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Open it by pressing Command+Space, typing Boot Camp, and pressing Enter. YouвЂ™ll use the Boot Camp Assistant application that comes on your Mac. Odds are nothing will go wrong, but any time youвЂ™re partitioning things thereвЂ™s always a chance.В Done? LetвЂ™s get started.

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Ready to install Windows? ItвЂ™s probably a good idea to back up your MacВ before getting started, just in case.

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You can download Windows installation media for freeВ if you already have a product key, though you donвЂ™t really need a product key to run Windows 10.В If youвЂ™re installing Windows 7, youвЂ™ll also need a USB drive at least 16GB in size for the installer and drivers.В Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 do not any external drive for installation. To install Windows, youвЂ™ll need an ISO file of the installer.

RELATED: Where to Download Windows 10, 8.1, and 7 ISOs Legally Note that Macs can only run 64-bit, non-Enterprise versions of Windows.

Windows 7В is supported, for the most part, only on Macs made in 2014 and earlier,В and youвЂ™ll need an even older Mac to run Windows Vista or XP.

Windows 8.1В is supported on most Macs made between 20, with some exceptions.

Windows 10В is supported on most Macs made in 2012 and later.

HereвЂ™s a quick outline, along with links to AppleвЂ™s official lists of supported models. Which version of Windows you can run depends on your Mac: recent models support only Windows 10,В while some older Macs only work with older versions of Windows. In the long run, the price is well worth it.В You can even use Parallels to load your Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine while you are in macOS, giving you the best of both worlds. The integration with macOS amazingly well done, and the speed blows away Virtualbox. ItвЂ™s something we use at How-To Geek every single day for testing software and running Windows.

#Windows 8.1 download mac how to#

RELATED: How to Seamlessly Run Windows Programs on Your Mac with ParallelsДЇor most people, though, Parallels makes running Windows on your Mac dead simple. If, however, youвЂ™re looking to play Windows games on your Mac, Boot Camp might be a good choice. The vast majority of the time you donвЂ™t actually need to use Boot Camp, and youвЂ™d be better off using a virtual machine. If all you need to do is run a few Windows applications on your Mac, and those applications donвЂ™t a lot of resources (like 3D games), you might consider using a virtual machine like ParallelsВ (thereвЂ™s a free trial), VMware Fusion,В or VirtualBoxВ to run that software instead. In addition, youвЂ™ll need to reboot every time you want to use Windows, andВ reboot again whenВ you want toВ switch back toВ macOS.В The benefit of Boot Camp, of course, is that youвЂ™re running Windows directly on the hardware, so itвЂ™ll be a lot faster than a virtual machine. Since storage on a Mac is fairly expensive, itвЂ™s something you should really think about. When you use Boot Camp to install Windows on your Mac, youвЂ™ll need to re-partition your drive, which is going to take up quite a bit of your available drive space.

There are a couple of drawbacks to consider. RELATED: 5 Ways to Run Windows Software on a MacД«efore you install Windows,В stop and think about whether or notВ Boot CampВ is the best choice for your needs.