For all of the Mac owners longing to try out the latest revolution of technology offered by the new Windows 8 operating system, this simple guide will run you through the steps required to install it.

Steps to Install Windows 8 Developer’s Preview on Mac

The new Windows operating system has a huge amount to offer which surpasses even Apple’s popular iOS interface. The software is a revolution for Microsoft which rejects large amounts of the interface used since Windows ’97. The new system is compatible with laptops, desktops, and importantly tablets.

Running though ARM, it is possible to install the new Windows OS on practically anything from smartphones to Macs. If you are sceptical, you won’t be for long once you have installed this new piece of software from the world’s bestselling OS producer.

Step 1. Get a copy. Quite simply, find a Windows 8 Download (full versions due for release in 2012) and get the software ready for installation.

Step 2. Get a USB Drive with 8GB+ of Memory.

Step 3. Create a Backup of all of your files and folders as a restore point should anything go wrong.

Step 4. Go to ‘Utilities’ and click on ‘Boot Camp Assistant’ to open it.

Step 5. Click ‘Continue’ and select all three options: ‘Create a Windows 7 install disk’, ‘Download the latest Windows support software from Apple’, and ‘Install Windows 7’. (If the first option isn’t available then select the others and click ‘Continue’ to advance.)

Step 6. (Skip this step if the ‘Create a Windows 7 install disk’ option was not available in Step 5). Select the Windows 8 ISO file and the USB device on which you want to create a boot disk. When this is done click ‘Continue’.

Step 7. Click ‘Continue’ when told that the drive will be erased.  Type your password when prompted to ‘Add Helper’.

Step 8. The ‘Boot Camp Assistant’ will ask you to ‘create a partition for Windows’. It is recommended that this partition is at least 20GB if you intend to install further software on the Windows partition.

Step 9. Click ‘Install’ and watch as your Mac begins an automatic reboot and begins installing Windows. You will see the message ‘Booting from Boot Camp Assistant created boot drive’. (At this point you will be prompted to ‘insert the Windows 8 install disk’ if you did not have the option to ‘Create a Windows 7 install disk’ in Step 5).

Step 10. Follow the on screen procedure to select partition to install Windows on. Select the ‘BOOTCAMP’ partition to install the software. Make sure the ‘BOOTCAMP’ drive is formatted before selecting by going to ‘Drive Options (Advanced)’ and clicking ‘Format’.

Step 11. Click the ‘Next’ button to finish installing and follow the on screen prompts for Windows setup.

Step 12. Install Mac compatibility software for Windows. If you selected ‘Download the latest Windows support software from Apple’ option in Step 5 then this data will be ready for installation on your boot disk. Double click on the ‘Setup.exe’ icon to install software.

Step 13. You are ready to go. When you turn on your computer, hold either the ‘Alt’ or ‘Option’ key to see an option to boot either your Windows or Mac OS.

Video Demo of Windows 8 Developer Preview on a Mac

Also Check : Best Popular RSS Readers for Windows, Mac OS

You can also send emails by right-clicking the contact and click on Send E-mail (see below). You can also send email, by just hovering your mouse over the contact. But for Facebook contacts, this option will not be available.

Direct Method:

Windows Live Messenger gets installed with your Windows Live Essentials 2011. If you want to install Windows Live Messenger only, here is the download link.

► Link : Download Windows Live Messenger 2011

After installing it and made some contacts, you can e-mail them directly in this way.

1. Open your Windows Live Messenger 2011 (WLM) and sign in with your Windows Live Id.

2. Click on Actions → Send → Send an email message.

A pop-up window will open with all your contacts listed in it. Type your contact name in “Search Contacts” box. You can also select or type multiple contacts or friends. Finally, click on OK.

This will open a message window using your default e- mail client like Outlook or Windows Live Mail. Type your message and click on Send.

Indirect Method:

This method uses the Windows Live Mail. If you don’t have Windows Live Mail, you can install from this link below.

► Link : Download Windows Live Mail 2011

After installing, you can login into it with your Windows Live Id.

1. Click on Contacts in the left frame.

2. All your contacts will be listed in the middle frame.

3. Click on the contacts you want to email.

4. Then, click the Email button.

This will open a pop-up window with all your contacts in the To text-box in your default e-mail client.

Type your email with Subject etc and click on Send.

