To anyone keeping up with the smartphone market, the Chinese manufacturer ZTE won't be entirely unknown. Specialising in affordable handsets, the company has now turned its hand to budget tablets and the result, the ZTE Light Tab 2, isn't a bad offering.

It's solidly constructed and surprisingly zippy. The only problem is the operating system is well out of date and, more importantly, there's no sign of Google Play.

Although this is one of the more pricey budget Android tablets, you get a fair amount for your cash. There's a 1,024 x 600 capacitive touchscreen, while power is provided by a Qualcomm 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor and 512MB of RAM.

Unfortunately though, the ZTE Light Tab 2 is saddled with Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, rather than the tablet-focused Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich iterations. Gingerbread was released in 2010 and ported to tablets from smartphones, and there's no getting away from the fact it seems dated.

Interestingly, the ZTE Light Tab will allow you to insert a SIM card for 3G and, if you're so inclined, phone calls. Holding it to your ear is a little bit impractical though, given the 202 x 122 x 13mm dimensions.

At 395g the ZTE Light Tab isn't heavy, but the BlackBerry Playbook and Tablo are lighter and therefore easier to use long-term. Some may argue that a little extra weight adds a sense of quality to a gadget, and the ZTE certainly feels strong and well constructed.

There's a fairly thick bezel wrapped around the screen, with touch-sensitive Android buttons for Home, Menu and Back. The rear of the tablet features a matte plastic covering that comes away to reveal the 3,400mAh Li-Ion battery and slots for a SIM and MicroSD card.

With only 4GB of on-board storage, half of which is taken up with the OS and pre-installed apps, you'll want to accessorise the ZTE Light Tab 2 with a MicroSD card if you want to store your media collection.

The ZTE Light Tab 2 handles media well. The smaller size might not be to everyone's taste, but it's perfectly serviceable for small bursts of entertainment. The built-in browser supports Flash playback, so you can visit sites like YouTube and iPlayer and watch embedded video right on the page.

All work, no Play

While that sounds like a good thing, it is in fact masking the biggest drawback of the ZTE Light Tab 2 - the lack of a pre-installed Google Play app store. Of course, if you're a dedicated tech head there are ways around this, but for the vast majority of us, Google Play is a must-have addition. The fact that the ZTE doesn't come with it is a black mark on its record.

It comes with lots of pre-installed apps, including some good ones like Documents to Go (an Office app), FM radio, email and several games, but with no option of adding more, this tablet has a limited lifespan.

If you're less keen on apps and are instead looking for a device for watching media and browsing on the move, the ZTE Light Tab is a good choice. The 3G capability and excellent screen are clear standout points, but the lack of Google Play and the outdated OS make it somewhat hard to recommend.

Battery life has been an ongoing issue for some iOS 5 users, particularly those with iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The recent iOS 5.1 update aimed to fix that with "improved battery life” mentioned in the release notes, but just how improved is it? With casual use since the update was released, the consensus at OSXDaily suggests the improvement is substantial, and thus if you haven’t updated your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iOS 5.1 yet, it is highly recommended to do so now.

Every user is going to notice different gains depending on their device usage and general battery health, but overall the improvements seem to be most noticeable on cellular iOS devices, particularly iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPad 2 3G models. The assumption is that some of the potential location services issues has been resolved, though its certainly worth mentioning that users of the standard Wi-Fi models and iPod touch also report a nice boost, even if it doesn’t seem to be quite as dramatic (likewise, the original drain problem usually wasn’t as bad either).

Monitoring Your iOS Device Battery Life
To get a good feel for the improvement and to monitor battery drain, it’s best to have made note of the prior usage history and then compare it to the iOS 5.1 battery usage, but those who have already updated won’t be able to do this obviously. Nonetheless, it also helps to turn on the "Battery Percentage” indicator and make a mental note of usage data too. Here’s how to do both of these in iOS:

• Tap on "Settings” and tap "General”
• Tap "Usage” and then swipe down to "Time since last full charge” to find the usage time (actively using the device) and standby time (device is on, but not in use)
• In the same "Usage” screen, swipe "Battery Percentage” to "ON” to follow precise drain

The percentage indicator displays alongside the battery icon in the upper right corner of the screen:

Update iOS, Calibrate the Battery, and More
Update to iOS 5.1 and hopefully any lingering battery drain problems will be resolved once and for all. Don’t forget to calibrate an iOS devices battery about once a month by letting it charge to 100% and then running it down to 0% before recharging again, that helps keep the battery in good health. It’s also a good idea to disable battery draining services you don’t use often, be it Bluetooth or Push Notifications, and you can check out some general iOS 5 battery life tips we have discussed before for more on that.

On a side note, if you’re unable to download and update iOS 5.1 try the DNS change we discussed recently, it should resolve that problem immediately and allow you to update without the network errors.

iOS 5.1 was released a few days ago but some people are still having problems when trying to update. The download can time out, not start at all, or sometimes throw an error message saying "Unable to Check for Update. An error occurred while checking for a software update.” or "The network connection could not be established.”

If you’re having trouble downloading iOS 5.1 from Apple’s servers, try these fixes:

• Reset Network Settings on iOS Device: Tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
• Clear Hosts File: Look at your hosts file for anything blocking Apple’s servers and comment them out, this is mostly relevant to jailbreakers and if you see "Error 3194"
• Change DNS Servers: Adjusting DNS on either the computer you are downloading from or iOS device if using OTA can resolve the issue, instructions on how to do so are below

Changing DNS seems to be the most reliable method, here is how to do so in iOS and OS X.

Changing DNS in iOS

1. Tap on Settings, tap on "Wi-Fi”, and tap on the blue arrow next to the router name
2. Under "DHCP” tab tap on "DNS” and replace with: "8.8.8.8″ for Google DNS, or "208.67.222.222″ for OpenDNS
3. Tap the Back button and attempt to use OTA again

Change DNS in OS X

1. Open System Preferences from the Apple menu
2. Click on "Network” and then click on ‘Advanced’ in the lower right corner
3. Click the "DNS” tab and then add a new DNS server by clicking the "+” icon, adding either "8.8.8.8″ for Google DNS or "208.67.222.222″ for OpenDNS
4. Drag the newly added DNS server to the top of the list, click "OK” then close out of System Preferences

On a Mac you may need to follow this up with flushing DNS cache, so open the Terminal and type the following:

dscacheutil -flushcache

Now try opening iTunes and updating, or try to download iOS 5.1 firmware directly from Apple again.

The new iPad, the iPad 3, the new iPad 3… call it what you want, but it's a device that from the outside looks remarkably like the iPad 2 but with an overhaul on the innards.

The question most people ask us when it comes to the new iPad is: what's different from the old one?

Well, in this case it's pretty easy: there's a Retina Display that makes everything looks superbly crisp, an updated A5X processor bringing quad-core graphics and a 5MP camera on the rear with a VGA sensor on the front.

Oh, and the iPad 3 is also the device that brings iOS 5.1 to the masses (well, it's also on the likes of the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 as well, but hey, we're not reviewing those today, and you don't really care unless it's a new iPad.)

The design of the new iPad 3 isn't really anything different from the original duo from Apple's tablet range. Actually, while we're thinking about it, it looks almost identical to the iPad 2 – to the point you'd struggle to tell them apart when turned off.

However, in the hand, there's a little bit of a difference, especially when it comes to the weight. The new iPad is nearly 60g heavier than the previous iteration, and while it's not terrible, it does add a little arm strain during a marathon movie session.

Retina Display

Before we get onto all the normal insight over the frame of the new iPad, it's worth talking about the main feature: the Retina Display.

Apple has packed a huge amount more pixels into the 9.7-inch screen - 1536 x 2048 to be exact. However, despite the fact that the Cupertino brand makes a big thing about the 330 PPI density of the iPhone 4, we're looking at a screen that's technically a lot less sharp than its smartphone brethren - around 264PPI.

Apple has got around this fact by stating that the screen is meant to be held at 15 inches from the face, rather than the 10 inches the iPhone is supposed to from your eyes, and as such the sharpness is the same.

Given the fact the term 'Retina Display' really isn't a legally binding term, we don't care. What matters is the effect - and it's one of the most impressive we've seen on a tablet to date. If someone took an iPad, printed out a really hi-res image of an iOS system and stuck it on the front, we'd struggle to tell the difference - it's superb, and even squinting up close you'll be hard pushed to notice any pixelation.

