Articles about Windows

Microsoft extends support for Intel Skylake systems running Windows 7, Windows 8.1

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Microsoft has decided to reverse its position regarding support of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 on systems using Intel’s Skylake platform.

In January, the company said that it would only guarantee full extended support for Skylake systems running Windows 7 and 8.1 until 17 July 2017. Microsoft now plans to offer full extended support for these systems for one more year, until 17 July 2018.

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ShareByLink is a signup-free file sharing service

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ShareByLinkShareByLink is an open-source file sharing service and application for Windows, Linux and Mac.

The package is all about simplicity. There’s no registration, no account to create, nothing to set up: just install the program, then right-click a file and select "Share file(s) online...".

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Create stylish video slideshows with ScatterShow

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ScatterShow is a video slideshow creator from Smith Micro Software. Formerly a $29.99 commercial product, it’s now free to anyone willing to provide their email address to the developer.

Is it worth a few minutes of your time? We grabbed a copy to find out.

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Manage, move and resize your desktop windows with WinDock

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Windows snapping can be a convenient way to reorganize your desktop: just drag and drop a window to the left of the screen, for instance, and it automatically resizes to fill the left half of the display.

Not everyone is a fan. There are only a few snapping features. Some people find they’re easily launched by accident. And apart from turning them off, there’s no real configuration available at all.

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OS X and Linux threaten Windows' dominance in developer market

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OS X and Linux are nowhere near as popular as Windows when we look at the PC market as a whole, but the two platforms are actually extremely popular with a certain crowd. According to a StackOverflow survey, 26.2 percent of developers use Apple's Mac operating system, while distributions based on the open-source kernel are not that far behind, having a combined 21.7 percent usage share.

This may come as a bit of a shock, but, yes, OS X and Linux are nearly as popular as Windows among developers. In fact, according to StackOverflow, "If OS adoption rates hold steady, by next year's survey fewer than 50 percent of developers may be using Windows" -- and, obviously, OS X and Linux will come out even more popular in the process.

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Twitter drops TweetDeck for Windows, but Mac version is safe

TweetDeck Web App

Even though TweetDeck is one of the most powerful and beloved Twitter clients for Windows, the social network has announced that it will soon drop support for the program, leaving fans with just the web app at their disposal. However, the Mac version of TweetDeck is not affected, remaining in the lineup for the foreseeable future.

Twitter has not exactly provided a reason why it is pulling TweetDeck for Windows, only saying that this is being done "to better focus on enhancing [users'] TweetDeck experience". However, the fact that it just launched a new version of Twitter for Windows 10 likely plays a role in its decision.

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Why does Oculus Rift not support Macs?

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To be on the cutting edge of technology you sometimes need to make some hard decisions. If you are a Mac user who is interested in Oculus Rift, you will have to choose between your love of Apple's computers and enjoying the virtual reality headset. That is because the two do not go hand in hand, as Oculus Rift only supports Windows PCs. Ouch!

Your Mac is not held back by Windows per se, because it can be easily installed via Boot Camp or Parallels -- and you get pretty much the same user experience as a PC user. The reason why Mac support is currently out of the question boils down to hardware limitations.

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Resistance is futile -- Windows 10 will take over the PC market (eventually)

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Microsoft hopes that within the first two to three years of availability, Windows 10 will power one billion devices worldwide. And, so far, things are looking good, as the new operating system can be found on over 200 million devices. But whether the software giant reaches its goal on time or not is irrelevant, because the new operating system will take over the PC market eventually, one way or another.

When looking at monthly stats and even Microsoft's own status updates on adoption it is way too easy to focus your attention on the figures themselves and lose sight of the bigger picture: as long as Windows 10's user base is growing, there is no stopping it. And that is what Microsoft wants, to have its new operating system "infecting" as many PCs and tablets as possible, so that it can finally take control of this market.

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Polarr Photo Editor gets a Windows 7+ desktop release

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Popular mobile and browser-based image editor Polarr Photo Editor is now available in a desktop edition for Windows 7 and later.

A Free build offers only global adjustments (no selection tools), and drops custom filters and batch export.

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Microsoft buys Xamarin to strengthen mobile side

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If a few years back we were laughing off Microsoft's efforts in the mobile market, today we are looking at the software giant in a different light. That "mobile first, cloud first" mantra that Satya Nadella introduced us to when he became CEO now defines Microsoft, which has quickly evolved into one of the most important players in the mobile space afterwards.

Under Nadella, Microsoft has tackled mobile in a more meaningful way, refocusing its strategy so that it could become a major developer for more than Windows and Windows Phone. Today, the software giant's best services and products are also found on Android and iOS, the most important mobile platforms, and more have been added following high-profile acquisitions like Acompli and SwiftKey. Now, Microsoft adds Xamarin to its mobile portfolio, proving once again that it is dead serious about conquering mobile.

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Moveable type: iClever Tri-folding Backlit Bluetooth Keyboard [Review]

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A few months back, I took a look at the iClever Portable Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard and I was impressed. Now iClever is back with an updated version of the keyboard, the iClever Ultra Slim 3 Color Backlight Bluetooth Keyboard.

There are a number of enhancements to the original design, the most noticeable of which is that the keys have now grown to full size. As you'll have guessed from the name, the keyboard is now also backlit, and there are also little kick-out legs to help improve stability.

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How to download any Windows ISO for free

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Whatever version of Windows you're running, the time will probably come when you want to reinstall. You might be lucky and can have recovery media on hand, or your recovery partition may be intact. If not, what can you do? You can download ISOs for Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 direct from Microsoft.

It's always best to be prepared, so rather than waiting until you find yourself in desperate need, why not spend a few minutes grabbing the ISO (or ISOs) you need in readiness. There's no need to head off to a torrent site to download an illicit copy of Windows along with a crack, everything is available from Microsoft. Here's what you need to do.

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The Internet Archive now lets you run over 1,000 Windows 3.1 programs in your browser

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Windows 3.1 was the first version of Windows I ever used. The Internet Archive, which has over the past couple of years made it possible to play classic DOS games and console games in your browser, has just added over 1,000 Windows 3.1 programs to its catalog.

These include games, utilities and business software, and each can be run in your browser just by clicking on them.

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Covertly monitor PCs and Macs with ActivTrak

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ActivTrak is a professional cloud-managed service which can help you covertly monitor activity on PCs and Macs.

The system is extremely easy to set up, very difficult for others to spot, and provides a range of usage reports which you can access from anywhere.

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Oracle issues an emergency patch to Java for Windows

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Security problems are not new to Java, though it is, admittedly, not the only platform that suffers from these problems. Now Oracle has acknowledged a new hole and it is bad enough to issue an out of cycle emergency patch.

With the catchy name of CVE-2016-0603, the security flaw requires the user to access a malicious website and accept the download of Java version 6, 7 or 8 in order to become infected. However, for those who fall for it, the attack will allow for a total compromise of the system.

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