Note: But, if you’ve too many contacts Windows Live Mail may warn you that it’s not possible to send the mail. Also, it’s best to use a Hotmail Id as your Windows Live Id. In this case, there is no other alternative, but copy the contacts in the To list to Notepad and send it in small number of groups, several times.

Conclusion:

The first method is preferred, if you want to send email to a single contact. The direct method is an easy way of sending mail to contacts, if the numbers of contacts are less. But, if the contacts are more, it’s better to send using indirect method, even though it fails, if the contacts are in huge number.

Author Bio : Palla Ramarao is a tech writer, civil engineer, IIT POST-GRADUATE, software engineer and software product review specialist. Palla specializes in writing articles about Windows 7, Apple Products like iPad, iPhone, iOS,iCloud etc, Google Products like Android, Chrome etc, Blogger tips, Software Product reviews, Browser tips, Cars, Mobile gadgets, Technical tips and is the author of well revered technology blog sites techlikes.com and windows7port.com.

Also Read : Get Free Email Delivery Reports – Track Email Messages when Read

Preview the New Window 8 Metro UI Right from for Win7 Desktop

Mosaic is a cool application that makes your desktop resemble Microsoft’s new Metro IU running on the Windows 8 platform. It acts like set of widgets that shows some live content from the web like facebook, gmail, rss etc or from your PC apps.

It supports HTML5 widgets and uses IE9 engine if it installed. HTML widgets are visible only in full screen only. Some widgets are links to some of the useful stuff or locations (video or desktop or control panel) but in the future they could get more functions.

Acc. to the developer, Mosaic is in alpha stage and is unstable sometimes…

System Requirements : Windows 7 (might works on earlier versions, not tested yet) and .NET Framework 4.0.

► Download Mosiac : <Link>

To open the Mosaic menu move mouse cursor to the right border of screen and click. Might not work if your taskbar already exists there or you have multiple monitors. You add or remove widgets by clicking on the widget icon.

Though I found it very buggy and it hangs sometimes, but its a great experience to try it out to have a feel of the new Windows 8 interface that is coming soon on your desktop.

Tip : 5 Very Useful, Productive Windows 7 Tricks You Must Use

So if you’re bored with the default colour of the command prompt interface, here is way for you to change the colours and give a new look and feel to your DOS prompt window.

Change Screen Font Text, Background Colours of Command DOS Prompt

1. Launch Command DOS (search for cmd in start or Type Win+R, enter cmd and press enter).

2. Right-click on the cmd window’s title bar and click Properties.

3. In the Properties window, go to the Colors tab, where you can choose colours for "Screen Text" and "Screen Background".

4. Set you desired colours and click OK for the changes to take effect.

You can also use the color /? command in DOS to show how you can change the screen text and background colours temporarily for that session directly from cmd itself using color [num][num]. For example color 14 will give you blue background with red text color.

Tip : Useful Command Prompt Functions, Tricks

You can access the "Windows Experience Index" tool by clicking the Start orb/button and searching for "windows experience index" and then clicking on Check the Windows Experience Index. or by Pressing Widows Key + Pause or going to System Properties by right clicking My Computer.

Here is an example of my PC’s score… (original)

How to Fake Your Windows Experience Index Score to Get Highest Rating

Now, lets see how to change it manually and get the highest windows experience index score by doing a simple edit in a system file containing your PC’s rating.

Go to C:\ Windows \Performance \WinSAT \DataStore and look for a file named (date) Formal.Assessment (Initial).WinSAT.xml

Open this file with WordPad and edit your score manually to 7.9 (that’s the max. value). Look for a code like <SystemScore>4.9</SystemScore> and change the current rating to 7.9 and save the file.

Now go to your Windows Experience Index screen again and you will see that your score is now the highest rating ie. 7.9 . You can set it at a lower rate to make it look natural while fooling your friends. See my result after the edit.

You can click Re-run the assessment to re-analyze your system performance and give you the actual score on that page.

Generally, a higher score/rating means that your computer will perform faster, better than a computer with less base score while performing advanced resource-intensive tasks and running heavy software which require more processing power and system memory.

Also See: Access Your FTP Accounts Directly from Windows Explorer

If you are a windows user then its possible to list all the filenames of a folder into a text file. And for that purpose, you won’t have to install any extra application, you can do it directly with Windows Command Prompt (DOS).

