AMD releases 5 GHz gaming chip

Posted by David Bernstein 

If you are one of those people who are all about numbers when it comes to the specs of your PC then AMD has a high numbered processor for your gaming needs. Their new FX-9560 processor runs at 5.0 GHz and is made for gamers who need processing power for today’s latest games.

The chip has 8 cores and is unclocked making it easy for users to overclock it and get even more performance out of it. In fact, AMD even supplies software that makes overclocking the processor even easier.

For now though if you want a FX-9560 you will have to buy it with a new computer since AMD is not selling them by themselves at the moment.

Windows 8.1 Preview available for download

Posted by Jim Bernstein

If you have been waiting for the first major update or service pack for Windows 8 to arrive well now is your chance to get it, well a preview of it at least. The Windows 8.1 (Blue) preview is out and ready for you to download and try out for yourself. Just keep in mind that it’s a beta version and you may end up having to redo your system if you don’t like it because you can’t uninstall it once you “upgrade”. If you have access to a virtualized environment then that would be your best bet for testing it out so you can snapshot your original configuration and roll it back if needed.

The Windows 8.1 preview can be installed right from Windows 8 as an update or you can download an ISO file and install it from the setup file within the ISO or boot to the ISO itself. Microsoft released a listing of all the enhancements and new features but most people were waiting for a Start button and Start menu. Well the Start button made it but it only toggles between the desktop and the Start Screen. As for the Start menu there is not one, at least for now. Maybe if we are lucky it will make it to the final 8.1 release.

You can download the Windows 8.1 preview and get a license key from the Microsoft website.

Intel releases new Core processor

Posted by David Bernstein

 Many people couldn’t tell you what processor they have in their computer and may not even care. But if you follow the latest and greatest CPU trends you know how poplar the Intel “Core” line of processors have been all the way from the Core 2 Duo to the i7.

Intel has just released the 4th edition of its Core line called the Haswell. These processors are 15% faster and offer 50% longer battery life than previous models. They will also be used in laptops and desktops because of their system-on-a-chip (SoC) design. Also included on the chip is a graphical processing unit to help with things such as video editing ang games.

Since the Haswell doesn’t require as much power and run cooler it will make them ideal for tablets and ultrabooks. Being thinner also helps them fit into the smaller spaces these devices offer.  As for battery life, the Haswell can actually shut itself down completely and then come back on immediately without the user even noticing.  But on the negative side these processors will be pricey thanks to all the new technology they hold.

These new processors are already making their way into new devices so keep your eyes opened for that Intel Inside logo.

The Start button returns for Windows 8.1… sort of

Posted by David Bernstein

One of the biggest complaints about Windows 8 for PC users is the missing Start button which would have taken you to the Start menu if that existed as well. Since Windows 8 is meant for PCs, smartphones and tablets, Microsoft wanted to make the operating system the same across all platforms. But if you don’t have a touchscreen the new Windows 8 Start screen can be frustrating to say the least. It seems as though Microsoft has been listening to the complaints at least somewhat and plan on bringing back the Start button in Windows 8.1 as well as adding some other useful features.

But don’t get too excited because this Start button is not going to be like the Start button you are used to. It will be called the Start Tip and clicking on it will only take you the Start Screen interface and not to a Start menu like you are used to in other versions of Windows. So it’s hard to say if there is really a point to the Start Tip (button) or if it’s just a way to try and get more Windows 7 users to “upgrade”. There may also be a feature that will allow you to boot up to the desktop rather than the Start screen which will be nice for many people.

Other features will include the ability to display two apps on your device screen at once, re-sizable tiles, improved apps, the ability to put 2 apps side by side with Snap, and a way to get to all your device settings from one place rather than multiple locations. Windows 8.1 is going to be a free upgrade for Windows 8 users so don’t worry about having to pay for Windows again just to get the new features.

Windows 8 users not using their apps

Posted by David Bernstein

 If you are familiar with Windows 8 you know it’s meant to merge the tablet, smartphone and desktop Windows OS into one that can be used for everything. But if you are a PC user that is used to a mouse and keyboard then this may not be what you are looking for.

