The folks at iFixIt have a penchant for tearing apart hardware and giving us more than just a passing glimpse at what lies underneath the hood of the latest gear. We always look forward to these teardowns, in part because it means we don't have to risk destroying our own hardware to peek inside. Another reason is because iFixIt has a way of securing tech toys that aren't available to the general public yet, like Google's recently unveiled Nexus 7 tablet.
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.
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.
Windows 8's Metro UI has gotten its fair share of negative press since even before the Developer Preview came out, with a lot of the hate directed towards the lack of that oh-so-familiar Windows Start button. Why'd you have to go and remove the Start button, Microsoft? Yesterday, an MS executive delivered one possible answer: People used it a lot less in Windows 7 than in previous versions of the operating system.
In all likelihood, Google's unlocked Galaxy Nexus will be the first smartphone to come with Android 4.1 (otherwise known as "Jelly Bean") pre-installed. We believe this to be true because Google inadvertently tipped its hand in a Google Play listing for the Galaxy Nexus in which a product description touted it as the first "first phone with Android 4.1," a description that has since been removed.
Have you ever seen a peacock spread its feathers for all to see as it struts casually and confidently with its head held high? That's ASRock, the spunky company spun-off by Asus a decade ago and owned by Asus subsidiary Pegatron Corporation, which gleefully claims it's the first motherboard manufacturer in the world to pass Windows 8 hardware certification.
Microsoft's been promising to launch the Windows 8 Release Preview during the first week of June for a while now, but an accidentally published (and quickly retracted) Microsoft blog post says that the latest build of the company's new operating should actually hit the Internet today. Hey, tomorrow's June 1st -- that makes this the first week of the month, right?
Microsoft wasn't quite ready to tip its hand with a Windows 8 Release Preview until sometime next week, but ready or not, someone leaked the Chinese version to the Web. With the cat out of the bag, the Windows 8 Release Preview has been making the rounds, giving us more than just a glimpse at what the next build has in store, including an updated boot screen.
As any SSD owner can tell you, fast boot times are a wonderful thing! Except for, well, when they're not. Microsoft's been working hard at reducing the boot times in Windows 8 and to hear them tell it, your home screen pops up so fast that there simply isn't enough time to mash on the trusty ol' F2 or F8 if you need to muck around in the BIOS or enter Safe Mode. Rather than shrugging their shoulders and leaving users to press a key in a 200ms window, Microsoft instead created a new "Boot Options" menu.
Good news if you own an Amaze 4G smartphone from HTC. For those of you who do, HTC just released an update to Android 4.0, the latest and greatest open source mobile operating system from Google more deliciously known as Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). Owners of HTC's Thunderbolt and Desire HD smartphones aren't as lucky, having to wait perhaps until August, or longer, receive an ICS upgrade, according to HTC's newly published Android 4.0 roadmap.
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