For more than 20 years, Rick Broida has written about all manner of technology, from Amigas to business servers to PalmPilots. His credits include dozens of books, blogs, and magazines. He sleeps with an iPad under his pillow. More by Rick Broida
Earlier this year I suggested that because Microsoft was unbundling Windows Media Center from Windows 8, fans of the former should avoid upgrading to the latter.
Thankfully, Microsoft plans to charge a reasonable (but still annoying) $9.99 for Windows Media Center. Given how few users actually use the product, I can live with that.
For more than 20 years, Rick Broida has written about all manner of technology, from Amigas to business servers to PalmPilots. His credits include dozens of books, blogs, and magazines. He sleeps with an iPad under his pillow. More by Rick Broida
Windows 7, I presume? No, Windows 8 running Win8 StartButton.
I'm trying to like Windows 8, really I am, but two aspects feel like a slap in the face: Forcing me to boot into the Start screen when Desktop mode is what I'd prefer, and the lack of a Start button in said mode.
Win8 StartButton is the latest utility that aims to right what's wrong with the new OS. Not only does it provide a "classic" Start button, it also gives you the option of making the desktop your default boot destination. Huzzah!
For more than 20 years, Rick Broida has written about all manner of technology, from Amigas to business servers to PalmPilots. His credits include dozens of books, blogs, and magazines. He sleeps with an iPad under his pillow. More by Rick Broida
Are you taking the plunge on a new Windows 8 system? Although Microsoft has positioned the new OS to be all about apps, most users will want to run some "legacy" programs (quotations mine—how is something like iTunes suddenly a legacy program?).
Rather than downloading all your favorites manually, or, worse, fishing out a bunch of installer CDs, check out Ninite. This insanely handy tool automatically downloads and installs software, saving you considerable time setting up a new machine.
Even better, Ninite just added Classic Start, which is the open-source Classic Shell program Lincoln Spector wrote about last month. It's a Start button/menu for Windows 8's Desktop mode, which, irritatingly, doesn't have one.
For more than 20 years, Rick Broida has written about all manner of technology, from Amigas to business servers to PalmPilots. His credits include dozens of books, blogs, and magazines. He sleeps with an iPad under his pillow. More by Rick Broida
You know the old saying, "Look before you leap"? Let's give that a modern-day twist: Look before you click.
See that screenshot up top? It's from popular daily-download site Giveaway of the Day. On the left, there's a description of the day's freebie. On the right, a big, tempting Download button. Obviously that's what you click to get the software, right?
Wrong. That's actually an ad for something called Download Manager, which itself is actually a collection of garbage you don't want: toolbars, adware, and so on. But many an unsuspecting user will get so far as to install all of it before realizing it's not the program they wanted. Quite the opposite.
For more than 20 years, Rick Broida has written about all manner of technology, from Amigas to business servers to PalmPilots. His credits include dozens of books, blogs, and magazines. He sleeps with an iPad under his pillow. More by Rick Broida
Because Microsoft thinks it knows what's best for users and apparently wants to confuse the living daylights out of them, Windows 8 has no Start button.
I'll just say that again so it sinks in: Windows 8 has no Start button.
What it has is a tablet-friendly Start screen packed with tiles. It's very pretty, and probably quite pleasant on a tablet, but fairly crummy on a current-model desktop or laptop.
For more than 20 years, Rick Broida has written about all manner of technology, from Amigas to business servers to PalmPilots. His credits include dozens of books, blogs, and magazines. He sleeps with an iPad under his pillow. More by Rick Broida
I've been a technology blogger for more than six years—four of them right here at PC World. And in that time I've developed a pretty thick skin.
I've had to, because I'm often on the receiving end of incredibly mean, nasty, and insulting emails and post comments.
This is nothing new. The Internet seems to bring out the worst in some people. It's as though the relative anonymity of an emailed or posted message gives license to say hateful things that most folks would never say face-to-face.
For more than 20 years, Rick Broida has written about all manner of technology, from Amigas to business servers to PalmPilots. His credits include dozens of books, blogs, and magazines. He sleeps with an iPad under his pillow. More by Rick Broida
