Showing posts with label window tip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label window tip. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Friday, 5 October 2012
Released just last week in Developers Preview mode, Windows 8 already contains more than 300 new features. At its Build developers conference, Microsoft pointed to plans to keep adding more new capabilities until Windows 8 evolves into a shipping product. Which of the existing features are most important to get to know about right now?
While no list like this can even approach 'all inclusiveness', our list of ten key features in Windows 8 ranges across new jargon such as "charms" and "snap muti-tasking," to first-time operatibility on ARM-based tablets, to major improvements around support for USB 3.0, touch keyboards, file copying, and more. Here, in no particular order of importance, is the list of ten:
1. Support for both x86 PCs and ARM tablets
Windows 8 is the first edition of Windows to operate on both ARM-based tablets and traditional x86 PCs based on ARM processors from Intel and AMD.
“Support for ARM-based chipsets, touch, and sensors makes Windows 8 work beautifully on your choice of a full spectrum of devices, such as 10-inch slates with all-day battery life, ultra-lightweight laptops, and powerful all-in-ones with 27-inch high-definition screens,” Microsoft contends, in a Windows 8 Guide distributed with Windows Developer Preview
In addition, the ARM edition of Windows 8 includes a new mode dubbed “always on, always connected,” designed to let tablets act like smartphones. Tablets can remain in standby mode without disconnecting from the Internet, and then wake up instantly.
Windows 8 is designed to work seamlessly across both PCs and ARM tablets. Yet until developers get a real start on apps for Microsoft’s still empty Windows Store, it’s tough to tell whether that will be universally true.
Although Windows 8 might look and feel like an entirely new “user experiemce,”, Microsoft is actually layering a new animation-enabled user interface (UI) on top of an only somewhat upgraded Windows 7.
The Windows 8 Start Menu is customizable through a mosaic of tiles, which differ from traditional desktop icons by letting you view live information from Windows 8 Metro style apps without actually accessing the apps.
In demoing the tile-based UI at last week’s Build conference , Microsoft showed how the tile for a Windows 8 weather app is able to display the current temperature in a city – along with projected temperatures for the next two days – without requiring you to open up the app. A tile for Windows Live Mail will show you your latest message, while a tile for a social networking app will show you notifications.
“The [Metro] apps are full-screen. They’re beautiful.They’re designed for touch, but of course, they work great with a mouse and keyboard as well if that’s what you have. We wanted to make it really fast and fluid for you to switch between them,” according to Jensen Harris, lead program manager on the Microsoft Office User Experience..
Windows 8 users are also able to access Windows 7 apps. “Everything that runs on Windows 7 will run on Windows 8,” maintained Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft’s Windows and indows Live division, during a keynote at the Build conference. However, in order to access Windows 7 apps, you need to switch to a different built-in UI.
3. Charms
In large part, ‘charms’ is a new implementation of the traditional Windows start bar. Charms can also be used to quickly configure settings for individual apps. On an ordinary non-touch PC, charms are accessed by dragging the mouse to the bottom-left corner of the screen, to the same spot as the old Windows start button. On a tablet, you swipe from the right side of the screen to bring
up charms.
up charms.
Microsoft recently applied for a trademark on charms. The charms sidebar offers five sets of options, supporting both app-specific settings and system settings such as volume and brightness. The options include Start, Search, Share, Devices, and Settings. The Start option returns the user to the home screen. The Devices option presents a list of connected devices. Under the Share option, users can see social network sharing apps.
4. Snap Multi-tasking
‘Snap multitasking” is designed to make it easy to run two apps in Windows 8 side-by-side, to resize them, and to switch between them. On the right-hand side of the screen, you can snap an app into place.
You can make an app smaller or larger by dragging the bar for the app. To switch between apps in Windows 8, you swipe from the left-hand part of the screen.
However, Windows 8 does not allow you to view all of your running apps on a single screen.
5. Windows 8 Control Panel
Beyond revamping the Windows task manager, Microsoft has also redesigned the control panel for Windows 8. New options include Personalize, Users, Wireless, Notifications, General, Privacy, Search, and Share.
