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"software" news, interviews, and features

Features about software

  • Windows Phone 7 technical preview: Hot and not

    Microsoft is so desperate to prove Windows Phone 7's worth in the fiercely competitive smartphone market the company's already giving technical previews to the press, months before the platform's holiday launch.

  • Nimble's all-in-one storage combines primary and backup in one box

    Start-up Nimble Storage came out of the development stage this week with its first product -- an array that combines solid state drives (SSD) with high-capacity, cost and performance serial ATA (SATA) hard drives, acts as primary and backup storage and replicates offsite for disaster recovery.

  • Hands-on with Sony's NEX-VG10 interchangeable-lens camcorder

    In the past few years, video-capable DSLRs and compact interchangeable-lens cameras have gained momentum in the world of filmmaking: they have big sensors, shallow depth-of-field capabilities, versatile interchangeable lenses, and affordable prices when compared to professional-level camcorders.

  • Windows Phone 7 offers superior business smartphone

    Microsoft used its annual Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Washington, DC this week to reveal more details about the impending Windows Phone 7 smartphone platform. While Microsoft's smartphone market share has been plummeting, Windows Phone 7 could emerge as the best smartphone platform for businesses, and help Microsoft regain ground it has lost to RIM, Apple, and Google.

  • Windows Phone Live details emerge: What we know so far

    The Windows Phone 7 operating system won't arrive for a few more months (expect a splashy debut as the holiday season nears) and Microsoft is using the extra time to dole out morsels of information about its upcoming mobile OS--one with the unfortunate task of competing with Apple's iPhone and a bumper crop of Google Android-based phones.

  • Record and Create Music With FL Studio

    FL Studio 9.1 is the latest version of the long-time sequencer and recording app formerly known as Fruity Loops. Despite a slightly non-standard user interface, FL Studio is one of the easier digital audio workstations to use--if you come from a step/pattern-based recording background.

  • Five reasons it's time to switch to Windows 7

    Tomorrow is D-day for Windows XP SP2 users. Granted, Windows XP SP2 will still work, but tomorrow is the last Patch Tuesday for the venerable OS which means it will become more unstable and less secure as time goes on.

  • First look: Firefox 4 Beta 1 shines on HTML5

    While it's impossible to sum up the thousands of enhancements and bug fixes both big and small, the Firefox 4 beta version brings the browser that much closer to taking over everything on the desktop. There are fewer reasons for anyone to interact with an extra plug-in or the operating system. Remember when people cared about whether a machine was Windows or Mac or a Commodore 64? Remember when software needed to be written in native code? Those days are fading away quickly as the browser is more able than ever before to deliver most of the content we might want.

  • The best Windows 7 downloads

    Not quite happy with the way Windows 7 works, or looking to get more out of the operating system? You've come to the right place. We're big fans of Microsoft's latest OS, but we're also big fans of making Windows better. In this article, we've rounded up the best Windows 7 downloads. They'll let you customize it in any way possible, give it features that Microsoft removed or neglected to include, and more. So get ready to download--you're about to take Windows 7 to a new level.

  • Windows 8 rumored features: Your PC, your way

    Microsoft has some big plans for the future of the PC if alleged Windows 8-related documents recently leaked online are correct. Nearly 18 documents--supposedly confidential internal Microsoft plans--have surfaced, including one called "Modern Form Factors" that shows that Microsoft may be looking at three broad PC categories for the future: Lap PC, Workhorse PC, and Family Hub PC.

  • The pros and cons of Windows 7 security

    Businesses are eyeing a transition to Microsoft Windows 7, and with a wealth of security features that are part of it, it's worth figuring out the good and bad about each of them, says Gartner analyst Neil MacDonald, who notes in some cases, third-party security products might be the better fit.

  • 55 super software secrets

    The apps you use most--your Web browser, productivity tools, media managers, and Windows and its built-in accessories--are more powerful than you realize. They are loaded with unpublicized features that make your PC easier to use, they respond to superquick keyboard shortcuts that you've never heard about, and they support add-ons and plug-ins that can shave minutes or even hours off of mundane daily chores.