Windows 8 has the new “Metro” interface which is better suited for devices with touch screens rather than mice and a new study is showing that PC users without touchscreens don’t seem to use the new Windows 8 apps that are installed on their computer. Research company Soluto found that of the 10,848 Windows 8 devices studied, most of the traditional desktop and laptop users didn’t use a Windows 8 app on a daily basis. This even applied to users that have a device with a touchscreen.

Even many tablet users don’t use one of the new apps daily (56% do). Tablet users open modern apps almost twice as often as desktop users, and people who have touchscreen laptops use modern apps 47% more often than non-touchscreen users. And out of the 10 most used apps, 9 of them are Microsoft apps. This may be because there are not nearly as many third party apps for Windows 8 as there are for Android and Apple. But with more touchscreen laptops hitting the market and the popularity of the Microsoft Surface Pro tablet growing this may change.

Enterprises upgrading to Windows 7 rather than Windows 8

Posted by Jim Bernstein

 For most home PC users, upgrading to the latest version of Windows is pretty straightforward and easy, assuming you can afford to! But for companies that have a large number of Windows workstations in use, upgrading your computers can be a huge (and expensive) process and therefore doesn’t happen as often as with home users.

Many companies are just now moving off of Windows XP after many years of satisfaction with the 12 year old operating system.  In fact, Windows XP will not be supported after April 8, 2014. Most companies were wise enough to stay away from Windows Vista when it came out but are now realizing its time to upgrade. Microsoft is having trouble getting home users to switch to Windows 8 and it seems the same thing is happening with corporate users.

Forrester Research released a report saying that Windows 7 is used in around 50% of all enterprise installations even though Windows 8 has been out for some time now and has a business or enterprise version of the OS. This is especially true for companies that are finally upgrading from Windows XP. Of the 273 IT professionals who are going to be upgrading from Windows XP, only 2% said they were going with Windows 8 compared to 69% who said that they were going with Windows 7 instead.

The main reasons that corporations are going with Windows 7 over Windows 8 is that Windows 7 is closer to XP and will take less getting used to an require less training on. Also, Windows 7 has been around since 2009 and has proven itself to be a stable operating system. And for companies who do in house development, Windows 7 works better when it comes to compatibility.

Google getting more and more requests to remove content

Posted by David Bernstein

 As you may or may not know, some countries don’t have the same freedom of speech that others do and don’t like people posting negative comments about leaders and politicians on things like websites and blogs. And when it comes to sharing information, Google is one of the kings of the practice.

Google has released some numbers on how many requests it gets from other businesses and government agencies requesting that certain content be removed from its sites and databases. In the second half of 2012 they have received 2,285 requests from government agencies to remove items such as blog posts, videos and links to Google+ content which is up 25% from the first half of 2012. And Brazil for example sends an average of 3 requests a day to Google to have content removed from one place or another.

Some of the requests are on the strange side such as British police asking for a picture of an officer in a racist uniform and India asking for a map to be removed that showed a disputed border in Kashmir. One of the most famous incidents is when several countries asked Google to remove the Innocence of Muslims video that led to deadly protests in some countries. Google removed it from some countries because it broke national laws or resulted in violent riots.

On the other hand Google will remove content that is proven to be illegal or is a threat to national security. Google started releasing what it calls semi-annual transparency reports 3 years ago with the intent is to "shine some light on the scale and scope of government requests for censorship and data around the globe."

Windows 8 may get the Start button back

Posted by Jim Bernstein

 For those of you who have been using Windows for a while most likely got used to clicking on the Start button to access your programs or other Windows components. And if you made the switch to Windows 8 or even played with the new operating system the first thing you most likely noticed was that the Start button was missing and you were stuck using “tiles” to open your programs.

There was a registry hack going around that would bring the Start button and menu back but Microsoft disabled that hack from working in later versions of Windows 8 to many people’s disappointment. There is also some third party software out there that can add a Start button feature to Windows 8 but of course you will have to pay for that.

Now it seems that Microsoft may bring back the Start button in a later release of Windows 8 or even in a service pack. Plus they may make it where the OS boots right to the desktop rather than the tiled “Metro” screen.  If this does happen then you may be stuck with one or the other and the Start button feature most likely won’t be enabled by default. This Windows update will be called Windows Blue or Windows 8.1 which is set to have the preview version released in June so we will have to wait until then to find out for sure unless Microsoft tells us otherwise.