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Posts Tagged ‘internet explorer’

With Windows 8, Microsoft is reimagining the most basic premises of personal computers. CEO Steve Ballmer recognizes the drastic changes coming in Windows 8, even calling the platform one of the biggest risks taken by the industry giant. The UI changes and fundamental paradigm shifts that Windows 8 brings to the table are making a lot of power users eager to give the platform a trial run, even in its current state as a Developer Preview.

If you want to take the plunge and give Windows 8 a try, there are some things you should know ahead of time. First, … [Read More...]

We may call the glorious series of tubes the World Wide Web, but that doesn’t mean you can view every website’s content all around the globe.  Many of the big name content providers – like Steam, Netflix, Pandora and BBC – employ region locks to limit their services to specific countries. But this is the Internet we’re talking about, so naturally, there are ways around the roadblocks.

A few notes before we begin: the solutions offered below aren’t perfect. Surfing speeds are usually slow, content providers sometimes restrict access from certain proxies and VPNs, and you often have to pay … [Read More...]

Microsoft Hardware is launching a new digital art project today called The Art of Touch. The campaign is inspired by Microsoft’s Touch Mouse family of mice. And it’s pretty cool.

By visiting the website, people can sign-in to create a piece of digital art on a canvas with a series of tools which include 3 types of brushes (ribbon, smoke or streak), and 5 different effects (like starbursts, trees, ribbons and splats). The artwork can be created using a click, swipe, or flick of a mouse!

Once a person has created a piece of artwork (people can create multiple pieces … [Read More...]

As many of you know, I’m pretty new to Microsoft but I love finding those who have been here for much longer and listening to their jokes and stories. There is a cool culture that surrounds living and working in the Pacific Northwest with smart, driven and talented individuals. It sort of makes you wonder how one gets here.

It was this last question that @windows and I started chatting about a few months ago. The following is  our informative, super serious and deeply researched list of how you know your child will grow up to be a Microsoft Windows … [Read More...]

Your Windows Phone 7 device is officially obsolete. At a press event in New York this morning and several media events around the world, Microsoft cut the ribbon on its next generation Windows Phone mobile platform codenamed “Mango,” which introduces “more than 500 new features to push the boundaries of the smartphone experience.”

Before we jump into Mango and it’s many new features, let’s put some worries to rest. Yes, your Windows Phone 7 device is yesterday’s news, but don’t toss it in a river just yet. Not only would that be environmentally irresponsible, but Microsoft is making the Mango … [Read More...]

A few years back during the Vista era, Lenovo introduced the ThinkPad X301. That PC was absolutely awesome – one of the best that Lenovo ever made. It was a 13” ultrathin with a Core 2 Duo processor, a 128GB SSD (very rare for that time), and killer battery life. I used it as my daily carry for nearly 2 years.

Since then, Lenovo has made a number of great ThinkPads – the X200 comes to mind, as do the new X120e and X220 – but they haven’t made a direct replacement for the 13” X301. Until today.

That’s … [Read More...]

Why switch from Yahoo! Mail to Hotmail? There are lots of reasons. For example – if you email photos to friends and family, Hotmail lets you send them without clogging up your friends’ inboxes. Hotmail uploads your photos to SkyDrive and lets your recipients view in a slide show or download. You can view or edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents directly in Hotmail – even on a PC without Office installed. And Hotmail has made a lot of progress in protecting you from spam and malware with SmartScreen. Hotmail is the only email provider that allows you to take … [Read More...]

Windows Forums member, UVAIS, informs us of the availability of Internet Explorer 10 Platform 1.

You can read more about it and download it here. [Via Windows Forums]

Further Reading:

• Paragon Go Virtual: Clone your Windows into a Virtual Enviroment [Freeware]
• HTC Home Gadget 2.4 [Freeware]
• [Update] An Explanation of the Pros and Cons of Using RAID on Your Computer
• Guidelines for Dealing With Computer Uninstall Errors
• Troubleshooting Computer Problems Related To Internet Issues

This article was written by Windows Guides (Source)… [Read More...]

Spring is in the air! That means blooming flowers, warmer weather…and the Spring Series of PC Showcase events!

Next week, the team and I are packing up some of our latest and greatest PCs and heading to Miami to meet with local press and influentials, as well as with press, analysts and bloggers from all over Latin America. It’s shaping up to be a really fun event, and we’ve secured an incredible venue in the Viceroy Hotel & Spa. I think that this will sufficiently match the beauty of our PCs, don’t you?