As Metro style apps become available, you'll be able to use the Personalize menu to customize the Start menu with tiles for calendar, music, e-mail, Netflix, and much more.
In a demo at Build, Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft's corporate VP of program management for Windows, showed how you’ll be able to position these Metro apps on the screen, and also to combine them into groups such as friends and games.
6. Web Navigation by Touch
The Internet Explorer (IE) 10 browser built into Windows 8 is designed to offer faster browsing through greater hardware acceleration, along with rapid gesture-based zoom, pan, and Web site navigation.
As in other areas of Windows 8, you can quickly access Windows 8 charms, as well as the two keyboards described below.
7. Two Touch Keyboards
Windows 8 also contains two soft keyboards: an “enhanced” traditional keyboard, plus a new thumbs keyboard for non-touch typists.
In efforts by Microsoft to make typing on a virtual keyboard faster and more accurate, the revised edition of the conventional keyboard suggests words on the screen as you type. You can then tap to selected a suggested word. Microsoft also provides a spellcheck-like feature designed to automatically correct mistyped words – although
like any other spellchecker, this feature carries the potential to cause its own errors.
like any other spellchecker, this feature carries the potential to cause its own errors.
The keyboards are also aimed at automatically adjusting to whaever human language you choose for Windows. These language settings will automatically apply to the entire computer, instead of only to specific apps
8. ‘Enhanced Copy Experience’
Windows 8 also introduces the ability to perform all current copy operations into a single dialog box, instead of requiring you to perform file copying in separate dialog boxes for each app.
The new dialog box for file copying lets you pause, resume, and stop each sopy operation currently under way. It will also warn you if you’re beginning to copy one version of a file on top of another.
Microsoft has also added a realtime throughput graph. “Now each copy job shows the speed of data transfer, the transfer rate trend, and how much data is left to transfer. While this is not designed for benchmarking, in many cases it can provide a quick and easy way to assess what is going on for a particular [copy] job,” noted Alex Simons, director of program management with the Windows 8 management team.
9. Native USB 3.0 Support
New USB 3.0 ports operate at speeds up to ten times faster than )SB 2.0. To better support these speeds, Microsoft is outfitting Windows 8 with native USB 3.0 drivers.
Meanwhile, though, USB 3.0 will purportedly continue to work under Windows 7, through the use of third-party drivers.
“By 2015, all new PCs are expected to offer USB 3.0 ports, and over 2 billion new ‘SuperSpeed’ USB devices will be sold in that year alone,” said Dennis Flanagan, director of program management for the Windows 8 Devices and Networking Group, in a blog post. “There are also billions of older USB devices that Windows must remain compatible with.”
10. Better Support for Multiple Monitors
Windows 8 also brings increased support for multiple monitors, The Developers Preview of the new OS includes first-time capabilities for extending the taskbar across two PCs, without any need for third-party apps. You can also stretch wallpaper across two monitors, or display the Start screen on one PC and the desktop on the other, for instance.
It's also easy to switch between multiple monitors. The primary monitor has a start button, and the secondary monitor has a switcher button. Clicking or tapping on the switcher button will swap it out for the start button, allowing you to turn the secondary monitor into the primary one.
Sunday, 26 August 2012
It's a great time to offer a similarly easy step-by-step walkthrough on installing Windows 8 with a USB drive.
If you're familiar with the process, there isn't much for you to see here, but this should serve as a quick confidence booster for anyone who hasn't installed an operating system recently.
Step One→
Download Windows 8 and the Windows 7 USB/DVD toolIf you're not sure what version of Windows 8 to download, we'd recommend the 64-bit build, especially if your system is relatively modern. You can read more about the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems here and the download page linked above provides system requirements for each architecture. The short of it: Windows 8 64-bit requires an extra 1GB of RAM and 4GB of storage -- negligible for most users. Also, before you ask, the Windows 7 USB/DVD tool will work fine with Windows 8.
Step Two→
Create a bootable Windows 8 USB driveNaturally, to create a bootable USB drive, you'll have to insert one and it needs to be 4GB or larger. Install the Windows 7 USB/DVD tool. Once the utility opens, you should be able to browse for and select the Windows 8 ISO you downloaded as well as the USB drive you inserted. It's worth noting that your USB drive will be wiped, so save anything important. The process takes about five minutes depending on the speed of your drive. You'll see a message that reads "backup completed" when it's done.
