Category: macOS

If you’re a macOS user and you need to use apps available on Windows platform only, usually there are two options for you:

• Dual boot
• Virtual machine

Which option is better for you?

The Dual boot option can provide you with a stronger performance than the virtual machine does. However, you cannot use the two operating systems at the same time. In other words, if you need to use apps on the Windows platform, you have to shut down macOS first, then restart your Mac to boot from Window OS.

In contrast, the virtual machine option allows you to run Windows OS directly on macOS, which means, you can use these both macOS and Windows OS at the same time. That’s cool, right? However, the virtual machine is always a big consumer of your Mac system resource. So, it might not be a good choice to install a Windows 10 virtual machine on the Mac that equipped with a small memory.

*In this post, I’d like to focus on the latter option: how to create a Windows 10 virtual machine using VirtualBox. After reading it, you’ll be able to install a Windows 10 VM with VirtualBox quickly and easily!

What is VirtualBox?

Oracle VM VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Created by Innotek, it was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2008, which was in turn acquired by Oracle in 2010 (excerpt from Wikipedia).

VirtualBox can be installed on the following platforms:

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux
• Solaris
• OpenSolaris

How to create a Windows 10 virtual machine using Virtualbox?

1. Download and install the latest version of VirtualBox on your Mac.
2. Download the Windows 10 ISO file from Microsoft.
3. Launch VirtualBox. Click New to start creating Windows 10 VM.
   
4. Name your Windows 10 VM, then select where you’d like to store your VM. As for Type and Version, select Microsoft Windows and Windows 10 (64-bit) respectively. Then click Continue.
   
5. Move the slider to allocate the memory size of your Windows 10 VM. Then click Continue.
   
6. Follow the on-screen instructions to decide whether you need to add a virtual hard disk or not. Here I’d like to select the second option and click Create.
   
7. Select the file type of the virtual hard disk.If you don’t need to use this VM with other virtualization software, you can select the first option. Then click Continue.
   
8. Choose whether you’d like the virtual hard disk file to be dynamically allocated or not, then click Continue. In this step, I’d like to select the second option: Fixed size.
   
9. Confirm the file location for this VM. Move the slider to allocate the file size of the virtual hard disk. The recommended file size is 50 GB. Then click Create. It make take some time to complete.
   
   
10. Click Start.
    
11. On the popping-up window, click the file icon to locate the Windows 10 ISO file you downloaded.
    
    Click Choose.
    
    Then click Start.
    
12. Follow the instructions on the popping-up window to install Windows 10 (VM). It may take some time to finish the installation process. During installation, the Windows VM will restart several times.
    
13. If you see the Windows 10 desktop in VirtualBox, Congratulations! You’ve created a Windows 10 VM on your Mac.
    

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That’s pretty easy, right? If you have any questions or suggestions on this issue, you’re more than welcome to leave me a comment below. Thanks for reading!

If you’re a Windows veteran like me, after switching to macOS, you may be confused by the document (file)-level keyboard shortcuts on macOS. So in this post, I’m going to show you some of the most frequently used document-level keyboard shortcuts on macOS. After reading it, you’ll be familiar with those document-level keyboard shortcuts!

Document / file -level keyboard shortcuts

Copy the selected item to the Clipboard:

Cut the selected item and copy it to the Clipboard:

Select All items:

Duplicate the selected files:

Paste the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app. This also works for files in the Finder:

Undo the previous command:

Reverse the undo command:

Save the current document:

Find items in a document or open a Find window:

Show the Get Info window for a selected file:

Move the selected item to the Trash:

Empty the Trash:

Empty the Trash without confirmation dialog:

Print the current document:

Show the Character Viewer, from which you can choose emoji and other symbols:

Use Quick Look to preview the selected item:

Create a new folder in the Finder:

Move the dragged item to the other volume, instead of copying it:

Copy the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item:

Make an alias of the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item:

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Hopefully, after reading this post, you’ve been familiar with the document (file)-level keyboard shortcuts on macOS! If you’ve any suggestions or questions on this topic, please let me a comment below. Thanks for reading!

Related posts:

The System-Level macOS Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know

The App-Level macOS Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know

In my previous post, I talked about the system-level macOS keyboard shortcuts:

The System-Level macOS Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know

In this post, I will focus on the app-level macOS keyboard shortcuts. After you read this post, you’ll be familiar with those app-level keyboard shortcuts.

App-level keyboard shortcuts

Use the app in full screen:

Switch to the next most recently used app among your open apps:

Open preferences for the front app:

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That’s it! If you master the keyboard shortcuts in the post, I believe you can boost productivity when working with your Mac. Just as always, if you’d like to share your thoughts or ideas, or if you have any questions on this topic, you’re more than welcome to leave me a comment below!

When we talk about the efficiency of macOS, one of the topics we cannot get around is the macOS Keyboard shortcuts. macOS seems to have far more keyboard shortcuts than Windows does. According to Apple:

By pressing certain key combinations, you can do things that normally need a mouse, trackpad, or other input device.

quoted from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236

Recently, I sorted out some frequently used keyboard shortcuts that every macOS user should know, and I divided these keyboard shortcuts into three categories:

• System-level keyboard shortcuts
• App-level keyboard shortcuts
• File-level (document-level) keyboard shortcuts

In this post, I’d like to focus on the system-level keyboard shortcuts first. After reading this post, you’ll be familiar with those system-level keyboard shortcuts.

System-level keyboard shortcuts

Immediately lock your screen:

Log out of your macOS user account. You’ll be asked to confirm:

Open the Computer window:

Eject the selected disk or volume:

Open the desktop folder:

Open a Go To Folder window:

Open the Home folder of the current macOS user account:

Show / hide the Spotlight search bar:

Open iCloud window:

Open the Network window:

Open the Download window:

Open the Documents folder:

Open the AirDrop window:

Open the Utilities folder:

Open the Connect to Sever window:

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Are you familiar with these system-level keyboard shortcuts after reading this post? If you know of any other system-level keyboard shortcuts not mentioned in this post, you’re more than welcome to share them by leaving a comment below. Thanks for reading!