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Windows 8 Pro Discount Officially Ended

Well, it's official, you can no longer purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for the discounted price of $39.99. As of February 1, Microsoft has quintupled the price to $199.99. Just upgrading to the standard Windows 8, which doesn't include corporate features like BitLocker encryption and the ability to remotely connect to a company's network, will cost $119.99, though that edition was never discounted. Upgrading to Windows 8 from an existing Windows operating system, like XP, Vista or 7, comes with varying degrees of success. It should come as no surprise that upgrading from Windows 7 causes the least amount of hassle with bringing along existing files, settings and applications whereas upgrading from XP is a little more difficult. In addition to the end of the discount, several other deals also ended, including $69.99 prices for Windows 8 Pro on a DVD and something Microsoft was calling Windows 8 Pro Pack, which upgrades Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro. The first upgrade will ...

Lenovo Reveals 2 New Models

In February of 2002,  Lenovo  came in to being. 10 years later, Lenovo is now the top computer manufacturer in the world. In January 2013, Lenovo revealed 3 new computer designs at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The three new computer designs consist of 2 different lines. The  IdeaCentre A730  is the first model and the  C-series  makes up the 2nd line. The C-Series is the more affordable line  that will offer 2 models; a touch screen and non touch screen versions. With high end graphics cards being the standard and  the availability of up to 2 TB of memory, these models to compete with high end gaming systems but will be a little easier on the wallet. The non touch screen model will be available in February, while the touch screen version will be available in June. The IdeaCentre A730 is a super sleek multi touch all in one model.  This model will allow Windows to openly compete with the Apple Mac Book Pro series. But the IdeaCe...

Lenovo Reveals 2 New Models

In February of 2002,  Lenovo  came in to being. 10 years later, Lenovo is now the top computer manufacturer in the world. In January 2013, Lenovo revealed 3 new computer designs at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The three new computer designs consist of 2 different lines. The  IdeaCentre A730  is the first model and the  C-series  makes up the 2nd line. The C-Series is the more affordable line  that will offer 2 models; a touch screen and non touch screen versions. With high end graphics cards being the standard and  the availability of up to 2 TB of memory, these models to compete with high end gaming systems but will be a little easier on the wallet. The non touch screen model will be available in February, while the touch screen version will be available in June. The IdeaCentre A730 is a super sleek multi touch all in one model.  This model will allow Windows to openly compete with the Apple Mac Book Pro series. But the IdeaCe...

Windows 8 Not the Beacon of Hope the PC Market Needs it to Be

The PC market is slipping and, despite being launched with much fanfare, Windows 8 doesn't seem to be the shining beacon of recovery for the market as predicted. According to analysts, Windows 8 may do well to keep the PC industry running, but isn't enough to restore it to its former glory. According to Pund-IT Analyst Charles King, "Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that Windows 8 will be enough to turn around PC sales." In addition to that, King added, "At the end of the day, IT sales depend as much on customer confidence as they do on vendor innovation. Vendors can occasionally nudge a market in one direction or another, a bit like a tugboat guides a far larger ship. But no single company can drag broader markets along in its wake." The weight of the sluggish world economy has brought down the PC industry and so has a growing consumer infatuation with products like the iPad and other tablets. A lot of analysts have said that some enterprises have been hold...

At $199 Will The New(er) Chromebook Finally Become Mainstream?

Consumers lining up to get their hands on the all new, low-priced Samsung Chromebook may want to wait. Google  announced today  that a new Acer Chromebook will be released tomorrow for the new low price of $199. This comes a little over a month after Google released the new Samsung Chromebook, at a then-low-price of $249. The move by Google is an unexpected but pleasant one. Releasing a brand new Chromebook by a different manufacturing partner a month after the release of the Samsung Chromebook begs the question as to why the two were not released at the same time? Regardless of the timing, Google is now looking to make this Acer Chromebook the first truly mainstream Chromebook laptop. Some of the new features, or to put it better, differences between the Acer and Samsung Chromebooks include storage and battery life.  The display of the Acer is the same as the Samsung Chromebook, an 11.6 in. display with a resolution of 1,366x768. The Acer Chromebook also comes with ...

Windows 8 Released to the World, But is it Good?

The wait is finally over, Microsoft Windows 8 is officially here. The newest iteration of the world's most popular computer operating system was released today after months of demos and commercials showcasing it. Microsoft has said that over  1.24 billion hours of testing  went into the new operating system and is in many ways hedging the future of the company on the new release. Because of the increased pressure from Apple and Google, Microsoft wants to assure consumers that they are still relevant in today's world. Windows 8 marks a radical change for Microsoft in terms of the layout of their operating system. Gone is the traditional start menu, replaced by an entirely new start interface with "live tiles" and an array of downloadable applications from the all new Windows Store. Current windows users will notice a drastic change from Windows 7 to Windows 8. While the traditional "desktop" is still there, it is no longer the center of the computer's pro...

Firefox 16 Re-released After Fix of Flaw

One day after suddenly pulling the latest version of its popular web browser off of their website, Mozilla has re-released Firefox 16 for download. Mozilla pulled the latest version of Firefox from their install page as a result of a discovered security flaw. The security flaw apparently allowed harmful and malicious websites to track and identify which websites the user had visited. This flaw was discovered by security researcher Gareth Heyes, who then  publicly disclosed the vulnerability . While Mozilla has stated that there is no evidence of this flaw "in the wild", Mozilla on Wednesday recommended that users who upgraded to version 16 downgrade back to 15.0.1. By noon Thursday, however, a new version, 16.0.1, was available for download and according to Mozilla, is now safe to download and use. Anyone that had already downloaded version 16 was upgraded to this newer version, along with an update for the Android version released Wednesday night. The good news for Mozilla i...