So I installed Windows 8 Release Preview on my MacBook Pro via BootCamp and today I purchased the discounted upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99. That’s right, if you have a compatible version of Windows you can upgrade for just $40. If you don’t have a copy of Windows, all you need to do is find a copy of Windows 8 Release (or Consumer Preview) and install it and then run the upgrade assistant to make your purchase.
Microsoft no longer provides a means of obtaining the Windows 8 Preview versions (as far as I’m aware), but luckily I already had the ISO since I ran Windows 8 Preview on my PC before buying my Mac.
As you can see my download is underway (though the time remaining is much, much lower now š 37 minutes) and I’m excited to finally run a full featured version of Windows 8 on my Mac. Don’t get me wrong, I still love OS X more than Windows, it’s just a matter of being able to play some PC games. Windows 8 isn’t all that bad. It’s my favorite version of Windows yet to be honest. I love the way it looks, it’s fresh, new and flashy. Metro apps are pretty neat as well.
avideogamelife 
So did this work? I’m looking for a way to upgrade my release preview as well but I am scared that if I do windows won’t work and I will have wasted 40 dollars.. I do not have an underlying license of any kind. I am using release preview for about 4 months though.
Yep it worked. If you still have the release preview install file make a copy of that somewhere just in case something would mess up you’d have that to go back on. But I didn’t have any problem at all upgrading.
So just to be clear; without any other previous installation of windows, the upgrade worked fine?
Yep. Just the release preview.
Thanks for your answer; just did it myself and it worked beautifully; game on!
So if I need to wipe my hard drive and reisnstall all my OS’s after doing this, what media will I have to install Windows 8 from? Is there a way to make an installation .iso or something? Thanks…
I’m not quite sure what you mean. You don’t have to wipe your hard drive to upgrade Windows. If you’re installing via BootCamp on a Mac it’s a slightly different story. If you already have a version of Windows on your Mac you simply have to boot to Windows and download the update utility and it’ll upgrade to Windows 8 and you wont lose any data.
If you don’t already have Windows you’ll need to have the Windows 8 Release Preview file and an external hard drive with enough space to be used to install it. Bootcamp assistant will run you through everything you need. It will wipe out the data, but after Windows is installed you no longer need to keep it as the install drive or whatever….
I hope that helps. If not search around on YouTube for some videos showing how to install Windows via BootCamp.
No, I understand that the upgrade will work. I’m concerned for when I choose to upgrade my hard drive and use time machine to install OS X, I’d create my bootcamp partition but would I be able to just use the windows 8 pro upgrade .iso I’m going to create to do a fresh install on a new hard drive? Or will I always have to install release preview and then run the upgrade? If so that’s a PITA and there has to be an easier way…lol
You can just install Windows 8 Pro but you’ll have to pay full price, $199 to do so. The special promotion that lets you upgrade ANY previous edition of Windows (including the free Release Preview) ends today. However if you already have Windows installed you can upgrade for $39.99.
Yes you have to install Windows twice essentially, but you’re going to save yourself $160. If you don’t already have Windows installed you have to pay full price, so that’s the benefit of installing Release Preview first.
Again the $39.99 upgrade price ends today, then it’s going to cost $199 to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro.
Yes, I’m aware of the promotion and the preview. I’ve had the preview installed since it was released. I don’t use it that often and just noticed the promotion ended today, so i just bought it. I just wanted to know what I’d be getting into later on when I upgrade my hard drive like I’m planning on. You’d think there’d be an easier way than installing the preview then upgrading again, but it is Microsoft so probably not š Thanks…
Oh. Well after you buy the upgrade I’m pretty sure you can download the Windows 8 installer at anytime since it’s associated with your Windows Live account. You’ll have the Product Key, so you should be able to download the installer and install Windows again on your machine. I can’t say for sure, but I’d assume that’s how it’d work. I’m pretty sure there is an iso out there somewhere you can get and just redeem your product key when you go to install it. You can only use the upgrade on one machine though, so I’d think as long as it’s the same computer it should work. Good luck!