|  |  |  | | | | | Maximum PC - All Articles | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Remember Hellgate: London? It was an apocalyptic hack 'n' slasher that rose from the ashes of Diablo II only to make some ugly ashes of its own when its developer went under. Now, though, the game's getting a second lease on life thanks to the helping hand of Hanbitsoft.
Hellgate, of course, was a lot of things to a lot of people. Overly ambitious to some. Rushed to others. And – to our own David Murphy – sort of, like, you know, not good. However, the game's actually been hacking and slashing among the living in South Korea for quite a while now, so with any luck, the extra development time has added a few much-needed layers of polish to the proceedings. As for the US version, it'll be undergoing the world's shortest beta from June 3 to June 5. We were hoping to participate, but then realized that we were already scheduled to blink during that time period. The full game is set to launch later this year, though an exact date has yet to be specified. And so continues free-to-play's "can do no wrong" reign over the gaming industry. Sure, swooping in to save MMOs on the verge of breathing their last was one thing, but now – between Hellgate and All Points Bulletin – you're telling us it can raise the dead? This is just getting silly. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Conventional "wisdom" says consoles are a land of milk, honey, and Firefly never being canceled while PC is a piracy ridden hive of scum and villainy. And let's not dance around the facts here: we'd all be a lot better off if pirates took a cue from Fable III and traded in their horns for halos. That said, the game's lead combat designer isn't convinced that consoles are any better off.
"Piracy these days on PC is probably less problematic than second-hand sales on the Xbox," lead Fable III combat designer Mike West told Eurogamer. "I've been working on PC games for many years and piracy is always a problem. There are a lot of honest people out there as well, and if they like your game they'll buy it." "It's just a depressing situation we're in that people don't think it's worth spending money on computer games," he added. "Unless you sit down and meet a pirate face to face and have a conversation about what it does, I don't think anything will stop them." West, then, may not be waving a pirate flag and cheering every time someone figuratively picks his pocket, but he's a realist. Piracy's simply unavoidable, and good games – by and large – are able to succeed in spite of it. That, however, isn't the case with the second-hand market, which sees retailers scampering off with every last cent of each used sale. "For us it's probably a no-lose even with piracy as it is," said West. "But, as I say, second-hand sales cost us more in the long-run than piracy these days." Granted, second-hand sales are also a reality of a free-market economy. That retailers like GameStop are taking advantage of that fact at developers' expense is – while in many ways regrettable – certainly not wrong in itself. So long as consumers want that option, it'll be there. Publishers, meanwhile, have tried to give the system the business equivalent of a nice, polite middle finger with initiatives like EA's Project Ten Dollar. So yeah, "sticky situation" doesn't even begin to describe it. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  In an age of rabid copyright lawyers, takedown orders and account seizures, it's getting harder and harder to hold on to the web videos we love. While popular content can usually be found through other websites and users, tracking a new source down can be a pain. Fortunately, the aptly named Download YouTube Videos + is here to help you preserve your internet media treasures.
Download YouTube Videos + is a Firefox extension that works with both versions 3.0 and 4.0 of the popular browser. Once installed, the extension can be accessed through a menu bar added to your browser window. Not too keen on having extra clutter added to your browser? Not a problem: Download YouTube Videos + can be customized to include or exclude as many on screen features as you want. While you're at it, you'll find that the extension's preference pane offers a number of other thoughtful options as well. Users are able to control what format their selected video is saved as, where download files are saved to and even some limited screenshot functionality. 
Best of all, despite its name, Download YouTube Videos + is site agnostic, and allows users to save flash video from a number of popular services aside from YouTube including Break.com and Metacafe. That's a whole lot of features for a free extension. Be sure to check back with us every Thursday for another Maximum PC Browser Extension of the Week. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 
First, a confession: I'm an absolute Xbox 360 fanatic. I stream music and video from my computer to my TV almost every hour of every day using the thing, and I've dropped some serious cash on add-ons and accessory packs. I'm one of those suckers who bought Oblivion's "Horse Armor" pack. Unfortunately for my wallet, Major Nelson says the console's new update makes it even easier to spend money by allowing users to purchase Microsoft Points using PayPal. While the announcement may not strike a chord with Xbox Live users who've already linked a credit card to their account, it's sure to bring joy to gamers who use disposable Microsoft Points cards to refill their virtual pockets. No more running to Wal*Mart at midnight just because you're 20 points short for a new Avatar accessory. The update also includes an auto-standby feature that puts your 360 to sleep if it hasn't been touched for an hour, which is a welcome addition to the power-hungry console. The update's rolling out in waves, so if you haven't got it yet, don't worry – you will soon. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Amazon's Kindle wasn't the first e-reader on the market, but it's continuing the Amazon tradition of shattering sales paradigms – Amazon announced today that it now sells more Kindle e-books than traditional print books. Amazon reports that since April 1st, the company has sold 105 e-books for every 100 print books. That's not including all the free downloads of public domain books, either. It's not surprising when you consider just how ubiquitous the Kindle's become in just four years – even if you don't have an actual Kindle, you can read Kindle books using the Kindle app that's available for many mobile devices. All in all, it's shaping up to be a good (read: lucrative) year for Amazon. The $114 "Kindle with Special Offers" edition was only released about a month ago and it's already the top-selling version of the hardware in the US. Amazon's on pace to triple last year's e-book sales, and that trend puts the company's book division on track to have their biggest growth year in over a decade. So that's how they afford all those free shipping offers! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  In a new report, the International Trade Commission called out China for its rampant piracy problem and "indigenous innovation policies" for costing the U.S. economy up to $48 billion in 2009. The report also blames China for costing Americans 2.1 million full time jobs that would otherwise be created if China substantially improved its intellectual property rights policies.
