windows

We've been asked about this issue several times by different subscribers: "Hi Infopackets team, I have been using Windows 8 and, for the most part, I like it. But one feature I really dislike is the lock screen. Talk about a time waster. Can you ... help me get rid of it once and for all? Thanks for your great information over the years, Gerald H." My Response: Gerald, I completely understand why you would get annoyed with Windows 8's lock screen. Meet Windows 8's Lock Screen If you're not familiar with it, the lock screen is enabled after a Windows 8 PC is awoken from sleep mode. The lock screen ... (view more)

Microsoft says it has now sold more than 60 million licenses for its new Windows 8 operating system (OS). However, some observers still contend consumers are receiving the new OS more slowly than they did Windows 7. Windows Chief Marketing Officer ... and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller recently made her announcement about sales of the new OS at a J.P. Morgan Tech Forum that was part of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Reller claimed the 60 million Windows 8 licenses include those sold directly to home and business users, as well as upgrades and bulk sales to computer ... (view more)

Easy Image Modifier 4.7.1 Easy Image Modifier for Windows does just what its name implies: it allows you to easily rotate, resize, crop, and flip your digital images without having to learn the complicated system commands often required by other ... image modifying programs. This program also allows you to add watermarks. Click the big grey box at the bottom of the next page to download this free program. http://www.inspire-soft.net Speckie for Windows 8 5.7 Speckie is a real-time spell-checker designed for use with Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser. It's completely free for personal use ... (view more)

Here's a question of increasing importance that recently came to us from a loyal reader in California: "Dear Infopackets, I really appreciate the helpful Windows 8 tips I've been getting from you. But there's one issue I am struggling with: Linux, ... and specifically installing it on my Windows 8 computer. I haven't been able to get Linux to install properly, and I really don't know why. One of my techie friends told me it has to do with a new Secure Boot feature in Windows 8. Is this true? I am really frustrated by this and would appreciate your telling me how to by-pass the problem, if ... (view more)

A new PC peripheral offers users of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system (OS) the ability to control their computers using only their eyeballs. Produced by the Swedish tech firm Tobii, it's called the Rex, and it connects to a Windows 8 ... computer's standard USB port. Tobii's eye-controlled technology was first unveiled at last year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Today, it has evolved into an eye-tracking hardware tool that uses Tobii's own 'Gaze' user interface software to interact with a Windows 8 PC. Look Your Way Around Windows 8 The Tobii Rex hardware connects to a USB port, and ... (view more)

Joe in Arizona, for many years a subscriber to Infopackets, recently sent us this question about Windows 8: "Hi there, I recently signed on to my Windows 8 computer and found the system time to be off by an hour. I'm based in Arizona, where we use ... Mountain Time but not daylight saving time. How can I get my system to properly update the time? Thanks for your help, Joe G." My Response: Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention, Joe. It turns out many users are having much the same kind of problem. Synchronizing with a Time Server Windows 8 is set up to get its time from an Internet- ... (view more)

The president of Fujitsu, a major PC manufacturer, has now blamed Windows 8 for the company missing its most recent sales targets. Some reports indicate Fujitsu computer sales are less than 80% of what they were a year ago, when the highly popular ... Windows 7 was the operating system of choice. PC makers like Fujitsu often count on new versions of Windows to boost hardware sales. This is because many consumers wait until the release of a new operating system (OS) to purchase a long-desired computer. Fujitsu Sales Take a Plunge However, at least one report says that sales of Fujitsu PCs running ... (view more)

Acer president Jim Wong has come out to defend Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system (OS). Wong says people should spend more time learning how to use the OS before dismissing it as inferior to its predecessors. In an interview with technology ... blog DigiTimes, Wong noted that, "in the past, market observers would accuse Windows of lacking innovations." Wong suggests it's ironic that this time around, Windows 8's innovative new features, including a completely new user interface (formerly known as 'Metro', now known as 'Tiles' or 'Live Tiles'), have "been greeted with pessimism." (Source: ... (view more)

Looking for a program that puts the popular Start Menu back in Windows 8? Then you might want to check out Pokki, which offers its very own app store in addition to that much-missed Start Menu. Pokki was released earlier this year for Windows 7. Now ... that Windows 8 is out, Pokki offers users of that new operating system a great-looking Start Menu and a number of other useful features. Access Gmail, Facebook, Angry Birds from the Taskbar At the top of Pokki's features list is a handy app store jammed with many useful programs. When it first launched, Pokki gave users access to one-click taskbar ... (view more)

A leading consumer magazine has told its readers there is "no compelling reason" to switch to Windows 8. Consumer Reports opines that in most cases only touchscreen users will benefit from an upgrade. The magazine made those comments in a new issue ... filled with computer reviews, among which PCs equipped with Windows 7 received some of the highest ratings. Consumer Reports is not a computer software magazine. However, it is widely read and its reports have a significant impact on the technology industry. In fact, a couple of years ago Consumer Reports recommended users avoid buying Apple's ... (view more)