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Need Help w/Windows for School

adam044

adam044

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 24, 2012
1,095
10
Boston
I need to install Windows on my Mac so I can run Microsoft Office 2013. Wish they made Office 2013 for Mac but they don't so I don't really have a choice. It looks pretty simple to do through bootcamp and don't think I'll have a problem installing it but my main question is what can I install on my Mac and where/what software do I need? I'd like to go with Windows 8 just because.

A link to where I can get Windows 8 for Mac would be great or something along the line of that. Thank you!


*I know theres not a "Mac" version of Windows I just want to make sure I'm ordering the right thing/software/disk. I'm not sure if I can just order any Windows 8 disk and have it work.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,475
43,397
I'd also recommend vmware as an option.

You just need to order Windows, if your Mac doesn't have an optical drive, then buy the IOS download from MS. You don't need the professional version, just get the regular windows 8.

Consider anti-virus, I like avast, its free and does a good job,
If you're not too keen on the windows interface and want to bring the start menu back, I recommend stardock's Start8 which brings back the windows 7 start menu
 
D

daflake

macrumors 6502a
Apr 8, 2008
920
4,329
You can order a Windows 8 disk and have it work. ;)

As for the rest, I would also recommend VMWare Fusion.
 
adam044

adam044

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 24, 2012
1,095
10
Boston
saturnotaku said:
Is Office 2013 absolutely mandatory? Can you not use Office 2011 for Mac?
Click to expand...

Specifically said 2013 yes. I ready have 2011 which makes this suck even more.

----------

Is bootcamp not good? What's the different if I use bootcamp and VM? Why not use what came on the Mac instead of installing something else. I'm not looking to spend $60 on that either when bootcamp is free and does the same thing as far as I know.

----------
maflynn said:
I'd also recommend vmware as an option.

You just need to order Windows, if your Mac doesn't have an optical drive, then buy the IOS download from MS. You don't need the professional version, just get the regular windows 8.

Consider anti-virus, I like avast, its free and does a good job,
If you're not too keen on the windows interface and want to bring the start menu back, I recommend stardock's Start8 which brings back the windows 7 start menu
Click to expand...

Well 8.1 brings back the start menu
 
Last edited:
adam044

adam044

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 24, 2012
1,095
10
Boston
So it looks like I can get 8.1 pro right from Microsoft and install it on my Mac without and issues. Correct?

I get a student price of $70 on the pro version, they don't offer a discount on the lower version.
 
S

saturnotaku

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2013
1,978
97
adam044 said:
Is bootcamp not good? What's the different if I use bootcamp and VM? Why not use what came on the Mac instead of installing something else. I'm not looking to spend $60 on that either when bootcamp is free and does the same thing as far as I know.
Click to expand...

Couple things.

1) VMWare and Parallels allow you to use Windows without having to reboot. You can even enable a "coherence" mode so that what's shown on your computer is an exact replica of what you'd see if you booted into Windows. It's more a convenience thing, especially if you plan to use OS X for other tasks.

2) The "start menu" in Windows 8.1 is not the same as the one you know from XP, Vista, and 7. This is allegedly going to be addressed in Windows 8.1 update 2, which is slated for a late-summer, early-fall release.

Boot Camp in and of itself is fine, but it's largely overkill for what you intend to do. It's for programs that really need the full power of your computer (games, CAD, large simulation, etc). Though if you're doing a lot of those things on a regular basis, you really shouldn't be on a Mac in the first place. It's simply a courtesy provided by Apple.
 
adam044

adam044

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 24, 2012
1,095
10
Boston
saturnotaku said:
Couple things.

1) VMWare and Parallels allow you to use Windows without having to reboot. You can even enable a "coherence" mode so that what's shown on your computer is an exact replica of what you'd see if you booted into Windows. It's more a convenience thing, especially if you plan to use OS X for other tasks.

2) The "start menu" in Windows 8.1 is not the same as the one you know from XP, Vista, and 7. This is allegedly going to be addressed in Windows 8.1 update 2, which is slated for a late-summer, early-fall release.

Boot Camp in and of itself is fine, but it's largely overkill for what you intend to do. It's for programs that really need the full power of your computer (games, CAD, large simulation, etc). Though if you're doing a lot of those things on a regular basis, you really shouldn't be on a Mac in the first place. It's simply a courtesy provided by Apple.
Click to expand...

I don't care to be able to switch between the 2 without re booting. And the amount of time I'll be using Windows the start menu doesn't bother me at all either. 90% of the time will be spent in MS Office. I'd much rather save the $60. I can't stand Windows so I will only be using it for this class (and any in the future).

So buying the 8.1 software directly from Microsoft and installing it through bootcamp will work for me? I can't find it cheaper than $70 anywhere, and if I could I would question its authenticity.
 