The colour reproduction will also appeal to many, as it's pretty close to reality - it lacks the punch of the Super AMOLED HD screens seen on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note for instance, but it will depend on personal preference as to whether that's a good thing.

We like the vivid colours of Samsung's screens, but we know plenty of people that loathe them too.

The main thing is things like internet browsing; photo viewing and movie sessions are all much, much improved over the iPad 2, and is one of the main reasons to pick up the new iPad.

Design

The new iPad, as we said, is only marginally thicker and a little heavier than the iPad 2, and if you pick it up with no knowledge of the former, you'll likely be mighty impressed.

The rest of the design is premium too - given you can be paying nearly £700 for a top end model, it needs to seem like a worthwhile investment, and it does.

The curved edges, the oleophobic scratch-proof glass and the aluminium chassis are all the kind of thing that some Android tablets have tried to ape and failed. Of course, many will prefer the feather-light frames of some of the Samsung models but, like the screen, it really comes down to personal preference.

The buttonry on the new iPad is pretty sparse though - we're talking four buttons and that's your lot.

The iconic home button is back once again, despite rumours of its demise, and is easy to reach and hit within the thick bezel.

The rest of the buttons are all clustered tightly together in the top left-hand corner of the new iPad, with the rocker/volume key, the mute/orientation switch and power/lock key all within an inch of one another.

As you can see, Apple has been pretty efficient with the button placement, with all of them performing more than one function. And they say the iPad can't multi-task... tsk.

The new iPad 3 picks up the iOS story where the iPad 2 left off - with an incremental upgrade to iOS 5.1 the main talking point.

However, before we go through what's new, we'll take a quick tour across the operating system to show just how simple it is to operate a new iPad.

The home screen is laid out in a very similar way to the iPhone, except we're seeing some much larger icons for the apps you've downloaded.

You can fill as many home screens as you like with apps as you download more from the App Store, and swiping from screen to screen on the iPad 3 is silky smooth even with loads of programs downloaded.

There's also the dock at the bottom of the display which can hold up to six regularly-used apps that are present on all home screens, which is more than the four on offer with the iPhone thanks to the extra screen real estate.

Neat freaks need not despair either: it's easy to create folders of the apps you want to lump together simply by dragging an icon and plopping it on top of another – the iPad will create a name for the group based on the content, but it's easy to rename these.

iOS 5.1 doesn't offer too much in the way of new features for the users interface, but a trick that Apple has learned from Google's Android is the notifications bar, which can be accessed simply by swiping down from the top of the screen.

This contains information on everything from unread mail messages to notifications of new moves in games you're playing with friends. It's a simple system and one that's prevalent throughout the system, even in most apps, meaning you can easily jump in and out of applications where necessary.

Speaking of which, it's worth taking a look at the multi-tasking gestures on offer, as they're pretty sensational. Using a full set of fingers on the screen allows three functions: pinching in will take you to the home screen, flicking up will enable the multi-tasking window and swiping left will let you bounce between open apps.

It really works on the new iPad, and we urge you to check it out as it really makes moving through the system easy and cool at the same time.

There's a great debate over what really constitutes multi-tasking – but in our view, the iPad does enough to warrant the title. The likes of the BlackBerry Playbook are more capable when it comes to fully running programs in the background, but most users will struggle to really notice the difference when the iPad and its Android competition are asked to jump between apps.

As mentioned, you can easy multi-finger swipe up or double tap the home button to call up a list of recently opened apps, which can be deleted from the tray by a single long press and tapping of the 'x' that appears.

Swiping right in the multi-tasking tray will also call up the music player, which allows you to see what songs are about to play, or change the volume or brightness. Not new, but the closest thing to a widget we'll get here.

The lock screen allows you to do some pretty funky stuff; double tapping the home button will call up the music player so you can switch tracks or pause without needing to open the iPad. Also, there's an option to have a slide show of y ... Read more »

Last night, this morning Microsoft announced Windows 8 Consumer Preview in Barcelona, Spain. According to Microsoft this new build has over 100,000 code changes since the last September’s Developer Preview Release.

Windows 8 System Requirements

Windows 8 Consumer Preview works great on the same hardware that powers Windows 7:

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
• Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device or higher
• To use touch, you need a tablet or monitor that supports multitouch
• To access Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768
• To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768

Download ISO images

Windows 8 Customer Preview 64-bit 3.3 GB (English)

Sha 1 hash — 1288519C5035BCAC83CBFA23A33038CCF5522749

Windows 8 Customer Preview 32-bit 2.5 GB (English)

Sha 1 hash — E91ED665B01A46F4344C36D9D88C8BF78E9A1B39

After you have download the image, when install you can use this Product Key to activate your new Windows 8 Customer Preview.

Windows 8 Customer Preview Product Key:

DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J

Here are some highlights of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview

• Broad range of product changes and improvements
• Windows Store with an "App Preview” of new apps
• Connecting to the cloud across Windows PCs and Windows Phones
• Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 5

So if you have a Windows 8 Developer Preview, here is how you can upgrade your system to the latest Consumer Preview.

I installed my first Windows 8 Developer Preview first day when it came out on the virtual box. Since then, there are many different methods you can try out Windows 8 but the upgrade process from Windows 8 Developer Preview to Consumer Preview are pretty much the same.

Insert the ISO image or CD

Let the Windows 8 Developer Preview start up.

Now go back to Windows 8 Developer Preview Desktop and start the ISO image.

Important note: if you are running Windows 8 Developer Preview 64-bit, make sure the Consumer Preview is matching to what your original version. So if you have 32-bit installed, download the corresponding 32-bit Consumer Preview image as well.

Now just follow the on screen step and ready to roll!

One thing need to point out is that, Windows 8 Consumer Preview setup you need to have this product key: DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J in order to continue to finish the installation process.

Lastly just wait till this finishes.

When everything are all over you will see this "beta” fish (Betta) has changed over since the last time you saw it.

The CPU, however, increases from the 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 to the 1.4GHz MSM8255 Snapdragon/Scorpion which certainly helps add snap to the Windows Phone Mango operating system.

The Nokia Lumia 800 (£400 SIM-free), although being the more expensive of the two Nokia Windows Phone offerings (the other being the £299 SIM-free/£199 PAYG Nokia Lumia 710) shares the Nokia N9's 16-bit AMOLED ClearBlack display whereas the Nokia Lumia 710 sports a 24-bit ClearBlack TFT.

This being said, even though the colour depth is theoretically deeper than in the Nokia Lumia 710, AMOLED screens are seen as better than the older TFT technology due to the more vivid colours and better contrast ratios.

Moving away from Nokia comparisons, the Lumia 800 also has to compete with the likes of the HTC Titan and HTC Radar Windows Mango phones. When we compare screen size we find the Nokia Lumia 800 feeling a little small with the HTC Radar and HTC Titan entering the fray with 3.8-inch and 4.7-inch screens respectively although all competitors are limited to the same 800 x 480 pixel resolution.

Obviously the iPhone has managed to be a success with a smaller screen at 3.5 inches, but the trend towards bigger displays is increasing all the time, and we have to say we're fans of those over four inches thanks to the improved internet and media experience.

This means that the pixel density on the Lumia 800 is a little sharper, but in our side by side comparisons we noted very little difference between them.

When it comes to internal storage the Nokia Lumia 800 and HTC Titan are equal with 16GB of fixed internal storage, with the Nokia Lumia 710 and HTC Radar weighing in with 8GB a piece.

Based on the two manufacturer's product specs it soon becomes apparent that the Nokia Lumia 800 is intended to compete against the HTC Titan and the Nokia Lumia 710 with the HTC Radar.

When compared dimensionally with the HTC Titan (131.5mm x 70.7mm x 9.9mm and 160g) we note that the Nokia Lumia 800 (116.5mm x 61.2mm x 12.1mm and 142g) cuts a very slim profile, with a lighter yet reassuring weight.

The physical appearance of the Nokia Lumia 800 is a dream to observe and handle, with its smooth curves fitting snugly to the hand both with and without the protective case provided in the purchase packaging.

That said, if you're used to handling the current crop of super slim handsets doing the rounds in today's phone shops, you can't help but feel the Lumia 800 is a little on the chunky side, even compared to the iPhone 4S thanks to it being around 10 per cent thicker.

However, that's not to say it isn't an attractive device, with its large 3.7-inch AMOLED screen pushed to the sides of the chassis and a cool curved polycarbonate shell gives the phone a very premium feel indeed.

