| Check Out Windows 95 Running In a Browser Posted: 01 Feb 2016 02:09 PM PST 
The 90s was a great decade. It introduced us to The X-Files, the Internet, polygon-based first-person shooters, and the dedicated GPU. The 90s also saw the dramatic transformation of Microsoft's Windows platform, taking the DOS-heavy operating system and painting it with a slick interface and a new Start Menu. Enter Windows 95, the beginning of a beautiful relationship between computer and human. Those who wish to relive the Windows 95 experience without having to install any software can do so by merely opening a browser. 19-year-old Andrea Faulds of Scotland managed to get the 20-year-old operating system running in JavaScript using Emscripten, which is an emulator that compiles C and C++ code into JavaScript that can execute at near-native speeds. "I installed Windows 95 in DOSBox using this guide from a virtualised CD, then packaged up the disk image, along with an AUTOEXEC.BAT file and a custom dosbox.conf using Em-DOSBox," Faulds writes. "Really, all the hard work was done by the Emscripten, DOSBox and Em-DOSBox people. And, of course, the browser vendors and other people who have worked tirelessly to make the modern web platform what it is today. In the process of making this, I never once had to touch the DOSBox source code!" Faulds notes that Windows 95 is running on an emulated CPU. And because DOSBox isn't running natively on your machine, it won't run quite as fast as if it were installed locally on your hard drive. Faulds also warns that because the operating system is running entirely in memory, nothing can be saved, so don't get crazy and hope to have an ancient, secondary operating system on your hands. One thing Fauls points out is that this Windows 95 project is for educational purposes only. Windows 95 is still protected by copyright law, so those who choose to load Windows 95 into RAM are doing so at their own risk. If Fauls receives a cease and desist letter, the site will be shut down immediately. Until then, you can check out Windows 95 in a browser right here. The disk image is 47MB gzipped and 131MB uncompressed, so it may take a short time to download and execute. Fauls suggests that interested users load up Windows 95 in Firefox, given that Mozilla's browser supports asm.js. We tried loading it up in the latest Google Chrome release and didn't have any problems. Despite the caveats, what Fauls has done is simply awesome. After the platform loads and you're required to set the date, users can stroll down memory lane and take Windows 95 for a spin. You can open My Computer and check out the "C" Drive (which is 125MB of allocated memory), play Solitaire, tool around in the Control Panel, and enter the MS-DOS prompt. However, Internet Explorer crashes, which is a known bug. If you're curious about Microsoft's retired platform, this is a good way to check out what we endured in the mid-90s. Again, this experiment isn't sanctioned by Microsoft, so it could get nuked at any time. It certainly brings back some great memories and doesn't require that you install a thing! |
| Newegg Daily Deals: MSI Apache-235 Laptop, Seagate 4TB HDD, and More! Posted: 01 Feb 2016 10:32 AM PST |
| Acer's Windows-Based TravelMate B117 Will Take on Chromebooks in the U.S. Posted: 01 Feb 2016 10:19 AM PST Low cost Windows laptops  Acer is one of Google's major partners in the Chromebook movement that's seen some success in the education market, but that won't stop Acer from trying to sell low-cost Windows laptops to the same audience. If you need evidence of this, then consider the company's forthcoming TravelMate B117. Available in two base configurations, the TravelMate B117 was "tailor made for education," Acer says. A big reason why is the price. The first model—TravelMate TMB117-M-C578—runs $229 and includes an 11.6-inch display with a 1366x768 resolution, Intel Celetron N3050 processor, 2GB of DDR3L RAM, 32GB of eMMC storage. 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, a webcam, up to 12 hours of battery life, and Windows 10 Pro. For $20 more, the TMB007-M-C0DK model doubles the amount of RAM to 4GB. Acer considers the TravelMate B117 line to be "game changing," and not just because of the price points, but also the feature-set. One of the features Acer is touting is called TeachSmart. "The TravelMate B117 with Acer TeachSmart features an LED light embedded on the lid which can flash in different colors. Students can toggle between four colors through a software interface to indicate their status, allowing teachers to easily keep track at a glance," Acer says. "For example, teachers can post multiple-choice questions to the entire class. After students select their answers on the notebook, the LEDs will light up in a corresponding color to indicate the answers they have chosen," Acer added. The LED light can also be used by students to let a teacher know that he or she has finished an assignment or otherwise needs attention. As the TravelMate B117 is designed for students, it sports a ruggedized frame with a rubber strip to protect it from bumps and drops. It's also thin and lightweight at 0.8 inches and 2.9 pounds, and boasts a spill-resistant keyboard with a water drainage system. Acer says the TravelMate B117 will head to the U.S. in March. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Tablet Shipments Tumble as 2-in-1 Devices Reach New Heights Posted: 01 Feb 2016 09:57 AM PST Getting attached to detachables
