Top 20 Windows 8 Features

 

Top 20 Windows 8 Features

As with any technological overhaul, Windows 8 has been met with passionate and mixed response among those who have had a chance to download and test run the Consumer Preview of Microsoft's flagship OS. The company's bold new direction for Windows, with its dual interface and emphasis on tablet functionality, certainly means changes ahead for IT departments when Windows officially ships. But for users there is a lot to like about the forthcoming OS. Here is a look at the 20 features that Windows 8 users will appreciate the most.

 

1. Metro Start Screen 

Metro Start is Windows 8's new location for launching applications. It includes updating live tiles that you can regroup as you desire, increasing the flexibility of your Windows 8 experience.

2. Traditional Desktop 

 

For those who prefer the traditional desktop experience, this still exists in Windows 8, which offers a traditional desktop view akin to that of Windows 7. Applications that run in Windows 7 will also run on Windows 8's traditional desktop.

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3. Metro Apps 

 

Part of the new Metro UI, Metro apps are full screen and easy to install, offering an immersive new way to work with Windows.

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The Top 10 Web IPOs of all time (pre-Facebook, that is)

CNET - It wasn't long ago that the investment community was unsure if there would ever be a resurgence in IPOs. Just a few years ago, companies that, back in the late 1990s, would have jumped at going public, were balking at the idea, deciding instead to focus their efforts on growing and eventually being bought out. It was believed by some that another great Web IPO might not come along for many years.

But now, Facebook is set to change that. And by doing so, it will surpass some of the most prominent companies to ever bring services to the online world.

In the following slides, we're going to take a look at the largest Web IPOs in history, courtesy of a list compiled by Renaissance Capital, an investment-research firm that specializes in IPOs.

As one might expect, some of the latest big IPOs are included in the list, including those from Google and Zynga, but other, prominent companies you might expect to see won't be there. Renaissance's list is arranged by the biggest deal size in history, giving some additional sway to more recent IPOs that garnered huge cash in their opening.

So, without further adieu, flip your way through the slides to find out which Web companies posted the largest IPOs in history.       

Watch the Slideshow!

Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon: The Ultralight, Semi-Rugged Carbon Fiber Ultrabook

Gizmodo -

Tablets may be the next big thing in mobile computing, but don't count out ultrabooks just yet. At least not until you've given Lenovo's Thinkpad X1 Carbon—a feather-weight, carbon fiber workhorse a closer look. It's tough, it's light, and you don't have to be an office drone to crave it.

The X1 Carbon it the latest addition to Lenovo's popular X1 series. Despite a spacious 14-inch screen, the X1 Carbon tips the scales at a scant three pounds—making it the lightest rig of its size—thanks to its carbon fiber roll cage. The screen displays at a native 1600x900 resolution. The system supports up to 8GB of integrated DDR3, runs 64-bit windows 7 Pro, and has that Intel Ivy Bridge goodness you've been hearing so much about.

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Nat Geo Photo Gallery: Domestic Dogs

 

Clementine and Oliver

Photograph by Devan Sreedhar

Clementine and Oliver rest on a picnic table after playing in the dog park.

 

Sasha

Photograph by David Braun

Sasha tries to get every last lick out of an empty ice cream container.

 

Louis Armstrong, Hound Mix

Photograph by Blake DePastino

Louis Armstrong is a Hurricane Katrina rescue dog and was adopted when he was five months old.

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Android 5.0 (Jelly Bean) Will Launch this Fall with Five Nexus Devices: Report

PCWorld - When Android 5.0 “Jelly Bean” launches this fall, it will appear first on several new mobile devices sold by Google itself as part of the “Nexus” line.

That's according to a Tuesday story in the Wall Street Journal, which reports that Google is shifting its Android strategy so that it will not only give select mobile-device makers early access to new releases, but will also sell the resulting devices unlocked directly to consumers.

As many as five manufacturers may get privileged access to new releases of the mobile operating system, in fact, with an eye toward creating a “portfolio” of Nexus lead devices including both smartphones and tablets, the WSJ reported, citing “a person familiar with the matter.”

Google aims to sell those gadgets online and contract-free directly to consumers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, but retailers may be involved as well, the report suggests. U.S. Thanksgiving is reportedly the target date for the launch.