Step Three→
Install the Windows 8 Release Preview (key: TK8TP-9JN6P-7X7WW-RFFTV-B7QPF)Needless to say, back up anything important before proceeding. If you plan to upgrade or overwrite your installation of Windows XP, Vista or 7, open the root directory of your USB drive in Windows Explorer and launch Setup.exe to begin. You'll get to choose between the two. Windows 7 users should have a painless upgrade as programs, Windows settings as well as user accounts and files are imported. However, Windows 8 won't save programs from Vista and it won't save programs or Windows settings from XP.
If you want to dual boot Windows 8 with your existing operating system, you'll have to install a second storage device or create a new partition. The former is relatively self-explanatory, just attach the drive and choose it during the installation process. The latter, however, requires a little more effort. Vista and 7 users can create a new partition with Windows' Disk Management application (Start > search for Disk Management). Once the application loads, you should see your operating system's drive. Follow these steps:
- Right click the drive that you want to house Windows 8 and choose "Shrink Volume" (Windows 8 64-bit requires at least 20GB, so shrink your current partition accordingly)
- Right click the new "Unallocated" space and create a "New Simple Volume"
- Choose the next available drive letter and quick format the partition with NTFS (you can name the volume anything, but we'd suggest something like Windows 8 RP x64)
Windows XP users will have make partition adjustments with a third-party tool such as Partition Logic, but you'll do the same thing: shrink one volume to create another. It should be smooth sailing from here as Microsoft's installation process guides you through everything. Just boot off your Windows 8 USB drive, choose a custom installation and select your newly created partition. If you're having trouble launching the USB drive, you probably just have to put it ahead of your system drive in the BIOS (look for boot options).
If you want to get rid of Windows 8, load your primary OS and launch partition software (again, Disk Management for Vista or 7 users). Delete the Windows 8 volume and extend your remaining partition into the freshly unallocated space. Removing Windows 8 could screw up your bootloader and prevent your original OS from starting properly. Don't panic, this is a simple fix. Windows Vista and 7 users can use the automatic Startup Repair, while Windows XP users will have to get their hands a little dirtier.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
We set out to make it as easy as possible for everyone to upgrade to Windows 8. Starting at general availability, if your PC is running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just $39.99 in 131 markets. And if you want, you can add Windows Media Center for free through the “add features” option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade.
When you use Windows.com to purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant makes upgrading simple by walking you through the upgrade process step-by-step from purchase to download and then of course installation.
The Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant will check to make sure your PC is ready for Windows 8. It will provide a detailed compatibility report that lets you know of anything you may have to address before or after the upgrade and outlines actions to take.
It will also inform you of any application or device compatibility issues. It will ask you what you want to keep from your current Windows installation. You will be able to upgrade from any consumer edition of Windows 7 to Windows 8 Pro and bring everything along which includes your Windows settings, personal files, and apps. If you are upgrading from Windows Vista, you will be able to bring along your Windows settings and personal files, and if you are upgrading from Windows XP you will only be able to bring along your personal files. Of course, if you want to start fresh, you can choose to bring nothing along. Or if you prefer to format your hard drive as part of your upgrade experience, you can do so as long as you boot from media and then format your hard drive from within the setup experience for installing Windows 8, not prior to it.
Once you purchase your upgrade, the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant kicks off your download. It has a built-in download manager that allows you to pause and continue your download at any time as well as a check to ensure your download completes successfully.
After your download finishes, you can choose to proceed with the upgrade (“Install now”) or install later either from your desktop or by creating your own media. If you choose to create your own media, you will be able to create your own bootable USB or .ISO file which can be burned onto a DVD for upgrade and backup purposes. If you prefer, you also have the option of purchasing a backup DVD for $15 plus shipping and handling.
We believe that your upgrade experience in Windows 8 will be a breeze by offering a faster experience, a single upgrade path, and compatibility from prior versions of Windows. We’ve continued to listen to our customers and have expanded the ability to download to over 100 countries and 37 languages. We have simplified the Windows upgrade experience with the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant which supports you during your upgrade with everything from selecting your language to pausing your download to built-in compatibility checks - it’s seamless. And if you’re an enthusiast you will have the flexibility to download and control how you upgrade.
