I've been thinking of trying out Microsoft's Windows 10 Technical preview but was a bit discouraged by Microsoft's warnings to anyone thinking about taking the plunge.
The company cautions that the preview is only for people who "really know your way around a PC and feel comfortable troubleshooting problems, backing up data, formatting a hard drive, installing an operating system from scratch, or restoring your old one if necessary." And you're told you need to "know what an ISO file is and how to use it." I am very experienced with PCs and familiar with ISO files, but I'm not particularly anxious to go through the hassles. Microsoft also warns users not to install it "on your everyday computer," which means it's really only for people who have extra PCs around. And, once you do install it, you're using an operating system that's still in development, definitely subject to change and likely to undergo lots of updates.
But, if you have a Mac and a copy of Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac, there's a very easy way to try out Windows 10. In fact, it's as easy as clicking an icon. I did it on a new Mac mini with two terabytes of storage and 8 gigabytes of memory.
Once you select "Windows 10 Technical Preview." Parallels downloads the Windows 10 code and installs it for you. There is literally nothing for you to do other than to wait for the process to finish. You don't even have to reboot your Mac because Windows 10 is running in a virtual machine. That virtual PC may reboot several times, but the Mac keeps running.
And if the preview version of Windows does crash or destroys anything, it will do so within the virtual machine, so you're not risking the rest of the software and data on your Mac.
Multiple operating systems
Parallels Desktop is a popular application for anyone who wants to be able to run Windows on a Mac. It's used largely by people who love the Mac but have at least one mission critical PC application that they must use. Even though there are Mac versions of most popular PC programs, there will always be some software -- particularly within enterprises -- that runs only on Windows. The software can also be used with a separate Parallels Access app to allow remote access to your Mac or virtual Windows machine running on a Mac from an iOS or Android phone or tablet.
Parallels is quite easy to use and even allows you to use a Mac-like interface with your Windows software, if that's your preference.
Because Parallels lets you setup as many virtual machines as your hard drive can accommodate, you can have the preview edition of Windows 10 in addition to Windows 8.1, Windows 7 or any other version of Windows. You can also run Linux, Chrome OS and other operating systems. Parallels also lets you install free trial copies of other versions of Windows, from Windows 8.1 going back to Windows XP. And, if you have a PC that you want to migrate to the Mac, you can use the software to clone the entire machine, including operating system, software and data to the Mac.
Parallels Desktop costs $79.99 but there is a two-week free trial you can download which you can use to try Windows 10 or any other version of Windows for free.
