Windows 7 Beta FREE DOWNLOAD

That's right as of last week you are able to down load and install a full version of Windows 7 Ultimate Beta. But you only have until January 24, 2009 to get your copy.

You can download it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx

This is a legit copy with from Microsoft that gives you a real product key. However there are a few caveats.

• This beta copy will expire in August of 2009 so you'll get 8 months of eval time to see if you really like it
  
• This is a beta copy there will most likely be bugs and probably some frustrations so don't install this on your primary machine.
  
• You'll have to have some minor technical expertise on how to burn an .iso DVD in order to install it. Or know how to run a virtual machine (this is what I would recommend, more on this later).
  

Now I've downloaded a copy and I've installed it on my Macbook Pro using VM Fusion mean that I've installed a virtual machine so I can run Windows 7 and Mac OSX at the same time. Plus of Windows 7 really is that buggy and crappy I'll just delete the Virtual machine and no harm no foul. I'm back to ol reliable Mac OSX. Just as a note I now have two virtual machines a Windows XP virtual machine and a Windows 7 virtual machine so I can run any of these O/S's all a the same time.

Installing on VM Fusion was a snap all I did was create a new virtual machine and point the installer to the .iso file. Meaning that I didn't have to burn an .iso dvd file which saves me time and headache.

The whole process took about 25 minutes and I have a fully running version of Windows 7 on my Macbook Pro. check out the picture:

As you can see in the lower right hand corner of my picture of my Macbook Pro screen you'll see "Windows 7 beta" woo hoo!! I haven't had a chance to play around with it but it seems very slick.

Now what if you don't have a Macbook Pro running VM Fusions. Well there are other options friend. Here are your options:

Option 1:

Once you have downloaded the file from Microsoft. You'll have to burn an .iso image onto a blank dvd.

I suggest you use ImgBurn program for Windows it's free and it'll do the trick. You can get there here: http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

Or if you already have Nero Buring ROM you can use that too.

Once you have installed the ImgBurn program pop in a blank DVD and run the program and click on "Write Image File to Disc"

Then point the source to the image file you've downloaded.

Then click "Write" Once your disc is done burning you'll have a nice new copy of Windows 7 to install on any PC you wish

Option 2:

Dual boot, there is a good tutorial over at Lifehacker on how to do this go to:

http://lifehacker.com/5126781/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-with-xp-or-vista

Option 3:

Create a virtual machine within Windows! Why give over an entire PC to a single OS when most are powerful enough to run two OSes side-by-side. To do this download and install Microsoft’s free Virtual PC 2007 here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=04D26402-3199-48A3-AFA2-2DC0B40A73B6&displaylang=en

Once you’ve installed it run the application and it will guide you through creating a new virtual machine.

Most of the default settings will work for you but when asked for the operating system, pick Windows Vista, and when asked about virtual hard disk options, create a new virtual hard disk. Then, from the Virtual PC Console select the virtual machine you created and click on Start.

As soon as the virtual machine fires up, click on CD from the menu and choose Capture ISO Image and select the Windows 7 .ISO and click Open. Now click on Action and then Reset to kick off the Windows 7 install process.

That's it those are you options for trying out Windows 7.

But hurry you only have until January 24th before Microsoft shuts down the download link!!

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Aluminum Macbook - Review

So my girlfriend was nice this year and Santa (me) got her a new 13.3 inch Aluminum Macbook.

So I'm writing my initial review on the Laptop.

It's pretty much looks like a mini Macbook Pro. The differences between her Macbook and mine is that I have more memory, faster processor, a bigger HD, I have a discrete graphics card, bigger screen, and my screen is brighter.

Which would explain why min cost almost twice as much, but for being half the price this is one mean little machine.

The new Nvidia intergrated chipset is extreemly fast, so fast that you can play games on it now. The old Intel intergrated chipset was ok but the Nvidia intergrated chipset just blows the Intel one out of the water, not even close.

It's super fast all of the apps run on it extremely quickly, I installed Mac Office 2008 and it works great. Pretty much all the features I wrote about my Macbook Pro are present in this little brother version.