If you prefer to shop at a local store, a packaged DVD version of the upgrade to Windows 8 Pro will be available for $69.99 during this promotion.
This upgrade promotion for Windows 8 Pro both online and at retail runs through January 31st, 2013.
We wanted to share information about this upgrade promotion with you as we continue to drive toward the RTM milestone for Windows 8. We will of course have more to say and more details to provide closer to general availability.
Oh, and by the way - if you’re not upgrading from a prior version of Windows and are building your own PC or installing Windows 8 in a virtual machine or a separate partition, you will be able to purchase and install the Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro System Builder product.
Monday, 18 June 2012
Install OS X Snow Leopard in VMware Windows 7
The following step by step guide will help you in installing Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard as a guest virtual machine in Windows 7. You’ll need to have a system with an Intel processor which supports hardware virtualization, original OS X Snow Leopard retail disk, VMware Workstation 7 and Windows 7, Vista or XP installed as host operating system. If you meet all these requirements, you can then install OS X Snow Leopard as a VM under Windows and can enjoy the best of both worlds.Note: We don’t in anyway encourage downloading Apple software via file-sharing / torrent sites and run it in an virtualized environment under Windows. This guide is for informational purposes only. If you like OS X Snow Leopard, Get a Mac.
Step 1: Download and install VMware Workstation 7.
Step 2: Download pre-made modified version of Snow Leopard.vmdk and darwin_snow.iso files required to get this thing to work. Please don’t ask for the link to these files. You can find them easily elsewhere on the web.
Step 3: Start VMware Workstation and open up “Mac OS X Server 10.6 (experimental).vmx” file which you downloaded in Step 2.
Step 4: Click on”Edit virtual machine settings”, select CD/DVD (IDE) option from left hand side and then and select “Use ISO image file” option. Point it to “darwin_snow.iso” which you downloaded in Step 2.
Step 5: Now power on the virtual machine and hit “F8” key. You should now have a screen similar to the one shown below.
Step 6: Now you’ll have to point your virtual machine to OS X Snow Leopard retail DVD instead of “darwin_snow.iso”. To do this, right click on CD/DVD option found in lower right most corner of your VMware window and select settings.
Insert OS X Snow Leopard retail DVD in your DVD drive and select the “Use physical drive” option.
Step 7: Now go back and select “c” option (Boot DVD) from the prompt which you got in Step 5 to boot from the OS X retail DVD. OS X boot screen with Apple logo should now appear. If the boot screen doesn’t appear for you, try booting it in verbose mode by pressing “F8” key after selecting “c” option, and then enter “-v” (without quotes). This will enable the system to boot OS X DVD using verbose mode.
Step 8: Wait for a couple of minutes for the Installation Setup screen to show up. From here on, simply follow the onscreen setup instructions to install OS X Snow Leopard. Make sure you format your virtual hard drive in “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” format using Disk Utility. Customize your installation with minimum set of printer drivers and language options for a lightweight trouble free installation experience.
Step 9: Once the installation is completed. System will automatically reboot. At this point, close your guest virtual machine and change your CD/DVD option again like you did in Step 2 to point it to “darwin_snow.iso”.
Step 10: Start the virtual machine again. Press “F8” key and select “h” option to “Boot first hard disk”. Voila! Snow Leopard should now be running live under Windows 7! [via ihackintosh]
Feel free to ask me any question should you run into any problem in getting Snow Leopard VM to work under Windows 7.
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Is your computer running more slowly than it used to? You may have too many startup programs bogging it down, but follow the steps below and you'll be as speedy as you once were.
EditSteps
- 1Decide if you want to initiate this process manually or with the help of a program. Either way, you'll need to find out what you can and can't disable. Keep in mind there are many programs written to make this task easier; using a program might save you some time.
GNU/Linux
- 1Edit the scripts in /etc/init.d. This directory contains a number of start/stop scripts for various services on your computer system.
