CyberLink PowerDirector has been one of the top consumer video editors for a few years now, and you don’t have to use it for long to understand why.

The core editor gets the program off to a good start. Import your source files into the Media Room, organize them on the 100 track timeline, and apply hundreds of effects and transitions by dragging and dropping: it’s all very easy.

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After saying everyone except hardware partners would need to wait until next month to get their hands on Windows 8.1, Microsoft last week relented and made the RTM available to developers and IT professionals.

Oddly there was no sign of the Windows 8.1 Enterprise RTM at the time, with Microsoft saying only that it would be available later this month. Fortunately, it turns out the wait wasn’t a long one, as the build is now available for Volume License customers as well as TechNet and MSDN subscribers.

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Windows 8.1 has been chewed on around the internet for sometime now, with a Preview release, TechNet and MSDN launch, and...well, shall we say other locations it can be found? From the start (I swear I intended no pun), we have known that the upgrade will be a free one -- Microsoft is treating this as a service pack, though it's just a bit more than that.

Now we have details on what those non-Windows 8 customers will be ponying up to make the move to this new Start button enabled interface.

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China has been in the spotlight lately. Most recently, the country was rumored to be the major catalyst for the "low cost" iPhone 5c. However, this has largely been discredited since the phone was revealed to not be "low cost", but instead a relatively expensive, premium device. However, China is still a major player in the computer market and manufacturers are chomping at the bit to take advantage of it. Today, Canonical announces that Hewlett Packard is focused on the nation and will be selling Ubuntu-based laptops in its 1,500 retail stores.

Canonical says, "Ubuntu’s retail presence has grown again as HP brings a range of laptops pre-installed with a Chinese-centric version of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS to over 1,500 of its stores across all major cities in China. Consumers in China will now be able to purchase HP laptops running Ubuntu directly from stores, where they will also find information packs and marketing materials to help with their purchase".

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Microsoft is no stranger to finding itself on the receiving end of complaints about security issues that are found in Windows and its other software. But now the Redmond company is turning the tables on consumers, saying that they need to do more to secure their own computers. Microsoft's research shows that Internet users are taking fewer precautions when they're online.

This is based on declining Microsoft Computing Safety Index (MCSI) scores over the last couple of years. The MCSI system was developed in 2011 as a way to measure the security savviness of web users. The system takes into account whether users do common things such as installing anti-malware software, enabling a firewall and keeping software up to date. It also factors in whether users are aware of the importance of using secure websites, using unique passwords and taking care of the personal information they share online.

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The Internet can be a dangerous place if you aren't careful. There are viruses, malware and Trojans just waiting to ruin your day. Unwary computer users can significantly increase their chances of infection by searching for questionable things, and even seemingly innocuous search terms can be unsafe.

As proof, today McAfee announces that searching for actress Lily Collins will result in a "nearly one-in-seven chance of landing on a malicious site" -- yikes!

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MAGIX Software GmbH has updated its movie-editing product range with the release of MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 2014. Also available in Plus and Premium versions, the new build comes with the promise of improved multi-track performance through more efficient use of multi-core PCs.

The new build also comes with "tons" of new content, with all elements now HD and 16:9 compatible. Movie Edit Pro 2014 also gains HDR effects for the first time too, while Plus and Premium users gain a new proxy editing feature.

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I’ve already declared my love for Windows 8.1, and got used to the fact that the Start menu, as we’ve always known it, is no more. I find the Apps screen pretty much fine to work with (certainly better than the Start screen), but there are still times when I miss the ease and speed of launching programs from a Start menu on the desktop.

If you can’t get on with the Start screen in Windows 8, and the Apps screen in 8.1 doesn’t really appeal, there are plenty of alternative Start buttons and menus available to download, either for free or a nominal amount. One of the most popular free choices is the freshly updated Classic Shell.

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Many of us have been frustrated in the past by music debuting exclusively on iTunes, locking out those of us who prefer a different service. Now Microsoft is taking the exclusive music route with Linkin Park, but doing it a bit differently with the debut of "A Light That Never Comes".

"The song will stream exclusively for 14 days on Xbox Music, Microsoft’s all-in-one music service. As the founding member of a band that turns down more partnerships than we approve, I wanted to shed some light on Linkin Park and Microsoft, and let you know how we see the future", says Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda.

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The release of the latest Apple iPhones has financial experts questioning whether or not Apple's reputation is at stake due to the offering of a lower-end product. Contrary to previous years, Apple will be offering two different types of phones this month: the 5s and the 5c, which both go on sale September 20.

The iPhone 5c comes at a smaller price tag of just $99, ideal for those who are on a budget, as opposed to the 5s which is priced at $199 as the starting point. Some investors initially warned against the idea, saying that it may weaken margins and potentially tarnish a brand that has been linked to premium quality since 2007. However, a lower-end iPhone could prove to be a smart move for Apple.

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Half of all tablet device screen time is spent on entertainment activities, such as playing games, reading books, watching live TV or listening to music and radio, according to a recent end-user survey by research group Gartner.

The other half is divided between communication (26 percent), such as sending emails and visiting social media sites; production activities (15 percent), such as editing videos and writing blogs; and finding information (9 percent), including checking the news and weather and researching products and services.

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Mozilla has launched Firefox 24.0 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux. There are no major surprises in the final build, with all new and changed features highlighted in the Beta migrating across to the new version.

Two changes that are exclusive to the final version are removed support for the Revocation Lists feature, and the promise of performance improvements when loading new tab pages, attained simply by enabling new tab page preloading as the default behavior.

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If there's one thing that I wholeheartedly dislike about the tech world it's being told about a brand new product that really appeals, and then having to wait ages for it. It's like that someone who told me about it wants to toy with me, psychologically torture me and, when I couldn't care less about that new and shiny thing, give it to me. Of course, I'm now blowing things out of proportion, but I want you to understand, at some level, how it feels when I'm entrusting part of my tech life to Microsoft.

For some incomprehensible reason, in 2013 Microsoft is still using the expression "rolling out". It defines a vague date of availability for any new changes that it announces. How outdated is that? You may think that Microsoft's roll outs have a specific role, of insuring extra stability and providing a seamless transition, to the new version for its users. But that is, in my opinion, such a pathetic excuse that only a two-year old who is baited with candy by his parents might be inclined to believe.

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Microsoft's new Bing logo brings the search engine in line with the look of Office, and also heralds the introduction of a new interface and new features. Gone is the rounded, bubbly typeface, replaced with a new angled appearance that matches other products from Microsoft's stables. Taking a leaf out of the Modern design book, the Bing search page mirrors elements found in Windows Phone and Windows 8, and also includes the now-familiar Segoe font.

A new two-column design aims to ensure that the information you need is always at hand -- the second column is used to display information related to the search that's being performed such as photos and status updates. Part of this is the new Page Zero feature which Microsoft describes as "finding without searching". Enter the name of a celebrity to see a snapshot of pertinent information about that person.

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I love laptops for their portability, but I despise touchpads. Every laptop I use gets the same treatment -- a micro-sized USB receiver and a travel-sized mouse, with the laptop touchpad disabled. In other words, I am a mouse person. The mouse, as an input device, is not new and has changed relatively little in the course of modern computing history. So while my phones, tablets and computers move forward, a trusty and cheap Logitech M185 has been hooked to each PC.

Now Logitech has decided to thrust me into the modern computing era by shipping a brand new "Ultrathin Touch Mouse T630" right to my doorstep.

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