The ITC report confirms what the software industry has long known: The Chinese practice of ignoring the intellectual property rights of US innovators harms our nation, puts a drag on our economy and siphons jobs away from Americans," said Business Software Alliance President and CEO Robert Holleyman, who testified before the ITC during its investigation. "The report establishes in clear terms that these practices harm every innovative American industry. We look forward to working with the Senate and the ITC to find meaningful and effective ways to preserve the rights of American innovators in international markets." But are the numbers accurate? TechDirt took serious issue with the ITC's "ridiculous" and "dopey" methodology. "Rather than taking any sort of actual objective study, the ITC simply asked 5,000 companies for what they thought their 'losses' to Chinese infringement were," TechDirt complains. "Not only that, but the ITC tried to choose the firms who were most likely impacted by this -- which means those who have the highest incentives to lie or exaggerate, because they want to have greater protectionism against Chinese competition." You can read the entire report here (PDF). | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rapture? Armageddon? Locusts? Whatever it is, it hasn't hit us yet. God is pissed. At least we think he's pissed. Actually, we're not really sure if he's pissed or just mildly bummed 'cause of that whole James getting booted off Idol thing. But one thing's for sure – he's putting the big kibosh on good old Earth. This Saturday. Round about dinner time. So, like, if you're planning a hot date, do it Friday. Considering that next week at this time we'll have been bounced off the planet by the colossal earthquake that signals the latest End of Days forecast, what better time to look back at all those other world-altering and population-obliterating prognostications and events that, for some odd reason, never materialized. Enjoy…for your final, precious few days, anyway. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  LinkedIn started trading today at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol LNKD following a recent IPO filing, and as most guessed would happen, the stock price shot up like a bottle of Coca-Cola laced with Mentos. LinkedIn priced its IPO at $45, it opened at $83, and hit $120 within two hours of trading before reaching a high of $122.70. This marks the biggest IPO since Google, the Huffington Post says, leaving analysts to debate if things are out of control, or if this is simply the beginning.
The big winners here are the Venture Capitalists whose combined stake is more than $7 billion. According to Bloomberg, LinkedIn was valued at $15 million back in 2003. At the time, LinkedIn had 14 employees and 78,000 users. Today LinkedInk has 990 employees, 90 million users, and a revenue stream of $243 million (in 2010). There's another side to this story. Business Insider contends that LinkedIn's underwriters "just screwed the company and its shareholders" out of millions of dollars "by wildly underpricing the deal and selling LinkedIn's stock to institutional clients way too cheaply." The way Business Insider figures it, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America gift wrapped no less than $175 million this morning to its clients. There are lessons to be learned all around on this one. LinkedIn is one of the first social networking sites to go public, but it surely won't be the last. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | After weeks of puzzles and hinting, Czech developer Bohemia Interactive has confirmed that a follow-up to its landmark military simulation game, Arma 3, is in development. It's still a PC exclusive, it's set somewhere in the Mediterranean, and it'll retain the fine, sandboxy, multiplayer-friendly, emergent warplay that we expect from the franchise with some key improvements. Within: I dissect every detail of the announcement, play Where In The World Is Arma Sandiego?, and change my pants. Arma 3′s story, as described by the press release: "After years of intense warfare against Eastern armies, Europe has become the last stand for the battered NATO forces. On the verge of being driven into the sea, NATO command embarks upon a most desperate measure. In the hope of seizing what seems to be a well-guarded military secret, Operation Magnitude is launched. A small group of Special Forces and Researchers are sent to a Mediterranean island deep behind enemy lines. However, the mission is compromised and the task force destroyed, leaving Cpt. Scott Miller washed ashore upon the hostile island. In his effort to carry out the mission, he will face the dangers of modern warfare, an unforgiving environment, and the consequences of his own decisions…" My take: What stands out here–other than the Mediterranean setting–is the concept of being behind enemy lines. Most of Arma's we haven't seen since the original Operation Flashpoint–. The other eyebrow-raiser for me, however mild, is the mention of an unforgiving environment. It's vague, but I can't imagine it's simply referring to the threat of being shot. If