28Sep

Windows 8 lets users sync personalized settings and apps across multiple PCs

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Windows 8 lets users sync personalized settings and apps across multiple PCs

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Most people like to put their personal stamp on their PC with their own desktop wallpaper and settings that have been tweaked just the way they like them. But all that is lost when they log onto a shared PC on which they don’t have an account set up. All that changes with Windows 8, which allows users to enjoy their own profile, settings and Metro style apps on any Windows 8 PC by logging in with their Windows Live ID.

In Windows 8, users will be able to associate the most commonly used Windows settings with their Live ID user account so the settings will be available when logging into any Windows 8 PC. As it stores all the information associated with your Windows Live ID in the cloud, when you log into another Windows 8 PC for the first time it will download the relevant information in the background and apply the settings as it comes in so you’ll still be able to use the PC and not have to wait until all the data is downloaded before getting to work.

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16Sep

Pic: Windows 8 Upgrades the Blue Screen of Death

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Pic Windows 8 Upgrades the Blue Screen of Death

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If you are or ever were a Windows user, you’re likely familiar with the Blue Screen of Death (BSoD). The bug check screen, with its lines of error codes, has been part of Windows since version 1.0. It has represented the crashing of computers — and the frustration of users — for decades.

The BSoD was never intended to be user friendly, though. It was made for engineers who wanted to figure out why a PC crashed. For the rest of the world, it signifies the downside of owning a Windows device.

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14Sep

Windows 8: The Top 4 Things You Should Know

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Windows 8 The Top 4 Things You Should Know

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Microsoft says it is “reinventing the OS” with Windows 8, the company’s next-generation operating system. Microsoft fired off dozens of announcements and showed off countless features of the new OS at its Build conference in Anaheim, California. Features such as the Metro interface, support for touchscreens, improved performance and a Windows Store for apps are making headlines.

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10Sep

Microsoft promises faster startup for Windows 8

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Microsoft, addressing a painful part of using the company’s operating system, says Windows 8 starts up 30 percent to 70 percent faster than the same machines running Windows 7.

That’s music to my ears.

Alas, I’ve heard Microsoft say it’s speeding up Windows startup so many times over the years that I’m skeptical it’ll ever really happen, especially given that part of the responsibility lies with third-party software out of Microsoft’s direct control. This time, though, Microsoft is tackling the problem with a more dramatic approach that preserves some of the computer’s state from before the restart.

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6Sep

Will Windows Phone Apps Run On Windows 8?

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When you look at the combined 70 percent smartphone market share of Android and Apple in the U.S. compared to Microsoft’s measly and shrinking 6 percent, it seems like it’s game over before it really began for Windows Phone. Windows Phone is a decent mobile OS, even promising, but so far it has failed to capture the hearts and minds of developers or consumers. Can Microsoft do anything to change that and will it involve tying Windows Phone more tightly to its next desktop operating system, Windows 8? (more…)

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17Aug

Windows 8 prerelease launching in coming months

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Windows 8 prerelease launching in coming months

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Windows 8 is set to hit the prerelease stage over the coming months, according to a blog posted yesterday by Microsoft President Steven Sinofsky.

Though the term prerelease version is a bit vague, Sinofsky is likely referring to the beta of Windows 8 since he said that the company wants to “begin an open dialogue with those of you who will be trying out the prerelease version over the coming months.”

Aiming the new blog series, “Building Windows 8,” at customers, developers, and users in general, Sinofsky used the post to provide tidbits of information but not much detail yet as he acknowledged that “people express frustration over how little we’ve communicated so far about Windows 8.”

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10Aug

MS Is Still Ruling The Desktop: 42% Of Machines Will Run Windows 7 In 2011

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MS Is Still Ruling The Desktop 42% Of Machines Will Run Windows 7 In 2011

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By John Biggs

Windows 7 is now the most prevalent – if not most popular – desktop OS with Gartner estimating that 42% of current PCs will run the OS while 94% of new machines will run Win7.

In comparison, OS X got 4% of the pie while Linux is firmly at 2%. Even IT departments are starting massive roll-outs of Win7 to their desktops, a move that has pushed the fairly new OS into the catbird seat. However, Gartner expects this to be the last time a standalone OS image is installed on business PCs as IT departments move towards hosted computing and virtualization.

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8Aug

Speech Recognition Interface Uncovered in iOS 5

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Speech Recognition Interface Uncovered in iOS 5

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Apple’s iOS 5 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is on the way, and now that the iOS5 beta software is available to developers, clues of a partially hidden feature have been uncovered: Nuance speech recognition, rumored to be tightly integrated within iOS 5.

Although the upcoming speech-recognition features are not operational yet in the iOS 5 beta, parts of it are currently visible in the interface. As you can see in the graphic above, 9to5 Mac points out the microphone icon, placed next to the space bar on the iOS keyboard that’s used throughout the operating system. When a user touches that microphone icon, it opens the speech recognition interface that you see on the right of the graphic above.

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27Jul

Infographic: The History of Android

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The History of Android

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Android‘s box of sweets has gotten much more diverse since launching its first dessert-themed operating system, Cupcake, in 2009. Mobile app developers [x]cubelabs have laid out a timeline of these versions — from Cupcake to Ice Cream Sandwich — in the infographic below. What updates do you think were most influential? At what point did you decide that Android was or wasn’t the right OS for you?

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22Jul

Nine Things You Should Do After Installing OS X Lion

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Nine Things You Should Do After Installing OS X Lion 2

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No operating system is perfect, though. At least, not for everyone, and especially not right out of the (non-existent) box. Looking to make your Lion experience that much better, we’ve bundled together a bevy of tips and tricks that you really ought to have ready on your first trip into the new OS.

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