Taking snapshot of your screen in Windows 8

Taking a snapshot of your screen is very easy in windows 8. 

You can take snapshots of your screen at any time you want, and can share it with your friends....

For taking a snapshot of your screen just press the windows key + PrtSc key on your keypad. The screen of your PC will blink , indicating that the shot has been taken.

 

Here are some shots which i have taken.

Your snapshots will be saved to a folder in Pictures in Libraries named as SCREENSHOTS. I have marked them in the pictures below. 

 Opening the folder "SCREENSHOTS".

How to Set Up a Free VPN service on Windows 8

In some countries or universities etc, authorities may block access to certain sites from thier country/ institution. But at times you may need to visit those sites. VPN is a great way to escape all this. And here is a way to set up a free VPN service on your Windows 8 machine. 

1. Go to this Link

2. Enter your email adress and they will send you a password, username and two IP adresses.

3. Search for ' virtual private network' in control panel and click on ' connect to a virtual private network'

4. Type one of the IP adressess and then enter the username and passowrd, you received in the email. Give any name to this network.

 That is it. Make a shortcut to this network on your desktop for your ease. 

How to change Windows 8 Startscreen Wallpaper

Have you ever wondered if you could use a wallpaper as your Windows 8 Startscreen? I am sure you did, because I did. It would look great, won't it? The good news is that, its possible and its very easy to. All you need is a tool, known as decor8. You can download the tool from Stardock's official website here . Too poor to pay? Download a torrent here (at your own risk). Once you download the tool, open it and the first screen is about startscreen background. I hope there will be no confusion.

If you want to thank me for this post, share it to your favorite social network :-).

Microsoft's Fresh Paint for Windows 8; App review

Fresh paint is the new paint app from Microsoft. It’s a Modern Style version of Microsoft Paint that is designed to work with touch and non touch devices, as expected. It lloks like Microsoft has done a good research to bring realistic painting experince to tablets. Here we will have a detailed review of this great new app from Microsoft.

The app takes roughly around 8 seconds to launch on my Core-i3 2.33 GHz dual core CPU (a second time launch takes 1 second even if I close it) and as it launches, it shows me a gallery of my previous paints and a ‘NEW’ button as you can see.

 

This is what you see when you create a new file. You can choose from a variety of 9 tools from the tool bar which you can see at the top. Seven of them are painting tools (brushes and pencils etc.) and a blender and a  remover. When you choose a painting tool, you can increase or decrease its width by clicking on the plus or minus sign as shown in the image.Clicking on the work panel will make all thses tools disappear and will show you only the work surface.Both the work surface and the paint look very close to reality.

 

You can choose from a variety of colors from the color panel. Explaining all that you can do with the color panel is out of the scope of this article, but it’s a cool and easy way to pick your favorite colors. 

Every thing that you paint with the brushes is wet. Which means, brushing again over the paint in another color will intermingle them as if they are really wet.  But you can dry your painting by clicking the dry button at the bottom left of your screen. This (wet paint which you can dry) makes it a more realistic painting experience. 

The above image shows the types of backgrounds you can choose from. Most backgrounds look very realistic. Also, you can change the colour of your background and  choose a photo from you computer to use it as a background. You can share your paintings via email or to skydrive by clicking on Windows+H buttons.  

Microsoft Releases NEW Paint App For Windows 8

Microsoft today released a new app called Fresh Paint in Windows Store for Windows 8 devices.Its a delightfully real and fun painting app!
This apps seems to be built from the Microsoft Research Project called Gustav.
 
Features:

• Discover delightfully real paint that behaves like real paint where it should and better than real where you need it. Blend and mix colors to get just the look you want
• Help your kids be creative and explore their imagination
• Experience real painting and be creative without the mess and costly supplies
• Relax and enjoy yourself. There is nothing to learn because you already know how to use it
• Zoom in to see strikingly realistic details. Only Fresh Paint has an amazing, realistic paint engine developed by the company....

