Category Archives: Windows 8

Note to self, OS X, Windows 8

VmWare Fusion 6 cursor not visible in Windows 8.1

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I had this very annoying problem with VmWare Fusion 6. Running Windows 8.1 as a guest, the cursor was not visible. When I drag the mac cursor towards the Windows 8.1 window, it disappeared. If I pressed ctrl + cmd I found the location, but could not click on any icons within Windows 8.

This seams to be a problem for us VmWare customer since at least version 5. After reading forums I found this link and I did the following:

  1. Repaired the VmWare tools
  2. In the .VMX file added the following row: mks.noHostCursor = “TRUE”
  3. Upgraded to VMWare Fusion 6.0.5
  4. Put VmWare Fusion -> Preferences -> General -> Gaming set to “Never optimize mouse for gaming”.

Now it works from time to time. If i’m not interacting with the Windows environment for sometime the cursor is not visible anymore. Then I have to shut down the Windows VM and kill VmWare Fusion and start over.

I’m running Mac OS X 10.9.5 on a MacBook Pro 15″ i7 early 2011 and VmWare Fusion Version 6.0.5 (2209127).

 

Note to self, Windows 8

Windows 8 activation error: Code 0x8007232b

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After the installation of Windows 8 there was an error when I tried to activate:

“Activation Error: Code 0x8007232b
DNS Name does not exist”

The support pages from Microsoft pointed to the following solution:

Use MAK(Multiple Activation Key) instead of KMS activation.

Run command prompt as an adminstrator and enter the following command where xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx represents your MAK product key.:

slmgr -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

 

iOS, OS X, Windows 8

Taking screenshots in OS X, iOS and Windows

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Writing documentation, blogpost or other activities that requires taking screenshots is something I do a lot. Using several operating systems one sometimes forget how to do it. This little blog post is one of those “note to self”.

Mac OS X

Press Command + Shift + 4 for selecting part of the screen.

Press Command + Shift + 3 for fullscreen.

Press Command + Shift + 4 and hit spacebar for  screenshot of an open window.

Link to a tutorial with step by step instructions.

iOS

To take a screenshot with your iPhone, just press the home button and the sleep button. The camera click sound is heard and the screenshot is placed in the camera roll .

Windows 7 and 8

I use the built in app Snipping tool. It works great. Finding the Snipping tool in Windows 8 could be a little problematic.

 

Development, Windows 8

Learning to develop Windows 8 Store Apps

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Recently I have started to learn and discover how to develop for the new Windows 8 operating system from Microsoft. I have this as my evening and weekend project. The goal is to be comfortable with the tools and methods which Windows 8 Store Apps are developed.

At first I thought it was a bit cool to do client development in JavaScript(JS) but I think I have changed my mind. After some tutorials in JS i thought XAML and C# is better for me. I have been working on Silverlight projects before and C# XAML for Windows 8 are’nt that different on a conceptual level.

I must say, using Windows 8 is mixed feelings. Starting to use OS X was more easy on the mind then using Windows 8. Perhaps I’m a bit conservative. Windows has had a start button since the release of Windows 95. A funny thing is, I did’nt like it at the beginning because I was used to Windows 3.1.

A few early thoughts about Windows 8:

  • The new Metro GUI takes time to get used to
  • Windows 8 is fast
  • Search is fast, just like having a little mini Google inside my machine
Simplistic logo for Windows 8