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Officially unveiled in September 2014, Windows 10 is the latest of Microsoft’s desktop operating systems based off the Windows NT lineage. It is available in two primary versions — Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro.

Windows 10 introduces universal apps that can be ran on a variety of devices like laptops, phones, and tablets. You can purchase an activation key for the Home version for $99. Microsoft is also providing its Windows Insider Program, which provides activation keys for those agreeing to test the latest OS updates.

The super-easy guide for installing Windows on M1 Macs using Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac [Video]

Although M1 Macs lack support for traditional Boot Camp x86 Windows installations, it’s super-easy to install Windows for ARM on your M1 Mac. Parallels recently released Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac, and with it comes out-of-the-box support for M1 Macs.

Watch our hands-on video walkthrough for step-by-step instructions for installing Windows 10 for ARM on your M1 MacBook, Mac mini, or iMac, and be sure to subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple-centric guides and tutorials.

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Hands-on: Using Parallels 13 to run Windows on Mac with ease [Video]

If you’re a Mac user who needs quick and fast access to a Windows installation, then in many cases it’s a good idea to go with a Virtual Machine. Parallels is one of the most popular virtualization options for Mac users wishing to run Windows, and the latest version, Parallels 13, makes it ridiculously easy to get up and running.

Via what essentially amounts to an unattended installation of Windows 10, Parallels 13 can have you up and running, from download to usage, in just a few minutes. Watch our brief video walkthrough for a demonstration.
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How to install Windows 10 on your Mac using a “Boot Camp” external drive via Windows To Go [Video]

Ever since I wrote about installing Windows 10 on a Mac earlier this year, I’ve received tons of questions about installing Windows 10 on an external drive using Boot Camp drivers. The truth is, this is a workaround using Windows To Go, and the process for doing so is a bit more in-depth than it is for installing proper Boot Camp on your Mac’s internal disk, but it’s still very easy to do, and only takes about 30-40 minutes.

In this hands-on step-by-step walkthrough, we show you how to install Windows 10 on your Mac using an external drive. Watch our video inside to see how.
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How to remove a Windows Boot Camp installation from your Mac [Video]

In a previous tutorial we showed you how to create a macOS Boot Camp partition for installing Windows 10 on a MacBook Pro. The process, while not difficult, can be slightly time consuming, especially if you have a slow Internet connection for downloading Windows 10.

Outside of the time it takes, another downside associated with creating a Boot Camp partition is that it can take up a significant amount of space on your primary drive. Since some Macs are fairly limited when it comes to internal storage space, having a large Boot Camp partition can make it tricky to manage storage space in macOS.

In this follow-up tutorial, we show you how to remove the Boot Camp partition from your Mac, which allows your primary macOS partition to reclaim its space. Unlike the Boot Camp creation + Windows 10 installation process, removing a Boot Camp partition couldn’t be easier. Watch our hands-on video walkthrough for the details.
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How to back up and restore a Boot Camp Windows partition on macOS using Winclone [Video]

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As we showed you in our step-by-step tutorial, creating a Boot Camp partition on your Mac to install Windows is easy. The tedious part of the installation is taking Windows through its initial setup process, and configuring it to your liking.

The configuration portion of the install process — initial setup, installing drivers, and downloading needed applications — can take a significant amount of time, so it’s worth backing up your Boot Camp installation after you have it configured to your liking. By doing so, you can easily restore a snapshot of Windows in mere minutes.

Watch our hands-on video walkthrough, as we show you how to back up and restore a Boot Camp Windows partition using Winclone Basic for macOS.
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As Apple resists creating a ‘GovtOS’ in the U.S., Microsoft already wrote one for China

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Update: A source close to Microsoft tells me the software – which is not yet complete – will be used only by public sector agencies. No information was provided as to how the software differs from the standard Chinese version of Windows 10.

While Apple has strongly resisted building a special ‘GovtOS’ to provide the U.S. government with access to iOS devices, it appears that Microsoft has no such qualms. TechInAsia reports that Microsoft has created a special version of Windows 10 for China, called Windows 10 Zhuangongban, which includes “more management and security controls.”