While the PCs are the stars of … [Read More...]

I’m guessing that the screen savers themselves doesn’t need any introduction. Many people like the Mystify, Ribbon or Bubbles screen saver, but secretly wish they could tweak them, ever so slightly. Having just one mystify ribbon scrolling over your screens – it seems lonely. Having a small monitor, the bubbles get too big.

Word has it that the people behind the screen savers did intend to add a settings menu to them, but never got around to it. Nevertheless, they all come with a few hidden settings that you can tweak.

And here’s how…

There are two ways to go about … [Read More...]

A few weeks ago Mike Duncan, Director of Business Development at SUPERAntiSpyware.com asked me to take a peek at their software. Being the Geek that never sleeps and challenge accepted off we go on passage into the world of SUPERAntiSpyware.

The results of the testing are beyond the scope of where this post leads but let’s say this, SUPERAntiSpyware has replaced the previous Anti-Malware software installed on this geeks PC’s and no computer leaves this shop without a free version installed.

The masses of features that come with the Free Version launch SUPERAntiSpyware right to top of the class … [Read More...]

So InPrivate Filtering has had a dose of steroids and changed its name (confusingly) to Tracking Protection. Tracking Protection helps protect users from being tracked online by blocking third-party content such as images, text & cookies. By importing a Tracking Protection List (much in the same way we used to import .xml files with pre-defined filters in IPF for IE8) we can better lock down our privacy and rid ourselves of ads.

To get started with Tracking Protection, head to Tools > Safety > Tracking Protection.

By default, there will be a “Your Personalised List” where you click on … [Read More...]

So you’re jetting off to a tropical island in uncharted waters. But how are you supposed to enjoy paradise when copyright laws put the international hammer down on Netflix? Winter travelers, meet your new best friends: Proxy and VPN services.

Getting Started

Watching geographically restricted content can be tricky. Streaming services like Hulu and Netflix (as well as other network sites) employ geotracking software to make sure nobody outside of the US can dip in to watch The Office or Exit Through the Gift Shop. And it’s not just Americans who have this problem: Foreigners traveling to the US can’t … [Read More...]

Microsoft’s Security Essentials has been our favorite anti-malware application for a while—it’s free, unobtrusive, and it doesn’t slow your PC down, but now it’s even better with the new 2.0 release, which adds network filtering, heuristic protection, and more.

Just to be clear and direct with you: we absolutely recommend Microsoft Security Essentials as your anti-malware / anti-virus utility over any other option—and how can you argue? It’s totally free!

New Features in 2.0

Here’s all of the new features in the latest release, which make it even more of a must-download:

• Network Traffic Inspection integrates into the network system

… [Read More...]

The System Health Report is a great feature of Windows 7 that will help you find potential problems with your PC and point you in the right direction to a resolution. This report records details about your computer’s performance, resource usage, and more and includes diagnostic information about things that aren’t working with resolution suggestions.

Specifically, the report includes:

• Diagnostic Results (Warnings, Performance)
• Software Configuration (OS Checks, Security Center Information, System Services, Startup Programs)
• Hardware Configuration (Disk Checks, Systems, Desktop Rating, BIOS, Devices)
• CPU (Process, Service, Services, System)
• Network (TCP, Interface, IP, UDP)
• Disk (Hot files, Disk breakdown, Physical disk, NTFS Performance)
• Memory (Processes, Counters)

In this guide, we’ll cover the following:

1. How to run a

… [Read More...]

We’ve had a look at IE8 and its ability to block ads without add-ons using InPrivate Filtering before.  What’s new i hear you cry.  Well, I’ll let you see for yourself.

Todays Quick Tip shows how to start IE9 in InPrivate Filtering mode every time you start the browser, as opposed to turning it on manually.  Something I think Microsoft should definitely implement.  (Alt+X > K)?

Step 1.

Press WinKey+R to open the Run dialog box.  Type in regedit and click OK.

Navigate to \HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Safety\PrivacIE

Step 2.

With the PrivacIE key selected, go to the Toolbar and click … [Read More...]

Microsoft’s latest incarnation of Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 9 has tonnes of cool new features.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be covering many of these features in How To & Quick Tip guides.

Todays Quick Tip is going to show you how to set IE9’s ‘speed dial’ as your Home page.

Have no idea what I’m talking about?  All the better!

Every time you open a new tab in IE9, you’re presented with 10 of your favourite websites.  For most, the Home page will be a website which in my experience only slows start-up time.  Wouldn’t it be nice to … [Read More...]