system

This is an update of a deal I posted several months back.

How's your system running these days? A little pokier than usual? Occasional crashes or lockups? Think there might be some malware lurking beneath the surface?

Whatever's ailing your PC, a repair/optimization utility might help. Today only, you can score IObit's Advanced SystemCare Pro 5 absolutely free. It normally sells for $19.95 (for a one-year license).

The only bummer here is that this Giveaway of the Day giveaway includes only a six-month license. Of course, that should be more than enough time to get … Read more

Intel will do what many would consider, at the very least, unusual: make the very kind of chip that it has vowed to crush.

That would be ARM, Intel's biggest nemesis.

First a little background. Intel is the world's largest chipmaker because it owns the x86 design that Apple and all of the world's PC makers use for laptops, desktops, and servers.

But Intel's x86 chips must compete mightily these days against ARM, the chip of choice for smartphones and tablets. Those chips are supplied by Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Samsung.

So, this is where … Read more

Anvisoft's Cloud System Booster cleans and optimizes Windows-based systems by throwing out junk files, disabling unneeded services, and repairing registry errors. What sets it apart from similar tools is its use of cloud-based technology to make sure you're scanning your system with the most up-to-date user-supplied data on your software. You can customize scans by selecting only those tools and features you want to run, and you can schedule automatic cleaning. Its Chameleon skin-changing feature lets you customize the program's background with your own images with just a few clicks. Cloud System Booster is freeware that works … Read more

One of the rarest celestial events viewable from Earth will occur Tuesday -- the planet Venus will make a trek across the face of the sun. Such an event has only been observed six times in recorded history, and the next occurrence won't come until 2117, so space buffs are gearing up for the big show.

One way to stay tuned -- and also help scientists record Venus' voyage -- is by using an app called VenusTransit. With this app, which is available on Android and iOS, amateur astronomers can join the ranks of historic explorers like Capt. James … Read more

Look out Windows XP, Windows 7 is hot on your tail.

After a long reign as the world's dominant OS, XP is in danger of being knocked off its perch by the current flavor of Windows.

Surveying the OS landscape in May, Net Applications pegged Windows XP's market share at 44.8 percent and Windows 7's at 40.5 percent. That's the narrowest gap between the two since Windows 7 debuted in 2009. It's also a significant change from April when XP held a 46 percent share and Windows 7 a 38.8 percent share.… Read more

Those of you who want to try out the new Windows 8 Release Preview can install it from an ISO file or run a full setup that guides you through the upgrade process.

If you want to skip to the chase and just download the ISO file, you can find it at Microsoft's own site or through CNET's Download.com.

Microsoft provides both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 8 RP across a variety of languages. After you download the ISO file, you can burn it onto a DVD using the Windows Disc Image Burner in Windows 7 … Read more

Android continues to dominate the U.S. smartphone market, according to data released today by market researcher ComScore.

Google's mobile operating system captured 50.8 percent of the market for the three months ending in April, a 2.2 percent increase over the three months ending in January. Meanwhile, Apple's iOS accounted for 31.4 percent of the market in April, a 1.9 percent increase over January.

The gains by Android and iOS were made on the back of Research In Motion's struggling BlackBerry OS, which lost 3.6 percent of its market share to finish … Read more

NirSoft's SysExporter is a simple, free tool that does something seemingly simple very yet valuable, saving time and reducing errors. The program is made to grab and save the data in all sorts of views in Windows, including standard list views, tree views, list boxes, combo boxes, and other such displays, and save that data as a text, HTML, or XML file.

SysExporter's simple but effective user interface is split horizontally between an upper list view and a lower window for displaying selections. The program scanned our system, displaying a wide range of system messages by title, including … Read more

The bottom line: If at first you don't succeed, update and update again. Regular Chrome OS updates over the past year have made it faster, with better offline support and more compatibility with traditional file formats. But it's still only for die-hard Googlers.

Review: Welcome to the Chrome channel. Google's operating system started off last year as being little more than all Chrome, all the time. Updates made over the past year have given Chrome OS users better file format support, faster navigation, revised menus, dramatically improved offline abilities, and a new, traditional-looking desktop.

But if you … Read more