Nokia has worked very hard on the unibody design here, using top-mounted flaps to cover the charging port and SIM slot, but sadly leaving the battery inaccessible. Intriguingly, we're seeing a microSIM here, which seems to be the fashion for the next wave of smartphones.

The battery is something we can get on board with as this isn't the first Nokia device to have an enclosed power pack and makes sense if it allows a greater design freedom.

There was no easy option for battery removal on the Nokia N8 or Nokia E7, for example. The problem is that with a charge lasting no more than a day, the option to switch out the battery, as with the Nokia Lumia 710, would have been nice.

The microSIM is somewhat more of an annoyance, since we couldn't even carry an old Nokia as a back-up because the SIM card is a different size.

SIM card adaptors are available, but use them at your own risk since they have a tendency to wedge in some phones. Add to this the frustration when you find that some operators charge for providing a microSIM when on a standard SIM contract.

The SIM to microSIM switch comes down to the simple issue of space. In the phone, the microSIM sits within the metal assembly bottom right.

The Nokia Lumia 800 is quite reasonably priced, costing nothing on as little as a £26 Orange or Vodafone contract with Carphone Warehouse compared with HTC Titan starting at £31 pm with Vodafone and £36 pm with Orange.

The major difference between Nokia Lumia series and other Nokia phones is the fact that it uses the Microsoft Windows Phone operating system. The system itself is nothing new, of course, releasing its latest incarnation (WP 7.5) on the HTC Titan and HTC Radar in 2011 and due for an update to Windows Phone Tango later this year.

A major point for and against WP7 for some is that it looks completely different to iPhone, Android, Symbian and Meego as the concept of application grids is nowhere to be seen.

Instead of the more standard home screen, or "Start Screen" in the case of Windows phone 7.5, the Nokia Lumia 800 uses "Live Tiles", fitting a 2x4 grid (although Calendar and Pictures tiles are full screen width) of tiles on the screen, vertically scrolling to display as many tiles as you wish to add.

Adding tiles to the Start screen is as easy as left swiping to the apps list, long pressing an app and selecting "pin to start", with removing a tile requiring a long press on the tile on the Start page and then tapping the drawing pin with a line through it.

Moving tiles around is just as easy, requiring a long press and then dragging them to the desired location.

At first we were unsure about the large tile based layout, finding it a little cumbersome and poor screen re ... Read more »

On Wednesday, Microsoft officially released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (which is essentially a fancy term for ‘public beta’). If you’re eager to dabble around with the build in a virtual machine – perhaps due to the lack of a non-production machine, a spare partition, the fear of using it in a production environment, or, well, if you just want to install it in a virtual machine – then you’re in luck.

Here’s a quick tutorial that will show you how to install Windows 8 in a VirtualBox virtual machine, so you can enjoy the Consumer Preview from the comfort of a safe and sound OS. So, what do you need? A copy of VirtualBox (free), and a copy of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, which you can grab from here. Let’s get started.

Step 1: Launch VirtualBox and click on the "New" button to create a new virtual machine. In the wizard that pops up, select the Microsoft Windows Operating System and the Windows 8 version (remember to select the 64-bit version if your ISO is an x64 copy).

Step 2: Select the amount of memory that you wish to allocate to the virtual machine. VirtualBox recommends the staggeringly specific amount of 1536, so I just went with that. Raise or lower the memory amount as you please, but bear in mind that decreasing it too far beyond the minimum recommended amount will lead to diminished performance.

Step 3: Now, you’re going to have to create a new virtual hard disk. VirtualBox recommends that its size be 20GB; this is the minimum amount that Windows 8 needs for its x64 version (x86 is 16GB). If you do wish adjust this amount, the only way you can go is up.

Step 4: Select the virtual disk file type that you wish to use. I went with a VirtualBox disk image as I won’t be using this virtual machine with other VM software, but you do have the option to select a more generic file type if needed.

Step 5: You will be able to choose between a fixed virtual hard drive size and a dynamically allocated size. Basically, the latter will allow your virtual machine hard disk size to increase in size as it fills up. If you choose to create a fixed virtual hard drive size, set your HDD size here.

Step 6: We’re getting there. Verify that the settings are the ones that you desire, and create the virtual machine.

Step 7: Now, start the virtual machine that you just created; a wizard will appear.

Step 8: Browse to and select the Windows 8 Consumer Preview ISO that you downloaded.

Step 9: Install Windows 8. Assuming that the previous steps were performed correctly, you should now be viewing Windows Setup.

Step 10: Wrap up the Windows 8 installation process, and voilà.

... Read more »

On Wednesday, Microsoft officially released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (which is essentially a fancy term for ‘public beta’). If you’re eager to dabble around with the build in a virtual machine – perhaps due to the lack of a non-production machine, a spare partition, the fear of using it in a production environment, or, well, if you just want to install it in a virtual machine – then you’re in luck.

Here’s a quick tutorial that will show you how to install Windows 8 in a VirtualBox virtual machine, so you can enjoy the Consumer Preview from the comfort of a safe and sound OS. So, what do you need? A copy of VirtualBox (free), and a copy of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, which you can grab from here. Let’s get started.

Step 1: Launch VirtualBox and click on the "New" button to create a new virtual machine. In the wizard that pops up, select the Microsoft Windows Operating System and the Windows 8 version (remember to select the 64-bit version if your ISO is an x64 copy).

Step 2: Select the amount of memory that you wish to allocate to the virtual machine. VirtualBox recommends the staggeringly specific amount of 1536, so I just went with that. Raise or lower the memory amount as you please, but bear in mind that decreasing it too far beyond the minimum recommended amount will lead to diminished performance.

Step 3: Now, you’re going to have to create a new virtual hard disk. VirtualBox recommends that its size be 20GB; this is the minimum amount that Windows 8 needs for its x64 version (x86 is 16GB). If you do wish adjust this amount, the only way you can go is up.

Step 4: Select the virtual disk file type that you wish to use. I went with a VirtualBox disk image as I won’t be using this virtual machine with other VM software, but you do have the option to select a more generic file type if needed.

Step 5: You will be able to choose between a fixed virtual hard drive size and a dynamically allocated size. Basically, the latter will allow your virtual machine hard disk size to increase in size as it fills up. If you choose to create a fixed virtual hard drive size, set your HDD size here.

Step 6: We’re getting there. Verify that the settings are the ones that you desire, and create the virtual machine.

Step 7: Now, start the virtual machine that you just created; a wizard will appear.

Step 8: Browse to and select the Windows 8 Consumer Preview ISO that you downloaded.

Step 9: Install Windows 8. Assuming that the previous steps were performed correctly, you should now be viewing Windows Setup.

Step 10: Wrap up the Windows 8 installation process, and voilà.

... Read more »

At AddictiveTips, we are always looking for newer and better software that can make the life of our readers simpler. Screenshots are used in several situations; from creating a manual to getting help on a forum, screenshots act as a visual aid to the topic or problem under discussion. We have covered a lot of screenshot-taking tools in the recent, as well as not-so-recent past. Today, we thought of picking out some of the best screenshot tools and comparing them against each other for our readers. The following articles contains a roundup of five of the best screenshot taking tools featured on AddictiveTips.

Shotty

Pros:

Being a full-featured screenshot taking tool, Shotty is used as the primary screenshot taking utility by a lot of people (including a lot of us at AddictiveTips). Its ability to capture the Aero-Glass effect in Windows Vista and Windows 7 allows it to take HQ screenshots with semitransparent borders, along with the shadow of the selected window. Some other useful features include cropping the captured image, captioning the image, marking a specific area and inserting text. It can not only capture the selected windows, but also the windows running in the background without having to bring them to front. Shotty also lets you directly upload images to image hosting websites.

Cons:

Even though the high quality image looks pleasing to the eye, the compression of PNG images is not that good. Resultantly, the size of the captured image is quite high, and further compression with an external image editor is required specially if you want to upload it to a website.

Key Success Factor:

The ability to capture Aero-Glass and shadow effect and take screenshots of windows running in the background makes this software a perfect choice for taking high quality screenshots of complete windows.

GreenShot

Pros:

GreenShot is an open source screenshot capturing software, allowing you to take screenshots of the complete screen, active window or an area of the screen. It has been under my own use ever since I started blogging, specifically for its area capture mode. Taking over the Print Screen button, it allows you to quickly take area specific screenshots and edit them. The GreenShot Image Editor allows you to move or remove the mouse cursor even after taking the screenshot. Other options include drawing different shapes, adding text to image, obfuscating elements, filling color etc.