Well look at what we have here, another quarter of declining tablet shipments while detachable 2-in-1 devices reached an all-time high, according to data released by International Data Corporation (IDC). This is notable on a number of levels. First, long time Maximum PC readers might remember a time when analysts were infatuated with rising tablet shipments. They blamed tablets for declining PC sales and pretty much predicted that tablets were the future. Wrong. Secondly, it was barely three weeks ago when IDC reported a 10.6 percent year-on-year decline in PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2015, noting it was the largest year-on-year drop in the history of PCs. However, IDC's figures didn't include 2-in-1 PC shipments—they're tallied separately and would have added 6 percentage points to the fourth quarter total and 3 percentage points to the full year. In any event, it's nice to see IDC acknowledging the market for 2-in-1 devices, which is comparatively small to traditional PCs but quickly growing. "One of the biggest reasons why detachables are growing so fast is because end users are seeing those devices as PC replacements," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, Research Director, Tablets at IDC. "We believe Apple sold just over two million iPad Pros while Microsoft sold around 1.6 million Surface devices, a majority of which were Surface Pro and not the more affordable Surface 3. With these results, it's clear that price is not the most important feature considered when acquiring a detachable – performance is." That might be overstating things a bit. Lest we get too excited about 2-in-1 devices, IDC isn't talking about hundreds of millions or even tens of millions of shipments, but 8.1 million units. And then there's the debate of whether or not an iPad Pro qualifies as a 2-in-1 dectachable. As for tablets in general, despite the holiday season, the tablet market tablet again in the fourth quarter of 2015 with 65.9 million units shipped, down 13.7 percent year-over-year. "The transition towards detachable devices appears to be in full swing as pure slate tablets experienced their greatest annual decline to date of -21.1%. On the other hand, detachable tablets more than doubled their shipments since the fourth quarter of last year," IDC said. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Windows 10 Jumps Past Windows XP for Third Spot in OS Usage Posted: 01 Feb 2016 09:26 AM PST Number three or number two?  The first month of the new year is in the books and with it comes a new ranking for Windows 10, now either the second or third most popular operating system in the world, according to updated data by Net Applications. If you count Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 as separate operating systems, then Windows 10 is in third place. Otherwise, it's second only to Windows 7, still the big man on campus. But no matter how you slice it, Windows 10 is now on more PCs than Windows XP, a fan favorite that's managing to cling to a double-digit percentage. Here's how things shake out based on the accounting methods of Net Applications: - Windows 7: 54.47 percent
- Windows 10: 11.85 percent
- Windows XP: 11.42 percent
- Windows 8.1: 10.4 percent
- Mac OS X 10.11: 3.44 percent
- Windows 8: 2.68 percent
- Mac OS X 10.10: 2.33 percent
- Others: 5.4 percent
Microsoft's goal is to have Windows 10 installed on 1 billion devices two to three years post launch. Now six months into that time frame, Windows 10 is installed on more than 200 million active devices, according to Microsoft's latest official count. At this rate, Microsoft will likely reach its goal somewhere between the two- and three-year mark. The numbers at StatCounter differ slightly but paint a similar picture. According to StatCounter, the OS landscape looks like this: - Windows 7: 46.66 percent
- Windows 10: 13.65 percent
- Windows 8.1: 11.67 percent
- Mac OS X: 9.03 percent
- Windows XP: 7.98 percent
- Unknown: 3.8 percent
- Windows 8: 3.15 percent
"Microsoft's determined promotion of Windows 10 seems to be having an impact," commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. "However, there remains a lot of loyalty to Windows 7 and it will be interesting to see if it becomes the equivalent of XP which, 14 years after launch, refuses to lie down and still has a 8 percent global share in terms of desktop internet use." How does the adoption rate compare to previous versions of Windows 10? After six months on the market, Windows 8 was sitting at just 5 percent, while Windows 7 raced out to 13.5 percent, just behind the 13.65 percent Windows 10 now finds itself at. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Apple Reportedly Has a Big VR/AR Team Posted: 01 Feb 2016 06:08 AM PST 
