General Gaming Article

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• OEM Crapware is Still Alive and Well on Windows 8
• HP Struggles To Maintain its Hold Over PC Market: CEO Warns Investors 2013 Will Be Another Challenging Year
• Microsoft Confirms Holiday Pop-Up Stores Selling Surface RT Will Open By October 26

OEM Crapware is Still Alive and Well on Windows 8 Posted: 07 Oct 2012 08:10 PM PDT Windows 8 hardware and software doesn't officially go on sale until October 26th, but apparently The Home Shopping Network didn't get the memo. Either that or they did get the memo, but just chose to ignore it. The online portal for the popular shopping television show is offering up 5 different machines from Gateway and Acer, all of which feature Windows 8 pre-installed. The models shown are hardly remarkable, however as ZDNet's Ed Bott points out, the marketing matterials confirm what we all feared. Crapware is alive and well on Windows 8, and Microsoft seems powerless to prevent it.  According to the detailed spec's page here is what buyers of the Acer models will encounter: Microsoft Office 2010 (60-day trial)  Acer Portal Acer Games Acer Recovery Management Nero 12 Essentials Adobe Reader  Norton Internet Security Suite (60-day trial) The Gate machine has a fairly similar list: Microsoft Office 2010 (60-day trial)  CyberLink PowerDVD  Gateway MyBackup Solution  Gateway Games  Powered by WildTangent (10 demo games with 60 minutes of game play) Gateway Recovery Management Adobe Reader  Adobe Flash Norton Internet Security (60-day trial) Acer's CEO J.T. Wang warned Microsoft to "think it over" with reference to the Surface tablet, but to be clear, PC's equipped as described above are exactly why we need the Surface. Perhaps it's Mr Wang who should be "thinking it over". Consumers are sick of being bombarded by offers when they start up a shiny new PC, and it's one of the areas Apple continues to have us beat. If Microsoft continues to expand its physical store presence, along with the Signature Program, perhaps all hope is not lost. Follow Justin on Twitter

HP Struggles To Maintain its Hold Over PC Market: CEO Warns Investors 2013 Will Be Another Challenging Year Posted: 07 Oct 2012 09:27 AM PDT My favorite CEO adage by far is the tale of three envelopes. It is rumored that a new chief executive is presented with three envelopes by his predecessor. These notes of wisdom are designed to be opened in sequence in response to any serious crisis. The first letter directs the new leader to shift blame to the last CEO. The second envelope directs the CEO to re-organize and fire people. The last and final piece of advice on the third letter is to prepare three identical envelopes for the next guy. This urban legend may elicit a few snickers from the readers, but unfortunately for HP CEO Meg Whitman, it looks like she's already cracked open two of her three envelopes.  The HP CEO had lots to say when she confronted shareholders last week, and in her most reassuring tone possible, was forced to report quarterly results that would drop the stock to a nine year low. To top it off, HP announced 2013 would be another restructuring year, and it would struggle to be profitable until 2014 at the earliest. So who's to blame you ask? Well, according to Whitman: "The single biggest challenge facing Hewlett-Packard has been changes in CEOs and executive leadership, which has caused multiple inconsistent strategic choices, and frankly some significant executional miscues. This is important because as a result it is going to take longer to right this ship than any of us would like," she added.  HP is already at risk of losing its title as the world's largest PC manufacturer to Lenovo, but could it get even worse? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Follow Justin on Twitter

Microsoft Confirms Holiday Pop-Up Stores Selling Surface RT Will Open By October 26 Posted: 07 Oct 2012 06:45 AM PDT Microsoft tends to trickle out important details at a snail's pace, including minor tidbits such as when and where holiday shoppers will be able to pick up the company's new flagship consumer product. Microsoft made it abundantly clear during its Surface press conference that only Microsoft stores would carry the device, and since so few of these locations exist, pop-up stores would help pick up the slack. The location of these temporary stores has been known for a few months now, however, only now do we finally have confirmation on the dates.  According to WinSuperSite.com all locations will be stocked and ready to go by October 26th 2012, which conveniently, is also the release date for both the Surface RT, and Windows 8. It's not clear at this point if the company plans to sell anything other than the Surface at the pop-up locations, however I would be shocked if you couldn't pick up boxed versions of Windows 8 as well.  Below is a current list of all the pop-up locations we know about. To find your nearest location hit up Microsoft's store location page.     • Aventura Mall – Aventura, Fla. • Beachwood Place – Beachwood, Ohio • Cherry Creek Shopping Center – Denver, Co. • Dadeland Mall  – Miami, Fla. • Eaton Centre – Toronto, Ontario • Fashion Mall at Keystone – Indianapolis, Ind. • Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, Nev. • Glendale Galleria – Glendale, Calif. • Mall at Green Hills – Nashville, Tenn. • Mall in Columbia – Columbia, Md. • Metropolis at Metrotown – Burnaby, B.C. • Montgomery Mall – Bethesda, Md. • Natick Collection – Natick, Mass. • North Star Mall – San Antonio, Texas • Oakridge Centre – Vancouver, B.C. • Penn Square Mall – Oklahoma City, Okla. • Perimeter Mall – Atlanta, Ga. • Roosevelt Field Mall – Garden, City, N.Y. • Ross Park Mall – Pittsburgh, Pa. • Saint Louis Galleria – St. Louis, Mo. • San Francisco Centre – San Francisco, Calif. • South Shore Plaza – Braintree, Mass. • Southpark Mall – Charlotte, N.C. • Stonebriar Centre Mall – Frisco, Texas • Streets at Southpoint – Durham, N.C. • Time Warner Center – The Shops at Columbus Circle – New York, N.Y. • Washington Square– Portland, Ore. • West Edmonton Mall – Edmonton, Alberta • Westfarms Mall – West Hartford, Conn. • Westfield Garden State Plaza – Paramus, N.J. • Woodland Hills Mall – Tulsa, Okla. • Woodlands Mall – Woodlands, Texas

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