18 Killer New Features in Windows 8

 

One of the most frequent question that people ask when buying a new OS is that, “What can I do with this OS that I can’t do with my current OS?” In other words, what killer new features this OS has got that can convince me to buy it? Well, Windows 8 is the most significant OS upgrade we have ever had. There are tons of new features, and we are pretty you will be convinced, if you are one of those. So lets get started.    

1. Windows Store and Metro (Modern) Apps

Windows 8 brings support for Modern Apps formerly known as Metro Apps. These are lighter apps mostly created with simple HTML/JavaScript. They launch faster, work in full screen and they have live tiles that update themselves to give you an overview of what’s going on. For example, the Weather app will show you the latest weather info of your location. Simply, these tiles work like widgets but in a more organized and efficient way. 

Just like android has Google Play and iPhone has and Appstore and Macs have a Mac Store, Windows 8 has got its own store, the Windows Store. App installation is as easy as a click of mouse, and fraud/virus is not likely. Worldwide payment systems are supported. Considering the fact that Windows is the most famous of any Mobile/PC operating systems out there, we can expect a huge number of Apps on this store. You will not need to go to the web to read news, check out weather, watch your stocks, listen to online music, find photos, see your social updates, watch videos, check scores, shop and many other things. Because there are apps for these.

In addition, your PC comes with a number of Metro (Modern) Apps. These currently include Mail, Internet Explorer, Finance, Sports, News, Weather, Music, Video, Reader, Calendar, Messaging, People, Photos, SkyDrive, Xbox Live Games, Travel, Camera and Bing Apps. 

 

2. Built-in-Antivirus

Windows Defender on Windows 8 is not like the one on Windows 7. On Windows 7, we only get spyware protection, contrast; Windows Defender in Windows 8 is a full Antivirus providing the same level of security as Microsoft Security Essentials.

3. New Task Manager

Windows Task Manager has been totally overhauled. It offers several new features that the previous task manger did not.

It has two views, simple view which just shows a list of apps that are running and detailed view that is shown in the screenshot. In detailed view, running processes and Apps both are shown. On the performance tab, you can see detailed performance of your Processor, RAM, Disk, Ethernet, Wi-Fi (and may be 3G/4G network too, if available).  On the App history, you can check the usage stats such as time, network usage, tile update data usage etc.

Previously  we would require third-party software to disable unnecessary startup programs. Now the new task manager enables you to view any new start up programs, their impact on start up and enable or disable any of these, which is just awesome.

There is so much to write about this new task manager but lets be concise, the new task manager is a greatly improved.

4. Family Safety:

Family safety enables administrators/parents to control the type of content that other users can see.

5. Refresh and Reset

New to Windows 8 are two new recovery functions, named Refresh and Reset, both of which make a complete restore easier than a re-installation. The former keeps all settings and files of the user intact and only reverses all changes to Windows files to its original state and removes all installed programs and apps. The latter deletes all files and effectively re-installs Windows, but without any additional user input such as agreeing to license agreements or selecting a hard disk required. After a reset completes, the user will be asked for the product key and will then proceed to account creation.

6. Boot security

Windows 8 will support the UEFI secure boot feature. This will enable a new foundation for an architecturally neutral approach to platform and firmware security.

7. Multi-monitor support

Windows 8 also includes improved support for multi-monitor configurations; the taskbar can now be shown on multiple displays, and each display can also show its own dedicated taskbar. Wallpapers can also be spanned across multiple displays, or each display can have its own separate wallpaper.

8. Delete Easily

Now you can delete (send to recycle bin) items without being asked for confirmation, which makes sense. Previously, when you would try deleting (sending to recycle bin) an item, you would be asked if you are sure about this. But hey, sending to the recycle bin is not a risk at all, you can always recover what you sent there. Confirmation for this action is rather a pain. Now, in Windows 8 it just happens with one click (Del button) which is really cool. However, if you try to delete something permanently by pressing Shift+Del or by emptying recycle bin , you will be asked for confirmation, which again makes sense.

9. Performance Improved

Windows 8 performs better, in almost every operation. Boot, sleep, wake, hibernate, resume, copying, 3D performance, everything. Later on, we will give a detailed account of this.

