Cheapest way to get Windows on a MacBook Pro?

I got a newer MacBook Pro 64 Bit, 2Core 2.7 mhz, 750gb and 16gb Ram.

I wanted to see what is the cheapest way to get Windows 8 (or maybe 7) on it?

Do I need to buy the Pro Version of Windows 8?

Does Microsoft offer any type of student discount?


Thanks!

 

you will need to get the boot camp program and windows software. install the two. you will have to run boot camp to get the windows to run. I used it for a little bit and did not like it. it lagged very bad and didn't really work like windows should. I would say just buy a cheap laptop that has windows OS in it already. might be cheaper this way anyway.

 

Run parallels. You can boot windows from inside Mac OS and it runs pretty smooth with 16gb of RAM. I run cad in Mac and graphics software in parallels and it doesn't slow my computer to bad once you have that much RAM

 

Boot Camp is native to OSX, so there's no additional cost. Microsoft was running a special on Windows 8 when it first released, but I am not sure if it's still going. If not, check out newegg. Their pricing is usually pretty good. There's no need to get the professional version unless you're looking to add it to a domain.

 

There are a couple of options, depending on your needs.

Boot Camp, Free, from Apple, You just reboot your laptop into boot camp and start windows. You need to provide your own copy of windows.

VirtualBox, Free, from Oracle, It's an app that you run on Mac OSX (No need to reboot). Works perfect about 90% of the time (You get what you pay for). You need to provide your own copy of windows.

Parrallels, MSRP $79 seen as low as $49 recently, from Parallels, It's an app that allows you to run windows on your Mac OSX (No need to reboot). Works great and for a while came with a free version of Windows 8 (not sure if it still does), otherwise you have to provide your own copy of windows.

I have used all three of those options. I found that I hated rebooting just to run a program or play a game. So I only rebooted into boot camp when I absolutely had to. So I started using VirtualBox right when Oracle bought Sun (or bought VB from Sun, not sure which it was). I liked it, but was running into USB sharing issues. But I used it more than I did Boot Camp.

Right after Mtn Lion came out, so did Parallels 8, so I bought the full priced version. Which came with a copy of windows 8. One of the benefits of Parallels over the other two is coherent mode. You can launch a windows app just like it was a native Mac app. I use it for work to remote in. I am able to open my work's vnp website in IE mad with only one click of a button in Safari to launch IE. Also, I am able to switch windows and access Mail or anything else on my mac, something that you can't do with boot camp. It works perfectly 99% of the time, remember we are dealing with Microsoft here.

Microsoft usually does offer a student discount, google it or go through your school to see (they have business discounts too). You need to decide what you want windows for and how often you will need/want to access it.

 

What I have running on my MAC is VMWare's Fusion 5. Parallels is a good product but I prefer VMWare products since I run VMWare ESX at work and VMWare Workstation at home.

If you wish, you can download a free trial version of VMWare Fusion 5 from the following site and if you need a copy of Windows 8, you can still download a trial version from Microsoft...

http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/overview.html

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/hh699156.aspx?ocid=wc-tn-wctc

 

parallels is what i was thinking of. i didn't think boot camp was right after i posted that. sorry bud