Installing the Windows 10 Technical Preview

Installing the Windows 10 Technical Preview

With all that done, it’s time to get the Tech Preview on your PC! But since it’s a very early pre-release build of the operating system, you probably don’t want to overwrite your PC’s operating system with Windows 10—especially since doing so renders Windows Media Player incapable of playing DVDs and removes Windows Media Center entirely from upgraded Windows 8.1 Pro installations. (Windows 10 won't support Windows Media Center.)

If you have a superfluous computer lying around, sure, feel free to install the preview on that. (My colleague Mark Hachman did, overwriting Windows 8.1—but only after creating a recovery drive.) But most people will want to install the Windows 10 Technical Preview either in a virtual machine, or dual-boot the OS from its own hard drive partition.

In a virtual machine

Installing it on a virtual machine is the easiest option. Grab VirtualBox, Oracle’s stellar no-cost VM tool, and you’ll be ready to rock. Download the Windows 10 Preview and configure it in VirtualBox using mostly the same steps outlined in PCWorld’s guide to test-driving Windows 8 in a virtual machine. (When you're initially setting up the Windows 10 VM, select "Windows 8.1" as the operating system type.)

If your attempt to install the Windows 10 VM isn't successful, try tweaking these settings. Once you’ve completed the initial Windows 10 set up, open the VM's Settings > System. In the Motherboard tab, ensure the box next to “Enable EFI (Special OSes only)” is checked, as well as the “Enable PAE/NX” box under the Processor tab.

It's worth noting that I encountered troubles installing the 64-bit version Windows 10 on VirtualBox—the installation hung right after the "Press any key to boot" screen, stuck forever on the Windows logo against a black background. Several others have been successful in getting it to work, however, and I was able to install the 32-bit version of Windows 10's Technical Preview in VirtualBox successfully. (I also successfully installed the 64-bit version to a hard drive partition, and another 64-bit instance overwriting Windows 8.1 on a laptop.)

Dual boot Windows 10 in a hard drive partition

Running operating systems in virtual machines also sacrifices some performance,  especially if you don’t have extra CPU cores or much RAM to dedicate to the task. If you want to experience the Windows 10 Technical Preview natively, you can create a new partition on your hard drive and install the preview there. (It’s best if you’re able to do this on a secondary PC, just to be safe.)

PCWorld’s guide to installing Windows 8 on a new partition can walk you through the process—the same basic steps apply to the Windows 10 Technical Preview, and Windows 8 handles hard drive partitioning the same way Windows 7 did. Note that Windows 8 includes native tools for burning a bootable ISO to a DVD, however—simply right-click on the Windows 10 ISO file and select Burn disc image.

The Windows 7 USB/DVD tool can help you make a bootable USB drive with the Windows 10 ISO despite its name. One tip we have though for those installing from USB onto a desktop: use the native Intel USB ports. Some motherboards use discrete USB 3.0 controllers that Windows 10 may not recognize during the install causing it to bomb out. If it does fail mysteriously, consider trying a different USB 3.0 port with your best bet being USB 2.0 ports.

Windows 10 Technical Preview requirements

Windows 10 Technical Preview requirements

Before we get too involved, it’s worth noting that the Windows 10 Technical Preview is limited to PC and Windows tablets with x86 processors—there’s no version for Windows RT tablets and their ARM processors available, as Windows RT tablets won't be receiving Windows 10. (Sorry, Surface RT owners.) If you’re unsure which version of Windows your tablet is running, right-click on the “This PC” icon in File Explorer and select Properties. Your Windows edition information will be at the top of the window that appears.

Here are Windows 10’s other hardware requirements, which are just as modest as Windows 8.1’s.

Processor : 1GHz or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2

RAM : 1GB (32-bit) or 2GB (64-bit)

Hard disk space : 16GB

Graphics card : Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

Some additional notes: You’ll also need a Microsoft account and Internet access. And if you want to access the Windows Store or use Windows Apps, your monitor’s resolution will need to be at least 1024x768. The Windows 10 Technical Preview is available in English, Chinese Simplified, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Still here? Now head over to preview.windows.com and click the Get Started button. After registering for Windows Insider, you’ll be prompted to download the Windows 10 Technical Preview. Download the appropriate Technical Preview build for your machine—the “This PC” or “My Computer” Properties window can also tell you if you have a 32-bit or 64-bit processor under the “System type” field.

Jot down the product key for the Technical Preview, too, though I didn't need to use it to install the Technical Preview. Couldn't hurt to have it handy though.

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CROATIAN CYCLIST DURASEK WINS TOUR OF TURKEY

Croatian cyclist Kristijan Durasek has won Sunday the 51st Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey.

Durasek, racing for Lampre-Merida, completed the tour in 31 hours, 6 minutes and 44 seconds.

Spanish cyclist Lluis Guillermo Mas Bonet of the Caja Rural – Seguros RGA team claimed victory in the eighth and final stage of the tour held in Istanbul.

