Upgrading to Retina iMac And Windows 8 Question

[fastlanephil]

I have a 2011 27" 2.7GHz,1TB HDD iMac and am thinking of upgrading to the Retina 4gHz 1TB Fusion iMac and selling it and my 2012 2.6 quad-core 1TB Fusion drive Mac Mini that I'm using together over ethernet with Vienna Ensemble Pro to simplify my work flow using just one Mac and one mouse and keyboard.

So I have Windows 7 installed in Bootcamp on my iMac but The newer Macs are not compatible with Windows 7 so I need to upgrade to, ugh, Windows 8.1.

It sounds like I wouldn't be able to do the upgrade after migrating over to the Retina iMac if Windows 7 probably won't even load so I guess I'll have to do this on my old iMac first and then move everything over.

Has anyone messed with this?

 

[steve62388]

The newer Macs are not compatible with Windows 7

Ooo, I didn't know that. I'm looking to buy a new iMac and thought I could install my copy of Windows 7.

Where did you get this info from?

 

[azure247]

I don't know where OP gets his information from. I don't own the new iMac but there is no reason why it would not be able to install Windows 7 bootcamp.

 

[kjsatz]

I don't know where OP gets his information from. I don't own the new iMac but there is no reason why it would not be able to install Windows 7 bootcamp.

My understanding is that the new retina iMac does support both Windows 7 and 8, though only 64 bit.

OP may have assumed the new iMac wouldn't support 7 because the new Mac Pro does not. See the link below for verification:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5634

 

[Gav Mack]

For a Windows 7 fan 8.1 is actually bearable and fast with classic shell for a start menu, and windows 10 preview which is on a normal pc as a guinea pig is looking pretty good so far and will eventually replace most if not all my 7 installs

 

[fastlanephil]

Well, maybe I'm wrong about not being able to boot Windows 7 on the Retina iMac. I know the nMac Pro can't so maybe I assumed it was the same on other newer Macs.

Senior moment?

I'll be checking out a Retina iMac at The Mac Store in Olympia before I do anything and they should know or be able to find this out. I'd call Apple support but they have given me incorrect information in the past with regards to networking/screen sharing with Macs.