you're operating solo, maybe you'll have to worry about dehydration? The announced features, one by one: "Combining the strength of its predecessors with radical engine improvements, Arma 3 provides a unique experience of sandbox-oriented combat gameplay in the most detailed environment of the series." My take: This is just a general hype line about the game, but "radical" is a very good word to put in front of "engine improvements." "Single-Player Campaign – Evolve from a lone prey into a military commander in the open-ended & story-driven campaign." My take: Open-endedness isn't anything new to Arma; the mention of being "lone prey" if we note that the press release also mentions being behind enemy lines. "Vehicles & Weapons – Control a multitude of aircraft, vehicles and ships with accurate simulation; shoot anything from pistols to sophisticated weapon platforms." My take: Breaking: military game to have war guns in it. Next. "Physical Simulation & Improved Animations – Take advantage of PhysX™ supported vehicle simulation, in-game interactions and the revamped animation system." My take: [The sound of coffee being involuntarily sprayed on my monitor goes here.] Whoa! PhysX? In Arma? Promising. For all of Arma's nuanced ballistics and fidelity, its engine doesn't model simple physics like vehicle collision or explosion blow-back well. New animations are a necessity, too. (As it stands, I can mime all of Arma's scant handful of death animations with perfect accuracy.) If genuine ragdoll can be added, even better. "Rich & Authentic Environment – Explore an unsurpassed military combat experience set on an authentic Mediterranean island modelled from real geographic data." My take: Mediterranean, you say. Real-world data, you say. I am become Evan Lahti, GLOBE SLEUTH. We know that Arma 2′s biggest map is Chernarus, weighing in at 225 km² of area. It's safe to assume that whatever isle Arma 3 uses as its sandbox, it'll be near that size. That rules out Sardinia (24,090 km²) and Corsica (8,680 km²) off the coast of Italy, but makes Malta and the isles of Greece look like our probable candidates. Hmm. "Multiplayer Gameplay – Experience both cooperative & competitive scenarios with the full support of dedicated servers for both Windows and Linux." My take: Expected, comforting. Co-op, as we're keen to remind you, is the best way to play Arma. "Completely Extensible & Moddable – Design & create countless customizable scenarios using the intuitive & easy-to-use mission editor." My take: Arma thrives on its modding and mission creation community; Bohemia is reassuring its fanbase here that it isn't closing the doors to its own user-generated content factory. Start drawing up blueprints for another Battle Bus. "Customizable Soldier Load – Choose your uniform; assemble your weapon kit; change your load-out; get loaded up." My take: This is good news bears. Armas 1 and 2 have put a lot of focus on creating a massive military library of weapons and equipment, but haven't put as much effort into refining the interface used to customize your war person. The result: everyone is stuck with the gear they're given unless they hunt down an ammo box or loot a weapon. I'm hoping this customization will take place at a main menu level, and will let me create a custom multiplayer character–with the gear and kit I like–that I can bring into any mission. A final, interesting shell ejected from this announcement are the Arma 3′s system requirements. Keep in mind that these are being issued a year before the game might release (and that hardware optimization is usually one of the last tasks completed in development), but I think Arma 3 is the first game to require a Core i5. Don't interpret that as a sign of concern–while Arma's sometimes-joggy framerate is a known annoyance, there's no reason for us to suspect that'll be the case in this sequel until we see it ourselves, and I love hoping that it'll be a game that continues to push what our hardware can do. OS – Windows 7 / Vista CPU – Intel Core i5 or AMD Athlon Phenom X4 or faster GPU – Nvidia Geforce GTX 260 or ATI Radeon HD 5770, shader Model 3 and 896 MB VRAM, or faster RAM – 2 GB HDD – 15 GB free space DVD – Dual Layer compatible DirectX® – 10 There are still tons of unanswered questions. What new vehicles and gear will Arma 3 feature? Who're you fighting? What sort of bird will you respawn as after you die? If all this sounds scant, stand by: you'll be reading real, raw details in an upcoming issue of PC Gamer.  PCGamer.com is the global authority on PC games, with exclusive news, reviews, demos and updates.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Why lug around a USB 2.0 flash drive when you could slip a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 stick onto your keychain? Oh, your PC isn't equipped with a USB 3.0 port? Point taken as we shake an angry fist at Intel and AMD. Still, at some point USB 3.0 ports will become commonplace, so if you're the type that likes to think ahead, a USB drive like Kingston's DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 Generation 2 (DTU30G2) is about as future proof as you can get at the moment.
