
- #RUNNING WINDOWS ON A MAC FOR FREE HOW TO#
- #RUNNING WINDOWS ON A MAC FOR FREE FULL VERSION#
- #RUNNING WINDOWS ON A MAC FOR FREE ACTIVATION CODE#
- #RUNNING WINDOWS ON A MAC FOR FREE LICENSE KEY#
- #RUNNING WINDOWS ON A MAC FOR FREE MAC OS X#
Also, as VMware defaults to allocating 1GB of RAM to the VM, I changed that to 2GB, the Windows 8 recommended minimum. VMware will recognize your operating system as Windows but suggest that it’s XP you’ll want to change that option to the closest available, which Windows 7 as of this writing. Windows 8 is not yet an option in VMware, but selecting Windows 7 will work. In my instance, I was using Remote Disk from a MacBook Air, so I clicked “Continue without disc” and then navigated to the disc, which was being shared from an iMac eight feet away. VMware will ask you what kind of disk you’ll be installing from.
#RUNNING WINDOWS ON A MAC FOR FREE LICENSE KEY#
Your online VMware account will include a trial license key which you’ll need to supply then, click OK and you’ll be taken to the application’s Virtual Machine Library. Launch the application, and you’ll be asked if you want to submit anonymous data and statistics.

#RUNNING WINDOWS ON A MAC FOR FREE FULL VERSION#
(A full version of VMware Fusion is a reasonable $50.) Open the disk image and do the old drag to install. Once you sign up for an account, you’ll need to activate it through an email VMware sends you then you can download a free 30-day trial. VMware provides helpful options for running Windows on your Mac, including tutorials. I mean, I would do that, but VMware is more professional about these sorts of things.) (No, the company will not call you up and ask “Is your virtual machine running?” before shouting, “You better run and catch it, then” and hanging up. The account setup asks for your name and address as well as a phone number. The first thing you’ll need if you opt for this approach is an online account with VMware to download the software. Parallels also handles the Windows installation process for you, using your OS X user information to set up a Windows user. Then you’ll be asked where you want to store the virtual drive file, which is the Windows data drive. You can then select to run Windows applications as if they are Mac applications, without having to view the Windows desktop, or to run Windows as an independent environment-“Like a PC,” is how Parallels puts it.
#RUNNING WINDOWS ON A MAC FOR FREE HOW TO#
When running Windows 8 via Parallels, you can decide how to run Windows applications-as if they’re Mac apps or in an independent Windows environment. The 32-bit version of Windows 8 only requires 1GB of RAM versus the 2GB required for the 64-bit version. The only reason to do so might be if you have a Mac with less than 4GB of RAM. If you uncheck the 64-bit Windows version box at the bottom, Parallels will download the 32-bit version instead. It’s almost like OS X, which has no activation codes! Except with activation codes!įor Windows Preview 8, Parallels can even provide you with an activation code.
#RUNNING WINDOWS ON A MAC FOR FREE 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 you’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. It’s possible to use a USB disk image, but that also requires an existing Windows install as well as Microsoft’s USB/DVD download tool.įirst download and install Parallels from that company’s website. Click on the disk image and burn it to a blank disk. Once you’ve downloaded the disk image, open Disk Utility on a Mac with an optical drive and mount the image in the sidebar. You’re the one who wanted to use Windows, remember? Don’t shoot the messenger. Apple’s dual boot manager hasn’t been updated yet to recognize Microsoft’s latest operating system. When it’s time to install the Windows 8 Preview Release in Boot Camp, make like you’re installing Windows 7. Remember to make note of the activation code. Since we’ve already determined that you’re using a recent Mac, you’ll want the 64-bit release. So, assuming you have a relatively recent Mac, the first thing you’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 it’s complicated, and you’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.

#RUNNING WINDOWS ON A MAC FOR FREE 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.