10. USB 3.0 Support

USB 3.0 is support is built-in, which means much faster transfer rates than USB 2.

11. Windows Messaging

Of course there are several messaging softwares available for windows, but built-in messenger has a big advantage that everyone has it. The moment you turn on your pc, you are online and anyone can reach out to you. The same messaging app is on windows phone too. If you have used Apple’s iMessage, you know what we mean. In addition, this messenger has Facebook messaging integrated, which means your Facebook friends can reach you and you can reach them.

15. Hyper-V

Hyper-V is a virtualization software, its not for everyone, but its great for those who need it. Hypervisor technology is software on which multiple virtual machines can run, with the hypervisor layer controlling the hardware and allocating resources to each.

16. Virtual Hard disk format

Windows 8 offers a new virtual hard disk format which supports up to 16 terabytes of storage. According to reports, it has built-in resiliency and protection from corruption due to power failures. This is one of the best new feature in windows 8.  It also helps prevent performance degradation on some large-sector physical disks

17.  Storage Spaces

Storage Spaces is a technology which allows the organization of physical disks into logical volumes. A storage space will behave like a physical disk to the user, with thin provisioning of available disk space. Great hmm? 

18. Support for 3G/4G Networks

Windows 8 supports 3G and 4G networks so that you can connect your computer to these wireless networks while on the move, without connecting your cell phone via Wi-Fi tethering, provided that your PC comes with built-in support for SIM cards.

 

 

Windows 8 Pro retail price revealed

Windows 8 will go on sale from Oct-26th through retail stores and OEM devices. According to a source, Windows 8 Pro will be priced at $199 after a promotional price of $69.99 expires on January 31st 2013 in retail stores.
Microsoft has also announced that consumers will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 from their existing Windows Vista, Windows 7 PCs by buying Windows 8 on a price of $39.99.

Microsoft Opens Registrations for Windows 8

Those who purchased a Windows 7 PC after June 2 can now register for the upgrade to Windows 8 for $14.99.

In May, Microsoft made a pledge that anyone who bought a Windows 7 PC would get Windows 8 Pro for just 14.99. And today, we got this tweet from Windows, "The @Windows upgrade offer is now available in 140 countries. Register now! http://windowsupgradeoffer.com ." So, if you are one of them, point your browser to that link and sign up today. January 31st, 2013 is the last date for registration and anyone who missed the registration date, will have to pay full.    

Hewlett-Packard’s Secret Policies

 

                                                                                                                                                                       

HP is the world largest PC and Printer manufacturer. Last week, they restructured their Palm/WebOS team and named it Gram. This team will be working to open source WebOS. Now, rumor is that they created a new Mobility Global Business Unit that will oversee HP Windows tablet development. They have hired former Nokia MeeGo Chief Alberto Torres who will work with the team. So now they have two teams. Gram, which is a software division and working on an open source OS and a hardware division that is working on Windows tablets. Seems confusing, doesn’t it? Click here to read the full story on AllThingsD.

Six Reasons Why Windows 8 will sell itself

 

There a lot of ongoing discussions over the internet these days as to whether windows 8 will be a flop or a hit.  Many people are betting windows 8 will be a flop and recently Acer's Chairman commented that there is a lack of enthusiasm among consumers for windows 8.  Different people have different opinions anyhow, and we have our own.  We have got several reasons to believe windows 8 will sell itself. 

 

 

1 ) Windows 8 is different

Not everyone but lots of people want something different and windows 8 is different. Unlike Apple, who do not bring major changes to OS’ user interface, Microsoft is known for ‘not going the easy way’ and this time they have changed it like they never did before.  So those who want something different are already in.

