Play/Install SWTOR on MAC using Boot Camp

Play SWTOR SWTOR on MAC!!!The gaming landscape on Mac computers used to be as barren as the sands of Tatooine. But with the introduction of the App Store and some Mac-friendly MMOs, it’s more feasible now to be a dedicated Mac gamer. Unfortunately, BioWare hasn’t announced a Mac client for Star Wars: The Old Republic yet (if ever). So, what’s an Apple-owning TORWarrior to do? Easy. Enlist in the Imperial or Republic Army and ship off to Boot Camp!

Boot Camp is software included with Mac OS X that lets you run compatible versions of Microsoft Windows on an Intel-based Mac. It’s not an emulator like Crossover [http://www.codeweavers.com/products/crossover/] — I tried that for Star Trek Online with decent results, but it requires constant support from the developer so you’re at their mercy. Using Boot Camp just is like having a PC inside of a beautifully designed Apple-branded case (I can feel the PC enthusiasts reaching out to force choke me now). The only drawback is you’ll have to purchase a full version of Windows which can be expensive — but still cheaper and more space efficient than buying a new PC.


What You’ll Need
An Intel-based Mac computer (just about any model from 2007 on)
Install DVD for Mac OS X 10.6 or later (the full disc version, not an upgrade version)
Windows 7 Home Premium or XP (again, the full version, not an upgrade)
Optional, but highly recommended, is a Time Machine backup drive
Finally, you’ll need a bit of time and quiet. No cats running across the keyboard while installing a new operating system.
What You Might be Wondering?
Will my old Mac support Windows 7? [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3986]
Should I install 32-bit or 64-bit Windows? [http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1846]


Getting Started
First thing you’ll want to do is visit the Boot Camp [http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/] page on Apple.com and click “Installation Guide” at the top. There you can download the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide for the Mac OS X version you’re running (choose the right one). The instructions in the manual are very straightforward. Just make sure and follow them to the letter and respect the fact that you’re installing an entirely new operating system on your machine. Patience, Anakin!


You’ll want to have the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide handy throughout the install process. You can print it if necessary, but it’s 18 pages long. I recommend having it open on another computer or your smart phone if possible. Hey, I might be a Sith but I still care about saving paper.


Back Up Your System
The installation instructions will first ask you to back up your system. Do it. You can run Time Machine on any Mac-compatible external hard drive. Chances are it will save you much agony down the road, if not today.


Launch Boot Camp Assistant
After you back up your system, quit all programs. Then fire up Boot Camp Assistant from the Applications > Utilities folder. From here on out you can follow the instructions in the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide. Follow them to the letter. Take your time and read the guide carefully before each step of the process. As Master Yoda says, “Impatience leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to … suffering.”


Your Mission to Partition
One decision you’ll have to make is how much space to partition on your hard drive for Windows. The Beta client is approximately 20GB but that is subject to change, and there will be many patches to download. You can’t increase the partition after it’s set without deleting Windows entirely and starting from scratch, so err on the side of too much space. I went with 100GB.



Things to Keep in Mind
Set aside some time before you start, and once you start commit to finishing. This isn’t a process you want to abandon midway through.
You won’t need the Mac OS X installation disc until after you’ve finished installing Windows and set up your Windows profile.
You must finish the Boot Camp installation (the last step in the guide) before you can connect to Wi-Fi in Windows.
The next time you start your computer, you can select which operating system to use by holding down the Option key during startup
You can set the default operating system for your computer using Startup Disk preferences (Mac OS X) or the Boot Camp control panel (Windows).
The Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide also covers Removing Windows from Your Computer.
If you run into any trouble, check out the Unofficial TOR + Boot Camp Discussion Thread [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=389856] on the SWTOR forums.
Tell BioWare you support a Mac client in this thread [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=531233]


That about covers it folks. Now that you’re up and running in Windows, you can download the SWTOR client, patch it up and launch the game to those sweet sweet notes of the Star Wars theme song.

Read more »

Nokia Lumia 800 Review

There's a lot more hype surrounding the Lumia 800 than the HTC and Samsung Windows Mango phones – probably because the Lumia was supposed to be Nokia's great ‘comeback'. Nokia has played its cards carefully with the Lumia, and the company supposedly worked very closely with Microsoft to bring the full Windows Mango experience to users. 
The Lumia 800 isn't perfect, but its one of the best products that Nokia has released in the market in recent months. 

