General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Microsoft Announces Limited Time Windows 8 Upgrade Discount for Windows 7, XP and Vista Users

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 01:09 PM PDT

Are you on the fence about upgrading to Windows 8? The new Metro UI and the lack of Windows Media Center have made many Maximum PC readers vow to stockpile Windows 7 OEM discs in a drawer somewhere. Microsoft's countering the worry with a competitive price point: through January 31st, upgrading from Windows 7, XP or Vista will only cost you $39.99 for a digital download. That's to the fancy-schmancy Windows 8 Pro, to boot -- and you can choose to toss in Windows Media Center for free during installation.

Microsoft ran through the upgrade process in a blog post today. Windows 7 users can drag whatever they want along for the Windows 8 ride, including apps, personal files and system settings; Vista users can't port over apps, while XP users can bring personal files and nothing else. The installation process lets you start off clean with a fresh install, too, of course.

A physical retail version will be available during the same time from for $69.99. Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro System Builder versions will also be knocking around for the DIYers like you and me, but there's no word on how much that license will cost. People who buy a Windows 7 PC in the next few months will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $15.

Digital Rights Groups Unveil "Declaration of Internet Freedom"

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 10:46 AM PDT

Legislators aren't the only ones who can whip together demands for digital equality. A couple of weeks ago, a pair of legislators that were instrumental in stopping SOPA and PIPA released a "Digital Bill of Rights," looking for feedback from you and me. Today, several of the organizations that spearheaded the SOPA/PIPA opposition -- including the EFF, Access Now and Free Press -- launched a "Declaration of Internet Freedom" of their own, and they're looking for both signatures and feedback for the petition.

If you're interested, head over to the Declaration of Internet Freedom website for full information on how to sign the petition, or how to leave feedback and interact with the declaration. Here's the full text as it is now:

We stand for a free and open Internet.

We support transparent and participatory processes for making Internet policy and the establishment of five basic principles:

  • Expression: Don't censor the Internet.
  • Access: Promote universal access to fast and affordable networks.
  • Openness: Keep the Internet an open network where everyone is free to connect, communicate, write, read, watch, speak, listen, learn, create and innovate.
  • Innovation: Protect the freedom to innovate and create without permission. Don't block new technologies, and don't punish innovators for their users' actions.
  • Privacy: Protect privacy and defend everyone's ability to control how their data and devices are used.

If SOPA and PIPA showed us anything, it's that the Internet will be regulated, and we're in danger of being bled to death by a thousand over-reaching cuts if an overarching credo doesn't protect user rights online.

Are broad, vague declarations like this (or the legislators' Digital Rights bill) the way to go, or would tighter language be better? Will these measures amount to anything in any case? A large part of the anti-SOPA movement's success was its widespread support, and this is the second similar "Bill of Rights"-type thing we've seen in a week from different digital rights supporters. Will a splintered front neutralize the message?

StatCounter: More Than 50 Percent of PCs Now Run Windows 7

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 10:23 AM PDT

Windows 8 is almost here but Windows 7 is nevertheless just starting to hits its stride, nearly three years after its launch. According to StatCounter, Microsoft's flagship operating system snatched the "Most Used O.S" crown from Windows XP sometime in September 2011, but last month, Windows 7 cracked an even more monumental plateau: it now owns over 50 percent of the total O.S. market.

Sure, at 50.2 percent, it's not much over 50 percent, but it's over 50 percent nonetheless. Windows XP's runner-up status is holding steady, with the soon-to-be-obsolete OS still powering nearly 30 percent of the browsers that visit StatCounter's family of websites. Vista, by comparison, nabs around 8 percent of the market, just ahead of Mac OS X's 7 percent.

CNET notes that the numbers from NetApplications, a StatCounter rival, show Windows XP with a very slight lead over Windows 7, with neither OS hitting 50 percent of the overall market, so as always you'll want to take these numbers as a loose indicator rather than hard-and-fast results. No matter how you count it, it's good to see Windows XP finally dying down.

CPU-Z Version 1.61 Released With New Processor Support and Windows 8 Tweak

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 10:09 AM PDT

A sizeable chunk of the August issue of Maximum PC -- which is making its way to your mailbox, e-reader or local newsstand now -- consists of Gordon outlining our new benchmarking suite, as well as laying out some utilities home users (i.e., you) can use to make sure your PC is humming along nicely. Of course, before you can start testing, you need to be sure what you're running: that's where CPU-Z comes in. For more than two years, tinkerers have been turning to CPU-Z to validate their builds, and today, a new version hit the Web with support for the latest hardware and software.

CPU-Z already packed in Ivy Bridge and preliminary Trinity support; today's update adds Intel's Xeon X5 processors and  "Cedar Trail" Atom platform to the database, along with VIA's VX11 chipset. Previously, a bug caused the program to pop up the wrong CPU clock speed when running CPU-Z in Windows 8, but version 1.61 squashes that with a vengeance.