 

2. Windows 8 has a Store

Windows 8 as you probably know has got its own store for apps. This is a great new feature. On Windows 8 users will not need to visit websites for reading news, watching videos, browsing photos, searching Wikipedia, checking weather, checking stocks, Scores, maps, email, or searching websites for apps. In fact it is exactly this point that convinced me to buy an iPhone, ''i will have an app for every service I use."  Store Apps install on a single click and there are no worries of virus or fraud. In addition to these advantages to the consumers, there is an advantage of the store to Windows 8 itself. Most companies , when they make their apps, they put links to these apps on their sites to promote them. Now, who won't want their app on the Windows 8 store when they know its Windows? No one, hmm? The point is, every company is going to advertise Windows 8 indirectly by putting links to Windows 8 store on their sites.

 

3. There are lots of new features 

The most frequent question that people ask, when they buy a new OS  is that "What I can do with the new OS that I can not do with my current OS? Well, there is a whole set of new features in windows 8. Its not the same  OS sold to you in a different interface. Click on an ISO image file and it opens like a DVD Drive. Explorer has the new, user friendly Ribbon UI. There is a new more useful task manager. Family safety is integrated. Now, you can pause the operation when you are copying something.  Antivirus is built in. Hyper-V virtualization is built in which is a big deal for many. Up to 16TB of space is supported, a huge deal for others.  To see the full list of new features, visit “building Windows 8 blog”. Explaining them all in detail is out of the scope of this article as it would take us too much off the subject. Shortly, several new features will convince many. So another huge group of people is in.

 

4. Windows 8 is faster

Compared to windows 7, windows 8 is faster in almost every aspect i.e. Boot, sleep, resume, windows operations e.t.c. and is more battery friendly.

 

5. People DON’T have a choice.

Those who can buy Macs are already buying them, most people cant afford them.  Linux would requires time to learn, at least more than Windows 8 would. Android is no match for Windows on PCs and currently does not run on x86 based PCs. Chrome OS is a joke (and a very good one). So, we are left with two options: Windows and Windows.  :-)

 

6. New Form Factors are on the way

 

Windows 8 RT runs on ARM based processors. These processors are smaller and much more battery efficient than the x86 ones. Plus, windows 8 is touch optimized. Having said that, Windows 8 will bring with it several new form factors. Here are the possibilities.

1.  ARM based Tablet PCs

2. Laptops with touch screen (advantage: no need of mouse/touchpad).

3. Ultrabooks that run on ARM processors (advantage: very long battery life and much slim, no internal fan)

4. x86 based Tablet PCs (advantage: run legacy software  on your tablet)

 

People who think windows 8 will be a flop, have just one argument: they do not like the interface and that's it. In our opinion, all these features clearly overweight that single point and we think Windows 8 will sell very well. What’s your opinion?  Please leave your comments below

 

 

 

 

Now Windows 8 Professional RTM leaks

A few days ago we heard that Windows 8 RTM Enterprise version has leaked to file sharing sites. Now Windows 8 professional RTM has hit torrent sites. Both x86 and x64 versions are available. A 180 days activation is available but there is no full crack available yet. The source of the leak can not be determined but it looks like a manufacturer rather than Microsoft itself is the source as its available to all of them now. Please note that developers on MSDN and TechNet have access to only Enterprise edition. God knows better, who's job it is, but we know one thing, its not good for Microsoft. 

Here goes Acer, again.

Acer’s chairman had his opinion again. During a conference call to announce second quarter earnings, Acer’s chairman J.T Wang commented about Windows 8 on August 17, “we are still waiting for a signal of consumers’ enthusiasm”.  This is the third time Acer has commented on Microsoft's products, two times on Surface and now on Windows 8. Acer’s Chairman does not seem happy with their most important partner. However, we don’t think they have an option. Linux is not famous among consumers, android is no match for Windows, Chrome OS is just a browser, Mac OS is just for Apple. There are several reasons Windows 8 will sell itself, that we will discuss later.  Currently, lets see what Acer is going to do/say next.    

Windows RT tablets will be priced $200-300 less

David Schmoock, Senior VP of Lenovo's North American division, mentioned in an interview to bloomberg recently that Windows RT tablets will be $200-$300 cheaper than those with Intel processors inside.He also added that Windows 8 tablets will be in the $600-$800 price range. So we can deduce that the price for Surface RT tablets will be in the range of 300-500, which is comparable with other ARM tablets currently on the market. 