There were some rumblings about the screen being not as good or washed out but after using it, the screen looked fine. It didn't have he same contrast ratio as my Macbook Pro but for everyday use it's more than adequate. I was impressed at how quick this machine is. It would be great for the casual user of some photo editing, some simple movies, web surfing and word processing.

I got her the 2.4 ghz version which came with a bigger HD, faster processor and back light keyboard which is pretty money and a first for a Macbook.

Oh yeah one other thing there are a lot of cry babies out there that are crying about "OMG no Firewire, what a sham!!!!! I'm like dude do you even need firewire? I mean how many people who are reading this blog even know what firewire is? Exactly my girlfriend has never heard of or even used a firewire port. So no firewire? No problem I say.

Overall this is a very impressive piece of equipment and my girlfriend is pretty stoked on having her first Mac. She loves it so far.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Dr. Dre Beats earphones by Monster

By the generosity of my Brother I received a pair of Dr. Dre Beats earphones by Monster. Now anyone who knows me knows I'm serious when it comes to my music. I love music it's a hobby of mine and I have over 38,000 songs and a music server in my house.

So I enjoy a great pair of headphones for my iPhone/iPods. I used to rock the B&O A8 earphones, (pictured below) these are no slouch earphones they are $160 retail and they were extremely great sounding in fact some of the best sounding headphones I've ever owned. Well until I got my Dr. Dre Beats Headphones.

Now don't get me wrong the B&O A8's are still freaking awesome they have incredible clarity especially at the highs. But the base response was not all the way there.  But I'd like to emphasize the clarity of these earphones they are exceptional some of the most crystal clear highs I've ever heard out of a pair of earphones.  

These are the first and only earphones that Dr. Dre has endorsed and put his name on. There is also a pair of beats noise canceling over the ear headphones that sound amazing as well, very pricey tho at $350 a pair.

I found that the Dr. Dre earphones are very clear but have an awesome base response!! I was impressed at how much actual base I got from these tiny ear buds. The Beats have a distinctive red cable that is actually flat and not like a thin tube or spaghetti type chord that most all other earphones have. The uniqueness of the flat headphones prevents tangling which is a serious plus.

The box come with 5 different ear tips to custom fit your ears. I found that the default ones don't stay in my ears that well as they kept falling out during my work out at the gym. But after switching to some other ones they seem to be staying in my ears very snug and I get the best sound that way.

It also comes with a nice carrying case to protect your headphones when not in use.

The final verdict is that these definitely a worth while pair of earphones. Although pricey, I'd recommend this pair to anyone looking for a high end pair of earphones.

Got questions? Email me: richmlee@gmail.com

How to Burn in Mac OSX 10.4 or later

I can't take credit for this tutorial I pulled it from MacInstruct. Here is the link: http://www.macinstruct.com/node/80

I found it to be very easy and useful.

There are a number of CD burning utilities available for Mac OS X (cough -- Toast -- cough), but did you know that Mac OS X has built-in disc burning support? This functionality was added in Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). It's a very handy feature that allows you to quickly and effortlessly burn data CDs! We'll show you how.

1. To get started, switch to the Finder by either clicking the desktop, selecting the Finder icon in the Dock, or pressing the Cmd and Tab keys. From the File menu, select New Burn Folder.

2. A new Burn Folder will appear on the desktop. Begin typing to change the name or leave the name as is -- it can be changed later.

3. Open the Burn Folder by double-clicking its folder icon.
Drag and drop files and folders into the Burn Folder. These are the items that will appear on your burned CD.

4. Items added to Burn Folders will appear as aliases. Don't worry -- this is normal. When you burn the CD, the actual documents and folders will be burned to the disc.

5. In the upper right-hand corner, click the Burn button to begin the burn process. If you have not already inserted a blank CD, Mac OS X will prompt you to "Insert a blank disc to begin."

6. After you insert the blank CD, you are prompted to name the disc (it will default to the name of the Burn Folder) and select the burn speed. Click the Burn button to begin creating the disc.
7. A window will show the current status of the burning process.

8. After the disc has finished burning, the CD will appear (or "mount") on your Desktop.
Congratulations! You have burned your first data CD with Burn Folders.