Oddly, CPUID's CPU-Z download page is still dishing out the older 1.60 version, but you can download the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of CPU-Z 1.61 directly using these links:

Happy testing!

Via Legit Reviews

Dell Dumps $2.4 Billion into Quest Software Acquisition

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 07:07 AM PDT

Dell may have to change its name to Daddy Big Bucks with the way it's throwing around cash in recent times. Having already made a number of software purchases this year, including a deal for for SonicWall back in March reportedly worth $1.2 billion, the latest domino to fall into Dell's hands is Quest Software. Dell has agreed to pay $28 per share in cash for each share of Quest, valuing the purchase price at around $2.4 billion.

"The addition of Quest will enable Dell to deliver more competitive server, storage, networking and end user computing solutions and services to customers," said John Swainson, president, Dell Software Group. "Quest's suite of industry-leading software products, highly-talented team members and unique intellectual property will position us well in the largest and fastest growing areas of the software industry. We intend to build upon the strong momentum Quest brings to Dell."

Quest Software sparked a bidding war of sorts after announcing in March that it would be bought out for $23 per share (around $2 billion) by Insight Venture Partners. According to Dell, Quest's diversified software portfolio raked in $857 million in global revenue in 2011. The company serves more than 100,000 customers, including 87 percent of Fortune 500 companies, and employes 3,850 workers.

Image Credit: Dell

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Cooler Master Announces Compact Elite 120 Advanced Computer Case

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 06:49 AM PDT

There was a time when hulking computer towers were all the rage, and for some, they still are. By and large, however, the general shift in computing has been towards smaller, space saving form factors. Hoping to capitalize on that trend is Cooler Master, which recently announced its Elite 120 Advanced chassis pitched as "a modern solution for the space conscious" builder.

The Elite 120 Advanced is about the third of the size of a standard case, measuring 9.4 inches by 8.2 inches by 15.8 inches. It weighs 7.3 pounds before stuffing any hardware inside.

Built around the mini ITX form factor, the Elite 120 Advanced accommodates small motherboards with big ideals. It supports up to four 2.5-inch drives (converted from two 3.5-inch bays), up to three 3.5-inch drives, and a single 5.25-inch drive. There are two expansion slots available and ample cooling for its size, including a 120mm front fan, 80mm side fan, and an optional 120mm HDD fan. The front I/O panel consists of a USB 3.0 port, USB 2.0 port, and mic/audio inputs.

Cooler Master says you can cram a standard ATX power supply into the compact case, as well as graphics cards up to 13.5 inches long and CPU coolers up to 2.5 inches high. The case itself is constructed of steel with a brushed aluminum front panel.

You should be able to find the case now for around $50.

Image Credit: Cooler Master

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Will Windows Phone 8 Sport a Curved Keyboard?

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 06:31 AM PDT

Rectangular keyboards reign supreme, but there are a number of alternatives available that purportedly offer better ergonomics. Some of them feature rather minor tweaks, like the curvy Microsoft Natural keyboard, and others are downright funky (we're looking at you, Maltron). Could the same principle be applied to virtual planks on smartphones? Microsoft may be getting ready to answer that question with Windows Phone 8.

A leaked Microsoft Research presentation landed at WMPoweruser.com, which uploaded a pic showing a curved virtual keyboard designed for one-handed thumb typing. Many of the keys are clumped together with three or four characters, similar to a T9 layout, but with a QWERTY configuration.

The picture shows the keyboard on an HTC Trophy smartphone, so there's a chance this could also be rolled out with Windows Phone 7.8, not just Windows Phone 8, assuming Microsoft forges ahead with it in the first place.

Image Credit: WMPoweruser.com

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Amazon Cloud Outage Knocked Out Netlfix, Instagram, and Pinterest

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 06:15 AM PDT

Internet junkies addicted to Netflix, Instagram, and Pinterest had to find something else to occupy their time over the weekend. All three services, plus some others like BlackBerry Mobile, were down for a period of a time after severe thunder storms rolled through the D.C. area, resulting in significant power outages and knocking out Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud in Virginia.

A number of services, both big and small, rely on Amazon EC2, and the weekend's events underscore the vulnerability of living in the cloud. Netflix and others were down for hours in what ranked as Amazon's second major outage in the area in barely more than a year. According to The New York Times, a problem in Amazon's data center in April 2011 resulted in downtime for a number of popular websites, including Reddit and Quora.

The timing couldn't have been worse for Amazon. Google recently unveiled its Compute Engine cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) product at its I/O developer conference, putting it in direct competition with Amazon, but at half the price.

Image Credit: pleated-jeans.com

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