Microsoft has announced that a Consumer Preview of its highly-anticipated Windows 8 operating system will be released to the public on this month’s leap year day – February 29th.

With the launch of Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 8, nearing ever closer, it looks as though the Redmond company is looking to provide a platform which could prove to be a lot friendlier to developers and small software publishers.

Dropbox is amongst the most popular file-hosting and file-syncing services and for good reason: it syncs files seamlessly, works on a bunch of platforms and, in addition to the free 2GB space, the company gives away free space to users every once in a while.

I know what you’re thinking, you only installed Firefox 10 a few days ago on your desktop and Android devices, and the beta of Firefox 11 is out already? Well yes, it does seem that Mozilla are pumping out updates faster than a steaming freight train, but worry not as the beta version of Firefox 11 may just bring some updated goodness that appeals to you if you are a fan of the foxy browser.

The last four of five weeks have brought about quite a bit of news and speculation surrounding Microsoft’s Kinect motion detecting hardware. When Microsoft took to the stage during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas at the beginning of this month, they announced that the original Kinect hardware had amassed more than 18 million sales during its first year.

Sometimes someone comes up with a beautiful piece of tinkering that results in a thing of beauty. Something that either creates a need that we didn’t know existed deep within our hearts or plugs a hole we’ve been trying to fill for years. Something magic.

If you’re a Firefox user then you now have a new version to download, with the popular browser being updated to version 10.

The success of the Microsoft Kinect motion sensor for the Xbox 360 has obviously set the minds of the men and women in Redmond wandering. The motion detecting sensor was launched for the Xbox 360 in November 2010 and has so far shifted approximately eighteen million units. The estimated sales total paint an impressive picture by themselves, but when you take into account the 360 console itself has shipped around the sixty six million units, the fact that for every 3.6 consoles sold a Kinect has also been sold is very impressive indeed.

There were undoubtedly good times and bad times shared between the two rivaling tech-gurus Steve Jobs and Bill Gates over the years.

Well, we all know it is only a matter of time until mobile operating systems take over the world which are used to power all of our gadgets and household appliances. The only question that remains to be answered is; which operating system will reign victorious amongst consumers in the ongoing battle of the OSes? The current heavy weight contenders have to be iOS, Android and Windows Phone, with Blackberry hanging on for dear life but looking set to fall by the wayside sooner rather than later.

Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates will be remembered as two of the biggest tech luminaries of their time, long after both have passed on. Anyone who has seen Pirates of Silicon Valley will know how both Apple and Microsoft’s histories are deeply intertwined, and how closely – and often not – Jobs and Gates worked together.

This year’s CES has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that 2012 is going to be the year that the computer market at large is going to catch up with Apple. At least, it will in the world of ultra-light, ultra-portable notebooks like the MacBook Air.

The jailbreak community welcomed the release of the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 untethered jailbreak yesterday which was released in the form of a new Chronic Dev Team tool named ‘Absinthe’. At the point of release; the Mac OS X version was the only tool which had been packaged ready for distribution which left Windows users high and dry. Fortunately, the iPhone Dev Team had also produced a powerful Command Line Interface tool which was primarily designed to assist users with debugging and troubleshooting, but can also be used to perform the full jailbreak process.

To coincide nicely with the impressive educational announcements made today in New York, Apple have also released iTunes 10.5.3 which adds synchronization support for the newly announced interactive books.

Remember netbooks? Those cheap, or at least cheap-ish little computers that were supposed to be the death of all ‘real’ notebooks just a few short years ago? What happened to them?

With Apple’s iDevices the most popular in their respective fields and Windows by far the most-used OS, many gadget fans find themselves lost in translation. For whilst the fruit company’s philosophy is focused around a streamlined, over-the-air infrastructure, Windows is a little more bread-and butter – leaving perks such as AirPlay specific to OS X users.

The ongoing argument between Windows and OS X users as to which holds the crown is of fierce debate, with devotees from both sides quick to point out the various advantages and disadvantages of each.

Whenever we sit at our desktops at the start of a new day, we usually open a bunch of the same applications – what we would call our staple diet in terms of computing.

If you aren’t familiar with ‘OnLive’, they are predominantly a company who offer a cloud-based gaming experience where the games are stored on remote servers and delivered to users through an internet connection.

Perhaps one of the most innovative, and highly received gadgets of the last few years is the Microsoft Kinect device for the Xbox 360. Functioning as a motion sensing input device, the Kinect builds on, and improves, the functionality that the Nintendo Wii brought to the gaming world. Released in November 2010, the Kinect allows users to feel as if they are a part of the game they are playing on an Xbox 360 by sensing motion and voice commands to control scenes.