"laptops" news, interviews, and features

Features about laptops

  • Opinion: 10 essential ingredients of a killer Windows 8 business PC

    Windows 8 is here. In form and functionality, the new flagship operating system is the most dramatic makeover of Windows since its inception. Windows 8 was developed from the ground up with a touch-enabled interface that works best when tapped and swiped. Under the hood, the same old Windows is still present, but the Modern UI and the Windows Store shift the focus to mobile.

  • Six of the rarest Macs

    If you’re a longtime fan of the Macintosh platform, chances are you are a bit of a collector and a historian. Aside from their being endearing machines that earned user loyalty, Macs retained their usefulness far longer than most PCs, encouraging people to hang on to them. Who among you doesn’t have an old Mac in your closet?

  • Laptops of 2012: What to expect

    Tablets and smartphones are in, but don't count laptops out. Impressive new laptops planned for 2012 promise to be thinner, lighter, and faster, as well as to carry longer-lasting batteries.

  • Tablet or netbook? How to choose the right mobile tech

    Tablets, netbooks, smartphones--these days, you can't buy a microwave without being upsold on the touchscreen, app-store model. But when you're picking out your preferred mobile tech for work (or even for play), you can't rely on a features chart or a list of specs to tell you what you should buy.

  • Four reasons why you don't really need a tablet PC

    Tablet PCs are the in thing right now. In fact, you'd be hard put to walk into any sort of electronics store today and not be bombarded with displays for the latest and greatest tablet. But are tablets all they're cracked up to be? Or has Apple and its uber popular iPad duped consumers into tablet envy, and its competitors into a mad scramble to develop their own "iPad rivals?"

  • Apple iOS: Why it's the most secure OS, period

    In June 2007, Apple released the iPhone, and the device quickly took off to become a major brand in the smartphone market. Yet when the iPhone shipped, security on the mobile operating system was nearly nonexistent. Missing from the initial iOS (then called iPhone OS) were many of the security features that modern-day desktop software has as a matter of course, such as data-execution protection (DEP) and address-space layout randomization (ASLR). Apple's cachet lured security researchers to test the platform, and in less than a month, a trio had released details on the first vulnerability: an exploitable flaw in the mobile Safari browser.

  • Why BlackBerry PlayBook is an ideal tablet for business

    The BlackBerry PlayBook is available for pre-order, and will be on the street in a matter of weeks. I am not sure the RIM tablet will see much consumer success, but then consumers have never been RIM's primary market. Consumer tablets aside, the PlayBook has some unique features that make it an ideal tablet from a business or IT admin perspective.

  • Tablet deathmatch: Apple iPad 2 vs. Motorola Xoom

    Let's cut to the chase -- the iPad 2 that Apple just released pulls further ahead in the battle with the only real competitor on the market: the Android OS 3.0 "Honeycomb" Xoom tablet from Motorola Mobility. In our previous comparison of the first-gen iPad and the Xoom, the Xoom showed its mettle as a serious contender, beating the iPad in areas such as its inclusion of cameras and ability to mirror its video display.

  • Why Apple's iPad 2 will be another hit

    Apple's iPad 2, unveiled by CEO Steve Jobs in a surprise appearance Wednesday at an invitation-only media event, is thinner, lighter, faster and more full-featured, and incorporates enough changes and updates to maintain Apple's strong sales in the tablet market.