Cons:

The complete window capture of GreenShot is not that good, and sometimes, either cuts the edges of windows off, or adds a little bit of background around the edges.

Key Success Factor:

Allowing you to take screenshots by simply hitting the Print Screen button on your keyboard and selecting the required area makes GreenShot a very useful and time-saving screenshot capturing tool.

Screenshot Captor

Pros:

Screenshot Captor is one of the most extensive and comprehensive screenshot taking tools out there. It has an array of options allowing you to take screenshots, edit them, add special effects, add colors, objects and share the screenshots. You can specify pre-capture and post-capture settings, and edit the image using the built-in editor. You can create mailing lists to share captured images with multiple people or print them directly from within the application. Other options allow you to crop image to selection, resize the image, adjust image, enhance selection, blur the image, adjust its colors, add captions, change its transparency etc. There is also support for multi-monitor setup allowing you to take flawless screenshots across all connected monitors.

Cons:

Compared to GreenShot or Shotty, setting up and learning to use Screenshot Captor can be a bit difficult. Users will have to put some time and effort in getting to know the software to use it at its full potential.

Key Success Factor:

To be honest, I cannot name any one factor which makes this tool stand out from the crowd. The massive number of options let you perform almost every thinkable function for capturing and editing the screenshot.

Live Capture

Pros:

Live Capture can easily be a direct contender to Screenshot Captor in terms of the number of available options. It boasts a whopping total of not 4 or 5, but 12 screenshot capturing modes. Each mode can be equipped with its own hotkey. That’s not all, there is also a Magnifier, Color Picker, Color Palette, Ruler, Editor, Crosshair, Protractor and GIF animator packed within the application. The "Capture Bar” stays on top of every window – with adjustable transparency – allowing you to quickly grab the screen you want. Other than the usual file capturing modes, Live Capture has Window Control Capture, Timing Capture, Repeat Last Capture, Web Capture and Program Menu Capture.

Cons:

The application doesn’t have its own image editor. You will have to use MS Paint (selected by default) or any other external image editor of your choice.

Key Success Factor:

The 12 different capturing modes, supplemented with several other tools, such as Color Picker and GIF animator, makes it a feature-rich tool for capturing any kind of screenshots.

Snappy

Pros:

Recently, a screenshot taking application named Snappy caught our eye, mainly because of its Event Capture feature. The Event Capture feature allows you to set a timer for capture and initiate screenshot capture on specified mouse and keyboard events, such as every mouse click, release or double click or every keyboard key pressed or released. It stores each screenshot in to its own memory and allows you to Export all the selected images in a single PDF file. The image editor lets you tag additional data to the image, adjust its RGB values, Brightness, Contrast and Color, as well as add lines with adjustable width. There is also an option to directly email the images for sharing with someone, from directly within the application.

Cons:

It took me a lot of time to find out something missing in this tool, but finally I noticed that there is no Aero-Glass effect or shadow capturing option available in Snappy.

Key Success Factor:

The Event Capture option is definitely a useful tool for effortlessly capturing screenshots specially while making guides and adding visual aid.

If you’ve been using VirtulBox as your primary virtualization tool, you must have heard about the latest iteration – Version 4.0 which hosts many new features in a revamped UI. Sadly, you wont find portable VirtualBox 4 version over at vbox.me. Today, we have a simple trick that requires you to download Portable Virtualbox v3.2.12, which you can use to make VirtualBox v4.0 portable.

Before starting out, it is recommended to backup previous VirtualBox data. In Portable-VirtualBox folder, you need to rename app32 folder to app32.old.

Now on launching Portable VirtualBox, you will get to see the initial configuration (Extract And Compress) window, requiring user to either download VirtualBox or specify its path. Here, you need to specify the path for VirtaulBox 4.0 installation package, – VirtualBox-4.0.0-69151-Win.exe. Choose your system type 32 or 64 and hit OK to make your VirtualBox 4.0 portable.

Wasn’t this easy?

Download VirtualBox 4.0

Download Portable VirtualBox 3.2.12

Update: Portable VirtualBox 4.0 has been released, you can grab it from here.

So you downloaded Windows 8 and now want to try it out on VirtualBox but are constantly getting errors? You are not alone. Installing Windows 8 on VirtualBox is tricky but not that hard once you get to know the basics. In this guide, we will explain the step by step procedure to installing Windows 8 on VirtualBox 4.1.2 (which is the latest version). Advanced users might want to skip the first few steps and directly go to settings.

Important Note: Before we begin, make sure your processor supports Virtualization Technology and is enabled. Windows 8 will not work if your processor does not support Virtualization Technology. Most processors support Virtualization Technology but the option is not enabled by default. You can enable Virtualization Technology option from the BIOS. Now let’s begin!

First grab VirtualBox (link given at the bottom of the post) and install it. You will get few Oracle permission pop-ups where you have to click Allow. Once installed, launch VirtualBox and click New. The New Virtual Machine wizard will open up, click Next.

Type the name of the Virtual Machine, we named it Windows 8, select Microsoft Windows as Operating system, and select Windows 7 as version. Important Note: Even if you are running VirtualBox on Windows 7 x64, you still have to select Windows 7 from version. Do not continue if Windows 7 (64-bit) is selected, otherwise VirtualBox will crash. When done, click Next.

We will recommend allocating at least 1GB memory if you are installing Windows 8 32-bit, and at least 3GB memory if you are installing Windows 8 64-bit. I have allocated almost 4GB of RAM as you can see in the screenshot below. When done, click Next.

VirtualBox provides options to either create a new hard disk or use an existing hard disk as a Start-up Disk. By default, it is set to Create new hard disk. Leave it as it is and click next.

In this step, make sure VDI is selected. VDI stands for VirtualBox Disk Image. Click Next.

In this step, select Fixed size or Dynamically allocated based on your needs, so that it does not eat up more virtual disk as allocated by the user. We selected Fixed size but most users prefer Dynamically allocated.

By default, VirtualBox allocates 20GB hard disk space for new machine. You can increase or decrease this amount. We would strongly recommend not to allocated less than 20GB. When done, click Next.

In the last step, you will be given a quick summary of the settings you have selected. Click Create to begin creating virtual disk file.

It will take anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes to create a virtual disk space, i.e, a fixed medium storage unit. Please note that it can take more than 30 minutes if you have allocated more than 20GB hard disk space for new machine.

Once the process is complete, in the final step, click Create and you will be taken to the main interface where the Virtual machine will be ready.

Now go to Settings, click System from left sidebar, and make sure that Enable IO APIC is checked in Motherboard tab. You can uncheck Enable absolute pointing device since it is not used by most users.

When done, move to Processor tab and make sure that Enable PAE/NX is checked.

Finally move to Acceleration tab and make sure both Enable VT-x/AMD-V and Enable Nested Paging are checked.

Checking all these settings are important, otherwise Windows 8 will not install on VirtualBox.

Now go to Storage from the left sidebar and click Empty under IDE Controller. Click the CD icon next to CD/DVD Drive selection box and click Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file. Now navigate to the Windows 8 ... Read more »

The PlayStation phone is the device equivalent of El Dorado, in that it's spent a long time as a golden fable to trot out when conversation slows. Now the fusion of gamepad and Android phone has emerged into the modern world in the form of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.

It's a time when iPhones have permeated the globe, able to deliver tactile gaming on the go, and Nintendo's 3DS is making waves by bringing portable 3D fun to the masses.

Even within the Sony stable, the Xperia Play has rivals to overcome. There's the NGP, successor to the PSP, on the horizon, which will arrive boasting enough processing power to run the LHC (well, a quad-core CPU and graphics processor, at least).

What's more, it must establish itself over a selection of fast and competent Android handsets, such as Sony Ericsson's Xperia Arc, which will also have the chops for 3D gaming of the non-stereoscopic kind.

Our colleagues at T3.com grabbed some Sony Ericsson Xperia Play video which you can watch below.

As a gaming-oriented mobile, the headline feature here is, of course, the slide-out controller section. This comes bearing a D-pad, the familiar PlayStation face buttons, a pair of touchpad 'thumbsticks', two shoulder buttons and some menu keys. There's also an accelerometer on board, and the four-inch 480 x 854 multi-touch screen for getting all handsy with your software.

Powering this is a 1GHz Snapdragon processor with embedded Adreno 205 GPU graphics, 512MB of RAM and Android 2.3, or Gingerbread. While that's competitive in terms of modern smartphones, we have to admit we were expecting more pixel-pushing oomph.

