The Microsoft Store purchase won't show up immediately, so whilst that gets itself ready, install. Go back to, your Windows key is probably now ready (look on right hand side for menu option marked 'Purchases and Downloads') - make a note of it. Now, here's where it gets a bit convoluted due to Microsoft needlessly creating a 'chicken and egg' situation. They incorrectly assumed that your computer came preloaded with Windows, or you are upgrading from Windows. Printable simple daily planner. Therefore that 'Download' option when you purchased Windows isn't actually a 'Download' option for Windows. There's a stub 'WindowsSetup.exe' stub available, which runs under Windows ( which you don't yet have). Download the install stub and put it somewhere safe - whilst it's useless right now, we can use it later.

When Parallels is installed, it will ask you if you want to download or install any OS's. Choose the Widows 8.1 Preview. This will download 3.5GB of files. Do not activate it, personalize it, install anything in it, etc. Just install as a trial for now.

When Windows 8.1 Preview is installed, do not install any Visual Studio 2013 software as it won't work on the preview. Go straight back to the stub you downloaded earlier and run it from within the Preview desktop. Enter your new Microsoft license key when prompted. Windows will download and reinstall another entire 3.5GB copy of itself, when done, you now have a licensed full copy you can install your Visual Studio software on.

With the release of Windows 8 in October 2012, Microsoft simplified the pricing. The full retail version was offered for the same price as the upgrade. According to Microsoft, a standard copy of Windows 8.1 was worth $119.99. If you wanted Windows 8.1 Pro you had to hand over an astounding $199.99. Though Windows 8 has received mixed reviews, it remains Microsoft’s latest operating system. If you own a Mac, and you want to use Windows, purchasing Windows 8 is likely the best option.

Technical Conclusion: Ask yourself this: Why would someone purchase a full copy of Windows in download form, rather than a cheaper upgrade in download form? Once you've wrestled with all of the possible permutations, you can't help but realize Microsoft was being lazy here. When selling their OS it's all packaged visually and textually like you're going to purchase a download copy of the OS - a disc image, or at least something that can be booted from. Unfortunately, they incorrectly assumed that you were not purchasing the OS to bootstrap a clean drive or to install on a VM, so they assume the only other viable option - you already have Windows and ergo, they create a needless 'chicken and egg' situation. Compounding this logic failure, I personally ran into two failures by auxiliary staff.

One is here, where they clearly misunderstood what virtualization is with comical effect. Here's me in a nutshell: • Brit-pat living in Toronto, Canada. • I have a YouTube vlog channel. • I love boats, astronomy, precious metals, music, space and all manner of other things. • I also have quirky hobbies, like restoring pre-WWII cast iron skillets, playing the harmonica badly, playing the Ukulele even worse, playing the Guitar worse still, etc.

• I'm known to NATO, the USA Dept of Defence, and Canada's Dept of National Defence as a good guy. • I watch the Canadian banks and catalog their security holes. • I hate people who think they're not accountable to customers or society in general.