In this article we will tell you how to install windows 8 on a Mac. Here’s the procedure.
Though you might be a great fan of Macintosh, you might still be wondering about what’s new on latest Windows 8 operating system launched by Microsoft. Windows 8 can now be installed even in your Macbook and can be used with dual-boot option.
The new Windows 8 operating system is specifically designed with touch screen support and has revamped GUI along with plenty of integrated apps, improved memory, enhanced security features including anti-malware and anti-spyware apart from other options.
You should understand that all the latest operating systems have dual-booting support which means you can install multiple operating systems in a single computer. This option is not known to many users and most of them think that the operating system is burned in to the computer like firmware.
But the fact is computer is physical hardware while operating system is just software which runs on top of this hardware. Hence, it’s easy to install multiple operating systems in a single system whether it is a Macbook, Laptop or Desktop. The option of installed two operating systems in single Desktop is known as Dual-booting which means you can boot from any software you wish.
It’s very simple to install Windows 8 operating system on your Macbook with help of software known as Boot camp that is provided as a free tool by Apple. All you require is an Intel based Macbook Pro or Mac Desktop which runs on Macintosh OS X 10.6 or later version. If you want to know about the details of your computer, just select the Computer icon and go to properties where you find “About this Mac” option from the Apple menu.
It will indicate whether your computer is based on Intel or not. If you the latest Mac version, it will have Boot camp software installed in it by default. Go to “Utilities” folder and search under “Application”. You should find it under Apple menu and in case if it’s not installed in your operating system, you can select “Software Update” for updating your operating system to recent version.
You can make use of Boot camp for installing Windows 8 operating system on a Mac. You should first ensure that system requirements are met which includes
- 16 GB free hard disk for 32-bit version and 20 GB free space for 64-bit version
- 1 GHz processor
- 2 GB RAM
If you have the above system requirement, the next thing is to purchase a copy of Windows 8 operating system. If you are going to upgrade from earlier version, you should have to pay 39.99 dollars and for purchasing a brand new version you should have to pay 199 dollars. There are some websites like Newegg.com which offers Windows 8 Pro version for 139 dollars while Windows 8 Enterprise edition is available for 99 dollars.
In case if you don’t have a digital download, you can create bootable Windows 8 DVD using DVD burning software like Nero or Ashampoo. Also for installing Windows 8 from DVD your Macbook should have DVD drive in it or you might require an external drive.
Create a new partition in your computer with help of Bootcamp utility. If you are not sure about this, you can go through the official guide for creating a partition from Apple. You should ensure that the partition has enough free space as mentioned in system requirements to install Windows 8 in it.
Again use the Boot camp utility to install Windows 8 OS, using the option from menu “Start Windows Installer”. Now load your DVD drive with the copy of Windows 8 which you purchased from retail store. Follow the steps from installation wizard to successfully install the Windows 8 operating system. Once the process completes, your computer will automatically restart.
Now whenever you boot the Mac, you will be shown with two options for booting either from your Mac OS X or Windows 8 operating system. In order to use this option you should press and hold the Option Key when your Mac is booting. By following the above steps, you can install Windows 8 on a Mac and use the dual-booting option to switch between the two operating systems.