Rounding out the offering are a smattering of features, including Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, 5MP camera, Bluetooth and a bundled 8GB microSD card.

Okay, now you know what's on offer, let's talk price. SIM-free, the Xperia Play will require a £480-520 extraction from your wallet, and to get the phone free on a contract will typically require paying £35-40 per month.

To put that in perspective, you could get the much-lauded Orange San Francisco and a 3DS for the same cost as a SIM-free Xperia Play, with change enough for a small library of games. For this kind of money, you'd be right to expect legendary performance.

The Xperia Play hardware itself isn't unattractive, but it is bulky, coming in a finger-width shorter than a closed 3DS and a few millimetres less thick at 62 x 119 x 16.5mm.

It's heavy as well, and feels too plasticky in the hand, mainly thanks to the creaky, glossy backplate. Oh, and the whole device retains fingerprints better than a crime lab database.

Holding the phone upright as you would to make a call, along the left-hand side of the slide-out section is a 3.5mm headphone socket and the micro-USB port. We're not huge fans of how the jack is placed, given its location makes the provided headphones rub against the base of our thumb while playing games and gets in the way for movies.

On the top edge of the phone is another less than ideally placed button – the power/lock switch. Because it's recessed, it requires a fair flex of the index finger to operate, which can be faffy at key moments.

The right-hand side has the shoulder buttons (more on them in a bit) and a volume rocker, which is in a great place for adjusting volume on the fly during calls, but awkwardly right behind the middle of the screen during gaming.

There's a minimal selection of non-backlit buttons along the bottom of the screen too to handle navigating duties. These are: Back, Home, Menu and Search respectively. They're pleasant enough to use, but we think you'll find it hard to make them out in the dark.

One neat touch is that when you flip the phone over and take off the backplate, you can access the sim slots and microSD card without removing the battery.

Not quite the killer start we'd hoped for, but we've yet to venture onto the Xperia Play's home turf: gaming.

An image of the Samsung Galaxy S3 has apparently leaked online, prompting speculation that the phone could be unveiled to an expectant tech world before the month is out.

Sourced by Phone Arena, the snap shows a handset with the same super slim form factor and opinion-dividing plastic exterior as the blockbuster blower that is the Galaxy S2.

However, in keeping with more recent smartphone challengers (CF: Nokia’s Lumia 800), this time around it seems Sammy has dispensed with front-facing physical buttons in favour of on-screen pressers.

Also noteworthy is that the screen appears extended too, perhaps tallying with rumours that the S3 will feature a super-sized display in the region of 4.8-inches, almost pushing it into tablet territory.

Less convincing than the image, though, is text on the screen that suggests that the device will make its debut on March 22nd. We're very much inclined to doubt that. Not least because, as Phone Arena’s scribes point out, the font looks wrong and smacks of a Photoshop mock-up.

What should you do when you forgot the password to login to Windows system? Ask an administrator to reset the log on password for you. If you yourself are administrator, and you can’t remember the administrator password, the problem get a little tricky, and probably hard to recover the ‘forgotten password’ again. Before you search for recovery CD or Windows DVD to format and reinstall Windows onto the computer, here a few ways you can try to unlock the Windows to gain access to the system again, at least by resetting the password.

Method 1: Take a rest, and try hard to remember the forgotten password

Sometimes, human being is a little weird. You won’t get the thing that you urgently need. So have a coffee, take a snap or even come back after a few days, you may found that you suddenly ‘remember’ your Windows password.

Method 2: Try No Password Administrator Login Backdoor

In Windows XP (not Windows Vista as Administrator account is not enabled by default), there is built-in Administrator user account, that has administrative credentials, enabled by default, and without any password to protect the account from been access. If you didn’t change this Administrator’s password, then try to sign in to Windows XP without password.

Method 3: Reset password from another user account with administrator credentials

If you cannot log on to Windows by using a particular user account, but you can log on to another account that has administrative credentials, follow these steps on how to do the trick:

1. Log on to Windows by using an administrator account that has a password that you remember. You may need to start WinXP in safe mode.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type "control userpasswords2″, and then click OK.
4. Click the user account that you forgot the password for, and then click Reset Password.
5. Type a new password in both the New password and the Confirm new password boxes, and then click OK.

Method 4: LOGON.SCR password reset trick

LOGON.SCR changing administrator or domain admin password hack works on Windows NT 4.0 and some versions of Windows 2000. The simple trick uses Cmd.exe as screen saver that triggered by system when idle, allowing users to access to command prompt to change password.

Method 5: Do-It-Yourself (DIY) third party recovery tool

There are a lot of tools and utilities that can be downloaded and used to recover, reset, retrieve or reveal existing password. These password reset or retrieval utilities, free or paid, are usually a Linux boot disk or CD that able to comes with NT file system (NTFS) drivers and software that will read the registry and rewrite the password hashes, or can brute force crack the password for any user account including the Administrators. The advantage is that there is no fear of leaking your password to outsiders, while the process requires physical access to the console and a floppy or CD drive, depending on which tool you choose. And it’s not easy, although it always work!

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor – Available as bootdisk or bootable CD, Offline NT Password and Registry Editor works to change or reset password of any users on Windows NT 3.51, NT 4, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Vindows Vista 32 and 64 bit. It can also detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled user accounts.

Download Links:

cd080802.zip (~3MB) – Bootable CD image and can be used to make bootable USB drive.
bd080526.zip (~1.1MB) – Bootdisk image for floppy disk
drivers1-080526.zip (~310K) – Disk drivers (mostly PATA/SATA).
drivers2-080526.zip – Disk drivers (mostly SCSI).

John the Ripper password cracker – John the Ripper is a fast password cracker based on dictionary attack with a wordlist currently available for many flavors of Unix (11 are officially supported, not counting different architectures), Windows, DOS, BeOS, and OpenVMS. Its primary purpose is to detect weak Unix passwords. Besides several crypt(3) password hash types most commonly found on various Unix flavors, supported out of the box are Kerberos AFS and Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 LM hashes, plus several more with contributed patches.

Download link:

John the Ripper 1.7.0.1 for Windows

EBCD – Emergency Boot CD – EBCD is a bootable CD, intended for system recovery in the case of software or hardware faults. It is able to create backup copies of normally working system and restore system to saved state. It contains the best system software ever created, properly compiled and configured for the maximum efficient use. Features are such as copy files from unbootable volume, recover master boot record of HDD, recover deleted file, recover data from accidently formatted disk and floppy disk. EBCD also includes function to change password of any user, including administator of Windows NT/2000/XP OS without the need to know the old password.

Download link:

EBCD Lite 0.6.1
EBCD Pro 0.6.1

Both contains necessary NT password recovery feature.

Ophcrack – Windows password cracker using time-memory trade-off on LM and NTLM hashes based on rainbow tables and supports Windows Vista, XP, 2003 and NT. This tool allows you to retrieve existing password.

RainbowCrack – Crack Windows password using time-memory trade-off cryptanalysis based on rainbow tables. Unless you already has dumped the hash for your Windows password, else this utility is for hacker as it provides no way to retrieve the password hashes when you unable to access to your computer.

L0phtCrack (LC5) – L0phtCrack (now known as LC5) is a password auditing and recovery application by using dictionary, brute-force, and hybrid attacks. originally produced by Mudge from L0pht Heavy Industries, and was produced by @stake after the L0pht merged with @stake in 2000. Support and sales has been discontinued by Symantec from end of 2006, after it acquered @stake in 2004. So you probably need a crack that lists below. If you unable to sign on to your computer, you probably can’t use this.

Download link:

lc5-setup.exe (14 days trial) Link 1 Link 2
Key Generator for LC5: Link 1 Link 2

Cain & Abel – Cain & Abel is a password recovery tool for Microsoft Operating Systems. It allows easy recovery of various kind of passwords by sniffing the network, cracking encrypted passwords using Dictionary, Brute-Force and Cryptanalysis attacks, recording VoIP conversations, decoding scrambled passwords, recovering wireless network keys, revealing password boxes, uncovering cached passwords and analyzing routing protocols. The program does not exploit any software vulnerabilities or bugs that could not be fixed with little effort. It covers some security aspects/weakness present in protocol’s standards, authentication methods and caching mechanisms; its main purpose is the simplified recovery of passwords and credentials from various sources, however it also ships some "non standard” utilities for Microsoft Windows users.

This tool needs to be installed, so you must have another working computer to recover your password remotely. Thus it’s likely to be useful for system administrator only. Supports Windows Vista.