- 2Use rcconf if you want software help. This tool configures system services in connection with system runlevels. In other words, it will help you turn services on/off using the scripts in /etc/init.d.
- If you're running the Ubuntu operating system, you can use the settings from here: System -> Preferences > Startup Applications.
- If you're running the Ubuntu operating system, you can use the settings from here: System -> Preferences > Startup Applications.
Mac OS X
- 1Go to your computer's dock and access "System Preferences."
System Preferences is inside the black circle.
- 2Click Accounts in the Menu.
- 3Click the second tab.
- 4Select the icon you do not want and press the minus button. If you want to add something, press the plus button and select the application.
Microsoft Windows (Manually)
- 1Avoid disabling something critical to your system. Before you delete anything, open up a window or tab on your browser to http://www.pcreview.co.uk/startup. This site contains a database of startup programs, and it shows what can be disabled and what shouldn't be.
- 2Open up the Run dialog box by:
- Opening the start menu and clicking "Run" or
- Pressing the Windows Key and "R" at the same time.
- Opening the start menu and clicking "Run" or
- 3Type in msconfig in the text box, and click "OK" or press "Enter."
- A dialog box will pop up with various tabs. By default, it's on the General tab.
- A dialog box will pop up with various tabs. By default, it's on the General tab.
- 4Click on the startup tab. This shows the different programs that start up when you turn on your computer.
- 5Get to work disabling the programs that you don't want starting up automatically. For example, if you don't want iTunes starting up automatically, just uncheck iTunes.exe. Remember to check the database mentioned in the first step before disabling.
- 6Click "OK" once you've finished disabling the automatic programs.
- 7Be aware that startup programs are also stored in a folder called "Startup." Click on the start menu, go to "All Programs," and select "Startup." Chances are that there is nothing in there, but there could be some programs, so it's worth checking.
- If you don't want any of those programs to start up, simply right-click the file(s) you don't want and select "Delete."
- If you don't want any of those programs to start up, simply right-click the file(s) you don't want and select "Delete."
WinPatrol
- 1Go to http://www.winpatrol.com and download WinPatrol. This is a small, free program that automatically checks the startup programs and lets you disable them.
- This program has a plus version as well. If you do not get the plus version, you will not be able to see the advanced information on each of the startup programs. That's okay though, you can just go to http://www.pcreview.co.uk/startup and look it up.
- This program has a plus version as well. If you do not get the plus version, you will not be able to see the advanced information on each of the startup programs. That's okay though, you can just go to http://www.pcreview.co.uk/startup and look it up.
- 2Install the program.
- 3If it's not already open, follow this path: Start menu -> All Programs -> WinPatrol -> WinPatrol Explorer
- 4Stay on the startup tab. This is where you need to be.
- All you have to do is select the programs you don't want and click "Remove" to keep them from automatically starting up. For programs like QuickTime and/or GoogleUpdater that continue to add themselves to the Startup list, use "Disable." When you "Disable" a Startup WinPatrol will remember you don't want it always starting and will automatically remove it when it returns.
- All you have to do is select the programs you don't want and click "Remove" to keep them from automatically starting up. For programs like QuickTime and/or GoogleUpdater that continue to add themselves to the Startup list, use "Disable." When you "Disable" a Startup WinPatrol will remember you don't want it always starting and will automatically remove it when it returns.
- 5Recover anything you accidentally lose. *If you accidentally remove a startup program using WinPatrol, it can be restored via the History button on the WinPatrol Options tab.
EditVideo
EditTips
- A free alternative to WinPatrol is Autoruns from the Sysinternals suite. It has the same and more features as Winpatrol and it is free. (Sysinternals is part of Microsoft.)
- Another totally free software toolbox is CCleaner, available from Majorgeeks.com or from the author at Piriform.com Software. On the Tools tab, you can stop startup programs from running (both ones in the Startup folder and ones starting from elsewhere), as well as uninstall unwanted programs.
- Be sure to use common sense when disabling the programs. For example, if it's iTunes.exe, you can tell that that is related to iTunes. Just don't overestimate your common sense.
- If for some reason www.pcreview.co.uk/startup doesn't have what you're looking for, you can always try using a search engine to look for the information you need.
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