The 26-year-old racer Bonet won the 124-kilometer stage in 2 hours, 45 minutes and 3 seconds, beating British cyclist Mark Cavendish and Spanish racer Carlos Barbero Cuesta at the finish line by a hair's length.

CREDIT GROWTH IN TURKEY AT TARGETED LEVELS

Measures aimed at curbing demand for consumer loans moves credit volume growth to desired levels, Minister says

Turkey's economy administration is pleased with the trend of subdued growth in consumer loans in the last 18 months, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan has said.

Speaking to the General Assembly of Banks Association of Turkey, Babacan said on Thursday that the slowing growth in consumer loans was much needed to address the chronic current account deficit problem in Turkey.

Babacan said: "The trends in the last one-and-a-half year are quite healthy in terms of loans especially. Consumer loans are not increasing as rapidly as in the previous term.

"The growth rate of commercial loans is reasonable and loans for SMEs continue to rise fast, this is very important. Our goals set at the beginning of last year were actualized."

Last year, the Central bank of Turkey and Banking watchdog introduced measures to curb the demand for consumer loans used largely for the personal consumption of imported goods, as the current account deficit posed a risk to the Turkish economy.

Babacan explained that there is direct correlation between loan volume and the current account deficit, and that current account deficit growth keeps pace with loan growth.

Babacan said: "If a credit is received for an investment, for SMEs, we clearly see the current account deficit sourced from this loan is temporary, as returns expected from this investment and additional exports would offset its share of current account deficit through exports.

"But the use of such loans, for financing imported goods targeted for consumers, is not healthy for the economy and should be regulated."

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Ronaldo backs coach Ancelotti

Madrid - Real Madrid top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo has signalled strong support for coach Carlo Ancelotti and sent a clear message to club president Florentino Perez that he does not want the Italian to be sacked.

Perez is widely expected to make Ancelotti the scapegoat after Real ended the season without winning a major trophy but the intervention of dressing-room heavyweight Ronaldo may make him think twice.

Ronaldo netted a hat-trick in Real's final game of the campaign on Saturday, a 7-3 drubbing of city rivals Getafe at the Bernabeu, taking his tally at the top of the La Liga scoring chart to 48 goals.

It was his best single-season haul in Spain's top flight since he joined from Manchester United in 2009 and two short of the record of 50 set in 2011-12 by Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who scored 43 this term.

After the match, Portugal captain Ronaldo posted a message on his Twitter feed with a photograph of himself and Ancelotti.

"Great coach and amazing person," Ronaldo wrote. "Hope we work together next season."

Ancelotti, who led Real to a record-extending 10th European title and a King's Cup triumph in his debut year in Spain in 2013-14, has made it clear he wants to carry on but said on Saturday if Real do let him go he would take a year out.

His contract runs until the end of next season and he said he expected to meet with club officials early next week to discuss his future.

Media reports in Italy have suggested the 55-year-old could return to former club AC Milan, with whom he won the European Cup as both a player and coach.

Napoli's Spanish coach Rafa Benitez is the frontrunner to replace Ancelotti at Real, where he had a stint as a youth trainer, according to local media.

Real's Colombia midfielder James Rodriguez also backed Ancelotti after Saturday's game.

"He arrived two years ago and he knows the team, he knows how we are and how we go about things," he told Spanish television. "But it's not my decision and it's not my place to talk about it."

View the original article here

Memory mirror does away with changing room hassles

All shoppers know that trying on clothes can be time-consuming, demoralizing and tiring. And in a dressing room you often don’t get a complete view of the new garment you’re trying on.

But in San Francisco, USA, researchers have come up with the Memory Mirror, designed to make buying clothes much easier. The device contains a video camera, which records a 360 degree view of what an outfit looks like and makes side-by-side comparisons. It can also playback twirls, so shoppers can see themselves from all angles. And it can suggest accessories.

Alysa Stefani is a sales manager at Neiman Marcus and has been trying the mirror out: “It’s been fabulous for our clients who really want to get the full view of what they’re trying on who maybe have multiple pieces that they’re looking at and are unsure and want to see a full 360 view which is hard to get into a fitting room.”

The mirror records an eight-second video, which is password protected and can be e-mailed, so that shoppers can other people for opinions. The mirror can also change the color of a garment, and remembers everything a person tries on, to avoid trying the same garment twice. It can even show you how something will fit without you trying it on at all.

Rebecca Minkoff is the CEO of Uri Minkoff, and demonstrated the mirros: “This is a great tool here for people to discover. For example, this is a great jacket, I can see how it’s been worn in different ways, now I’m being educated and given styling tips here. But let’s say I want to add this to my room, I’m a size small, I select that, I add this to my room and there it just went up.”

The question is how companies can reassure customers that their data will be protected, and how it might be used in the future.

View the original article here