Antivirus on Windows 8/8.1 compared. Independent test lab AV-Test has completed a series of tests for antivirus/anti-malware products on Windows 8 and 8.1.
They compared both business and consumer solutions. For each, they tested with the then-current version last November and December to increase confidence in the numbers. They compared the business solutions to Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection and the consumer solutions to Microsoft Windows Defender. For each, AV-Test generated scores for protection, performance and usability.
Each score ranges from 0 to 6 and are added to make the Total score. Protection is defined by how well they blocked known and unknown malware. Below are the scores for the business solutions tested. The stand-out business products are from Bitdefender, Trend Micro and Kaspersky, with F-Secure not far behind. Here are the consumer products: Bitdefender and Kaspersky get perfect scores, followed by Avira, F-Secure, Qihoo and G Data.
Windows 8 versions: which is right for you? With only two versions of Windows 8 to be available to consumers, plus one for ARM devices (pre-installed only), what you get ought to be straightforward.
But, as is usual with a new version of Windows, there's still room for confusion because what you get with each version overlaps slightly. 60 Windows 8 tips, tricks and secrets. Windows 8 has been with us for well over a year now, and if you're used to previous versions of Windows then you're going to notice that quite a bit has changed.
In fact, Windows 8 has seen the biggest change since the jump from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. Out goes the Start menu, in comes the new touch-oriented Start screen with new Windows 8-style apps and new interface conventions. Even experienced PC users may be left feeling a little lost. Don't despair, though, help is at hand. We've poked around every part of Windows 8, uncovering many of its most important tips and tricks, so read our guide and you'll soon be equipped to get the most out of Microsoft's latest release. Windows 8.1 unveiled: will it change your mind about Windows 8? It’s not just about the Start button.
Yes, that’s the most obvious element in Windows 8.1, the much-anticipated update to Windows 8. You’ll find the new Start button, which looks exactly like the Windows 8 Start charm, on the Windows 8.1 desktop, nestled in its old familiar home at the left side of the taskbar. You’ll also find it at the bottom of the app switcher, in place of the Start screen thumbnail that occupies that spot in Windows 8. Estimate: 41 percent of all Windows 8 licenses sold aren't being used. Microsoft this week said that it had sold 100 million licenses of Windows 8 in the operating system's first six months.
But how many copies are being used? That's a question Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, had at the top of his list after seeing Microsoft's milestone, which was revealed by Tami Reller, the CFO of the Windows division, in a Tuesday blog post and interviews with several media outlets. "The challenge is figuring out what that actually means," said Moorhead of the 100-million mark. "It doesn't mean that there are that many devices out the door. " Microsoft counts a license as sold when it provides a customer an upgrade or one of its OEM partners a copy for a new PC, tablet or "convertible" device. How to create a Windows 8 shutdown tile. Last October I explained to how to shut down Windows 8—a subject you wouldn't think would require its own how-to guide.
And yet. At the end of that post (which generated quite the conversation), I promised to return with a shortcut that would minimize the hassles of mousing and clicking through the Settings menu to reach the shutdown option. And then I plumb forgot! Reader Jodie recently called me on it, and rightly so. Here, then, from the Better-Late-Than-Never Dept., is your guide to creating a shutdown tile for Windows 8: Usability expert: 'Confusing' Windows 8 is a 'cognitive burden' Windows 8 may be fast, and it might turn that old PC of yours into "Greased Lightning", but according to a usability expert that new user interface gets in the way of users actually being able to use the new operating system.
Raluca Budiu, a user experience specialist with Nielsen Norman Group, claims that the new user interface -- previous called Metro but now renamed Modern UI by Microsoft -- is "confusing" and imposes "a cognitive burden" on users. In other words, people have to think too much. Installing Windows 8 on your old PC could turn it into Greased Lightning. I've known ZDNet columnist Steven J.
Vaughn-Nichols going on 16 years now. Along with Mary Jo Foley, who I've known for the same amount of time, he's a writer I have utmost respect for, particuarly when it comes to writing about Open Source and Networking technologies. In many instances, we agree about a lot of things. But over the years Steven has become shall we say... not particularly enamored with Microsoft. He's focused a lot of his writing in recent years about Linux, and he's the closest thing we have here on ZDNet to being a pure Open Source evangelist. This is not a bad thing, this is just simply stating what he is. Sorry, I spent most of my free time watching the Discovery Channel this weekend.
Five ways to skip Windows 8.