Review :

Lumia Looks:The Lumia 800 is available in three colours – Black, Fuschia and Cyan. While the Black unit looks a lot more professional, the Fushcia and Cyan units are younger and more playful.

 The 3.7-inch glass display has a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass which makes it scratch-resistant, and Nokia has sucked all the air out between the display and the body, so there's no gap between the screen and the side.

Display & Interface : The 480x800 pixel AMOLED display is stunning.there's no front-facing camera on the phone.

The capacitive screen was smooth to the touch, and supports pinch to zoom and double tap, working just fine for the browser and photos.The keyboard of lumia is a beauty. The keys are well spaced out and typing is fairly accurate.

Apps: The app is neatly divided into categories and sub-categories, and the audio quality is pretty clear too.

Nokia Contact transfer app imports all contacts from another phone over Bluetooth which is very simple & convenient.

Another Nokia-specific app is Nokia Drive, a turn-by-turn voice navigation system. Unlike Nokia Maps which uses your data plan to update the maps as you go,with Nokia Drive, you first download a map of the area you're going to be driving around. Once that's done you can simply input your final destination, and you'll get a voice guided navigation system that could beat some of the better car sat-navs out there. Maps are displayed in 2D and 3D which are accurate and easy to use.

Another addition is Tune-in Radio, a great little app that utilises your Wi-Fi or data connection to stream live content from a bunch of global radio stations.

Mix Radio, another popular radio service will be available on Lumia smart phones in India in the next couple of months, Nokia said.

Performance: Lumia's processor is relatively subdued – you get a 1.4 Ghz Qualcomm MSM 8255 single-core processor and just 512MB of RAM. The good news is that these tech specs seem to do just fine for Windows Mango. The phone rarely froze or slowed down,

The 1450 mAH battery gave average results like a day of use, but on most of the time it works for quite long time. Of course, this was with heavy data usage, a few hours of calls and apps in the background.

Awesome : Beautiful build, great screen, Nokia Drive

Bad : No NFC, no front camera, average battery life

Price: $ 559.89


Nokia Lumia 800 3.7-inch touchscreen Nokia Windows Phone Smartphone Price in India will be Rs. 28,000.

Read more »

Microsoft extends Windows 7 Family Pack to Europe

Earlier this year, looking to placate anti-trust concerns in Europe, Microsoft proposed a browser-less version of Windows 7 for the region and then scratched that plan to favor the so-called browser ballot screen option. Its initial plan prevented European users from doing an in-place upgrade from Vista, though, so those who bought a copy of the operating system early were set to receive full licenses at upgrade prices.

Microsoft of course plans to honor those purchases but has now confirmed that, starting September 1, upgrade editions of Windows 7 with Internet Explorer 8 included will be available in the region as well. This leaves a one-week window in which European customers may continue to pre-order full versions of the OS at the upgrade price of €119.99.

Additionally, in a blog posting today at the Windows 7 Team Blog, Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc revealed that since upgrade editions will now be offered in Europe, the software giant will also be selling the three-license Family Pack - which contains upgrade editions - in select European countries. These include the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden.

LeBlanc mentioned that versions without Windows Media Player, marked with a prominent “N” and a big red box, will also be available for all Windows 7 SKUs in both full and upgrade editions, but for no discount off the regular price. This version is the result of a previous European antitrust suit over the inclusion of that software in Windows.

Read more »

Windows 7: Want the Release Candidate? You're Too Late

Microsoft has, as planned, removed the download for the release candidate of Windows 7, the next major update to Microsoft Windows.

The official download has been available from Microsoft's website since early May and offered for those who wanted it a free preview of what the new operating system will offer, before it hits stores in late October.

For those of you already running the release candidate, Microsoft were keen to point out that the evaluation software will expire in March next year, at which point you'll have to upgrade to a retail version of the OS.

Certain users, such as developers and early Windows 7 testers, got the final Windows 7 release earlier this month. If you weren't in this group and you were looking to grab the release candidate, you'll have to now wait until the October release.

Read more »