S

saturnotaku

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2013
1,978
97
adam044 said:
So buying the 8.1 software directly from Microsoft and installing it through bootcamp will work for me? I can't find it cheaper than $70 anywhere, and if I could I would question its authenticity.
Click to expand...

If that's how you want to roll, you should be fine. Buying through the MS store will provide you an .ISO file that can be used by Boot Camp Assistant to create a bootable USB drive for the OS, along with the necessary Windows drivers. You need an 8 GB or larger flash drive. USB 2.0 models tend to work better than USB 3.0.
 
adam044

adam044

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 24, 2012
1,095
10
Boston
saturnotaku said:
If that's how you want to roll, you should be fine. Buying through the MS store will provide you an .ISO file that can be used by Boot Camp Assistant to create a bootable USB drive for the OS, along with the necessary Windows drivers. You need an 8 GB or larger flash drive. USB 2.0 models tend to work better than USB 3.0.
Click to expand...

Is there somewhere I can get a disk? Or is using the .ISO file easy? What exactly do you do, drag that file onto the USB drive and load bootcamp or something?
 
S

saturnotaku

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2013
1,978
97
adam044 said:
Is there somewhere I can get a disk? Or is using the .ISO file easy? What exactly do you do, drag that file onto the USB drive and load bootcamp or something?
Click to expand...

My bad, didn't see what Mac you have. You need the DVD to install on your 2011. The MS store should give you a choice of how you want to receive it.

While you're waiting for them to ship your DVD, download the Windows support software and copy the .zip file someplace. You can burn it to a DVD, put it on a thumb drive, or another external hard drive.

When your Windows disc arrives, put it in your SuperDrive, launch Boot Camp Assistant, and follow the prompts. Naturally, don't check the box to download the Windows support software, as you would have already done that. Be sure to give Windows plenty of space. 60 GB should be enough if you're only going to install Office. Let the Windows installer do its thing. Once you've reached the desktop/start screen, install the Windows support software you downloaded earlier. Reboot, and you should be good to go to install Office, tweak Windows, whatever. Once you've done this, your Mac will boot into Windows by default. You can change this by booting into OS X (hold alt/option when powering on your system) and changing the startup disk using system preferences.
 
adam044

adam044

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 24, 2012
1,095
10
Boston
saturnotaku said:
My bad, didn't see what Mac you have. You need the DVD to install on your 2011. The MS store should give you a choice of how you want to receive it.

While you're waiting for them to ship your DVD, download the Windows support software and copy the .zip file someplace. You can burn it to a DVD, put it on a thumb drive, whatever.

When your Windows disc arrives, put it in your SuperDrive, launch Boot Camp Assistant, and follow the prompts. Naturally, don't check the box to download the Windows support software, as you would have already done that. Be sure to give Windows plenty of space. 60 GB should be enough if you're only going to install Office. Let the Windows installer do its thing. Once you've reached the desktop/start screen, install the Windows support software you downloaded earlier. Reboot, and you should be good to go to install Office, tweak Windows, whatever. Once you've done this, your Mac will boot into Windows by default. You can change this by booting into OS X (hold alt/option when powering on your system) and changing the startup disk using system preferences.
Click to expand...

Yeah just chatted with Windows, the student discount version doesnt come with a disk. So I would have to get the $119 basic version. I'm going to take a trip to the store and see if I can get a better deal for being a student. I'm not looking to pay that much for Windows. MS makes stuff way to complicated. Thank you apple for free upgrades.
 
S

saturnotaku

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2013
1,978
97
Windows 8.1 is $99 from Amazon straight up.

However, I would talk to your university IT department. They might be able to get you a copy for free or close to it.
 
adam044

adam044

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 24, 2012
1,095
10
Boston
saturnotaku said:
Windows 8.1 is $99 from Amazon straight up.

However, I would talk to your university IT department. They might be able to get you a copy for free or close to it.
Click to expand...

Okay good to know.

Its a community college so its not a large university so I don't think they would do much.

I just called my store and said they have 8.1 pro on disk for the student price of $69.99. What a waste of money. lol.
 
M

m98custom1212

macrumors 6502
Jul 20, 2013
287
1
Toledo, Ohio
adam044 said:
Okay good to know.

Its a community college so its not a large university so I don't think they would do much.

I just called my store and said they have 8.1 pro on disk for the student price of $69.99. What a waste of money. lol.
Click to expand...

You can use USB download the ISO and use key that comes with windows 8.1
 
adam044

adam044

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 24, 2012
1,095
10
Boston
Ended up having to buy 8.1 and installed it via bootcamp. Got windows 8.1 pro for $70 because I'm a student. They don't offer the basic windows 8 for less than the $70 of the pro so that's why I got the pro.
 
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