windows8

The killer iOS 7 feature the iPad needs: Touch-pad support

It took using the Microsoft Surface Pro to make me remember an article I wrote a year ago, about productivity on an iPad.

I love using the iPad. I also love some of its keyboard accessories. As a product, it's superior to a Surface Pro. But that doesn't mean it's the perfect laptop replacement. And that's still, in my opinion, largely because of one little touch pad. Or, a lack of it.

The iPad never claimed it was a laptop replacement. It stands in its own, hard-to-define "post-PC" territory. Yet, accessories have sprung up … Read more

Razer Edge Pro tablet pre-orders shut down due to high demand

Demand for the Razer Edge Pro has already managed to exceed supply, forcing its manufacturer to curtail its pre-order program.

Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan broke the news this week via the company's Facebook page:

We've had to stop taking pre-orders for the Razer Edge Pro as the pre-orders have gone beyond our forseeable manufacturing capacity (i.e. all stock is sold out for the months to come). We're doing all we can to get manufacturing lines up and running so please bear with us.

We're doing everything we can to get more units out in the … Read more

Will Surface Pro prevail over RT? IDC chimes in

Microsoft's high-end Surface Pro tablet is finally in stock, following chronic shortages since the February launch. Is it destined to eclipse Microsoft's other tablet platform?

As recently as early this month, it was almost impossible to walk into a Microsoft Store and pick up a high-end 128GB Surface Pro. But that has all changed now.

But both the 64GB and 128GB models are available for immediate shipment and checks at stores in California and Arizona show that stock is plentiful.

The question now is, which version of Surface will prevail, the more expensive -- and fully-compatible -- Windows … Read more

Tablet shipments now expected to hit 190 million this year

A predicted surge in sales of smaller, lower-cost tablets will bump up the number of shipments this year, according to a new report from IDC.

The research firm now expects global tablet shipments to rise to 190.9 million in 2012, up from its prior forecast of 172.4 million. IDC also sees an average rise in shipments of 11 percent from now through 2016, leading to more than 350 million tablets shipped by the end of 2017.

"One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8 inches in screen size," IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani said … Read more

Microsoft backs away from Flash ban in IE10

An about-face in Internet Explorer 10 shows Microsoft is not merely backing off from its hostility toward Flash Player, but actually warming up to the Adobe Systems browser plug-in for competitive reasons.

In September 2011, Microsoft declared that browser plug-ins are a relic from the Internet's early days, calling them bad for battery life, security, reliability, and privacy, and said that it would ban them when IE10 was running with Windows 8's Metro user interface, now called the "immersive UI."

But Microsoft gave Flash a reprieve in May 2012 by building a special version of Adobe'… Read more

Four months in, Windows 8 needs help

After four months of tepid Windows 8 PC sales, maybe it's time for Microsoft to make a few changes.

During a conversation I had this week with IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell, he volunteered the following statement, which sounded strangely like my experience.

There were certain decisions that Microsoft made that were in retrospect flawed. Notably not allowing people to boot into desktop mode and taking away the start button. Those two things have come up consistently. We've done some research and people miss that.

And there are a lot of people that as soon as they boot … Read more

Samsung exec: Surface isn't selling; Windows 8 no improvement

A certain panic seems to be fomenting among tech companies.

The old order is dissipating and the new order is, well, disordered.

So the occasional finger gets pointed and noses get disjointed.

The latest little brouhaha involves the seemingly harsh words of Jun Dong-soo, the president of Samsung's memory-chip division.

He seems to believe that Windows 8 really isn't terribly good. Indeed, as The Korea Times has it, he said: "I think the Windows 8 system is no better than the previous Windows Vista platform."

"Better" is always a relative word. Those of a … Read more

Best Windows 8 laptops with optical drives

If your laptop shopping list includes a touch screen, SSD storage, or even NFC, finding a new system shouldn't be hard. But if you're still tied to your optical discs and need a DVD or Blu-ray drive, that's another story. This once-ubiquitous feature is hard to find in new Windows 8 laptops, largely restricted to older models that have had Win 8 slapped onto them and to a handful of larger desktop replacements.

As laptops continue to get thinner, a charge led by ultrabooks and the MacBook Air (and the MacBook Pro with Retina Display), I suspect we'll see fewer and fewer optical drives.

Slot-loading drives are easier to fit into a small chassis than tray-loading ones, but like Ethernet ports, optical drives may become an added cost that PC makers feel most shoppers can live without, thanks to online gaming, music, and movie services, and the growth of cloud computing.

Since the launch of Windows 8, we've reviewed only a handful of laptops that include optical drives. The list below gives our favorites, and a few that weren't quite as warmly received.… Read more

How to run Windows 8 apps on the desktop with ModernMix

Windows 8 apps are meant to be run from the Windows 8 Start screen and in full-screen mode. You can snap them to the side of the Start screen, but they're still limited to the Start screen. If you're simultaneously using desktop programs and apps, you'll have to toggle between your desktop and Start screen to use them. This inefficient back and forth can be alleviated with the use of a program called ModernMix. ModernMix, just released by StarDock as a public beta, aims to give Windows 8 users the flexibility to run Windows 8 apps right … Read more

Windows 8 touch-screen laptop price cuts coming

Expect to see significant price cuts on Windows 8 touch-screen laptops if Microsoft's expected Windows 8 discount on licensing fees for PC makers is implemented.

Those price cuts could range between 10 percent and 20 percent, according to a report in Digitimes, which cites sources at Taiwan's retailers.

Those same sources indicated that touch-screen laptops now account for about 10 percent of sales, but this could jump to 20 percent in some cases with discounts from Microsoft.

Reports Tuesday in Digitimes and the Wall Street Journal indicated that Microsoft will lower the price of Windows 8 for PC … Read more