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Mac Pro case clone Kickstarter is perfect for your next DIY gold Hackintosh project

Dune Case (Featured Image)

We’ve seen DIY solutions in building a Mac Pro-style Hackintosh out of actual trash cans, but others who aren’t as inclined to follow a DIY route may be excited to hear about the Dune Case. Dune Case is currently running a Kickstarter campaign of its Mac Pro-inspired PC case. The case would allow anyone to get a Mac Pro look at a fraction of the cost at only $189. Boasting a design that helps support airflow, strikingly similar to the Mac Pro, the Dune Case comes in either a black or gold color options.


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Microsoft challenges Apple w/ Surface Pro 4 iPad Pro competitor, Surface Book laptop aimed at MacBook Pro, more

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Microsoft comparing its new Surface Book laptop/tablet combo with Apple’s MacBook Pro

At Microsoft’s event today it unveiled a huge array of ambitious and interesting tech which should be enough to make Apple stand up and take notice. The once-giant of the consumer electronics world has had to reinvent itself over the past couple of years, and judging from today’s event, it’s doing enough to get people interested again at the very least. At best, it could transform the way we see technology and computing.
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Apple TV refreshes Events channel ahead of iPhone 6S announcement livestream

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In what was a notable change this summer, Apple opted to not remove the dedicated Apple Events channel on Apple TV after WWDC 2015 as it has done several weeks after media events in the past. Instead the Apple Events channel has become a permanent app on the Apple TV, serving as a central spot for viewing prior major product announcements without relying on searching the YouTube channel (which has since been removed from Apple TV 2 boxes).

Ahead of prior events, though, the reappearance of the Apple Events channel has been a bit of a ritual that drums up excitement and signals that Apple is indeed livestreaming its upcoming event. Apple has recently moved to livestreaming every event (in the past it was not guaranteed) and we already knew tomorrow’s iPhone 6S and Apple TV 4 event would be broadcasted live, but there’s still a pre-event change on the Apple Events channel awaiting Apple TV users.

Just hours before the iPhone 6S announcement kicks off in San Francisco, Apple has refreshed the Apple Events channel with a new icon matching the event teaser artwork and more.
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Parallels 11 now available w/ support for Windows 10, El Capitan, & always-on Cortana

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Parallels, the company behind the popular virtual machine software, has today released the latest iteration of its popular Mac app. Parallels 11 ($79.99 retail, $49.99 upgrade) is available now with many of the features that were accidentally leaked by the company last month. Top features are of course support for both Windows 10 including Cortana and OS X El Capitan, as well as a variety of enhancements that improve the virtualization experience…


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Boot Camp now supports 64-bit Windows 10 on a wide range of Macs dating back to 2012

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Apple has announced in a support document that Boot Camp now supports 64-bit versions of Windows 10 on a wide range of Macs dating back to 2012. The updated version of Boot Camp is currently rolling out to Yosemite users – if you haven’t yet received it, it should show up when you use the Mac App Store to check for updates.

Apple gives instructions for performing both a new install and an upgrade from earlier versions of Windows.

Supported Macs are:

  • MacBook Air from Mid 2012
  • MacBook Pro from Mid 2012
  • MacBook Pro with Retina display from Mid 2012
  • iMac from Late 2012
  • Mac mini from Late 2012
  • Mac Pro Late 2013
  • 12-inch MacBook

USB-C is supported on the 12-inch MacBook, in addition to the standard ports which are supported on all compatible models.

Back in March, Apple discontinued Boot Camp support for Windows 7 on the latest MacBook models, requiring Windows 8 and up.

Photo: Jacek Kalużny

Microsoft’s ‘Bridge’ tool for porting iOS apps to Windows 10 is now available

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Microsoft first unveiled “Windows Bridge” a few months back, a new tool for developers that aims to make porting iOS apps to Windows 10 easier and hopefully breathe some life into the Windows Store in the process. Today the company is releasing the software, albeit an early release ahead of a final launch planned for later this year in the fall.

The bridge offers developers tools for utilizing existing code from iOS apps to build Windows apps, but Microsoft stressed that its “goal with the iOS bridge has never been simply to run iOS apps on Windows.”
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Parallels 11 to feature always-on support in OS X for Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant

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According to a leaked product page on the Australian Parallels page, the popular virtual machine software will support Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant throughout OS X. The product page explains that as long as Windows 10 is running somewhere in the background, users will always be able to say “Hey Cortana” and receive a response (via Neowin).


