8.1 for free

Install Windows 8 On Mac

Once you have the Windows 8.1 ISO on your hard drive, the installation process is painless. Before you begin, you should consider backing up your important files and documents, but it’s not really necessary. You should also ensure that you have plenty of free hard drive space (20GB+).

If you’re already running Windows 8 and you downloaded the RTM ISO from somewhere other than the Windows Store, you can install Windows 8.1 by mounting the downloaded ISO in Explorer by double-clicking it, and then running the installer. If you’re on Windows 7, XP, or (bless your soul) Vista, you’ll need to burn the ISO to a USB thumb drive or DVD, or mount the ISO using a third-party virtual drive tool, like Magic ISO.

If you already have Windows 8, and you waited for the official release date, installing Windows 8.1 is as simple as visiting the Windows Store and downloading the free update.

In both these cases, the upgrade process should be very smooth, with your apps and settings fully preserved. If you upgrade from Windows 8.1 Preview, however, you will lose your installed apps, unless you first run a cversion.ini removal utility.

Once you’ve installed Windows 8.1, you should check out our extensive collection of Windows 8.1 tips and tricks, and be sure to check our Windows 8.1 review and hands-on impressions to ensure that you’re making the most of all the new features.

Now Read:

Sebastian Anthony wrote the original version of this article. It has since been updated with new information.

This is a step by step guide for installing Windows 8 on MAC using Boot Camp. After installing Windows 8 on your Mac, you will have dual operating systems and you can switch between OS X and Windows anytime you want. If you are a web developer and you only have a Mac and want to develop applications for Windows, or you have been a Mac user and want to experience the feel of Windows, then here is your opportunity. Boot camp also creates a separate partition for Windows on your hard drive and guess what? It’s free.

Also Read5 iOS Apps not available on Android/Windows

Can I Download Windows 8 On My Mac

What you’ll need

  1. Mac with OS X 10.8.3 or later.
  2. Boot Camp should be pre-installed on your Mac. For checking for the latest version, you can visit Support Downloads offered by Apple for Boot Camp.
  3. A bootable DVD or USB drive of Windows 8.
  4. 30 GB of free disk space that will be needed to create a partition for Windows 8.
  5. An 8 GB USB Drive to save the Boot Camp drivers.

Step 1: Setting up of Boot Camp

  1. Run Finder and for running Boot Camp Assistant, click on Applications.
  2. Go to Introduction Page and then click on Continue.
  3. Now, tick or check the boxes named Windows Support Software from Apple and Install Windows 8 which are on Select Tasks Page and then click on Continue button.
  4. Next step is to save the Windows Support Software which is on the Save Windows Support Software Page and then click on continue button.
  5. On the dialogue box that appears while adding of a new helper tool by Boot Camp Assistant, enter your Mac username and password and then click on Add Helper button.
  6. Now for partitioning the Windows, go to Create the partition for Windows page and then you have to hold the mouse and drag the driver that is there in between the MAC OS X and Windows boxes in order to set the size of the partition of Windows. Ensure that the size of partition is 40 GB or more.
  7. Click Install.

Can I Download Windows 8 On My Mac Os

Your Mac will reboot after it has finished partitioning the disk. The time for reboot might vary depending upon the speed of your system.

Step 2: Installing Windows 8

Mac

After you MAC successfully reboots, Windows 8 is installed by following the regular Windows setup instructions either from the USB drive or DVD of Windows 8 that you have prepared. When selecting the partition, be sure to select the one labelled “BOOTCAMP”.

NOTE : Please be patient and don’t try to reboot or shut down your MAC.

Your MAC will restart for the second time.

Can You Install Windows On Mac

Step 3: Installing of MAC drivers and other related softwares for Windows

  • After the successful installation of Windows 8 on your MAC, you need to install the necessary drivers and softwares so that the interaction between Mac and Windows 8 can happen as needed.
  • To run the Setup program, plug-in the USB drive that you used earlier.
  • Then, follow steps that appear on the screen and your Windows 8 will be installed.
  • Congratulations! You have successfully installed Windows 8 on your MAC. You can now easily dual boot OS X and Windows 8 on your computer.

Now, whenever your Mac restarts, it will start Windows by default. You can also change the default operating system or select your choice of operating system upon reboot.

Step 4: Changing the Operating System

  1. Reboot or Restart your Mac.
  2. When your Mac boots up, hold Option Key till you see the Operating System selection screen.
  3. Choose the desired operating system and double click on it.

If you want to change the start order of the default operating system then, following steps needs to be followed in Windows 8:

  1. Go to Start button or click on Windows button on the keyboard and click on the Control Panel or right click on Control Panel and click open.
  2. Once you open the Control Panel, click on Boot Camp icon.
  3. When the User Account Control dialog box appears, click on Yes.
  4. Now to immediately restart your Mac, click on Restart button or click on Startup Disk icon. Now your MAC will restart with your desired operating system.

We hope that you find this step by step by step guide useful for installing Windows 8 on MAC using Boot Camp. Now you can switch between Windows 8 and OS X anytime you want. You can also select your desired Operating System and make any one of them as your default operating system. Now, when you start your MAC, your default Operating System will automatically load.

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