The DTU30G2 is Kingston's fastest USB flash drive, no big surprise when you factor in the native USB 3.0 controller. It has a rated read speed of up to 100MB/s and a write speed of up to 70MB/s, assuming you're able to jam it into a USB 3.0 port. If not, the drive will deliver up to 30MB/s read and write speeds via USB 2.0. Kingston's DTU30G2 is available now in 16GB ($77), 32GB ($116), and 64GB ($213) capacities. Image Credit: Kingston | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Still a year or more from final release, the next version of Windows has been making its fair share of appearances on leak sites in recent months. Codenamed Windows Next, the OS release we've come to know as Windows 8 will look much like its recent predecessors on the surface, but looks to be getting a serious revamp from the kernel up. The rumors are coming in fast but, as with any unreleased software, it's hard to be certain which of the rumored features will make it into the final product, which will wind up on the cutting room floor, and which never existed in the first place. We've taken a look at all the rumors, all the leaked screenshots, and a few screens we're pretty sure were flat-out faked, and we're ready to make a few prognostications about what to expect in Windows 8. We'll approach this category-by-category. Storage Features In part because of its massive installed base in the business world, Microsoft has been slow to move on storage trends over the years. While power users have grown accustomed to relying on third-party tools for handling disc images and drive maintenance tasks, the company has been sitting on a new file system for years. ISO Mounting While other desktop OSes (Mac OS X, Linux) include the ability to handle disc images as a matter of basic functionality, Windows has lagged lamentably in this area. As recently as Windows Vista, users needed third-party tools to burn a disc image to a CD. And while Windows 7 can now write a disc image, it can't mount and read one. According to a variety of rumor forums, however, this feature will finally come baked into Windows 8. ISO mounting won't mean much to the average user, but power users and system administrators will be able to use it to standardize installations across multiple systems, preserve reliable system images for posterity, and quickly deploy virtual machines. Given the gradual pace of change in recent Windows versions' support for disc images, this feature seems very likely to see the light of day in the final release.
Probability of actually appearing in Windows 8: 70% Tweaked Disk Cleanup 
To help users manage disk space, Microsoft appears to have revamped the Disk Cleanup utility for Windows 8. Unlike the relatively simplistic tool in Windows 7, the enhanced utility showing up in Windows 8 pre-release builds includes options that let you sort files by size and type. This should make it much easier to reclaim disk space quickly by targeting temporary files and quickly spotting the biggest space hogs on your hard drive.
Probability: 70% Portable Workspaces 
In a move that usurps the role of third-party portable workspace utilities, Microsoft looks to be integrating a new feature called Portable Workspaces into Windows 8. Based on screenshots and videos leaked from an April build of Windows 8, Portable Workspaces will let users create a portable image of their system on any USB drive with at least 16GB of available capacity (16GB drives with 15.7GB of available space don't appear to work). From what we've seen, it appears Portable Workspaces will create a streamlined clone of your desktop, user settings, and essential apps, so you can plug your USB drive into any PC and boot quickly into a familiar Windows experience. The leaked demos look surprisingly good, and we'd be surprised if this feature doesn't make it into the final product. Probability: 70% History Vault 
While Windows XP SP2 introduced a useful file-versioning feature called Shadow Copy, relatively few end users ever realized this feature existed. Even now, in Windows 7, it remains obscure and mostly inaccessible to ordinary users. A leaked Windows 8 feature called History Vault appears poised to bring Shadow Copy into the light of day. Early screenshots of History Vault look eerily similar to Apple's Time Machine feature in OS X. We're not knocking the knock-off. If History Vault's timed, incremental backups of changed files prove half as usable as Time Machine, it might finally make backup a part of everyday life for users in the real world.
Probability: 70% WinFS Since 2003, Microsoft has been working on a new Windows file system capable of detecting and using relationships between various chunks of data on a PC. WinFS (the "FS" stands for Future Storage) incorporates features of SQL relational database servers to intelligently find connections between files and surface them to applications. A common example of this might be a version of Windows Explorer capable of automatically discovering photos of a specific person and displaying them in chronological order. WinFS was expected to launch as part of Windows Vista in 2006, but never made the final cut due to technical difficulties. Microsoft has made no announcements about the filesystem's chances of appearing in Windows 8, and we've yet to see credible evidence that it's coming. If WinFS does actually surface in the next Windows, we'll be surprised and delighted.
Probability: 20%
Connected Features Windows 8 seems likely to be the most deeply Net-connected version of Windows yet, with a barrel of new features aimed at making web browsing more central to the user experience, syncing user data to the cloud, and protecting users from malicious code. Internet Explorer 10 Despite constant revamping over the past decade (and the fact that IE comes preinstalled on every Windows PC, Microsoft's share of the browser market continues to decline in the face of growth for Google Chrome and Opera. So even though IE9 is barely out of diapers, development of IE10 continues at what looks to be a pretty brisk pace. Will it be ready in time for Windows 8? You betcha.
Probability: 90% Immersive Browser 
The most interesting browser enhancements we've run across for Windows 8 is a feature Microsoft calls Immersive Browser. Apparently based on the mobile browser in Windows Phone 7, Immersive Browser will presumably use the IE rendering engine within a simplified full-screen interface that will make the most of tablet displays. To get more web onto the screen, Microsoft reduced the number of menu options to Forward, Back, Address, Reload, and Favorite. Some leaked screens also reveal a tiled interface similar to the Metro UI in Windows Phone 7, which would display web links as tiles across the immersive browser screen for quick navigation. This feature looks like it would be more useful in a tablet than on a PC, but it may work for both. Given all the other tablet-friendly features we're seeing in the leaked code, we suspect Immersive Browser is a lock for the gold release.