Download links:

Cain & Abel v4.9.2 for Windows NT/2000/XP
Cain & Abel v2.0 for Windows 9x

PCLoginNow – Bootable live CD with tool to reset local administrator and other user accounts passwords or change security settings on Windows system.

Method 6: Third party password recovery service

Login Recovery – Login Recovery is a service to reveal user names and recover passwords for Windows NT, ... Read more »

Unity improvements

Other changes

• New shortcuts hints overlay - a list of Unity keyboard shortcuts which is displayed when pressing and holding the SUPER key
• Launcher switcher which you can use to switch between applications via the Unity Launcher using SUPER + TAB
• A new "home" lens for Dash which displays recently used applications, files and so on, replacing the old shortcuts
• Multi monitor support

Default applications

Has the world gone crazy? What is it with these lemmings, standing on long lines spending so much money - for what? An new iPad 3? What do I need a new iPad 3 for?

And yet, you're tempted. After all, this is the 21st century, and Apple's tablet is a uniquely 21st century device.

And you're even more tempted by the five reasons I gave yesterday for buying a new iPad 3 (hereafter abbreviated iP3).

To help you resist the cultural and technological pull, here are five justifications for responsibly resisting your tablet temptations.

1. iP3 is inappropriate for kids.

For one thing, sharper small text is meaningless for largely large type-size, image-based kid activities, eliminating iP3's key upgrade benefit. Plus, junior's finger smudges would mar any of iP3 higher resolution advantages. Kids also aren't likely to need the sophisticated gaming or productivity apps that require the kind of super-charging iP3's improved A5X chip provides.

But most of all, do you trust your young'un with such an expensive toy? And speaking of expensive...

2. It's too expensive.

In a world with a more pocket-friendly $200 Kindle Fire and other lower-priced/lower resolution Android tablets, there's no need to spend so much money on a new tablet simply to casually surf the Web, answer occasional email or read an e-book.

Plus, if you'll use your tablet mostly at home or where you know there'll be Wi-Fi connectivity, you can opt for a cheaper Wi-Fi-only tablet.

3. An iPad 2 is good enough.

There is nothing wrong with an iPad 2 - it's not as if it's a 1978 Ford Pinto with 200,000 miles on it. In fact, iPad 2 was state-of-art just a couple of weeks ago.

If you have resisted buying a Blu-ray player because you believe your DVDs look just fine, than either your current iPad 2 or buying a newly $100 discounted or even a refurbished iPad 2 to save $150 will certainly satisfy.

4. I hate Apple's ecosystem.

Yes, once you buy into the Apple ecosystem there really is no escape. Any music, movies or books you buy in iTunes will play only on Apple hardware, which means you'd lose all your media content if you, at some future date and for whatever reason, decide to switch operating system sides.

Living in the Android or even the Microsoft Windows Phone/Windows 8 world is far more forgiving. You get more media purchase options and device flexibility – all your purchased media bought from any source will play on any Android or Windows Phone device from any manufacturer – and keeps you from being co-opted by the cult of Apple.

Even I sometimes feel a little Apple claustrophobic, but I consider the company a velvet dictator. Or maybe I'm just rationalizing my purchased content trap.

5. Why do I need it?

If you equate "need" with breathing, eating and wearing clothes (at least in public), you don't need an iP3. Even if you equate "need" with watching TV, social networking, reading or a clock radio - although any tablet combines all these activities into a single portable gadget - you don't.

Like anything else, you definitely should decide on a specific need before plopping down $499-$829 for a device whose precise personal utility you're still fuzzy about.

Although, once you buy one you won't know how you lived without it.

Ever since Internet Explorer beat Netscape and turned into the web industry's least favourite boat anchor, Microsoft has been struggling to turn the tide.

IE7 was little more than a statement that it planned to become a contender again, and IE8 was a decent overhaul, but one whose success came firmly from being a Microsoft release rather than because of any intrinsic improvements over its rival Firefox.

With IE9, everything's changing. For starters, XP isn't supported – unless you're on at least Vista, you can't use it.

The once heavy, intrusive browser has been stripped down, now focusing on the web content you're looking at rather than trying to impress you with gimmicky features, heavy interfaces or many of the other IE hallmarks we've seen over the last five years.

In short, IE9 is now Google Chrome. It looks like Chrome, it smells like Chrome and, while it doesn't work as well as Chrome, it's still in beta.

Notable visual issues right now are the blank gap where the title should be, which niggles the eye every time it catches it, and the way the address bar forces your tabs into a much smaller area, greatly reducing how many you can comfortably use.

Subtle changes

Many of the new features are ones we've seen before, such as being able to rip tabs out of a window at will, or more subtle notifications when IE wants to check that you're okay with a page or alert you to something.

There are some new ones though, including the ability to add bookmarks to your Taskbar and run them like applications, and Aero Peek support for the tabs you have open in your browser – at the time of writing, Chrome only displays the active browser window.

It feels like Microsoft is putting its ego aside and realising that it's the web pages that matter. This is how the whole industry is going at the moment, and it's good to see it not trying to fight it. After all, when you're the dominant player, you don't have to.

It's unlikely that IE9 will give you a real reason to switch back, but it should be an excellent update if you use it by choice.

If your hard drive has been on the edge of overflowing before, you might have spent some time (or even money!) trying programs which claim to free disk space on your bloated hard drive.

Oftentimes such programs won't let you clean your hard drive after they have analyzed it, unless you purchase their product -- it's a ridiculous money scam that countless people surely fall for.

You do not have to spend money to simply free disk space on your hard drive! Hidden amongst the mess that is the internet, are some free working products and alternatives.

	Toshiba Canvio Basics PortableHard Drive 320 GB USB 2.0External Hard DriveE05A032BAU2XK Black Amazon Price: $59.98 List Price: $89.99
	Western Digital My PassportEssential SE 1 TB USB 3.0Portable External Hard Drive(Black) Amazon Price: Too low to display List Price: $229.99

Links

Select your 2nd/Other Virtual Machine, then select Edit virtual machine settings, Click Add, Select Harddrive and use exisiting virtual then load your original harddisk , in my case Ubuntu.vmdk

Choose to start Ubuntu without installing it, Run it off the CD (LiveCD)

Not my original screenshot for this case but you get the drift:)

Resizing Partition , simply drag the handle across to pick a size or type in desired size

Other Methods

If you have made your way through this howto and still unable to get it to work you could try the Vmware Converter which can do all this tasks a lot easier, ( yeaa should've told you a lot earlier) its a free download and can perform partition extensions easily.

VMware Converter

Windows Method

After you have loaded the secondary harddrive on the secondary virtual machine (windows in this case) to fix the partitions. Run the command prompt and enter "diskpart.exe" or if that doesn't work locate its location and run it through cmd using the directory locations.

Steps - type

- show volume

select volume 2 ( in this case , double check to make sure you have the right one)

extend

exit

FINISH

Last thing you need to do is update your programs and software on your OS's. You've officially completed the Tutorial.

By CiscoPixie

Every computer user on the planet is different. We have different tastes and want different things for our computers. When it comes to choosing an operating system, there are many rivals. By far, majority choose Microsoft Windows. Another handful will pick Linux and some may choose Mac OS. If you are a Windows user and would like to use Linux instead, read further.

First of all, ask yourself why would you like to move to Linux? Is it because you feel Linux is better than Windows or are you simply being anti-Windows? Many people do not consider this question as something serious. "Oh an operating system is an operating system." Wrong. Windows suits most users needs. Those who either like to be different or just get sick of security patches move to other operating systems. Once you have assessed why you'd like to change, the next step in migrating is deciding which Linux distribution you'd like to use.

There is are many (over 40) different distributions of Linux. Not sure which one to choose? Many users use Ubuntu which, like all other Linux distro's, is free. I do suggest you do some research into the different Linux's available and make an informed decision.

Cost also plays a huge part. While Linux can be installed on many computers with no restrictions and for free, Windows must be purchased for each individual computer and licensed. Hence, the more computers you have, the higher the cost. Linux = free.

Next on the list is support. For both Windows and Linux, there is professional support available but for a fee. But if you have an internet connection, most problems are easily solved on a forum or someone's blog. Linux is community based and everyone can lend a helping hand.

Another point for those wanting to move to Linux is that while Linux users can use a program called WINE to run Windows programs on Linux, this is not guaranteed and the program may not work. A useful suggestion is to look up the company that created WINE-HQ and search the site for whichever program it is you'd like to use. This way one can be sure that the program will work. It may not be perfect, but remember it was designed for Windows.

