Installing Windows and the dev tools on your Mac

[This article is for Windows 8.x and Windows Phone 8.x developers writing Windows Runtime apps. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation]

Purpose

Are you ready to start developing great Windows Store apps for Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1, but you don't have a PC handy? That's okay — you can use your Mac! Use popular third-party solutions like Apple Boot Camp, Oracle VirtualBox, VMware Fusion, and Parallels Desktop to install Windows 8.1 and Microsoft Visual Studio on your Mac. Or, if you have a PC handy, you can use Microsoft Remote Desktop (available as a free download from the App Store) to log into it from your Mac.

Note  If you plan to develop apps for Windows Phone, you must install a 64-bit (x64) version of Windows 8.1, otherwise, a 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit version of Windows 8.1 is fine. Unfortunately, some older Macs cannot run 64-bit Windows. Please check with Apple to see if your hardware is compatible on thisApple support page.

Note  You will need a Windows 8.1 bootable image on disk or USB flash drive. If you are a MSDN Subscriber, you can download the image from this page on the Windows Dev Center. If you are not an MSDN Subscriber, an install disk can be purchased from reputable vendors including the Windows Store (from where it can also be downloaded).

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