win

Continuing to build its collection of core iOS patents, Apple's latest win comes in the form of list editing.

It's yet another example of Apple gaining stronger legal ground to defend the look and feel of iOS from competitors looking to capitalize on the popularity of the mobile operating system.

The patent, uncovered by Patently Apple, for "a computer-implemented method for displaying and managing lists on a portable multifunction device with a touch-screen display" describes, in exhausting detail, another principle function of iOS, namely list editing.

We know it better as "that easy way to … Read more

A public beta of Windows 8 will launch in late February of next year, says tech news site The Next Web.

Citing "sources close to Microsoft," TNW pointed to February for the beta's debut but said the release date for the final version of Windows 8 remains a mystery, though it's expected to ship next year.

Mary Jo Foley of CNET sister site ZDNet said she's heard that the beta would appear after next month's Consumer Electronics Show, which runs from January 10 to 13, but Foley said she isn't aware of any … Read more

There's more than one way to automate tasks in Windows, but the Task Manager and macro options fall far short of many users' needs. If you find yourself wishing you could automate any repetitive task in Windows, try WinParrot, the "Windows parrot." This portable freeware lets you create, record, and play macros automating virtually any task or process in Windows. While it's not difficult to use, beginners will find it a bit overwhelming. Those users with a passing familiarity with code and text files will get the most out of this flexible tool's many options … Read more

TweakNow's WinSecret bundles a lot of system tweaks and tools into one easy-to-use interface. It helps people who don't feel comfortable editing the registry take advantage of some of the great performance and stability tweaks inside Windows without having to use RegEdit or system consoles. It also includes system cleaners, a startup manager, and an uninstaller.

WinSecret's tabbed interface is attractive, yet it avoids the overdesigned look of many similar tools. It opened on the Quick Optimizer tab, which listed a variety of quick tweaks like cleaning temporary files and compacting browser database files. We simply had … Read more

When will Facebook get an app that connects it to one of the oldest archiving utilities around is one of the questions that "The Social Network" movie left disappointingly unanswered, but the new WinZip makes up for it. WinZip 16 (download), released today, not only lets you pack up your files into a tidy compressed box, it also provides a one-click method for sharing them either by e-mail or onto your Facebook "wall."

The features, called ZipSend and ZipShare, aim to bring WinZip into the 21st century and get it to compete with similar small-scale file-distributing … Read more

Taiwan-based manufacturing company Wintek is having some trouble with the iPhone 5 panels it is producing, a new report from DigiTimes claims.

Citing sources, the tech news site reported today that Wintek is finding a "delayed bubble" defect in some of the iPhone 5 panels it has produced. Although the source didn't say exactly what the defect does to the screens, DigiTimes says that it only appears after touch-panel lamination and during assembly.

Wintek is believed to be one of a few companies developing the panels for Apple's upcoming iPhone 5. According to DigiTimes' source, Wintek … Read more

This week saw the latest step towards the release of Windows 8, the next major version of Microsoft's operating system that represents one of the biggest changes in the history of the platform.

At its Build conference on Tuesday, Microsoft spent more than two hours on stage detailing its next OS. While the software isn't expected to make it into consumer hands until sometime next year, we now have a clearer picture of how Microsoft is positioning it to an industry that's shifted its purchases (and affections) from desktops to notebooks, and now portable devices like tablets … Read more

Anyone who's owned a computer for an extended period of time (1+ years) can tell you that, after some amount of time, it just seems to boot up much slower than when they first got it. There are plenty of ways to help keep your computer's boot time as small as possible, but how can you find out exactly how long your system is taking to boot up? Check these steps out to find this information built right into a Windows utility.

Step 1: Open the Start menu and type Event viewer into the Search box and open … Read more

WinMate is a free system cleanup and optimization toolkit from T55. Unlike some so-called free tools, it doesn't find hundreds of flashing-red dangers lurking in your PC and then only clean a handful, requiring you to buy something; T55 promises that WinMate is "free forever," including updates. It does what it promises without hurting your system (provided you don't use it carelessly) and packs plenty of extras, too.

WinMate checked for and downloaded updates during its installation process, a good start. The program initiated a baseline scan of our system, displaying its findings in an attractive … Read more