The above mentioned items are merely things to think about before migrating to Linux. Once you have decided on a Linux distro, first try to browse the operating system before you install it to be sure this is what you want.

Windows and Linux can run side by side as long as the system requirements are met. The installation can be done by a professional or by yourself as long as you know what you are doing.

I use Windows for gaming purposes but Ubuntu for everything else. As an Ubuntu user for almost a year, I would recommend it to anyone looking at a Linux distro. The last comment I have to make must be expressed in capital letters:

Linux Mint is back to being #1 for many reasons. After using Ubuntu 11.10 and Linux Mint 12 for awhile, I have come to realize that Ubuntu lacks the out-of the-box support that comes with Linux mint. Also Linux Mint is more configurable.

--------------------------------

Old ranking (rev.2)

1. Ubuntu 11.10

2. Pinguy OS

3. Linux Mint 12

4. Zorin OS

5. joli OS

----

----

Old Ranking:(rev.1)

1. Linux Mint

2. Ubuntu

3. Zorin OS

4. Pinguy OS

5. joli OS

There are plenty of Linux Distros out there but there's only very few that is truly for beginners. So I have picked 5 distros that suit the category. You might be curious about the factors that I considered when picking the Top 5. Well, out of the box support is very important in picking beginner distros. Other factors include: User friendly UI, easy installation and great online support. The Distros below are well-known for excelling in those areas.

1. Linux Mint 12

See all 5 photos

Joli OS is a one of a kind distro and it is a very interesting one at that. Its interface is built from HTML5 and installing apps is a piece of cake. Joli OS is a cloud based OS that encourages the use of Cloud applications. You can browse your application launcher from any computer using the web browser so you can access your cloud apps even if you don't have the machine that has Joli OS installed. Its interface is very interesting and appeals to a lot of new users.

Fixing the "BOOTMGR is missing" error isn't too hard; here's how.

The day before yesterday I was testing out a program with several system utilities built in. One of its components left my computer in a bit of a mess – no icons anywhere and other assorted woes. I had set a system restore point before I ran the program, so I thought I’d do a system restore. System restore gave me a message that it couldn’t restore my files. I decided to restore a disc image I had made a short while back. When I booted up the computer I got a message:
BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart
I stared at it the white letters on the black background for a few minutes, while the cursor blinked back at me. After some searching (on another computer) I had some solutions.
Barring any hardware errors, here’s how to fix that error:

• Insert your Windows Vista or Windows 7 disk into your DVD player and restart your computer.
• The next screen you see should have the Language, Time and Currency and Keyboard boxes.
• In the lower left side there are two options: "What to know before installing Windows” and "Repair your computer.”
• Click on "Repair your computer”
• Windows will then try to find the installation directory for Vista or Windows 7, depending on what you have.
• Next up is a screen with a box called Recovery Options. Click the first option, Startup Repair.
• You’ll see a Startup Repair box with the message "Startup Repair is checking your system for problems…”
• When it’s done, it will prompt you to reboot. If there is more than one problem it may reboot again to continue repairing.
• At this point, you can remove the DVD, reboot and everything should be working.

Windows 7 is out. Ubuntu 9.10 is coming next week. Do you know what this means? It's time for a dual boot tutorial. We have learned how to install Windows 7. We have learned how to install Ubuntu.

Today, we will learn how to install Windows 7 AND Ubuntu, side by side on the same hard disk, in what is known as a dual boot configuration. In the Ubuntu installation guide, I have promised you we would do this, so here we are.

What are we going to do?

We are going to do what a typical Windows user would do:

We will install Ubuntu on a computer that already has Windows 7 installed. We will have to accommodate space for our Ubuntu installation. To this end, we will use the GParted partitioning tool to resize (shrink) the Windows installation and create new partitions for Ubuntu.

After Ubuntu is installed, we will have to deal with an error - a typical case of unbootable Windows, a common problem that can occur when the Windows installation is changed. We will learn how to deal with this problem simply and efficiently using the built-in tools, fixing the Windows boot issue. In the end, we will have the two operating systems installed side by side in a dual boot configuration, both working happily.

This tutorial is critical for any Windows user considering running Linux alongside his/her installation. Not only will it teach the user how to interpret the hard disk layout and change it safely and smartly, it will also expose the user to a seemingly catastrophic boot failure, which we will solve. This exercise in dual-booting is as real as it can get.

Follow me.

Preliminary reading

To be able to fully enjoy this tutorial and follow all its minute details, you must invest some time in reading older material, on which this guide is based. Lots of technical lingo in this tutorial references to detailed, step-by-step instructions presented in the dedicated Windows 7 and Ubuntu installation guides, as well as additional tutorials.

Please do not skip this section. While you can use this guide without any external help, you will greatly benefit from studying the other articles. They will teach you the vital, fundamental basics in operating system installations, disk management and boot loading procedure.

Windows 7 installation guide

Ubuntu installation guide

GParted partitioning software - Full tutorial

GRUB bootloader - Full tutorial

Dual booting - Windows & Linux (based on Windows XP & Kubuntu)

Now, let us begin.

Scenario: Windows 7 is installed

This is the classic case. A Windows user, who has already installed Windows on his/her machine would like to try Linux. The user has heard of Ubuntu, which comes as no surprise, since it is the most popular Linux distribution available. The user downloads the Ubuntu live CD image, burns it to CD - and the fun begins.

Things to consider before trying Linux

Windows users need to consider carefully the pros and cons of testing a new operating system on their hardware. Please go through the following list and see if any of the issues mentioned might be of concern for you.

There might be hardware issues

Linux distributions have good hardware support in general, but there's no such thing as perfect. You may be the unlucky person whose hardware is incompatible with this or that edition of this or that Linux distribution. This can cause problems in getting the operating system to boot or you might have to deal with missing drivers after the installation.

The same holds true for Windows, but Windows usually comes preinstalled and you get a load of drivers when you buy a new computer. Keep this in mind before venturing into uncharted territories.

Windows and Linux are different

Windows users have a notion of how things work based on their former experience with computers, mostly revolving around one or more Windows releases. The Linux operating system is different. Mastering it takes time and patience. Do not expect to become experts overnight or be able to solve all your problems early on. At all times, you must remember that the two operating systems are different, they behave and act differently.

Data loss

Whenever you're about to change the existing installation, there's a risk of data loss, regardless of which operating system you're about to install. It is important to make sure you have your critical data backed up to external media. You should also verify that your backups are intact and that they can be restored.

Therefore, to install Windows and Linux together, you need to be confident your data is safely backed up and you need to understand that there might be hardware issues with your installation. Likewise, the methodology to solving the problems will differ from you're used to in Windows. As long as you keep these things in mind, your dual-boot experience will be a pleasant one.

Boot into Ubuntu live CD session

Very fortunately, Ubuntu (as many other Linux distros) comes as a bootable live CD. This means you can boot Ubuntu and test the hardware compatibility, without making any changes to your existing installations on the hard disk. This is an excellent feature that lets you play with the operating system, get the first impression, check different applications, and make sure all your hardware is properly detected.

This is what we will do. Boot into live CD, make sure everything works, then proceed with the installation. Following the instructions in the Ubuntu installation guide should have you logged into the Ubuntu live session in the matter of minutes:

Make sure your wired and Wireless network adapters are functioning, make sure your Bluetooth, Web camera, sound card, and possibly the graphics card all work as expected. This is the first step to ensuring smooth and painless installation and post-install experience. If you need guidance how to test all these, please refer to any one of my Linux distro reviews, including Ubuntu 8.10 and Ubuntu 9.04 in particular. Once you're sure everything is ready, you can begin the installation.

Truth to be told, you should NOT start the installation immediately, but we will do this anyway. I want to show you how an average user might act and follow his/her train of thought.

Please note, it is okay to start the installation, but there is an ever better and smarter way to approach the task. We will soon learn why and how. For now, let's double-click on the Install button.

This will begin the Ubuntu installation.

Prepare Disk Space (Partitioning)

The most important step of the installation is Step 4: Prepare Disk Space. In technical terms, this is called partitioning.

Let us first examine the current situation:

Windows 7 is installed

Ubuntu wisely informs you that This computer has Windows Vista (loader) on it. Good. This means that Ubuntu recognizes the existing installation.

Do not be confused about the Windows Vista terminology. Windows Vista and Windows 7 use the same bootloader, hence the "erroneous" notation. This will definitely change in the coming version of Ubuntu.

