If you decide to purchase an external optical drive, skip to the next step. Expect to pay $25 to $50 if you buy from an online retailer, or $79 if you buy Apple’s own version. These are not hard to find, but they’re also not free. The easiest solution is to use an external optical drive that connects to your Mac via USB. You’ll need to use an alternative method of installation. To make matters worse, Microsoft doesn’t offer an online install of Windows 8 OEM. Owning a Windows 8 disk isn’t helpful if your Mac doesn’t have an optical drive. Create a bootable USB drive (for Macs with no optical drive) That partition will also be used to store any software you install while using Windows 8. Free space is needed because Windows 8 will be installed on a partition of your Mac’s hard drive reserved specifically for it. You’ll also need to make sure your Mac has OS X Mountain Lion (so you have the latest version of Boot Camp) and at least 20GB of empty hard disk space. A regular copy of Windows 8 OEM is $99 and Windows 8 Pro OEM is $139. You can also find it at online stores like Amazon and Newegg. This isn’t carried by most brick-and-mortar retailers, but speciality computer retailers might have it.

Since the retail version is gone, you’ll instead have to buy an OEM copy. Owners who have Windows 7 can follow the steps in this guide, install that version of Windows, and then install Windows 8 Upgrade. The upgrade version will work if you’ve already installed Windows on your Mac with a valid key. You’ll only be able to purchase upgrade versions, and, since those require you have a previous Windows installation, they won’t work with Boot Camp. Want to walk down to the local electronics store and buy a fresh install? Too bad! You’ll find none on their shelves.

Windows 8 is the first version of Microsoft’s operating system to lack a retail copy. But don’t worry the steps are still doable for even the newest Mac owner. Changes to the way Microsoft sells its new operating system, along with a lack of support from the current version of Boot Camp, makes installation slightly more harrowing. Unfortunately, it’s also a bit harder to install that than Windows 7. If you own a Mac, and you want to use Windows, purchasing Windows 8 is likely the best option. Though Windows 8 has received mixed reviews, it remains Microsoft’s latest operating system.

How to install mac os on windows 8 pc