Unnamed sources have told the Financial Times that Apple has created a large team of experts to develop virtual and augmented reality devices. This team consists of employees poached from other companies as well as staff from recent acquisitions. This team has been working on prototypes for the past several months, sources say. As the report points out, Apple is no stranger to VR technology development. The company experimented with headsets back in the mid-2000s but considered the technology "too immature" at the time. Apple is said to have become interested in VR again once the Oculus Rift surfaced, which has proven that the industry is finally ready for public consumption. Reports say that Apple began to beef up its arsenal with the acquisition of PrimeSense in 2013, followed by Metaio and Faceshift. The company's latest acquisition is Flyby Media, an augmented-reality startup that worked with Google on Project Tango. Sources say that Apple is still looking for more acquisitions in optical technologies to prefect its VR and AR designs. Apple recently hired a top virtual reality researcher, former Virginia Tech computer science professor Doug Bowman. So far there's no indication of what Bowman will be doing at Apple, although his background points to possible VR projects. Apple also hired several former Lytro employees who worked on a consumer-oriented camera that used light field optics. During a recent quarterly earnings conference call from Apple, current CEO Tim Cook answered a question regarding the company's interest in virtual reality. "In terms of VR, I don't think it's a niche. It's really cool and has some interesting applications," he said. That's not a confirmation about developing VR hardware, but it's not a denial either. Apple posted a series of job advertisements last year seeking software engineers who would create apps for virtual reality systems "for prototyping and user testing." VR patents submitted by Apple also surfaced, such as a head-mounted display that is compatible with the iPhone and likely meant for virtual (or augmented) reality. What's unknown at this point is who Apple plans to take on in the VR and AR space. Will Apple's VR/AR solution compete with Samsung's Gear VR or Google Cardboard, or go after the heavy-hitters like the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift? There's also speculation that Apple may not release hardware at all, although given recent reports and the growing VR/AR industry, that seems unlikely. |
| Scan Firmware Using Google's VirusTotal Posted: 01 Feb 2016 06:02 AM PST 
Until now, Google's VirusTotal merely scanned URLs and "suspicious" files (up to 128MB) that are uploaded to the site including Windows executables, Android APKs, PDFs, images, and more. Now, PC World points to a new tool added to the VirusTotal service that will scan firmware for known malicious code. Firmware is at the root of a device, stored on a flash memory chip and loaded into memory when the device boots up. It's the platform of communication between the hardware and operating system, and typically isn't scanned by virus detection software. This has been a target by the likes of the National Security Agency and hackers, because malware embedded in firmware can survive device reboots and system wipes. With the new tool in place, analysts and researchers can search for low-level infections in firmware, and label this firmware as either legitimate or suspicious. The new tool will also extract certificates, executable files that may be packed in the firmware, and UEFI portable executables (PEs), the latter of which could be the source of malicious behavior. "These executables are extracted and submitted individually to VirusTotal, such that the user can eventually see a report for each one of them and perhaps get a notion of whether there is something fishy in their BIOS image," says IT security engineer Francisco Santos. He added that the tool will also highlight which PEs are targeted at Windows, which could be a sign of foul play. For those interested in scanning firmware, Santos suggests that users remove private information first, such as vendor "secrets" (like Wi-Fi passwords) that are stored in BIOS variables to retain specific settings during system reinstalls. For those on a Mac, Santos recommends DarwinDumper and checking the "Make dumps private" option. Here's a list of the basic tasks the new tool can perform: - Strings-based brand heuristic detection, to identify target systems
- Extraction of certificates both from the firmware image and from executable files contained in it
- PCI class code enumeration, allowing device class identification