Take a look at the existing layout. There's a small, 100MB Windows system partition present and another 13.6GB partition in use, plus some free space. If you recall the Windows 7 installation, these are exactly the partitions we created, both primary!

We now know that we should not touch or alert the small Windows system partition, but we might be able to resize (shrink) the big NTFS partition in order to accommodate more space for Ubuntu. So far so good.

Let's see what else the installer offers us:

The default installation choice is to install Windows and Ubuntu side by side. Good. This is what we want. Ubuntu even suggests its own recommended layout.

While it loo ... Read more »

Windows 7 provides several options for conserving power when you are not using your PC. These options include Sleep, Hibernate, and Hybrid Sleep and are very useful if you are using a laptop. Here’s the difference between them.

Note: this article is meant primarily for beginners. Obviously ubergeeky readers will already know the difference between power modes.

Sleep Mode

Sleep mode is a power-saving state that is similar to pausing a DVD movie. All actions on the computer are stopped and any open documents and applications are put in memory. You can quickly resume normal, full-power operation within a few seconds. Sleep mode is basically the same thing as "Standby” mode.

The Sleep mode is useful if you want to stop working for a short period of time. The computer doesn’t use much power in Sleep mode.

Hibernate

The Hibernate mode saves your open documents and running applications to your hard disk and shuts down the computer, which means once your computer is in Hibernate mode, it uses zero power. Once the computer is powered back on, it will resume everything where you left off.

Use this mode if you won’t be using the laptop for an extended period of time, and you don’t want to close your documents.

Hybrid Sleep

The Hybrid Sleep mode is a combination of the Sleep and Hibernate modes meant for desktop computers. It puts any open documents and applications both in memory and on your hard disk, and then puts your computer into a low-power state, allowing you to quickly wake the computer and resume your work. The Hybrid Sleep mode is enabled by default in Windows on desktop computers and disabled on laptops. When enabled, it automatically puts your computer into Hybrid Sleep mode when you put it into Sleep mode.

Hybrid Sleep mode is useful for desktop computers in case of a power outage. When power resumes, Windows can restore your work from the hard disk, if the memory is not accessible.

Where are the options?

The Sleep and Hibernate options are accessed using the arrow button next to the Shut down button on the Start menu.

If you don’t see the Sleep option or the Hibernate option, it may be for one of the following reasons:

• Your video card may not support the Sleep mode. Refer to the documentation for your video card. You can also update the driver.
• If you don’t have administrative access on the computer, you may have to refer to the administrator to change the option.
• The power-saving modes in Windows are turned on and off in your computer’s BIOS (basic input/output system). To turn on these modes, restart your computer and then enter the BIOS setup program. The key for accessing BIOS differs for each computer manufacturer. Instructions for accessing BIOS generally displays on the screen as the computer boots. For more information, see your computer’s documentation or check the website for your computer’s manufacturer.
• If you don’t see the Hibernate option, the Hybrid Sleep option is mostly likely enabled. We will explain how to enable and disable the Hybrid Sleep mode later in this article.

How Do I Wake Up the Computer?

Most computers can be woken up by pressing the power button. However, every computer is different. You might need to press a key on the keyboard, click a mouse button, or lift the laptop’s lid. Refer to your computer’s documentation or the manufacturer’s website for information about waking it from a power-saving state.

How to Enable and Disable the Hybrid Sleep Option

To enable or disable the Hybrid Sleep Option, click Control Panel on the Start menu.

Click Power Options in the Control Panel window.

NOTE: If Power Options is not available, select Large icons or Small icons from the View by drop-down list in the upper, right corner of the Control Panel window. In the Category view, you can also click System and Security and then click the Power Options heading.

On the Select a power plan screen, click the Change plan settings link next to the currently selected power plan.

NOTE: You can change the Hybrid Sleep option for either one or both of the power plans. The steps are the same for both.

On the Change settings for the plan screen, click the Change advanced power settings link.

On the Power Options dialog box, click the Change settings that are currently unavailable link.

Click the plus sign next to Sleep to expand the options, if they are not already expanded. Click the plus sign next to Allow hybrid sleep. Select Off from one or both of the drop-down lists under the Allow hybrid sleep heading.

NOTE: You can also double-click on a heading to expand it.

By default, Windows requires a password to access the computer when you wake it up from a power-saving state. You can use the Power Options dialog box to turn this off. The first heading in the list box is the name of the power plan chosen in the drop-down list above the list box. Click the plus sign to expand the heading and select Off from one or both of the drop-down lists under the heading.

Click OK to save your changes and then click the X button in the upper, right corner of the Control Panel window to close it.

How to Prevent Your Computer from Automatically Sleeping or Hibernating

However, if you are using a battery-powered laptop, be careful when turning off the sleep or hibernate mode. If the battery dies when you’re in the middle of working on the computer, you can lose data.

You can also change the amount of time before your computer goes into sleep or hibernate mode. Here’s how to do this.

Access Power Options in the Control Panel, and click the Change plan settings link next to the currently selected power plan on the Select a power plan screen, as we described earlier in this article.

On the Change settings for the plan screen, click the Change advanced power settings link.

Doubl ... Read more »

NOTE: This article doesn’t work anymore. Please refer to this updated article instead forusing the windows key as start in ubuntu.

Ubuntu has a dropdown menu at the top of the screen to launch applications, which is very similar to the way Windows has the start menu at the bottom of the screen. If you are a windows user new to Ubuntu, you may prefer to have the windows key launch the applications menu. Thankfully this is an easy thing to do in Ubuntu.

Go to the System \ Preferences \ Keyboard Shortcuts menu item:

Scroll down till you see the "Show the panel menu” item. Click in the Shortcut column, and when it changes to "New accelerator…”, hit the Windows Key. Click the close button. You’re done!

Now when you hit the windows key, the application menu will pop up. If you hit the right arrow key, you can go to the Places or System menu as well.

Ubuntu has pretty good theming system, visual effects, and eye-candy stuff, but you may love the elegance of Windows 7 Aero class, transparency, or the Start Menu. Today we’ll show you how to transform Ubuntu to look like Windows 7.

Of course, it won’t be an exact match, but it’s close enough that at first glance a lot of people would think it’s Windows 7. Keep reading to see how to do this.

Installing the Win7 Theme

Let’s start by entering some commands—just open up a terminal window and enter this:

cd ~/

sudo wget http://web.lib.sun.ac.za/ubuntu/files/help/theme/gnome/win7-setup.sh

sudo chmod 0755 ~/win7-setup.sh

~/win7-setup.sh

This will download a script file that will be used later to tell your computer what files to download to complete the Win7 theme packages install.  Once finished, a window will tell you that the installation will start now so just press OK.

Another window will pop up asking if you want to continue, answer yes for that window too. Now the terminal will begin downloading and installing the theme.  It may take some time depending on your Internet speed. After that, a window like this will appear:

Press OK, then back in the terminal enter:

setup-win7-theme

This command will setup Win7 theme and your computer will start transforming into windows style immediately. Wait for a few seconds and you will see a window asking you to logout so logout and log in again and this is what you will see:

Now your Ubuntu looks almost exactly like Windows. Congratulations! Now you have WinBuntu! You can even right-click the start button and choose "properties” to customize the start menu.

If you want, you can install Internet Explorer-like themes for Firefox. You can also use Windows 7 wallpaper for you desktop to give it a complete feel of Windows 7. The download links are down at the end of the article.

Uninstalling the Win7 Theme

During the setup of Win7 theme script, a backup of the previous Gnome settings got saved in your home folder, so if you ever get bored of this theme, you can uninstall it and rollback to previous Gnome state. The only downside though, is that there is no automatic uninstallation.

It’s not hard to do the uninstallation. Open your home folder there should be a file named "win7-uninstall.tar.gz”, open it with your archive manager and you’ll find your home folder, double-click it and you’ll see your username, double-click it too. There should be a ".gconf” file, extract that file to your home folder.

Logout and log back in, that’s it. Your theme is back to normal gnome as if nothing has happened. Cool, isn’t it?

Forcefully uninstalling

In some cases when you try uninstalling the theme it won’t uninstall completely, leaving some Windows 7 icons or desktop wallpaper. In cases like this, you’ll have to remove the theme by deleting it’s files manually but don’t worry, it is easier than you think. Just open up a terminal window and type the following command followed by the enter key.

rm -rf .gnome .gnome2 .gconf .gconfd .metacity

NOTE: This will restore your gnome appearance setting back to the default like when you first installed Ubuntu.