Windows has evolved into a pretty stable operating system with time, especially when Windows 7 had entered the arena. Then, even with Windows 8, although I did run into a lot of issues with the release and consumer previews, I haven’t regretted making the switch once I installed the retail version. It was pretty necessary, too, that Microsoft made Windows stable the way it has become now, considering that the operating system is the most used in the world for desktop computers and notebook PCs.
Ever since the introduction of iPad to the market, tablets have become something really mainstream. It’s not like the world was devoid of this genre of gadget earlier, but the Cupertino giant’s rendition of the device made it a worldwide phenomenon, making it lucrative to even those people who’d have otherwise not found any use for a tablet PC. Jumping onto the bandwagon, Android entered the arena too, and today, there are more Android tablets available on the market than you’d care to count. BlackBerry also tried its hand at this category in the form of PlayBook, but that failed rather miserably. The last to enter the tablet PC market was Microsoft with its Surface tablet, a device truly remarkable in its elegance, beauty and hardware. Now, Nokia is aiming to dethrone Surface as the top Windows RT tablet, coming up with its own Windows-based tablet that comes with a battery powered keyboard cover.
The open source nature of Android gives it one particular edge over other smartphone and tablet platforms, in being available for a lot more development – both on the app side and modifications – and thus, having loads more to offer than other tablet OS. However, that doesn’t mean it will remain exclusive in all areas where open source matters. Windows is the most favored operating system for desktops, and with the introduction of Windows RT and the Surface tablet, Microsoft, it seems, is looking to gear things up a bit. The recently released SNES emulator for Microsoft Surface, Snes8x, which works with Windows RT, does well to prove that point, and does it really well.
I find almost everything involved in day-to-day usage to be pretty easy on Windows 8, and in some instances, even easier than its more-favored predecessor, Windows 7. The search function in the latter iteration of Windows is definitely much improved, and the aesthetics of the new Modern UI are simply beautiful. Add to it the fact that there are quite a few new features, and the operating system is a rather solid winner, in my opinion. That, however, doesn’t imply that it doesn't come with its own shortcomings. One very obvious one, which even I find annoying and bad design choice all the time, is how you turn off your PC. Unfortunately, the Redmond giant decided to hide away one of the most accessed features of the operating system rather obscurely.
Bradley Mauk, the guy that created the remote control app for the Windows Phone 7 Media Center, has come through with yet another useful remote control app for those on Windows 8 and Windows RT devices. As was the case with the Windows Phone 7 edition, you can easily and conveniently control Windows Media Center right from your Windows 8 / RT device.
Windows has been the most popular desktop operating system for years, and by the looks of it, will continue to be so, despite the fact that Windows 8 had raised a lot of eyebrows over its rather bizarre feature set. I have expressed my liking for the Redmond giant’s latest iteration of the operating system, but even someone like me can’t help but question some of the obscure choices that Microsoft made while designing Windows 8.
How good or necessary (or not) was the Start Screen and the move away from Start Orb was for the future of Windows as an operating system, is a rather different debate, but ground reality is that it has been done. It’s out there now, and you can either take it or leave it, but it won’t change. Now, there is a number of tools that will bring back the good old Start Orb and menu for you under Windows 8, and some of them are completely free, too, but if you start using the new Modern UI screen, it begins to grow on you. While it remains a matter of personal aesthetics, it can’t be denied that there is always room for improvement in almost everything, and in that sense, the Metro Start Screen isn’t perfect. That’s what the Start Menu Modifier application aims to target.
The Universal Serial Bus interface, more commonly known as the USB, is perhaps the most useful invention in the world of computers and technology after the floppy disk. The bus provides a standardized media and input/output interface that has truly revolutionized how removable devices and other peripherals connect and interact with computers all over the world. Today, USB-interface is used not only for removable storage media, but also for the likes of printers, human interface devices (like mice and keyboards), gamepads, speakers, device connections, and lots of other cool gadgets that you’d just like to have sitting around on your desk while you work. If you really think about it, you’ll hardly find yourself using any other port on your PC or laptop more than the USB ports.
Yahoo! may have been bullied from its once-prominent web position by the likes of Google, but the Sunnyvale-based company still has something to offer. Today, Yahoo! has released a glut of new mail apps targeting those on iOS, Windows 8 and Android, as well as revamping its web-based offering, and we've got all the details after the jump.
I personally like Windows 8 a lot. The missing Start Orb doesn’t bother me, since I have pretty smoothly adapted to the new Start Screen (I find it more convenient, in fact), and even if some of the features have been buried down deep within the operating system, that actually piques up the geek inside me, making it more challenging to use the operating system with as much ease as its earlier variants. However, that nowhere implies that everyone is a power user, and for casual ones, some of these hidden items are downright annoying. Take the ability to turn your laptop into a personal Wi-Fi hotspot, for instance; it was all too easy under Windows 7 thanks to the ad hoc network support. With Windows 8, things have become more complicated.