Probability: 90% SmartScreen Download Filter Internet Explorer 9 includes a reputation-based phishing filter called SmartScreen, which checks files, links, and sites against a reputation database before loading them in the browser. Early Windows 8 builds appear to be pulling this feature deeper into the operating system to give users the ability to check files against SmartScreen before allowing them to launch. These options have been spotted under the View tab in the Folder menu as user-selectable features. We have little doubt that they'll make it to the retail product. Probability: 90% Cloud Storage Despite curmudgeonly resistance from a certain segment of self-described power users, the cloud is now an integral part of mainstream computing. Microsoft has been pushing hard to catch up with third-party services like Dropbox and SugarSync with its LiveMesh syncing service, which lets users sync folders on their PC to a Windows Live account. Leaked screenshots from Windows 8 alpha builds show code that apparently integrates cloud syncing directly into the operating system itself. It's unclear whether this will simply allow users to link their LiveMesh/SkyDrive account to Windows 8, or if this kind of functionality will be extended to third-party cloud storage services as well.
Probability: 80% Push Notifications Digging through DLL files in the alpha code, inquisitive minds have uncovered signs of push-notification support in Windows 8. This comes as little surprise, given the operating system's other tablet-friendly features. While we have no clear evidence about how push notifications will work in the next Windows, it seems probable that they'll be able to do things like trigger a noise or flash a light when an email comes in, or announce a request for a video chat. We're looking forward to seeing more of this in the beta. Probability: 70% User Account Features So far, we've spotted few changes to the way Windows 8 will manage user accounts, but two interesting features have popped up on the rumor forums. Guest Mode Guest accounts have long proven tricky for desktop operating systems. While the idea of letting just anyone log onto a PC and use it temporarily sounds nice in theory, that convenience comes with its fair share of security concerns. The Windows 7 beta included a decent stab at a Guest Mode feature that did this pretty well, but it didn't make the final cut. Turns out it's harder than you might think to create a temporary user account with enough system access to be useful, without opening up the machine to deep security threats that put the primary user's files at risk. Will Guest Mode reappear in Windows 8? We have no idea at this point, but we suspect Microsoft hasn't stopped working on the feature and we think there's a better than 50/50 chance that it'll ship.
Probability: 60% Facial Recognition 
There's nothing especially new about the idea of facial recognition. It helped HAL track Dave in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and a number of PC manufacturers have shipped systems touting this feature over the past few years. In practice, however, the ability of consumer PCs to accurately spot faces has proved, well, spotty. Back in April, Windows8Italia.com--which has been a leading force in uncovering Windows 8 features from inside the code--leaked news of a Windows 8 API called "Detect human presence," which likely integrates face recognition into the OS. If legit, this feature would be consistent with other leaked information out of Redmond, which suggests Microsoft has been counting on the pervasive presence of webcams to power such a feature. The big question here is not whether Microsoft is working on facial recognition. We know that they are. Our lingering skepticism centers primarily around the quality of the user experience and Microsoft's ability to make facial recognition work well enough that people will actually want to use it. If the feature's accuracy is less than 95%, it'll earn Windows 8 more jeers than cheers from people who can't easily log into their PCs. So we won't blame Microsoft if this one doesn't appear on launch day. Probability: 50% System Reset 
Ever want to nuke your OS back to bedrock and get a fresh start with your PC? Screens leaked by a Chinese Windows site show the presence of a feature called System Reset that appears to do just this. The menu description for the feature reads, "Remove all programs you've installed and restore default Windows settings. You can choose to keep user accounts and personal files." For those who like to occasionally reinstall windows as a way of reducing bloat, this could be a real boon. And for system administrators, it could be a huge timesaver in managing loaner systems. Whether System Reset would pose any potential security risks in administrative scenarios remains to be seen, but the feature sounds almost as plausible as it does cool. Probability: 60% Interface Tweaks So far, the screenshots we've seen of Windows 8 don't appear substantially different from those of Windows 7. It may be that Microsoft just hasn't applied all of the interface changes it's toying with, but so far we don't see too many changes worth getting excited or irritated about. Here are two tweaks worth talking about. Ribbons everywhere 
One of the most noticeable interface tweaks in Windows 8 pre-release builds is the proliferation of ribbon menus throughout Windows Explorer. Already present in included apps such as Paint and Word Pad, the ribbon interface adds a host of new buttons to the Windows Explorer menu. From the screens we've seen, it looks like the new interface will put more of the classic menu options within one-click accessibility, eliminating the need to click Edit, Select all, for instance (or learn the hotkeys, for that matter). Probability: 80% Aero Autocolor Of less impact to usability, but potentially more interesting to everyday users, is a leaked feature called Aero Autocolor. This simple menu option in the Window Color and Appearance control panel empowers Windows to automatically change the desktop color scheme to match the dominant color in your wallpaper. So if you have green rolling hills as your background, Windows would auto-select a hue from the wallpaper and apply it to window borders. Will this be preferable to window transparency? We can't say. Probability: 70%
Content Integration Computers and phones have long since morphed beyond the basic functions for which they were originally invented and become, among other things, entertainment devices. So how will Microsoft respond to this trend? Windows App Store The most prevalent content-related rumor in the Windows 8 universe is that Microsoft is working on an app store. This is hardly a shock. Microsoft has already attempted to copy Apple's retail store model, and nearly every major platform now supports an app market of some kind. Sometimes imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; other times it's just good business. We think a Windows app store just makes sense, and could potentially prove more successful than the Mac App Store, given Microsoft's massive installed base. Our biggest question on this one is whether Microsoft's entry into the arena could spark antitrust inquiries into the practice of first-party app markets, thereby posing problems not just for Windows 8 but for Android and iOS as well.