 

 

Windows 8 Evaluation version for developers is available

 

A 90 day trial of Windows 8 is available now to developers on msdn,. Microsoft says it's "intended for developers building Windows 8 apps and IT professionals interested in trying Windows 8 Enterprise on behalf of their organization."

Go here to find out more.

Microsoft set to rapidly update WinRT with feature packs?

Windows 8 reached RTM stage two weeks ago. On august 15 developers on MSDN will have their hands on  this latest OS. Suggestion is that Microsoft will be updating the OS faster than they did before. Here is a statement from Microsft on building Windows 8 blog:

"Windows RT software will not be sold or distributed independent of a new Windows RT PC, just as you would expect from a consumer electronics device that relies on unique and integrated pairings of hardware and software. Over the useful lifetime of the PC, the provided software will be serviced and improved."  (Full post here) 

If this rumour were true then it would mean a major break with updating policy from Microsoft. WinRT is functionally still a long way from complete, a series of rapid updates could do much to fill in the gaps.

Acer launches 14-inch TravelMate P243 $700 business laptop in the US

Acer's finally offering up the TravelMate P243 here in the US, a business notebook designed for the harsh realities of corporate life. 4GB of DDR3 RAM loiter next to an Ivy Bridge Core i5 CPU and a 500GB HDD, packed beneath a spill-resistant keyboard that'll ensure that flyaway grande latte only ruins the front of your suit. You'll be staring into a 14-inch, 1,366 x 768 LED-backlit display with a built-in webcam, as well as a fingerprint reader and the company's ProShield security suite. You (or more likely, your IT buyer) can grab one of these for $700, while you can still grab last year's Sandy Bridge-powered P243 for $600.

Windows RT on Laptops

On Building windows 8 blog, Microsoft stated today that windows 8 will not just come on tablets, but also PCs with full keyboard and touchpads.

Here is how the touchpads are optimized for Windows RT:

Microsoft Explains its Collaboration with OEMS for Windows RT Devices

In a blog post, Microsoft Today details their collaboration with OEMS for Windows RT Devices. Here are some key points of the post:

 

1. Windows RT will not be sold independent of a device (tablet).
2. Over the useful lifetime of the PC (tablet) , its software will be improved and serviced
3. Battery life of Windows RT tablets ranges from 8 hours to 13 hours on HD video Playback (Awesome)
4. Connected Standby time ranges from 320 to 409 hours.
5. The Windows RT PCs provide a sampling rates of 100Hz per finger. This not only allows for fast and fluid response, but also incredible industry-leading accuracy.
6. Besides the optimizations around power-efficient HD video playback, the core Windows RT UI animations achieve 60fps.
7. NFC is integrated in some of  Windows RT launch PCs.

Read the full post here.

Technorati Tags: windows8

How to Set Up your Outlook and Gmail Email account on Windows 8

Setting up your Outlook.com account on Windows 8 to receive email is simple. Here is a stepwise guide for you. 
1. Open Mail from your Windows 8 start screen.

2. a) if you are using a non touch device (laptop, desktop), point your mouse to the right bottom corner of your screen that the menu shown here appears
   b)  if you are using a tablet, slide your finger from the right side of your tablet to the screen. The menu shown in the picture will appear.

3. Click on settings


4. Click on accounts

5. Click on add account

6. Select the account you want to add
7. Enter your username and password
8. Go to your kitchen
9. Prepare a cup of coffee.
10 . Enjoy, you are already done.

Note: To receive mail from your Gmail , you need  to enable IMAP access from you Gmail settings on its website (Gmail.com)

Technorati Tags: Windows8

Killer feature of Windows

One of the questions that people ask before they adopt a new operating system is "what does this do that the previous version does not". That's a big point when it comes to Windows 8 which is following on the footsteps of Windows 7 which is generally regarded as Microsoft's best ever client operating system release.


So what feature of Windows 8 is going to be the one that pushes me to upgrade from trusty reliable Windows 7?
Read this full article by Orin Thomas on the WindowsITPro Website 

Technorati Tags: windows8