Brandon Dimmel

The president of a US-based PC builder says that approximately 80 per cent of his customers choose systems running Windows 7 rather than the new Windows 8 operating system. Puget Systems is an independent PC supplier based in Washington state. The ... firm is similar to Dell or Hewlett-Packard (HP), except that Puget Systems focuses almost exclusively on assembling customized, high-performance PCs. In a recent interview, Puget Systems president Jon Bach says the vast majority of his customers aren't interested in acquiring the new Microsoft Windows 8 operating system (OS). Familiarity, Reputation ... (view more)

A new report suggests Santa might be more kind to Mac than Windows users this holiday season. The reason is simple: During the past year, they were considerably more generous about making donations to charity. Donation management company Qgiv ... recently examined the giving patterns of approximately 165,000 people, analyzing a total of 320,000 donations made by these people between November 2011 and November 2012. Mac Users Were 25% More Generous The results: The average Mac user gave non-profit charities $182, while the average Windows user donated only $137. If these statistics are to be ... (view more)

RSSOwl 2.1.6 RSSOwl is a free and easy-to-use news feed reader for your computer. It lets you collect, examine, and search the latest news by using a convenient and streamlined user interface. This convenient tool is now available for Windows, Mac ... OS X, and Linux. http://www.rssowl.org Speed Dial for Firefox 0.9.6.12 Access your favorite Internet websites quickly and easily using Speed Dial for the Firefox browser. By loading your most-visited websites in a special thumbnail tab, this program allows you to return to your favorite sites with just a single click. Thumbnail tabs are updated as ... (view more)

Windows XP End Of Support Countdown Gadget 1.0 Time is running out on Microsoft's decade-old operating system, Windows XP. This handy little gadget will display a clock that counts down to the final moment when Microsoft support for Windows XP ... finally expires in the year 2014. http://www.microsoft.com CurrPorts 2.05 CurrPorts is a software utility designed to help you keep tabs on your Windows computer's open TCP/IP and UDP ports. This program will also allow you to close unwanted connections and kill those processes responsible for opening unwanted ports. Information related to your ports' ... (view more)

IBM says the next wave of computing devices will address areas never before associated with technology, including the ability to see, smell, taste, and hear. If the report's predictions prove accurate, such new computer capabilities could ... dramatically change human society. IBM made these predictions in its recent "IBM 5 in 5" report. It's the seventh straight year that IBM has released the report, which discusses innovations expected to affect the technology industry during the next five years. This year, the "5 in 5" report's predominant theme was human senses, and the way future computers ... (view more)

Here's a really interesting question from an Infopackets.com reader: "Hey there Infopackets team, I just bought a Windows 8 PC that came with a third-party antivirus program already installed. But the subscription has already run out. I want to try ... Microsoft's Windows Defender program, but can't seem to figure out why it hasn't automatically turned on. With all you seem to know about Windows computers, I'm pretty sure you can help me with this problem. Please! Jeff G." Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jeff. Of course we can help you. Windows Defender is just a new name for Microsoft's well- ... (view more)

According to a prominent analyst, Steve Ballmer's job hinges on the success of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system (OS). Gartner's Carolina Milanesi says if the new operating system (OS) fails to pan out, Microsoft's chief executive officer ... could find himself among those looking for a new job. It has been more than a month since Microsoft formally released Windows 8 to the general market. As you probably know, the new OS features a completely new interface optimized for touchscreen devices like tablet computers and smartphones. Early reviews have been mixed, primarily because those ... (view more)

Yahoo has now given its free email service, Yahoo Mail, a major overhaul. Not only does the service look different, but Yahoo says it's also much faster than in the past. Yahoo Mail users, among whom you can include yours truly, were greeted with a ... brand new interface last week when logging into their accounts. The goal of the overhaul, according to Yahoo chief executive officer Marissa Mayer, was to simplify the email experience. Interface More Intuitive, Yahoo CEO Says "You've told us loud and clear that you want fewer distractions when it comes to email. You want to quickly login, ... (view more)

SnapPea 2.31.0.1992 Beta SnapPea allows you to organize the contacts list, digital photographs, music, video, and applications stored on your Android smartphone, and do it all from the comfort of your Windows laptop or desktop computer. Using this ... program, it's quick and easy to transfer files between your PC and your Android phone. http://www.snappea.com FreeFixer 1.0 FreeFixer is designed to make it extremely easy to find and remove unwanted software stored on your Windows computer. FreeFixer performs a scan and provides users with a list of software programs you may want to remove. Those ... (view more)

Volumouse 2.0 Just as the name implies, Volumouse is designed to let you control your Window computer's sound volume simply by rolling the wheel of your mouse. This free software utility allows you to quickly and easily customize how these volume ... adjustments are made, using a mouse. http://www.nirsoft.net WhatInStartup 1.33 Interested in finding out what applications are automatically initiated during your Windows computer's startup process? You can download and install this new free software utility from Nirsoft. It not only displays the list of applications running at startup, it also ... (view more)