Probability: 80% PDF Support 
At long last, Microsoft seems to be building PDF support directly into Windows with an app called Modern Reader. Presumably, Modern Reader will read a whole lot more than just PDFs, just as Preview does on the Mac. We're filing this one under D for "duh, it's about time."
Probability: 90% Tablet Optimized For more than a decade, Microsoft has labored unsuccessfully to get people to buy Windows tablets. First there was the Tablet PC, then the Project Origami UMPC tablets (which, surprisingly, still exist), and more recently the HP Slate, which we're pretty sure only a few people—all of whom were relatives of HP or Microsoft employees—bought. To counter this consistent flatline of interest and to capitalize on the current touch tablet craze, Microsoft is making a few moves to optimize Windows 8 for the slate. System On Chip Support How do we know Microsoft is making Windows 8 for tablets? Because Ballmer basically told us so. In his keynote address at CES in January, big Stevie B. demonstrated a "future version of Windows with the current interface" running on an ARM processor, and spent a long time talking about the massive role the diminutive System On Chip (SOC) architecture will play in the company's future. Intel's Renee James confirmed this earlier this week when he stated that Microsoft will release multiple versions of Windows 8 for both x86 and ARM, including four distinct builds for the latter. What this means is clear: Windows 8 will be designed to run on low-power chips from ARM, Qualcomm, AMD, Intel, and Texas Instruments. What form this functionality takes is not clear yet, however. Probability: 90% Touch Interface Taking SOC support as a given, the next Windows would be doomed on tablets without some serious improvements to the touch interface. Unsurprisingly, the Windows 8 rumor forums are awash in chatter about touch-friendly improvements throughout the upcoming OS, many of which appear to have been adapted directly from Windows Phone 7. Probability: 80% Pattern Login 
In what clearly looks like a major concession to the tablet form factor, early builds of Windows 8 include the option of a pattern login screen similar to that of the Android OS. In YouTube videos showing the feature (most of which now appear to have been removed at Microsoft's request, which likely corroborates their legitimacy), the pattern screen consists of a 16-block grid, which would allow for more complex security patterns than Android's 9-block grid. As far as we're concerned, this pattern login screen is a done deal for Windows 8, and lends an air of near certainty to reports of more comprehensive touch interface enhancements.
Probability: 90% Other Tweaks While a great many unknowns remain in the months leading up to Windows 8's debut, there are a few more forthcoming features that we do have some good information about. Modern Windows Task Manager 
Power users will get quicker access to the Windows Resource Monitor and Task Manager through a single control panel redubbed Modern Windows Task Manager. There's little in the way of new functionality here, but the merged control panels will make quicker work out of spotting resource hogs and shutting them down with one click. Probability of actually appearing in Windows 8: 90% Hybrid Boot To speed up boot times, Microsoft seems to have worked up a new method of shutting down and starting up known as Hybrid Boot. This approach reportedly works more like hibernation than actual shutdown, leaving lots of data cached for ready retrieval when the system is fully powered up again. Leaked screens also show an option to revert the system to conventional shutdown mode for users who'd rather conserve power. Also, it looks like Hybrid Boot will not alter the way Windows restart works.
Probability of actually appearing in Windows 8: 80% Genuine Center We know you've all been waiting for this one, so we won't hold out on you any longer: Yes, Windows 8 will have the long-awaited Genuine Center feature that will finally lay to rest all your worries about the possibility that your copy of Windows 8 might not be the real deal. OK, so we're being sarcastic, but you had to know this was coming. Microsoft's war on software piracy has long masqueraded as a user service, and the Genuine Center looks like little more than a continuation of that trend. In this menu, you'll be able to enter or change your license key and view the status of your license's genuineness. Microsoft to users: You're welcome.
