| Windows 8 Special (Part 2) |
| Once the setup has completed, you’re taken to a bright, satisfyingly pleasing desktop, displaying a couple of daisies, the Recycle Bin, and the Starts button-free taskbar along the bottom, but lacking in Aero Glass and its associated visual effects – although the open windows and program borders are dynamic, and shadow the coloring of the active theme. |
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| Windows 8 Special (Part 1) |
| A few months ago, I downloaded the Consumer preview of Windows 8 and, hand on heart, I was not impressed. Metro (as it was known as back then) didn’t make any sense, there was no Start button, Internet Explorer didn’t have any toolbars, the apps were bleak and pitiful, and it took a good 15 minutes to work out how to switch the thing off. |
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| The Great Software Payola (Part 3) |
| Some software is free, even if there are those in the industry who hate this idea with every fibre of their being. They hate it, because they think free software devalues all software and raises expectations that all software should be free. |
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| The Great Software Payola (Part 2) |
| Microsoft famously did this with forerunner of the Zune Marketplace. This used a digital rights management (DRM) system called PlaysForSure, which Microsoft then ditched, having convinced a ton of partners to use it. It launched the Zune and abandoned PlaysForSure, leaving those that had purchased music on compatible services with files that wouldn’t be transferable again after August 2008. |
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| The Great Software Payola (Part 1) |
| There was a time many moons ago when very few people wrote software for computers. It was a black art of sorts, and those that did it were revered like Olympic medallists, and handsomely rewarded for generating a few desperate lines of code a day. |
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| Use Terminal to Speed up Mountain Lion |
| If you’ve tried everything else and still want to make your Mac run faster, roll up your sleeves, crack your knuckles and prepare to take on a challenge. The Terminal is your direct portal to OS X’s kernel. There are no menus or tick Poxes to negotiate here. We’re back to old-school computing, setting up configuration options at the command prompt. Scary? not really. |
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| Top Tips For Mountain Lion (Part 4) |
| In previous versions of Safari, you could email a link to a web page by pressing -Shift-I. This command doesn’t show up in the browser on Mountain Lion. However, the shortcut works, even if it isn’t readily visible; you can see it by choosing File> Share and then pressing the Shift key. |
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| Top Tips For Mountain Lion (Part 3) |
| You can use two finger gestures to zoom in and out in TextEdit documents and in Preview: spread your fingers apart to zoom in, and pinch them together to zoom out. This also works in Safari, as long as you have only one tab open. If you have multiple open tabs, this gesture does something different. |
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| Top Tips For Mountain Lion (Part 2) |
| For a long time, you’ve been able to access key system folders from an Open or Save dialog box via shortcuts: X-D for the desktop, X-Shift-H for your home folder, and so on. Now, a new shortcut allows you to jump directly to iCloud, at least in apps that support it: X-Shift-l. So if you see the folders on your Mac in an Open or Save dialog box, press this shortcut to go directly to iCloud. |
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| Top Tips For Mountain Lion (Part 1) |
| Whenever a new Mac operating system comes out, Macworld’s editors madly scramble around, looking for tips and tricks that will make using that OS easier and more efficient. Macworld’s readers do exactly the same thing. To be perfectly honest, they often beat us to the punch on finding many of those tips and tricks. So this time around, with OS X Mountain Lion, we decided to go straight to you, the reader, for ideas on making the most of Apple’s latest Mac operating system. |
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| Which MacBook Is Right For You (Part 3) |
| The most recent MacBook Pros offer the same unibody construction, backlit LED screen, lighted keyboard, multi-touch glass trackpad and FaceTime HD webcam as the previous models, but push ahead with updated internal architecture for improved performance. |
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| Which MacBook Is Right For You (Part 2) |
| If you are still undecided, want a bit more speed, power and storage, or hope to future-proof your investment further, then consider opting for a customised ‘built to order’ MacBook. You can upgrade the memory, hard drive, processor speed and pre-installed software, but choice is limited compared to desktop Macs due to the compact design of the laptops. |
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| Which MacBook Is Right For You (Part 1) |
| To determine which MacBook will best suit your needs, you must assess what’s most important to you. Do you need a lot of storage, or is speed the most important factor? What will you be using the Mac for? Answer these questions and you are on your way to finding your perfect Mac. |
