Category Archives: PC world

Nov 9 2012

8 worst Windows 8 irritations (and how to fix them)

Windows 8, I want to love you, but your annoying quirks keep bringing me down.

After spending more than a year conquering the operating system’s overhauled (and nonintuitive) interface in its various prerelease iterations, I’ve now entered a second stage of frustration: I find myself cursing at Windows 8′s major changes less and less, but shaking my fist and swearing like a sailor at its little irritations more and more.

Beyond its polished, tile-based surface, Microsoft’s new operating system plays host to a legion of smaller annoyances—a cornucopia of quirks that will leave you seething long after you get the hang of all the new gesture controls and schizophrenic system options. Some of the problems are whoppers. Others are mere nitpicks that result from a lifetime of traditional Windows use. But many of these problems can be fixed, with one major exception. Read on! Continue reading →

Nov 9 2012

Three simple rules for buying a new laptop

This is the time of year when friends, family members, casual acquaintances, and people in the street stop me to ask about buying a new PC.

“What should I get?” they ask. “What do I need?” Also heard with increasing frequency: “Should I get a tablet instead of a laptop?”

Loaded questions, to be sure, but not difficult ones. A tablet can take the place of a laptop if all you do is browse the Web and read e-mail. If you need to get any serious work done, whether for school or business or just everyday life, a laptop is still the smarter choice. It gives you a keyboard, a bigger screen, copious amounts of storage, and compatibility with all your favorite software.

So, what kind of laptop should you get, and with what specs and features? I can make this really simple:

1. Get at least 4GB of RAM.

That’s “four gigabytes of memory” for those who don’t speak PC. Anything less and your system will run like molasses–something to keep in mind as Black Friday deals roll around. Many “doorbuster” laptops will have only 2GB of RAM, and that’s just not enough.

2. If you can afford it, get a system with an SSD.

That’s short for “solid-state drive,” which has no moving parts and therefore runs faster, generates less heat, and consumes less power than a traditional hard drive. You’ll pay a premium for an SSD and end up with less storage space, but how much do you really need? Most folks I know rarely fill up more than 100GB.

Indeed, although a 128GB SSD may seem like a downgrade compared with, say, a 500GB hard drive, the speed benefits alone are worth the extra money.

3. Try before you buy.

Although brick-and-mortar tech stores are few and far between these days, there are still places where you can go and browse laptops in person. And that’s something you should definitely do.

Sure, you can shop online based on specs and price, but you owe it to yourself to test-drive the keyboard. And the trackpad. Make sure they’re comfortable and responsive. Likewise, check the screen: is it glossy and therefore heavy on the glare? Whenever possible, try to lay hands on a laptop before buying it.

One more “rule.”

Notice that I didn’t mention the procesor. Unless you’re doing heavy-duty video editing or playing a lot of graphics-intensive games, the processor just isn’t the big factor it used to be. They’re all pretty fast nowadays.

As for brands, I have similar feelings: they’re all pretty good nowadays. That said, it’s always a good idea to do your homework, starting with PC World’s Reliability and Satisfaction surveys.

What other advice would you give to someone shopping for a new laptop?

Nov 7 2012

How (and why) to surf the web in secret


They say no one can hear you scream in space, but if you so much as whisper on the Web, you can be tracked by a dozen different organizations and recorded for posterity. Simply visiting a website can allow its operators to figure out your general physical location, identify details about your device information, and install advertising cookies that can track your movements around the web. (Don’t believe me? Check this out.)

Not everyone likes the idea of having his or her entire digital lives scraped, analyzed and (in countries with restrictive regimes) controlled outright by third parties. So please consider the following tools and tips, which will hide your IP address and have you surfing the web in blissful anonymity in no time. Continue reading →

Nov 6 2012

Google updates Chrome browser with battery-saving feature

Google Tuesday released a Chrome browser update with a video decoding enhancement that the company claims will help users save battery life.

The feature, available for Chrome on Windows, cuts power consumption by executing video decoding on graphics processing units instead of on computers’ CPUs, Google said in a blog post. This is because dedicated graphics chips require much less power than computers’ CPUs, resulting in a 25 percent increase in battery life in Google tests.

“Now Chrome users on Windows will experience longer battery life so they don’t get cut off while watching their favorite YouTube video on repeat,” wrote Ami Fischman, a Google software engineer.

Other new features

This Chrome update—version 23—also gives users an option to send a “do-not-track” request to websites and online services, although Google warned that this feature’s effectiveness depends on how the sites and services field these requests.

“Google is working with others on a common way to respond to these requests in the future,” Fischman wrote.

Chrome 23 also consolidates in an icon next to the URL a website’s permission settings for things like geolocation identification, pop up messages and camera-microphone access.

“Now, simply click on the page/lock icon next to a website’s address in the omnibox to see a list of permissions and tweak them as you wish,” Fischman wrote.

Security fixes include one that is not in the Chrome browser per se, but rather in the way Apple iOS defends against wild writes in compromised graphics drivers. Google paid $1,000 to the person who reported this bug, rated High, the second-highest rating behind Critical.

Google fixed 13 other security vulnerabilities, including five rated High and seven rated Medium, including one for which it paid a reward of $3,500.

Nov 3 2012

20 must-know Windows 8 tips and tricks

Windows 8 is rife with features and behaviors that conspire to perplex even the most experienced PC users. Not all of them are bad, per se, but few of them are immediately intuitive. Making matters worse, the OS was primarily designed for touch control, and as a result, many mouse and keyboard commands feel like tacked-on afterthoughts.But help is on the way.We’ve assembled a list of our favorite Windows 8 shortcuts, tricks, and workarounds. Many focus on making the most of the OS on a traditional desktop PC, so if you’re interested in touch gestures, please check out our article that focuses directly on the Windows 8 touch experience. Now let’s start our journey of discovery with a look at easy-to-use (though often tough to remember!) Windows 8 hotkey commands.

Continue reading →

Oct 29 2012

Maximize your first 30 minutes with Windows 8

You’ve successfully installed Windows 8. You’re staring at the Start screen, in all its flat-tiled glory, and it all seems completely alien based on your previous experience with Windows.

As with any new version of an operating system, your first half-hour is critical. You’ll want to learn the basics of navigation, how some important built-in applications work, and how to set up basic functions, including networking, backup, and user accounts. For this article, I’m going to assume that you now have Windows 8 running, and that you can see the Start screen and associated tiles. I’ll also assume that all the current drivers, including networking drivers, are properly installed.

First, let’s go over some basic navigation tips.

Continue reading →

Oct 29 2012

Master Windows 8 gesture

Windows 8 has a few new features (like the charms menu, the Start screen, and gesture commands) which may seem pointless or needlessly confusing at first blush. Experienced Windows users running a non-RT version of Windows 8 may be tempted to ignore these new features entirely in favor of working exclusively through the Desktop app.

That’s a reasonable sentiment, and it’s totally feasible because Windows 8 works equally well whether you stick exclusively to the new Windows 8 interface or the traditional Windows desktop. But Windows 8 really shines when you learn to use the charms and gestures to quickly swap back and forth between the Start screen and the desktop, multitasking and sharing data between new Windows 8 apps and your trusty desktop software.

Before you can do that, you need to get comfortable taking your hands off the keyboard. After a few weeks working and playing with Windows I’m starting to learn how the new control scheme, designed to work equally well on desktops, laptops and tablets, can help you work faster and more efficiently if you take a little time to learn and integrate it into your workflow. With that in mind I’ve put together a brief guide to helping you get more done in less time on your desktop or tablet by mastering Windows 8 touch controls and their keyboard/mouse equivalents.

Continue reading →