Probability of actually appearing in Windows 8: 100% | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Apple on occasion will give students heading back to school a free iPod touch with the purchase of a Mac. That's swell and everything (at least until you dance with the digital devil known as iTunes), but let's be real. Would you rather have a Mac and an iPod touch, or a Windows PC and Xbox 360 console? We'll take the latter, thank you very much, especially when you can buy one and get the other for free. Say what?
Microsoft announced in a blog post today that when students purchase a Windows 7 PC over $699, they will receive a free Xbox 360 4GB console. That's a pretty sweet deal, even though the console doesn't come with a hard drive. Think about it, when your roommate's cussing out iTunes on his overpriced Mac, you'll be kicking back streaming Netflix on your Xbox 360 and using the rest of your grant money for the essentials, like alcohol and shopping carts full of Jell-o packets to fill the inflatable pool (that still happens in college, right?). "If you have a .edu email address you can purchase your new PC through one of our participating retailers including Dell.com, HP.com or Microsoft Store," Microsoft says. "If you don't have a .edu address or prefer to walk into a store, touch the PCs and test their features, bring your Student ID into Best Buy or any Microsoft Store retail location Check with your chosen retailer for additional specifics they may have in place." Microsoft says you can buy any PC your want, though the software giant sucks up to a couple of its partners by recommending HP's Pavillion DM4 and Samsung's Series 9. The offer is open to U.S. residents (and coming soon to France and Canada), though there's a bit of a question as to when it begins. At one point in the blog, Microsoft says the promotion starts May 22, "so you'll have to wait a few days until you can rush into the store." But in the fine print, Microsoft says the offer runs from May 23 to September 9 or while supplies last. Image Credit: Microsoft | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Lexar Media decided to kick things up a notch with its media card reader line by introducing a new model capable of reading faster cards and thrusting data through the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface. And as its name would imply, the new Lexar Professional USB 3.0 Dual-Slot Reader supports two cards at once for card-to-card file transfers.
Lexar added Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC) and SD Ultra High Speed-I (UHS-I) to the list of support cards in this latest reader. The Dual-Slot model also supports the same formats as before, including CompactFlash (CF) and SecureDigital (SD), and features a pop-up design to keep dust and debris out. For those who are able to take advantage of the USB 3.0 interface, transfer times are significantly improved with a theoretical ceiling that's about 10x higher/faster than USB 2.0 (see Lexar's YouTube benchmark demo here). And if you don't have a PC with a USB 3.0 port, Lexar's card reader is backward compatible with USB 2.0, it will just take longer to shuttle data to-and-fro. The Lexar Professional USB 3.0 Dual-Slot Reader will ship in June for $50 MSRP. Image Credit: Lexar | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Eurocom just unveiled a couple of new notebooks, the 15.6-inch Fox 2.0 and 17.3-inch Lynx 2.0. According to Eurocom, these second generation models represent the most powerful Optimus notebooks on the planet and are suitable for both performance-oriented business users and gamers alike, both of which will benefit from what Intel's Sandy Bridge platform brings to the mobile world.
Other than the physical dimensions and weight, the Fox 2.0 and Lynx 2.0 are the same machine and even sport the same screen resolution (1920x1080). They support a variety of second generation Core processors, from the Core i3 2310M (2.1GHz, 3MB L3 cache) on up to the Core i7 2820QM (2.3GHz, 8MB L2 cache). Other specs and options include: - Nvidia GT 555M discrete graphics / Intel HD 3000 graphics
- Up to 16GB of DDR3-1600
- Two 2.5-inch drive bays for up to 1.75TB of storage
- DVD burner / Blu-ray reader / Blu-ray burner
- 9-in-1 memory card reader
- 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi / Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR
- THX TruStudio Pro / S/PDIF digital output / two speakers
- Two USB 3.0 ports / Two USB 2.0 ports / eSATA / HDMI / VGA
No word yet on price or availability. Image Credit: Eurocom | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Intel senior VP Renee James may have rode into town a little high on her horse yesterday when she revealed details about Windows 8, details that were apparently "misleading." James spoke of there being multiple versions of Windows 8, four of which will be aimed at ARM. According to James, ARM, unlike Intel, will not be able to run legacy apps. Microsoft's response? Shut your face, Intel (we're paraphrasing).
According to James, Microsoft plans to release a traditional version of Windows 8 designed to run on x86 platforms. This version will come with a Windows 7 mode to ensure backwards compatibility with legacy apps. But on the ARM platform, James said each of the four Windows SKUs will be aimed at specific ARM SoCs, none of whch will be forward or backward compatible, or even compatible across different vendors. Her comments prompted Microsoft to step in and defend its new BFF, who according to Business Insider had this to say: "Intel's statements during yesterday's Intel Investor Meeting about Microsoft's plans for the next version of Windows were factually inaccurate and unfortunately misleading. From the first demonstrations of Windows on SoC, we have been clear about our goals and have emphasized that we are at the technology demonstration stage. As such, we have no further details or information at this time." Curiously missing from Microsoft's rebuttal is an explanation of which comments it found misleading, whether it was the bit about legacy apps or multiple versions of Windows 8 for separate ARM SoCs. But the most important message might be the one that's between the lines, the one that says Microsoft isn't afraid to call out the world's largest chip maker. Image Credit: compixels.com | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  You've seen Corsair's Graphite Series 600T mid-tower computer case before, but never like this. The newly available 'Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T' is exactly what it sounds like -- a mostly white version of the original with "other accents rendered in the black of the original 600T for a dramatic look" -- plus a couple of enhancements not revealed in the product's long-winded name.