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Siri will have competition this year as Microsoft confirms Cortana coming to iOS (and Android)

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Reuters reported back in March that Microsoft planned to bring its Siri competitor Cortana to iOS, and Microsoft has now officially confirmed this in a blog post.

Today, we’re announcing a Cortana application for Android phones and for iPhones which works as a companion to Cortana on your Windows 10 PC. The ‘Phone Companion’ app on the PC will help you install the Cortana app from the Google Play or Apple App Store onto your phone so you’ll be able to take the intelligence of Cortana with you, wherever you go […]

The Cortana companion will be available for Android phones at the end of June and for iPhones later this year.

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While Microsoft is pitching the app as a companion to a Windows PC, it appears that most of the functionality will work in the iPhone app without the need for a Windows device, Microsoft saying that you can “make the same queries, ask the same questions” in the standalone app … 
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Early look at Windows 10 on the new Retina MacBook says it runs better than OS X

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One of the first people to try Windows 10 on the new Retina MacBook says that it actually runs more smoothly than OS X. The comment was made by Computer Science major Alex King, who tried upgrading his Boot Camp installation of Windows 8.1 to the preview of Windows 10.

Here’s the real kicker: it’s fast. It’s smooth. It renders at 60FPS unless you have a lot going on. It’s unequivocally better than performance on OS X, further leading me to believe that Apple really needs to overhaul how animations are done. Even when I turn Transparency off in OS X, Mission Control isn’t completely smooth. Here, even after some Aero Glass transparency has been added in, everything is smooth. It’s remarkable, and it makes me believe in the 12-inch MacBook more than ever before.

If you’re fortunate enough to have taken delivery of your own Retina MacBook and want to try the experiment for yourself, be prepared for a few glitches along the way. King said that not all of the Boot Camp drivers automatically installed, there’s no Bluetooth support and some Windows apps (like Steam) look blurry because they don’t support the full resolution of the Retina display. But overall, the experience sounds like a good one.

If you’re still not sure whether you’re the target market for the new lower-powered, ultra-portable machine, you can check out our own in-depth review and one-month-in video of just what it can and can’t do.

Microsoft announces new tool for effortlessly porting iOS apps to Windows 10

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Microsoft announced today during its Build conference that it will release a tool for developers to port their iOS apps directly to Windows 10 as “universal apps” that run on both phones and desktop computers. Developers will be able to feed their existing Objective-C code into a new software package and have it converted to work on the upcoming PC operating system.

At least, that’s how Microsoft is pitching it, though the whole process is a bit more complex. Essentially Windows 10 will ship with APIs that mirror the expected behavior of many iOS APIs, and this new conversion tool will help developers swap out iOS code for matching Windows code.


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Microsoft unveils iPad-priced $499 Surface 3 as Google shows sub $100 Chromebit HDMI stick, $149 Chromebooks

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Microsoft shifted its focus when it introduced the Surface Pro 3 last year to target both the iPad and the MacBook, but today the company announced a more consumer level iPad-like version of its tablet simply called the Surface 3 with the same $499 starting price as the iPad Air 2.

Google also unveiled a collection of new competitively priced hardware including new Chromebooks and a Chromebit HDMI running Chrome OS for under $100 …
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Parallels Desktop 10 updated with support for Windows 10 and Microsoft Office previews

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Windows 10 Tech Preview in Parallels Desktop 10 on Mac OS X Yosemite

Parallels announced this evening that its virtual machine software Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac has been updated with “experimental” support for the technical preview of Windows 10 from Microsoft. Users who want to take the latest version of Windows for a test run without overwriting their existing Boot Camp installation or creating a new partition can now do so safely and free within the confines of a VM.

The update also adds the ability to run the new preview version of Office for Windows 10, which includes updated versions of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Microsoft announced earlier this year that Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for one year for any users running Windows 7 or later.

Parallels Desktop 10 is available from the Parallels website for $79.99. Special pricing is available for students and users running previous versions of Parallels and a free trial is available here. Press release follows:
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Microsoft will give away Windows 10 … just like OS X

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Image via Brad Sams

Microsoft announced today at its Windows 10 briefing that it will make the next major version of its operating system free for consumers. Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for for the first year for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 users. Users who upgrade will continue to have access to the latest versions for free when using the same device. For comparison, Apple has offered updates to each of its software updates, including major operating system versions, for free since 2013 with the release of OS X 10.9 Mavericks for the Mac.
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