Install Windows 8 Consumer Preview on Your Mac
Today, Parallels updated its Mac virtualization client to support installation of Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Parallels Desktop 7 also supports OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion" Developer Preview. Microsoft released its test OS last week and Apple last month. Mountain Lion is expected to release in late summer and Windows 8 a month or so later.
Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac also offers a utility for downloading, as well as installing, Windows 8 CP. The virtualization software released in September, followed by several feature-enhancing updates, including support for new operating systems.
"Additionally, Parallels Mobile users can remotely access and control their Mac and its Windows 8 virtual machine, applications and files, via their iPad, iPhone and iPod touch", according to a company blog post today.
The update, like others, is available free to existing Parallels Desktop 7 users. Potential, new customers can download a trial version. The software retails direct for $79.99, for the full non-upgrade product. However, Amazon sells it for $59.89.
Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac requires OS X 10.5.8 or later on an Apple computer running Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, i5, i7, or Xeon processors. Minimum RAM requirements: 2 GB, although at least 4 GB is recommended for running Windows 8 CP in a virtual machine on OS X Lion.
VMWare Fusion 4 is another option for running Windows 8 CP virtualized on a Mac. VMware announced support for the Preview last week. However, Parallels attests to easy download and installation using its New Virtual Machine Wizard.
Virtualization sandboxes testing software, so that if something goes wrong, the computer is protected from ill-effects. Personally, given that the Consumer Preview can be installed separately on a different partition, I would risk it, using Apple's Boot Camp. I'm not alone, and apparently Windows 8 runs pretty sweetly even on MacBook Air.
There are a number of virtualization options for Windows users. Colleague Mike Williams offers instructions for installing Windows 8 CP using Oracle VirtualBox.