- #Setting up a windows virtual machine on mac how to#
- #Setting up a windows virtual machine on mac mac os#
- #Setting up a windows virtual machine on mac install#
Hardly surprising, considering it was uploaded just last night to MSDN, and isn’t commercially available yet. Otherwise, hit the drop down menu, and select ‘Choose an image file…’, and locate it through Finder as per usual.Īs you get past this step, you’ll find that you receive an error message saying that Parallels couldn’t automatically detect which version of Windows resides on the disc. If you decide to burn the DVD, you can simply proceed past this step as the DVD drive is the default location that Parallels looks at when looking for an OS to install, so just hit continue. It’s entirely up to you, though read speeds from your HDD are considerably faster than those of a DVD, so it might shave a few seconds off installation taking the former route. iSO to a DVD, insert that and be on your way that way via your DVD drive.
![setting up a windows virtual machine on mac setting up a windows virtual machine on mac](https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/08/boot-camp-external-drive-installation.jpg)
ISO file containing Windows 8 that you downloaded earlier that is stored locally, or you can burn said. Either you can simply go through and select the. You’ll need to hit the highlighted option on the left hand end, labelled ‘Install Windows from DVD or Image File’. When you first open Parallels, you’ll be faced with the following window:
![setting up a windows virtual machine on mac setting up a windows virtual machine on mac](https://cdn.osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/android-inside-virtualbox.jpg)
Once it’s downloaded and installed, you’ll need to download your free copy of the Windows 8 developer preview. Instead you might consider making use of the free two-week trial that is ample time to get familiar with a new OS, which you’ll likely ditch through frustration or a lack of necessity after the novelty wears off anyway.
#Setting up a windows virtual machine on mac install#
Well of course you will first need to install Parallels, which will set you back a fairly hefty £64.99, unless you previously owned a copy of version 5 or later, in which case you’ll only have to fork out £34.99 to upgrade. Virtualization can be quite resource intensive, and requires dedicated allocation of perhaps 1 or 2 cores of your CPU and a couple of gigs of memory, thus deducting it from your primary OS and slowing both down to near-halt.Īlternatively, you might just have a spare computer lying around redundant, in which case you might want to get it out and update it with a brand-spanking new OS. There are only a couple of reasons that spring to mind which would justify installing this version of Windows 8 clean as the primary OS, or even within a dual-boot, and that is if you’re perhaps running an older machine, with relatively low specs.
![setting up a windows virtual machine on mac setting up a windows virtual machine on mac](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5OLywWysynU/maxresdefault.jpg)
#Setting up a windows virtual machine on mac mac os#
Using Parallels, you can run the virtualised OS alongside Mac OS X, and if you’re running Lion with the latest version of the virtualisation software, you can make use of the ‘full screen’ feature, and have Windows 8 running as no more than its own app in Mission Control. As you’re more than likely just going to be ‘playing’ with it, rather than using it in any sort of productive capacity, running within a virtual machine (VM) makes it easy to simply quit, restart or reinstall with minimal damage. Obviously this early developer preview (Build 8106) is still at a relatively early stage of development therefore it’s likely that it’s not going to be issue and hassle-free.
#Setting up a windows virtual machine on mac how to#
You’ll most likely want to get cracking and take a look at what’s on offer first hand before we reveal our comprehensive guide.īut, if you’re using a Mac, you might want to stop, pause for thought, and read this little piece on how to virtualize the latest build of Windows with Parallels, and just why it’s a good idea. As you will no doubt be aware, the developer preview of Windows 8 has docked and is ready for unloading onto your machine.