- ACPI tables tags extraction
- NVAR variable names enumeration
- Option ROM extraction, entry point decompilation and PCI feature listing
- Extraction of BIOS Portable Executables and identification of potential Windows Executables contained within the image
- SMBIOS characteristics reporting
- Apple Mac BIOS detection and reporting
For more information about VirusTotal, Google has a lengthy FAQ that answers common questions here. VirusTotal is a subsidy of Google and is a free online service. |
| Is Apple Taking on Netflix with Original Content? Posted: 01 Feb 2016 05:45 AM PST 
We've known for a while that Apple has been trying to launch a streaming TV service, but has met resistance from Hollywood studios and networks over pricing and how media will be served up. At one time there was even talk that Apple was creating an actual TV, but as of late we've only heard that the Cupertino-based company is seeking to provide a bundled service based on apps and Siri integration. However, a new report by The Street indicates that Apple may be pushing to create its own content for iTunes customers. The company is said to have been in negotiations with Hollywood studios since last year, and plans to reveal the original content alongside its streaming TV service and the iPhone 7 in September 2016. So far, Apple has not reached an agreement regarding the original content, sources say. According to the report, negotiations are being spearheaded by senior vice president of Internet sales and software Eddie Cue, along with vice-president of iTunes content Robert Kondrk. Meanwhile, Apple continues to hammer out its streaming TV service as revealed by ESPN president John Skipper in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. The streaming TV service is expected to bolster sales of Apple's struggling set-top box. Original content seems to be the theme with streaming video providers. Netflix offers exclusive movies and TV shows such as Daredevil, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and Adam Sandler's The Ridiculous 6 (which is one of many Sandler exclusives to come). Amazon has exclusives for Prime subscribers such as The Man in the High Castle, Transparent, and Mad Dogs. Original content from Apple could help prove to Hollywood that the company means business. However, over the years we've heard talk about fears regarding a possible monopoly of the market on Apple's part. Those fears have subsided with the growing popularity of competing streaming services like Sling, Netflix, and Hulu. "Since the beginning of television, content differentiation has been the single most important element driving the business," Blair Westlake, former chairman of Universal TV told The Street. "Apple undoubtedly recognized that offering programming that is only available on iTunes is a 'must have,' just as it is for mainstream TV." Two weeks ago, reports surfaced claiming that Apple was actually interested in acquiring Time Warner to accelerate its streaming TV plans. According to the New York Post, Apple would gain access to HBO programming, CNN news, Turner sports and movies, and TV shows from Warner Bros. Eddie Cue is reportedly "keeping tabs" on what's going on at Time Warner, which could spin off its assets or be sold off entirely. Apple could potentially disrupt the video streaming subscription industry with a new offering. It was former Apple CEO Steve Jobs who declared that the TV was broken, and set out to transform the way we consume content many years ago. Whether Apple will succeed depends on how the company's offering will stand out against the other players in the field. |
| Sager NP8675-S Review Posted: 01 Feb 2016 12:00 AM PST An engineering marvelWhen Nvidia told us that it managed to shrink its desktop GTX 980 GPU to fit inside notebooks, we went through two stages of denial. The first stage was disbelief. "The 980 is a huge and powerful card," we thought to ourselves. The second stage was dismissiveness. "It's got to throttle tremendously." To prove us wrong and to fan the flames of hardware absurdity, Sager armed its sexily named NP8675 gaming notebook (seriously, who names these things?) with both a desktop 980 and a high-end 6700K Skylake desktop CPU. On paper, it's an abomination of a laptop, but crazily enough, it actually friggin' works! Of course, if you're going to squeeze desktop components into a laptop chassis, you shouldn't expect an ultra-portable package. The Sager here is of the big, bulky 17-inch variety, and it has a hefty 14-pound carry weight to match its size. If there's one criticism we could levy against Sager in the past, is that its gaming notebooks were very bland looking. There are a few aesthetic bells and whistles this time around. In addition to the nice silver Sager logo on the back, there are some pulsating LEDs, which add a little bling to the look (if you're into that). The chassis also has some sharp lines and edges, which give it a slightly futuristic look. 
