Run Windows 7 Virtually - Free for a year.

MOST PEOPLE WILL HAVE heard that Microsoft is only a few short months away from releasing Windows 7, their long-awaited replacement for the much maligned Windows Vista. In a huge break from tradition Microsoft is running a public beta testing program that is free for anyone to join. I've been running Windows 7 on my Mac for a few days now - and I have to say that it appears to be polished and fast. You can download Windows 7 from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx - and it will expire on 1 June 2010. A whole year of Windows 7 for free!

I love my Mac - but there are times when I just have to run Windows. For example when I need to test how a web site looks in Internet Explorer or I when need to work with Microsoft Project. In the past I have used Parallels on my MacBook Pro - but I didn't particularly want to buy another copy for those rare occasions when I need to run Windows on my iMac at home.

Add to that the great news is that Sun has released Virtualbox a fanatastic virtualisation platform that appears to be every bit as good as Parallels and you have the amazing ability to safely try out the new version of Windows for free while you are comfortably running your current operating system:- Windows, Linux or OSX.

One caveat. As good as Windows 7 appears to be it is still a pre-release product. Don't be tempted to do anything that might be regarded as being mission critical.