Going beyond the cosmetic, the Special Edition 600T features a side panel with an impact-resistant acrylic plastic clear window for showing off your swank hardware. Owners also have the option of replacing the window with an included mesh insert that matches the look of the mesh grilles on the front and top of the case. You may choose to do this not just for form, but for function -- the mesh panel includes mounting points for adding up to four 120mm fans. Other than the new coat of paint and side panel tweaks, this is the same 600T that earned a 9 verdict in our review, which you can read in its entirety here. The Special Edition 600T carries an MSRP of $179. Image Credit: Corsair | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Outdated browser plugins pose a considerable security threat. According to a report published earlier this year by security and compliance management company Qualys, 80 percent of all browser vulnerabilities stem from outdated plugins. The company behind the browser security analysis tool BrowserCheck, Qualys has just ranked different browser plugins based on their affinity for remaining outdated.
As per Qualys's analysis, based on BrowserCheck data, the dubious distinction of being the most vulnerable plugin belongs - surprise, surprise - to Java, and not the much more maligned Adobe Flash. While Java was found to be installed on 80 percent of the 420,000 browsers scanned by the company, the firm found that 40 percent of all Java installs were out-of-date and therefore vulnerable.
Adobe Reader is next on the list with a bit over 30 percent of all the browsers it was installed on having an outdated version. Flash Player, the most ubiquitous plugin on the list, was found to be outdated on only 20 percent of the browsers. Despite their small install base, Shockwave and Quicktime aren't far behind when it comes to being vulnerable. They were found to be out-of-date on 20-25 percent of the browsers they were installed on. Commenting on the cause of the problem, Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek perhaps hit the nail on the head when he said: "The problem is that they all have their own individual updating mechanisms. It makes the problem much bigger than it needs to be." | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Toshiba has finally updated their high-end gaming laptop line with the new X770 model. This is a hefty desktop replacement unit, but it has slimmed down compared to the last generation. Still, it doesn't compromise on the specs. The X770 can blow a lot of desktops out of the water.
The X770 has a 17-3-inch 1920x1080 screen (the old X505 had a 18.4-inch display). At its heart lay the Intel Core i7-2630QM processor, 8GB of RAM, and 1.25TB of storage space in the form of two hard drives. Of course, it wouldn't be much of a gaming laptop without a video card, so Toshiba packed in the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M. If all this isn't enough for you, there is a 3D model that includes a 3D webcam and active shutter glasses for watching 3D content. Sound good? Well, start saving those pennies now. The X770 starts at $1850. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Maximum PC readers probably already know that sysadmins can be your best friend if you treat them right – or your worst enemy if you don't. Just ask the city of San Francisco, whose FiberWAN network was held hostage for 12 days in 2008 by rogue sysadmin Terry Childs.
Childs wreaked havoc on the city... by simply refusing to tell his bosses his passwords. The FiberWAN network accounted for over half of the all of the city government's Internet traffic. In a stunning display of irony, Childs said at the time that none of his superiors were trustworthy enough to have the codes. Now, almost three years later, Childs is learning that angry judges can create more of a headache than angry sysadmins. Already knee-deep in the middle of a four-year prison term, Childs was ordered yesterday to pay the city of San Francisco $1,485,791 in damages to cover the costs associated with the fiasco. Now, we aren't sure how much sysadmins get paid for stamping license plates in the clink, but we figure Childs will be working nights for a while to come up with that chunk of change. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  NAS (network-attached storage) adapters are a very useful, affordable alternative to dedicated NAS storage. Addonics, a company that has a fair amount of experience making these devices, has announced the launch of the third generation of its USB NAS adapter. Prosaically called the NAS 3.0 Adapter, the latest NAS dongle from Addonics boasts a number of new features, including "support of NTFS and exFAT file system, WebDAV server, two drive volumes and a few others."
According to the company, the $65 NAS 3.0 Adapter is 30% faster than its predecessor and can be used to create network and cloud storage with a maximum capacity of 128 PetaBytes. Besides turning any USB 2.0 hard drive, SSD or USB mass storage device into a Network Attached Storage appliance, it can also be used as a network print server, UPnP AV server, or BitTorrent appliance. "The built-in WebDav server in the NAS 3.0 adapter lets you, in effect, have your own private cloud storage," the company said in a press release. "Using the WebDav client software, data stored in the WebDav server can be accessed anywhere via an internet connection. Free Apps are also available to add WebDav client to iPhone and Android phone." | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
