Posted 10/15/09 at 07:55:05 PM by Ryan Whitwam

A survey by Softchoice has found that nearly nine in ten corporate PCs are capable of running Windows 7. This is in stark contrast to just a few years ago when, at the launch of Windows Vista, only 50% of existing corporate PCs were powerful enough for the upgrade. While it may be tempting to just install Window 7 on the existing hardware, many of these PCs are aging quickly.

According to Dean Williams, Services Development Manager for Softchoice, “Around the 42-month mark of a computer's life cycle the support costs shoot up substantially." By that point, any gains from not upgrading are countered by the increased cost of support. 

Many machines in the survey were closing in on this 42-month mark. IT departments will have some tough choices to make as far as upgrading goes. While many of these PCs can run Windows 7, it may not be worth the hardware headaches. Softchoice strongly recommends considering replacements for PCs of this age. So in IT, 42 really is the answer to everything.

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Posted 09/22/09 at 06:16:01 PM by Jason Barry

In what some might see as an irrelevant move in the search genre, Yahoo upgraded its search capabilities and deployed them to most of the world. They announced today on the Yahoo Search blog a slew of new features and a slick new layout for their search engine.

One key feature of the upgrade lives in the additional left column where “intelligent search results” help you to explore other relevant sites and drill-down your result set based on popular keywords. Yahoo implemented “SearchScan,” which helps protect from viruses, malware and spam. They also boasted that they have increased response and search times all over the site. You can find a full listing in detail of the upgrade deployment on the Yahoo search blog.

This might be too little too late as the justice department is inspecting an agreement to shift most Yahoo search efforts over to Microsoft. The upgrades bear striking resemblance to Bing’s results pages, perhaps this is a transitional effort.

How relevant do you think Yahoo is in the internet search industry? What do you think of Yahoo’s improvements?

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Posted 09/15/09 at 11:00:00 AM by Nathan Edwards

There’s no denying that netbooks possess many positive attributes, as evidenced by their meteoric rise in popularity. But all the attention garnered by their portability and low cost can’t mask the deep and troubling performance that netbooks suffer.

The fact is, there are undeniable trade-offs inherent to a sub-$400 computer. You’re just not going to get the same performance from a netbook as from something that costs three times as much. Slow single-core Atom processors; middling hard drives; pokey, undersized SSDs; and only 1GB of RAM rob the netbook of its potential.

But there is hope. Whether you have an old Eee PC with a 12GB SSD or a new netbook with an Atom N280 chip and a 160GB hard drive, you can make substantial improvements without forking over too much dough. We’ll show you first-hand how netbooks can overcome their humble beginnings. We’ll upgrade a typical older netbook—an Eee PC 901 with a 4GB SSD soldered on the mobo and an 8GB PCI-E SSD—as well as a brand-new Toshiba NB205, to show how every netbook, from bottom-of-the-barrel to top-of-the-line, can benefit from upgrades.

 Begin your journey to netbook empowerment after the jump.

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Posted 05/28/09 at 11:30:40 AM by Gordon Mah Ung

A sucker buys a new PC at the first signs of a slowdown. A savvy power user gives his aged PC a fighting chance for redemption. From tweaking your OS to compressing files to overclocking your videocard or CPU, there are plenty of ways to tune up a computer, and none require a trip to Bob’s House of New PCs. Follow along this step-by-step as we show you 21 of our favorite techniques for making a PC better, stronger, and faster — for free. These essential tweaks and tune-ups range from common-sense caretaking measures to practical adjustments that you'd be foolish to ignore. Combined, they release your PC's untapped potential and breathe new life into your system.

Read on to get started!

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Posted 02/17/09 at 11:30:00 AM by The Maximum PC Staff

Upgrading is an obligation of any self-respecting PC geek. It’s an affirmation of your thirst for power, a healthy rejection of the status quo. Upgrading is an acknowledgement of the fact that there’s always a way to improve your rig. You may have the funds for premium parts—lucky you. We’ll tell you exactly what those parts are. But even if your means are more modest, there are affordable parts in every major component category that can breathe new life into an aged PC.

Regardless of your financial situation, you must address some important questions before embarking on an upgrade. First, you need to honestly assess your rig’s merits. You shouldn’t waste money upgrading your PC if it still sports an AGP slot or a pre-AM2 Athlon 64 motherboard. The question you should ask yourself is whether it’s more cost effective to gut the machine and replace its primary components—motherboard, CPU, memory, and videocard—than it is to do a piecemeal retrofit. If you look at your rig and decide to build new, check out our full build-a-pc guide, but if you’re ready to proceed with an upgrade, click to find out how!

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Posted 08/24/07 at 02:19:16 PM by Maximum PC Staff

The complete PDF archive of the June 2007 edition of Maximum PC, every article included, every page posted! Download it now!

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Posted 12/01/04 at 12:00:00 AM by The Maximum PC Staff

In the PDF archive of the December 2004 issue, you can find:

• Maximum PC Names 2004's Best PC Parts
• CPU Shootout
• 25 Must-Have Upgrades
• How To: Take Better Digital Pictures
• 32 Reviews
• Ask the Doctor
• Rig of the Month
• The Watchdog
• And a whole lot more!

Click the big giant cover image to the right to download the PDF archive today!

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