10 killer Windows 8 business apps for real productivity. Build a killer Windows 8 gaming PC for under $1,000. Building a fast gaming PC is easier than ever. Building a fast gaming PC on a tight budget is a little harder—not because of the building, but because of the shopping. You have to scour the web (or your favorite retail stores) for the right prices on components. I've built gaming rigs that cost under a grand a number of times in the past.
Typically, I'd hunt around for the lowest-cost set of components that could hit the price point. But given the rapid pace of change in the PC industry, this edition of the $1,000 gaming rig required fewer sacrifices. This time around, I felt free to take a different approach. In the end, I barely squeaked under that magic $1,000 mark, mostly due to the current high prices of hard drives. The build list I'm providing two lists of components. An important note: Some of the prices you see above were the result of lucky sales. This brings up a key rule of building a system on a budget: shop around! The platform The CPU choice is pretty straightforward. Beyond antivirus software: Eclectic PC security tools for system-wide audits. Welcome to a harsh reality: Relying on an ostensibly comprehensive antivirus suite just doesn't cut it in 2012. Antivirus software is crucial for combating viruses, malware, and hackers, but simply installing an antivirus program is rarely enough.
You should also use strong passwords; keep your system, applications, and browser plug-ins up-to-date; and make sure your firewall is doing its job by blocking all intrusions. Following these extra safeguards can reduce the chances of your PC becoming a Petri dish full of digital contagions. Luckily, a number of tools and services can simplify all the extra security precautions that modern PCs require. Qualys BrowserCheck An outdated browser or plug-in can serve as a security hole for hackers and malware authors to exploit, so you’ll want to keep your web software up-to-date. You can run a quick scan from your browser in Windows, Mac, or Linux. Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) Password Security Scanner ShieldsUp Belarc Advisor. 8 worst Windows 8 irritations (and how to fix them) Windows 8, I want to love you, but your annoying quirks keep bringing me down. After spending more than a year conquering the operating system's overhauled (and nonintuitive) interface in its various prerelease iterations, I've now entered a second stage of frustration: I find myself cursing at Windows 8's major changes less and less, but shaking my fist and swearing like a sailor at its little irritations more and more.
Beyond its polished, tile-based surface, Microsoft's new operating system plays host to a legion of smaller annoyances—a cornucopia of quirks that will leave you seething long after you get the hang of all the new gesture controls and schizophrenic system options. Some of the problems are whoppers. Others are mere nitpicks that result from a lifetime of traditional Windows use. But many of these problems can be fixed, with one major exception. Read on! Lock down the lock screen Let's start at the very beginning of the Windows 8 experience. Press Start to continue Ah, well.
11 winning alternatives to Windows 8's built-in apps. Windows 8 comes preloaded with plenty of apps for basic productivity and entertainment, but they're not necessarily the best you can do. We've already mentioned the apps you should download first, but now we want to share some third-party apps that you might like more than what Microsoft includes in its basic Windows 8 installation. None of the following apps is perfect, but the same holds true for the apps built directly into Windows 8—hence the point of this article in the first place.
People Part contacts list, part social media hub, Microsoft's People app is a central bucket for all the personal associations you make via email, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Although this built-in app shares Facebook and Twitter updates, it's confusing in the way it jumbles together all your services. Likewise, People is definitely not a worthy Twitter client.
Luckily, we have FlipToast, an app that commingles Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter in a relatively easy-to-use interface. Video. PC security: Your essential software toolbox. Mobile malware is getting lots of attention these days, but you can’t forget about your PC’s security—after all, you probably still use it to pay bills, shop online, and store sensitive documents. You should fully protect yourself to lessen the chance of cybercriminals infiltrating your computer and your online accounts, capturing your personal information, invading your privacy, and stealing your money and identity. You need to guard against viruses, of course, but not all antivirus programs catch all threats, and some do better than others. You have to watch for many other types of threats, too: Malware invasions, hacking attacks, and cases of identify theft can originate from email, search engine results, websites, and social networks such as Facebook.
They can also come in the form of links or advertisements for phishing and scam sites. Protecting your data from computer thieves and from people who tap in to your Wi-Fi signal is also important. How (and why) to surf the web in secret. They say no one can hear you scream in space, but if you so much as whisper on the Web, you can be tracked by a dozen different organizations and recorded for posterity. Simply visiting a website can allow its operators to figure out your general physical location, identify details about your device information, and install advertising cookies that can track your movements around the Web. (Don't believe me?
Check this out.) Not everyone likes the idea of having his or her entire digital lives scraped, analyzed and (in countries with restrictive regimes) controlled outright by third parties. So please consider the following tools and tips, which will hide your IP address and have you surfing the Web in blissful anonymity in no time. Knowing is half the battle There are a few crucial tidbits you should know before you start down the path to online anonymity.
Furthermore, websites can access data stored by browser plug-ins to try and track down your actual IP address. Got it? Web proxies. 20 must-know Windows 8 tips and tricks. Windows 8 is rife with features and behaviors that conspire to perplex even the most experienced PC users. Not all of them are bad, per se, but few of them are immediately intuitive. Making matters worse, the OS was primarily designed for touch control, and as a result, many mouse and keyboard commands feel like tacked-on afterthoughts. But help is on the way. We've assembled a list of our favorite Windows 8 shortcuts, tricks, and workarounds. Many focus on making the most of the OS on a traditional desktop PC, so if you're interested in touch gestures, please check out our article that focuses directly on the Windows 8 touch experience. Now let's start our journey of discovery with a look at easy-to-use (though often tough to remember!)