So Long, Fragmentation

While Android has clearly done enormously well, inconsistency and fragmentation are among the chief complaints about the Linux-based mobile operating system. This new strategy could ensure that more Android phones are running the latest version of the OS; it could also help other manufacturers create their own custom builds more quickly.           More

New details on the next-gen MacBook Pro

CNET -

Adobe upgrades its Digital Publishing Suite with iPhone viewer, improved social media features

Engadget - Between rolling out Creative Suite 6, Creative Cloud and a new video platform for broadcasters, Adobe's been mighty busy lately. If that's not evidence enough that the outfit is making good on its promise to restructure around digital media, hear this: the company just announced a slew of enhancements to its Digital Publishing Suite (DPS), which Conde Nast and others use to format magazines for mobile devices. For starters, publishers now have a way to tailor content specifically for the iPhone, just as they can for the iPad, Kindle Fire and Android tablets. So far, we know Conde Nast will be using this tool to build a modified edition of The New Yorker, though Conde Nast hasn't announced when it will become available for download. Meanwhile, art departments used to working in InDesign can now take a single a layout and repurpose it across multiple devices. Similarly, DPS is now integrated with Adobe Edge, which means publishers can create HTML5 animations and then easily port them over to their digital editions.    

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Diablo 3 - Detailed User Review & Trailer

h/t - @repub9989



Diablo 3 Review As It Happens...


A mere 12 years after the last game, Diablo 3 is here. We’re aiming to get our review up at the 
start of next week, and until then we’ll be writing our impressions up here.

 

2 hours in

 

I’m playing Wizard, and I’ve just finished the first big story quest, which was as far as the beta went. Before I delve into the unknown, here’s what’s struck me so far:

• Combat: still incredibly satisfying. Frost Beam! I get Frost Beam almost immediately! This was a high level skill in the beta, one I never earned, and it’s as frosty and beamy as I could have hoped. With this, I will stop the world.
• The new skill system is bizarre. Even as someone who played the beta 10 times, I find the mess of different windows, menus and categories bewildering at times. They’ve tried to make it simpler for new players by telling you which slots you should put certain skills in, but they’ve done it in a way that makes it hard to get an overview of what you have access to. You can turn off this restriction, but it still presents your skills as if they’re in these mutually exclusive categories.
• Case in point: how do I, er, attack with my weapon? I could do it at level 1, but now that both my slots have skills in them, I have no ‘attack’ ability to put anywhere. If you’re using Magic Missile, it’s not too much of a problem: that does 110% weapon damage and costs no energy. But if I’m using Charged Bolt and Frost Nova, neither of those skills can hit something far away. I have a bow in my hand and no way to fire it.
• Good news, I’ve found a way! Bad news: you have to turn of the skill category restrictions, then put a skill you already have equipped into the wrong category for it, and the old slot will default to ‘attack’. But you can’t use it yet, because skills have to cool down after you change them around. And now your other skill is in the wrong slot. Yaay!
• In practical terms, I realise I won’t often need my weapon with all these powerful, no-cost skills to choose from. But it really does underline how much less interesting loot has become in Diablo 3. For my Wizard, weapons are literally just numbers. A battleaxe that does 12 damage is identical to a bow that does 12 damage. Later, the Wizard gets a skill called Magic Weapon – maybe that’ll help.
• The first runestone you get as a Wizard is the most unexciting runestone. It adds a percentage damage to Magic Missile, the skill that’s already almost identical to firing a wand.
• The third runestone you get is phenomenally cool. It makes enemies killed with Charged Bolt explode with an electric blast, killing more enemies with charged bolt. This means chewing through a mob with it sometimes triggers this spectacular crackling chain-reaction that fries them all. I also love how slotting a runestone subtly changes the sound effect for the skill, so my charged bolt has this portentous little pre-crackle before it fires now.
• Whoa, actual difficulty! I whined a lot about how easy the beta was, even for an opening chapter. Final game has teeth. I ran into a boss mob of Wretched Mothers: a whole crowd of ultra-fast hags who vomit zombies onto the ground, spawning a horrific tide of undead it was genuinely tough to plough through. At this level none of my skills penetrate enemies, so it was like an advancing wall of dead flesh I had to smash through with my Frost Beam to get to the horrible things spawning it all.
• Charged Bolt stops working. Frost Nova stops working. The zombie I’m fighting keeps groaning and flailing his arms at me, but nothing happens. We’re both impotent. I run around and nudge some other zombies, also moaning but also unable to strike. My first disconnect!
  
  I alt+tab out to check my net connection, and it’s working fine. When I get back in, the game’s quit to the main menu with an error saying there’s been an error – it has a number but no specifics. When I try to get back in, it throws up another error that says to make sure all of my party is ready. I’m playing single player. In a few minutes I’m able to log back in and play again. I’ve lost all my progress through the current zone and the world has reset and repopulated with monsters, but my character, items and quest status are intact.
  
  There’s a lot to say about the fact that this can happen even in single player, but I’ll keep it brief: this is utter bullshit.