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| Automate Tasks with Folder Actions |
| With the handy Folder Actions feature of OS X, you can attach AppleScripts to specific folders, set to run whenever someone adds files to the folders. |
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| The Linux Build: Part For Penguins (Part 5) |
| Two common concerns that people have about SSDs are how long they last, and whether the performance you get when they’re new will last all the way to old age. These concerns certainly aren’t unfounded. The transistors in a SSD will last only for approximately 10 years, or 10,000 writes, whichever comes first – so they have a limited life. |
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| The Linux Build: Part For Penguins (Part 4) |
| Results were mixed with Intel’s HD 3000. Running Mesa 8.0.2, the Unigine benchmark barely ran, which means many modern games will be impossible to play. We had better luck with Alien Arena, which gave a comfortable 60fps, but we started to form an option that if you want to play games, you’re going to need a proprietary driver. |
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| The Linux Build: Part For Penguins (Part 3) |
| Perhaps the most subjective component in any hardware discussion is the one responsible for generating the graphics. This is because the best choice for you will depend on how important graphics are in your system. If you use the command line or a simple window manager, for example, and expensive, powerful card will be a waste of money. This is because it’s in the realm of 3D graphics that most graphical processing units (GPUs) differ, and they often differ dramatically. |
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| The Linux Build: Part For Penguins (Part 2) |
| We’re running all of them at their native clock speeds. You can always overclock later through the BIOS, but for now we need to make sure the setup is as stable as we can get. Later on when you’re full of Linux love but craving a little more speed, you can dive into the BIOS and start messing around with clock speeds and multipliers as much as you like. |
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| The Linux Build: Part For Penguins (Part 1) |
| Linux-based operating systems have long been the alternative OS for us PC users, but there are several reasons why they haven’t garnered the mainstream following them perhaps deserve. Most of the issues stem from the unfamiliar way they work compared with the operating system we’ve all used a million times before: Windows. |
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| Top 10 Home Computers – November 2012 |
| The 27in iMac is the ultimate home PC – faster and more connected than ever before. Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 chips are more powerful yet more frugal – although an expected Ivy Bridge refresh failed to appear at WWDC 2012. Still, it does come packing ATI graphics, a higher-than-hi-def IPS screen, and two ultra-fast Thunderbolt ports. |
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| Asus GTX 660 Ti DirectCU II Top (Part 2) |
| It’s definitely a case of a cut too far for the GK104 GPU that Nvidia is using to pad out its Kepler line-up. The weaker GPU and memory bus combo means that this Asus GTX 660 Ti DCU II Top card can’t compete with similarly priced GTX 670 or the cheaper AMD HD 7950. |
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| Asus GTX 660 Ti DirectCU II Top (Part 1) |
| As time has moved on though, the AMD Graphics Core Next architecture – exemplified by the surprisingly excellent HD 7970 GHz Edition – has proven to be a tough driver sets have matured and more Computer-focused game engines have emerged, such as those powering DiRT Showdown and Sniper Elite, the Radeon cards, have taken the ball and ran with it. |
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| How To Buy… A Gaming Case (Part 2) |
| Cases come in several sizes, but the three main ones are mini tower, midi tower and full tower. Mini towers are normally too small to house the number of components a gaming PC requires, and are instead aimed at media serves and light-use machines. Not only are they cramped, but they’re also often hard to cool as a result of their size. |
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| How To Buy… A Gaming Case (Part 1) |
| Choosing a case might not be the most exciting part of building a PC, but if you’re building a gaming rig, it’s a more important decision than you might realise. Cases aren’t just the most visible part of your system; they also have a practical role to play in maintaining its performance, not just by dictating the number of components your PC can house but also how effective the overall cooling solution is. |
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| Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe - The Best Mini-ITX Motherboard |
| Considering its huge influence in the motherboard market, Asus has been strangely reserved in the mini-ITX arena. Its offerings have so far usually focused on Intel Atom, Nvidia Ion or AMD embedded models, rather than open-socket, enthusiast-orientated boards. |