Windows 8 hotkey commands. Employ the hottest hotkeys we know In these key combinations, hold down the Windows key (normally located between Alt and Ctrl) and another key, as described on this list. Zoom in tight Categorize your apps. PC security: Your essential software toolbox. Mobile malware is getting lots of attention these days, but you can’t forget about your PC’s security—after all, you probably still use it to pay bills, shop online, and store sensitive documents.
You should fully protect yourself to lessen the chance of cybercriminals infiltrating your computer and your online accounts, capturing your personal information, invading your privacy, and stealing your money and identity. You need to guard against viruses, of course, but not all antivirus programs catch all threats, and some do better than others.
You have to watch for many other types of threats, too: Malware invasions, hacking attacks, and cases of identify theft can originate from email, search engine results, websites, and social networks such as Facebook. They can also come in the form of links or advertisements for phishing and scam sites. But with some education on the topic, and the right tools, you can identify such scams and avoid falling victim. 11 winning alternatives to Windows 8's built-in apps. Windows 8 comes preloaded with plenty of apps for basic productivity and entertainment, but they're not necessarily the best you can do. We've already mentioned the apps you should download first, but now we want to share some third-party apps that you might like more than what Microsoft includes in its basic Windows 8 installation.
None of the following apps is perfect, but the same holds true for the apps built directly into Windows 8—hence the point of this article in the first place. People Part contacts list, part social media hub, Microsoft's People app is a central bucket for all the personal associations you make via email, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Although this built-in app shares Facebook and Twitter updates, it's confusing in the way it jumbles together all your services. Likewise, People is definitely not a worthy Twitter client. Luckily, we have FlipToast, an app that commingles Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter in a relatively easy-to-use interface. Video. 20 must-know Windows 8 tips and tricks. Windows 8 is rife with features and behaviors that conspire to perplex even the most experienced PC users. Not all of them are bad, per se, but few of them are immediately intuitive. Making matters worse, the OS was primarily designed for touch control, and as a result, many mouse and keyboard commands feel like tacked-on afterthoughts.
But help is on the way. We've assembled a list of our favorite Windows 8 shortcuts, tricks, and workarounds. Many focus on making the most of the OS on a traditional desktop PC, so if you're interested in touch gestures, please check out our article that focuses directly on the Windows 8 touch experience. Now let's start our journey of discovery with a look at easy-to-use (though often tough to remember!) Employ the hottest hotkeys we know In these key combinations, hold down the Windows key (normally located between Alt and Ctrl) and another key, as described on this list. Zoom in tight Categorize your apps. Master Windows 8 gesture commands. Windows 8 has a few new features (like the charms menu, the Start screen, and gesture commands) which may seem pointless or needlessly confusing at first blush.
Experienced Windows users running a non-RT version of Windows 8 may be tempted to ignore these new features entirely in favor of working exclusively through the Desktop app. That's a reasonable sentiment, and it's totally feasible because Windows 8 works equally well whether you stick exclusively to the new Windows 8 interface or the traditional Windows desktop. But Windows 8 really shines when you learn to use the charms and gestures to quickly swap back and forth between the Start screen and the desktop, multitasking and sharing data between new Windows 8 apps and your trusty desktop software. Before you can do that, you need to get comfortable taking your hands off the keyboard. Conjure Windows 8 charms to easily search and share Keyboard: Hit the Windows + C keys together to bring up the charms bar. Use two apps simultaneously. Review: Start8 beta gives Windows 8 a Start Menu. If there's any company that's going to have a field day with Microsoft's controversial new Windows 8, it's Stardock.
Case in point: Start8, a free beta program the company markets that replaces the "missing" Start Menu on the Windows 8 explorer desktop taskbar. [After this review was written, the product launched in version 1.0 for a price of $5 with a thirty-day free trial. —Ed.] If you're not familiar, Windows 8 has two completely different interfaces: The new tiled Windows 8 UI (User Interface) first seen with Zune and Windows Phones, and the classic Explorer desktop with a slightly updated look. The problem for many users is that there's no Start Menu for the latter: You initially use the Windows 8 UI to launch all applications no matter which interface they use.
Thanks to Stardock Software, however, you can have your Windows 8 cake and Start Menu too. Start8 works great and eliminates the need to access the Windows 8 UI unless you want to. Four Web-based scheduling tools for small businesses. If your business involves meeting with clients, you know what a hassle scheduling can be. Doesn't matter if you're a real-estate agent, a financial advisor, or a contractor—appointment management can be a full-time job.
Before you hire someone to tackle that job, consider a Web-based alternative. Wouldn't it be great if your customers could simply visit your Web site, check your availability, and schedule their own appointments -- no receptionist required? I've rounded up a quartet of online-scheduling services designed for exactly that purpose. Their core function is to post your available time slots so clients can choose the one(s) they want. All four services offer some kind of free account or trial so you can test the waters. Acuity A great place to start, Acuity offers a freebie account for a single user (you) and unlimited clients and appointments. BookFresh BookMe A newcomer to the online-scheduling space, BookMe is powered by online-scheduling service Doodle. Genbook.