Say what you like about Microsoft Windows and its fairly obvious shortcomings and issues, but you can’t deny that Microsoft has found a seriously regular rhythm when it comes to pushing out security updates and critical fixes to the operating system. The unofficial term “Patch Tuesday” is a reflection of that hard work and dedication, referring to the weekly regularity of Microsoft’s updates. However, when those updates start to filter through on a Monday, which is what happened, you know its time to take things seriously. You may want to get to that Windows update mechanism right now if you haven’t already.

Want to find out which program or app is using the Internet from your Windows PC? While you can configure your firewall to block or allow incoming and outgoing connections for certain applications, keeping an eye out on applications can often be needed. This can be done via internal and even external tools.

Windows 10 is all the rage these days. For those who are excited about Windows 10’s aesthetics, a Windows 10 Transformation UX Theme Pack has been released and shall dress your Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1 in all the makeup required to walk the Windows 10 ramp.

Whether you use a Mac or a PC is obviously a matter of preference, but it’s not unheard of for some people to want to use one platform but have the interface look like the other. Skinning Windows to look more like a Mac is something that has been done for years, and with each new version of both OS X and Windows, these tools have had to adapt.

Thanks to extensions, browsers like Firefox and Chrome can be tailored to suit the needs of the individual users. Once a mere component of the wider computing experience, our browsers are like an OS unto themselves, and every element – irrespective of whether it may be aesthetic or function-related – can be adjusted by means of the many thousands of extensions available.

Tutorial on how to set or run animated screensaver as desktop wallpaper on Windows 8 or Windows 7. True, it’s nothing new thanks to the fact that the trick of having a screensaver as a wallpaper has been around for some years, but we’d forgotten all about it and, we’re willing to guess, so have you. It’s really so simple that everyone should be at least giving it a try.

The iOS 7 theme for Windows 8 (and 7) is intended to emulate the look of Apple’s mobile operating system, but because of the nature of Windows being a desktop-like environment (despite the recent touch-based support), it arguably appears more similar to OS X. Not that this is a bad thing though. The folks behind this skin seem to have found a nice balance between the two, and considering how Apple is also in the process of amalgamating its two key ecosystems, the crossover doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

The introduction of USB to the computing world could be such a huge technological marvel, it’s hard to fathom that the early adopters of the interface would’ve imagined that when they introduced it to the market. Yet today, we have everything running on USB – from speaker systems to input/output devices to rechargeable batteries and whatnot. So much so that the USB port has become a standard electrical supply for a lot of non-computing gadgets as well.

Regardless of whether your desktop computer operating system of choice has that Microsoft feel about it, or slants more towards an Apple inspired offering, it’s probably fairly accurate to assume that there are things that you would like to change about the aesthetics. Mac OS X is currently enjoying its most successful spell to date with Apple reaping the benefits that come attached with the current surge in user adoption. However, Microsoft is also reporting a recent surge in profits that has a lot to do with the success of Windows 8 since launch.

Windows might be the most popular operating system for desktop computers and notebooks out there, but there are certain areas where Apple’s OS X leaves the Redmond offering biting the dust. While the list is rather large (system stability, quality of applications, notification center and the device ecosystem, just to name a few), top of the list is the aesthetics of the operating system itself. Every element of the OS, be it buttons, navigation/scroll bars or any other area, is beautifully crafted and gives a pleasing environment to work with. It may be just my personal opinion and preference, but even if you look at just how OS X takes a snapshot, you’ll see what I mean.

“Java is everywhere” is the official statement pertaining to the platform, and that’s as true as the sky being blue. The technology exists from within simplest of things to desktop computers, smartphones, tablets and whatnot. The usefulness of Java cannot be denied even in the slightest, either, since it’s the driver for delivery of a lot of content. It seems rather odd, then, that you’d want to disable something as useful as this. There’s a good reason for that, however, that we’ll discuss just past the jump.

Microsoft today made Internet Explorer available to Windows 7 users, which means Microsoft’s 2nd newest operating system now has browser parity with the newest, Windows 8.