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| Stealth Machines Espionage |
| The Espionage isn’t extreme, but it’s nicely outfitted. Built around an EVGA Z77 FTW board, it packs a 3.4GHz Core i7-3770K overclocked to 4.68GHz. All four DIMM slots are packed with Mushkin DDR3/2133. For a gamer, the most important component is the graphics card. |
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| Windows Vista : Recovering Systems (part 2) - Dealing with startup instability |
| Safe Mode is useful for dealing with issues, such as needing to disable a device driver, return a driver to its previous version, or even launch a System Restore to return to a specific restore point. Safe Mode gives you access to the full Windows interface but without loading the more complex drivers your system may rely on. |
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| Windows Vista : Recovering Systems (part 1) - Dealing with system instability |
| Windows Vista includes several built-in diagnostics tools. These tools are based on Vista's new Windows Diagnostic Infrastructure (WDI), a framework that is designed to collect information about potential issues, provide automated resolution, and if these automated resolutions do not work, support your interactive troubleshooting efforts |
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| Build A Water-Cooled Mini-ITX Monster (Part 3) |
| Prior to cable tidying, you need to leak-test your water-cooling loop, just to ensure that you won't damage any of your hardware. Start by filling it with coolant - we opted for some Mayhem's Aurora Nebula Blue ($22.5 from www.specialtech.co.uk), which looks fantastic next to the copper- plated fittings. |
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| Build A Water-Cooled Mini-ITX Monster (Part 2) |
| Your choice of radiator will depend on the hardware you need to cool. A full-height dual 120mm-fan radiator (we used a Phobya G-Changer 240, ($67.5 from www.aquatuning.co.uk) is the minimum we'd recommend to cool a quad-core Ivy Bridge CPU, and a graphics card such as a GeForce GTX 680 3GB or AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB. |
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| Build A Water-Cooled Mini-ITX Monster (Part 1) |
| However, as our mini-ITX case Labs test shows, there are significant hurdles when dealing with an overclocked CPU in a confined space - it isn’t like building a standard desktop PC. In this feature, we show you how to build your own mini monster system using some of the best hardware from this month’s Labs test. |
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| Hide Files with Steganography (Part 3) |
| SteganographX Plus is a very basic utility, but it could be useful for hiding certain information. It only works with BMP files, and after loading an image into the program, there's a box at the bottom of the window to enter text. |
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| How To Upgrade To Windows 8 (Part 2) |
| As part of the online upgrade process, you must download and run the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant, a piece of software that will walk you through your Windows 8 installation. |
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| Windows Tip Of The Month – October 2012 (Part 1) |
| If you need a quick way to shrink a PDF down to a more manageable file size, here’s something you can do with nothing more than the free Acrobat reader. Just open the file, start the Print dialogue, and under Printer, choose Adobe PDF to create a new file. You’ll get a smaller file that should still be totally legible. |
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| Windows Tip Of The Month – October 2012 (Part 2) |
| DrivePurge is a fantastic, free maintenance tool that will not only tidy up all the unwanted files that accumulate overtime, but can also help protect your privacy by cleaning up the data stored in your PC’s log files and registry. You’ll be amazed at how much useless data is filling up your hard drive! Try the tool out for yourself to see how much space you can save. |
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| Hide Files with Steganography (Part 2) |
| You may be wondering how it can be possible to store information within photos and music without changing it or being detected. It's because our eyes and our ears are not perfect and there's a limit to what they can detect. Very small changes are not noticeable, so a photo or audio file can be subtly changed without being noticed. |
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| Hide Files with Steganography (Part 1) |
| Take a moment to think about all the different activities you carry out on your computer. You send and receive emails, access online banks and pay bills, shop at various online stores, log in to countless websites and services online, store notes, financial information, personal details, and the list goes on. |
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| Zotac Z77-ITX Wi-Fi – A Fierce Competition |
| Zotac has been a stalwart mini-ITX supporter for years, producing many interesting and overclockable motherboards. In fact, its Z68- ITX WiFi practically had the overclockable Z68 mini-ITX motherboard market to itself, with just ASRock offering any competition. |
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