The Windows 10 Technical Preview is now available for free download and trial, but just because you’re on a Mac doesn’t mean you have to be left out of the fun. Windows 10 brings new features to the table like Cortana voice assistant integration, improved multitasking, and more.
In this full tutorial, I’ll show you how to install Windows 10 Technical Preview on your Mac using VMware Fusion. In the video walkthrough, I show you how to install Windows 10 on your Mac in less than 15 minutes.
Preliminary steps
Step 1: Download the Windows 10 Technical Preview ISO file from Microsoft and save it to your desktop. To do this, you’ll have to be a part of Microsoft’s “Windows Insider Program”, but that’s free.
Step 2: Download VMWare Fusion on your Mac and mount the DMG file by double-clicking it
Step 3: Double-click on the VMware Fusion.app and click Open to begin the installation process
Step 4: VMware will request your administrator password, enter the password and click OK
Step 5: Click the radio button next to “I want to try VMware Fusion 7 for 30 days.” and click Continue
Step 6: Type in a bogus email address, and click Continue, unless you really want to receive emails from VMware
Step 7: VMware will request your administrator password again, enter the password and click OK
Step 8: Uncheck the “Yes, I would like to help improve VMware Fusion.” box and click Done
Installing Windows 10 on your virtual machine
Step 1: Select Install from disc or image and click Continue
Step 2: Click the Use another disc or disc image… and navigate to your Mac’s Downloads folder and find the Windows10_TechnicalPreview_x64_EN-US_9926.iso file and click Open and Continue
Step 3: Click Customize Settings and click Save to save the .vmwarevm file to your ~/Documents/Virtual Machines folder
Step 4: Click Processors & Memory and change the top drop-down box to at least 4 processor cores if possible. Since I have 8 processor cores on my Mac, I choose 4, since that’s half. If you only have 4, then select 2. Use your best judgement here
Step 5: For Memory, you can use the recommended suggestion, but I recommend using at least a 4th of the available memory on your machine. For example, I have 16GB of memory, so I set the Memory settings to 4096
Step 6: Click the Show All button and click Hard Disk. Set the Hard Disk space to your desired amount. You can stick with the system recommendation, but I recommend a minimum of 40GB, preferably 60GB.
Step 7: After setting the Hard Disk settings, click the red ‘x’ in the upper right-hand corner to close the customization options
Step 8: Click the Play button to begin the Windows 10 Technical Preview installation
Step 9: Click Next on the initial Windows Setup page and click Install Now
Step 10: Click the checkbox next to I accept the license terms and click Next
Step 11: Click Custom: Install Windows only (advanced) and click Next
Step 12: The installation process will begin. Windows will copy files, prepare files for installation, install feature, update, and finally, finish up the install process. Just hold tight during this part, as it may be lengthy depending on your machine’s specs
Step 13: Windows will restart and continue to prepare the installation, then restart again
Step 14: After the second restart, you’ll be met with the setup screen. I recommend clicking Use express settings
Step 15: You’ll be asked to fill in account information like User name, and password; once you do, click Finish
Step 16: Windows will continue to configure the setup and install apps, once it finishes, you’ll be at the desktop ready to go
Installing VMware Tools
There is one final thing that you’ll need to do to completely finish your Windows 10 installation, and that involves installing VMware Tools. This toolkit contains the necessary drivers and settings to complete your installation, and ensure the best working environment. VMware Tools also makes it possible to gain the best resolution settings for your display.
Step 1: To install VMware Tools, click the Virtual Machine → Install VMware Tools in the menu bar
Step 2: A pop-up box will appear, click the Install button
Step 3: Open Windows Explorer, select the DVD Drive, and double-click on the setup64 file
Step 4: Click Yes on the User Account Control pop-up box
Step 5: Click Next on the VMware Tools Setup screen
Step 6: Select Typical setup and click Next
Step 7: Click Install to begin the VMware Tool installation
Step 8: Click Finish once the setup wizard is completed
Step 9: Click Yes once asked to restart your system
Step 10: Your virtual machine installation will restart, and Windows 10 will reboot complete and ready to use
Be sure to watch our full video walkthrough above. In this video, I show you the entire process from beginning to end as I install Windows 10. After you download both Windows 10 and VMware, you can have your Windows 10 installation running in less than 15 minutes.
What do you think about Windows 10?