Surprisingly, 980 GPU performance wasn't throttled. More exciting is the 1080p display. While we would have preferred a 1440p screen, the monitor here uses a 75Hz IPS panel that supports G-Sync. That's a lot of cool display tech in one sentence. The rest of the design is good. The speakers by Sound Blaster are competent, the LED-backlit keyboard offers some nice travel, and the trackpad is solid and has two discrete click buttons and a fingerprint reader. The notebook also sports enough ports to warrant its desktop-replacement label, which include: two Ethernet, five USB 3.0, one USB type C, two DisplayPort, an SD card reader, and an HDMI port. But you probably aren't reading this review to hear about the laptop's ports. "How well does it perform?!," you're probably screaming. Cool your jets, we're getting there. The 980 outfitted here has the same 256-bit memory interface width and 224GB/sec memory bandwidth as its desktop sibling. One advantage that this 980 has over Nvidia's discrete card is double the VRAM. Your reference 980 has 4GB VRAM, whereas this card rocks 8GB. Considering that the notebook is relegated to a 1080p panel, you'd be hard pressed to actually use up all that VRAM (or anything near it), but it's still nice to have. Compared to our Alienware 14 ZP laptop, which is getting long in the tooth with its GTX 765M GPU, we saw a 106–234 percent performance delta in our graphics benchmarks. It's really not a fair comparison at this point, so we decided to see how it stacks up against the 3D Mark 11 Extreme numbers we ran on CyberPower's Syber Vapor system we reviewed last year. If you'll recall, the Vapor rocked a 4790K and GTX 980 desktop card in a small Mini ITX chassis, which makes it a fair comparison point for the Sager. The results? The Sager not only performed on par with the desktop PC, but actually ran three percent better! Older drivers on the Vapor could explain some of this delta, but still, getting anywhere near close to the desktop card in this form factor is insane. Consider us believers in this Nvidia voodoo. CPU performance was also great. We saw up to an 11 percent increase in single-threaded CPU tests compared to our ZP laptop's Core i7-4700MQ laptop proc. In multithreaded tests, we saw a huge 43 percent difference. Yes, it did get a little loud under load, but it's running top-tier desktop parts in a laptop chassis, so what do you expect? One performance hurdle that we ran into pertained to boot times. It took roughly 25 seconds to reach Windows, despite the notebook using a premium Samsung 850 Evo SSD. Sager tells us that this is because the gaming notebook has so many built-in peripherals for the drive to check, so it takes a little longer. That seems fair. At $2,850, you'll be paying a high price for this kind of performance, but at the same time, it's kind of an engineering marvel. To fit this much power out of a chassis of this size boggles the mind. You can max out pretty much any game at 75fps here. Whether you're looking for a high-end gaming system, editing rig, or VR machine on the go, the Sager NP8675-S has you covered. It might not be cheap, but it's still pretty Kick-Ass. BENCHMARKS| | Zero-point | Sager NP8675-S | Percent difference | | Stitch.Efx 2.0 (sec) | 962 | 970 | -0.8% | | Proshow Producer 5 (sec) | 1,629 | 1,459 | 11.7% | | x264 HD 5.0 | 13.5 | 19.4 | 43.7% | | Bioshock Infinite (fps) | 36.1 | 74.6 | 106.6% | | Metro Last Light (fps) | 30.4 | 74.6 | 145.4% | | 3DMark 11 Perf | 4,170 | 13926 | 234% | | Battery Life (min) | 234 | 124 | -47% |
Our zero-point notebook is an Alienware 14 with a 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-4700MQ, 16GB DDR3/1600, 256GB mSATA SSD, 750GB 5,400rpm HDD, a GeForce GTX 765M, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. BioShock Infinite tested at 1920x1080 at Ultra DX11 settings; Metro: Last Light tested at 1920x1080 at DX11 medium quality settings with PhysX disabled. SPECIFICATIONS| CPU | Intel 4GHz Core i7-6700K | | RAM | 16GB of DDR4/2133MHz | | Chipset | Intel Z170 | | GPU | Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 w/8GB VRAM | | Display | 17.3 inch, 1920x1080 display (matte) | | Storage | 250GB SSD, 1TB HDD | | Connectivity | 5x USB 3.0, headset and mic port, SD card reader, 2x Mini DisplayPort, HDMI port, 2x Ethernet port, fingerprint reader, USB type C | | Lap/Carry | 10 lbs, 1.6 oz /14 lbs, 14.4 oz |
$2,850, www.sagernotebook.com |
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