Tip: Delete Large Folders Quickly, Easily

Print List of Files In a Folder into a .TXT File Using CMD-DOS

Step 1: Open Command DOS Prompt in administrator mode. Click on Start button/orb in Windows 7, Vista and type "cmd" in the search box. The command prompt appears in the list as cmd.exe. Now, right-click on it and select "Run as administrator".

Windows XP users can open command prompt by simply typing cmd in the Run window (Win + R).

Step 2: In the command prompt, type cd\ and hit Enter to go to root. Then the command you must execute to print the list of file names is:

dir [folder_location] /b >[output_file_name.txt]

Let us describe the command by an example. If you want to print the file name of the folder Assignment and if the full path location of that folder let be D:\important\documents\Assignment, then the command to print the file names should be as below:

dir D:\important\documents\Assignment /b >chart.txt

Make sure that you have given the full path of the source. The output file will be created in the root drive where the command prompt is running. In this case, my Windows drive is assigned as C:, so the files is created as C:\chart.txt.

The output file, here it is chart.txt is a text file which opens with Notepad in Windows system by default. So whenever you need to use the name of the content of a folder in any application or want to print them, you can easily do that by the above procedure.

Suppose you want to place all the file name from a specific folder into a Microsoft Excel file. Just create the list of file name and open it. Press Ctrl+A to select them all and copy (Ctrl+c) then go to excel and paste (Ctrl+v). The files name will be automatically added one-by-one in separate cells.

[Thanks Tanmay of TechTipsGeek for this Tip]

Software, Tools to Get List of Files in a Folder in Windows

If you don’t like DOS then check out Karen’s Directory Printer (Link) which can print the name of every file on a drive or folder, along with the file’s size, date and time of last modification, and attributes (Read-Only, Hidden, System and Archive).

The list of files can also be sorted by name, size, date created, date last modified, or date of last access.

You can also try GetFolderSize (Link) which can display the total file size and the number of files and subfolders in the folder an also save that list of files with many advanced options.

Also See: Quickly Restart Explorer.exe Process from Windows 7 Taskbar

Create Ad-Hoc Network Over a Wi-Fi, LAN Connection Easily

WiPeer is an useful of applications for collaborating in server-less environment, such as home and small office networks as well as peer-to-peer wireless networks over wi-fi network. These tools include forming local social networks, network chat, file sharing, searching among shared files in other computers, and interactive multiplayer games for the network.

To use WiPeer, one needs at least two computers with a network card. If the two computers have a wireless card, it is possible to establish direct communication between the two computers without any router.

# Download : wipeer.com

Features

• Ad-Hoc Social Networks : Enables users to define personal profiles, and to view other on-line users profiles. This way, it is possible to meet people with similar interests.
• Friends Locator : Lets users to define a list of contact persons. Whenever one of the contact persons connects into the network, WiPeer notifies the user about it.
• Interactive Multiplayer Games : Comes bundled with several multiplayer games including Chess, Chinese Checkers, Reversi, and Connect 4.
• Chat (Instant Messaging) : It is possible to chat with other on-line users. WiPeer supports both private chats (with specific users) and public chat rooms to which any user may join.
• File Sharing : File sharing becomes a breeze with WiPeer. You may share both files and complete folders either to a specific user or to anyone in your network. You can even use WiPeer to share files between Windows 7, Windows Vista, and XP.
• File Searching : Supports searching for files located in the computers of other users in the network. The search is guaranteed to return only files that were shared with the searching party. Also, WiPeer accomplishes this goal without exporting the index outside any computer, so this feature does not compromise the privacy of WiPeer users.
• Creating Ad-Hoc Networks : Ad-hoc networks are formed between two or more laptops equipped with WiFi without reliance on any access-point or other third party infrastructure. In particular, there are no connection fees and no dependence on hot-spot availability. In other words, they can be formed anywhere, including in airlines, trains, busses, etc.
• Peersonalizer : Notifies you whenever one of your Facebook friends, or a friend of a friend, is nearby.

You can use WiPeer both in order to create wireless ad-hoc networks between laptops, or over an existing LAN (such as a home network or office network). If you wish to use WiPeer in a non-default network, simple choose the "File->Connection Options" menu and choose the network type that you need.

Also See: Automatically Disable Wireless When Connected to LAN, Vice Versa

Tip: Improve Sound Quality, Volume of MP3 Files

Enhance, Make Audio Louder in Windows 7

Follow this simple step by step guide to increase loudness in headphones and improve sound quality in windows 7.

1) Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound and click on Sound.

2) In the Sound options window, under the Playback tab click Speakers and then click on the Properties button.

3) In the Speaker Properties window, under Enhancements tab, locate and check to enable Virtual Surround and Loudness Equalization and click Apply.

** Keep a song playing while Applying these fixes to notice the change it does to the sound quality and loudness which is significantly improved.

Note: Sometimes Windows 7 sets different volume levels for different applications playing audio including pc games, online videos etc. So make sure they are individually set to the right sound level (max. in my case).

You can access the options by right-clicking on the volume Speaker icon in the system tray and selecting Open Volume Mixer. (see above)

I am a die hard fan of windows media player so I have to manage with the volume loudness it provides. But you can try other music players to get high quality sound.

Also See : Increase Laptop Volume, Boost Sound Quality in Speakers

Speed Up Boot Time: Remove Windows Splash Screen

Follow steps below to disable Windows 7 splash screen…

Step 1: Access System Configuration Tool. Press (windows key) + R and type in msconfig and press Enter or search for "System Configuration" in windows 7 program search from the start menu.

Step 2: In the System Configuration window click on the Boot tab. Now check the "No GUI Boot" option enabled.

Step 3: Click Apply and OK and Restart to see the settings in action.

The next time your pc boots it goes directly to the windows logon screen without wasting few seconds on the windows splash screen.

I hope you’ll find this tip useful. Also check some useful, productive Windows 7 tricks you should use.

Also See : Recover Files without Emergency Disk when PC Fails to Boot

T55 WinMate : Free System Tweaker, Optimizer for Windows

WinMate is a free program that uses the latest technology to scan your computer and find all errors. After that, it gives you confidence solutions. In addition, WinMate also offers a wide range of great value and security software for computer optimization. With the upscale features, you can stay away from potential threats and clean the system errors to reduce accidents equipment, freezing and blue screen.

The program scans for various factors that determine slowdowns and system crashes. These include update checks, error registry entries, invalid files, Internet Explorer risk elements and improper system settings. Next, it gives a mark for the computer. Features and benefits:

T55 WinMate can identify computer potential risk by one-click scan. It scans all types of factors which slowdown your computer and cause constant system crashes. The scan contents are error registry entries, Windows update check, invalid files, improper system setting, IE risk item and more. Finally, T55 WinMate will give your computer a mark.

Fix slow computer

Do you have troubles with speed up your computer? How to avoid system crash? WinMate provide you four classical and effective methods to perfect your computer with only a few of clicks.

• Automatically Scan registry and repair the error items WinMate detect for you.
• Scans and fixes your Windows system errors, protect your Windows system from crashing, freezing and blue screen problem. Register DLL & File Association & Duplicate files scan & Invalid file remove.
• WinMate checks up your hard disk and find the fragments which prevents computer from running smoothly. Disk defragment rearranges and physically organizes the contents on your Hard Disk to fix slow computer.
• Memory Tweak utility recover the memory to free up it.

It makes your PC run faster without causing any instability of your system.

Fix slow Startup

Do you notice your computer is no longer faster as before? By cleanning startup programs and disabling service, you can recovery the optimum boot time. T55 WinMate lists all the startup and sevice by details. You can safely remove them in several setps with our recommend.

IE Tools

IE Tools comprises a host of rich built-in utilities to guarantee a better and healthier environment of your IE browser. Plugin Manager is a professional toolkit to help you remove malicious plugins which slow your computer. IE Restore: IE Restore utility allows to restore all the original settings of your IE. Check up your LSP to ensure better performance of your Internet Explorer.

System Tools

T55 WinMate provides user batch of usefull tools such like File Wiper, Drive immuner, Program Uninstall and so on. You can gain convenience from General Tool.

Computer Security Protect

T55 WinMate runs a series of Protection measures to keep your computer from risk. Disk immune disable AutoRun function. It effectively prevent virus from attacking. Timely download Windows updates and fix vulnerabilities. Clean up all IE history traces including cache, password and cookie. So that your Online bank info and personal privacy will not be used by spyware publisher.

Easy to use and free for ever

User-friendly Interface and step-by-step guide make it easy to use. Start Your Scan Now! You neither receive AD pop ups nor additional stuff. Your privacy will be protected and your email is never published nor shared.

Also See : Free Face Recognition Software for Laptop, PC