Windows 8.1 to officially launch in October

Posted by David Bernstein
 

The first major update to Windows 8, Windows 8.1 will officially launch in October of this year. The free update will start rolling out on the 17^th in New Zealand first of all places and will be available in the Windows store as well as for download online. The 8.1 update will also be available to retailers and on new devices starting on the 18^th. You may have got your hands on for the 8.1 preview last June to see how it worked and the final release should be pretty much the same.

Windows 8 has had less than stellar sales number thanks to its total redesign which is better suited for touchscreen devices such as tablets rather than personal computers. The 8.1 update brings back the Start button even though there is no Start menu. The Start button just brings you to your apps instead. One nice feature is the option to be able to boot right to your desktop rather than the “metro” screen. Other improvements will be Internet Explorer 11 and some new built in apps. If you are into cloud computing there will also be built in access to Sky Drive.

USB 3.1 specifications finalized (10Gbps speed)

Posted by David Bernstein

If you are a computer user then there is a close to 100% chance you have used a USB port for something such as a flash drive, external hard drive, printer, mouse etc. For many USB devices speed is not important and it doesn’t matter if you are using a USB 1.0 port or the latest USB 3.1 port. But for devices such as hard drive and cameras having a fast bus speed makes all the difference in the world.

USB 3.0 (5Gbps) has been out for some time and many people still don’t have USB 3.0 ports on their computer. It seems as though USB 2.0 (480Mbps) has been all the rage for the past several years. The powers that be have been working on the new USB 3.1 standard for a while and now the specifications have been released and they are looking pretty good… actually twice as good as USB 3.0.

Dubbed “SuperSpeed+” USB the new USB 3.1 will offer 10Gbps speeds and be fully backwards compatible with older versions and devices. This new speed standard puts USB in contention with Thunderbolt ports which already offer 10Gbps speeds with 20Gbps on its way. Don’t expect to see this in new computers any time soon since it takes some time for manufacturers to roll it out and of course you will have to have a USB 3.1 compatible device to take full advantage of the speed.

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.