3 hours in

 

• God, it’s nice to be in an area I haven’t played through ten times already. As you stray further from Tristram, the environments get much prettier too: I’m in autumnal orange fields, mossy green temples and burning red villages now.
• The monsters are cooler here too: huge trees come to life and start punching me, huge four-legged beasts scrape the earth with their hooves before ramming me violently, and bleating mobs of goatmen make meaty Frost Beam fodder. Yes, I’m still using Frost Beam. 

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Max Payne 3: Worth the hangover?

It's been almost nine years since the last Max Payne game, is "3" worth the wait?

Arriving just in time to distract you about BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider being punted into 2013, Max Payne 3 marks the latest Rockstar Games release since last year's ambitious L.A. Noire.
Max Payne is a franchise deeply rooted in PC gaming territory, so I took it for a spin on a Xbox 360 to see if the old guy's still got it.

Oh, Max. You drink excessively and pop pills like it's nobody's business. So then why are you so damn likeable? I'm not sure I have the answer to that, but the videogame world's answer to John McClane has once again found himself amidst an incomprehensible amount of gunfire and bad guys that want him dead.

Luckily for you, Max wields the secret weapon of bullet-time, a brief few seconds where he can slow time and mow down enemies in what can only be described as a gory ballet. The Max Payne series gets credited with thrusting bullet-time into the mainstream, so while I was worried the effect would come off a little stale, Max Payne 3 compensates with an impressive array of realistic physics, body movement, and fantastic attention to detail.

Max Payne 3 (screenshots)

 

It's all the little things that separate Max Payne 3 from the average third-person-shooter. Just pause the game mid-action and look around a bit -- you'll see what I mean. And while it does feel a bit gratuitous at times, the last enemy camera -- which triggers when you've eliminated the final foe in an area -- gives you free range to slow down time and needlessly pump bullet after bullet into a flailing corpse. I'm not ashamed to admit it, it's devilishly fun and doesn't get old throughout the course of the entire campaign.           More 

Take Note: Sunday's Annular Solar Eclipse Will Leave a Ring of Fire in the Sky

The Annular Eclipse of January 15, 2010 As seen from Jinan, China. A013231 
via Wikimedia

 

PopSci - A friendly reminder for skywatchers in East Asia and the American West: On Sunday May 20 (May 21st across the date line in Asia) the moon will blot out 94 percent of our star’s early evening light in an annular solar eclipse that should leave a dazzling ring of fire in the sky.              More

Apple Said To Debut iCloud’s New Photo Sharing Features At WWDC

TechCrunch - With Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference just weeks away, expect plenty of reports of new features to come crawling out of the woodwork. In fact, here’s one from the Wall Street Journal — they claim that Apple has been doing some major tinkering with their iCloud storage service, the fruits of which will be unveiled on June 11.

First up is the ability for users to share and comment on each other’s photos, a pretty dramatic shift away from iCloud’s current approach to photo storage. As it stands, each user has a single Photo Stream meant mostly to make sure images are on the devices they need to be on. This shift in sharing actually sounds a little reminiscent of Apple’s recently-killed MobileMe service, though how exactly the sharing process would play out within iCloud is still up in the air.

Also reportedly onboard is new functionality that allows users to sync their notes and reminders (though that was recently outed thanks to a website snafu), as well as the ability to upload videos to the cloud service from an iDevice.                More

Sources: Google Is Close to Buying Meebo

Google is in talks to acquire Meebo, according to two sources close to the situation.
The price for the company would be about $100 million, according to one of the sources.

All Things D - Meebo's latest product promises to help users cut through information overload.

Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg did not reply to requests for comment. A Google spokeswoman gave me the standard “We can’t comment on rumor or speculation” response.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Meebo has been around since 2005, when it was founded by Sternberg, Sandy Jen (who is CTO) and Elaine Wherry (now an advisor), who met at Stanford.           More

44 Year Old Surfer Catches 78-foot Wave, Sets Record

Discovery News - He didn't want to get out of bed that November day in Portugal, let alone surf, Garrett McNamara told the Associated Press. The 44-year-old Hawaiian pro surfer had already been hammered by the area's massive waves, and he was hurting.           More

Thunderbolt on Windows gets hands-on, lacks Mac's hot-swapping

Engadget -

Thunderbolt's 10-gigabit interface is only just making its way to Windows after spending more than a year as a Mac-only feature, so it's not surprising that a lot of questions surround how well the Apple- and Intel-developed connection works for those of a Microsoft persuasion. A thorough test at AnandTech of one of the first motherboards to support the spec on Windows PCs, an Ivy Bridge-ready board from MSI, has shown some positive signs along with a few flies in the high-speed ointment.            More