Unofficial Boot Camp support for Windows 10

[joeekaitis]

 

 

 

 

Yes, Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 installed on a Mac using Boot Camp is eligible for the free upgrade to Windows 10.  And, no, Apple doesn't officially support it yet, but that doesn't mean you can't install Windows 10 and use all of the available Boot Camp features like the trackpad, keyboard illumination and screen brightness control.

 

Apple's Boot Camp installer isn't up to speed yet but you can download Windows 7/8/8.1 drivers (which will work with Windows 10) and install them individually depending on your supported Mac:

Earlier supported Macs:
https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1720?locale=en_US

More recent Macs:
https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1721?locale=en_US

After un-zipping, open the BootCamp5.1.5621 or BootCamp5.1.5640 folder, then open BootCamp>Drivers.

Each folder contains the setup programs for installing the Apple-specific drivers. If you're unsure of your Mac's configuration, run each one. The setup program will check and let you know if it's not right for your Mac. Also, if your Mac has an AMD/ATI or Nvidia graphics card, Windows 10 will probably install the Windows 10 gaming driver. If that's the case, don't bother with the Apple-supplied graphics driver.

It'll do until Apple announces official Windows 10 support.

 

[alr2903]

Thanks for bringing up Windows 10.  I know the OP was primarily about Apple.   For the casual  AW.org poster and internet shopper using 8.1  is Windows 10 worth installing? what are the advantage of  W10? Thanks. -A

 

[washer111]

As With ANY New OS Release

It is completely advisable to steer 100% clear unless you are a technology buff, and want to have a familiar workflow disrupted yet again, with changes to the UI and of course the obligatory bugs that are found with new OS'.

Once the first major update (often called the "Service Pack," or for Mac, the .1 or .2 update) has taken place, the worst bugs *should* be sorted. But, being that the OS is free... I dunno.

I know there is some stink over the privacy policy, but can't comment as I haven't read it myself, nor have I used W10 (or will it be W-!@#$%%^^&** ?), as I am not interested in Mic$oft's products past Windows 7/Office 2003.

 

[joeekaitis]

 

 

 

If you're running Windows 7, the main advantage is an extension of the support life-cycle.  The interface is familiar enough and easy enough to customize that you'll be up to speed in minutes.  If you accept the free upgrade, you have a month to roll back to Windows 7.

 

As to Windows 8 or 8.1, it's a no-brainer.  Just do it.  A couple of the Oracle engineers at work demanded Windows 8.1 on their laptops instead of our Windows 7 Enterprise build and it's a pain to perform some of the simplest tasks.

 

On the screaming headlines about privacy, Leo Laporte, the syndicated radio Tech Guy, says it's a classic case of out-of-context snippets and that nothing in the Windows 10 End User License Agreement gives Microsoft access to private information without your permission.

 

[Practigal]

Install

We uploaded windows 10 onto one of the computers over the weekend, custom (so you could respond "no" to all of the automatic reporting to MS) not standard. With edge, web pages didn't load quickly, if they loaded at all. It was taking three passes on average to find CNN and the NY Times (the computer kept telling us that those websites did not exist and to doublecheck their addresses) or the site "loaded", but the page was blank. It looks like it could be a good product...in a year or two after they have worked out the bugs...there seem to be more bugs than normal and I don't think it should have been released quite yet...OR MS is fibbing about the system requirements or website requirements, we exceeded the system requirements and it was still slow to not working, we can't speak as to the website architecture issues.

 

[lordkenmore]

>If you're running Windows 7, the main advantage is an extension of the support life-cycle.

I don't follow Windows closely enough to know, but has MS given any formal indication of the support? I was hearing some rumbles last week that they might only give free patches for a limited time. Depending on what actually happens, Windows 10 might not really buy much--if any--time.

 

[lordkenmore]

Answering my own question

A quick Google search turned up something that says that Windows 10 will get supported a number of years.

That said, there was a lot of talk about "lack of clarification" and concerns about MS moving to Windows as a service...

http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-commits-to-10-year-support-lifecycle-for-windows-10/