Few Best Ways to Protect Your Laptop – A Complete Notebook Guide

Do you ever try to protect your laptop? Are you searching for a complete guide on how to protect your laptop for a longer life? Well, your search will end here. Protecting a laptop is very crucial when compared to desktop personal computers. Usually we don’t give much attention to our laptops when we are using it daily. Most of us will forget the basic steps of handling a laptop in right way. Nowadays, everyone has got one laptop with them. We usually use laptops when we are out, and we never care to bother few important things. Let me give you a detailed description on how to protect your laptops. Protecting a laptop doesn’t mean that you have to install a good antivirus and forget about it. There are a lot of aspects you have to take care of. Starting from the software to the hardware maintenance, everything must be under control.

We have found out few ways to protect your laptops from every possible way. The only thing you have to do is to follow this article carefully and try to implement them. I bet this post will really help you, especially when your laptop is not performing well. Here goes the list of most important points you have to remember when using a laptop.

Protect Your Laptop from Theft :

Most of the people lose their laptops when they put them for charging. We usually use a power cable connector with AC adapter to charge our laptop batteries. You can actually use many software’s to protect your laptops. It’s better to use ALARM which is a laptop A/C Removal Monitor. This is an open source application designed by SourceForge.net. If someone is trying to steal your laptop by remove the power cable connector from your laptop, it will raise an alarm with big sounds. This is really useful when you are away from your laptop in a public place. This will work only when there is a power cable connector connected to your laptop.

Another best way to protect your laptop is by installing Prey. Prey is an amazing application which can really trace out your laptop, if stolen. It can trace the location and take the picture of the person who stole it. You have to enable the protection to ON in the official site, when your laptop is missing. You have to install this application in your laptop first, and then create a account in Prey. Whenever your laptop is missing, you can directly trace out the missing laptop with the help of your account id. Prey will show the exact location of the missing laptop, with the help of a map or a GPRS system. it also takes a screenshot of the person who is using it. You can also lock it down from your prey account itself. This will allow you to secure your important data. It’s completely free to use and people who want to try it out with advance options has to upgrade to a Pro account.

Protect Your Laptop from Over Heat :

Always make sure that your laptop is not left out in hot temperatures. If you leave your laptops in warm places, you may spoil the battery, hard drive and sometimes even the other internal parts of your laptop. You may even lose data from your hard drive sometimes (I’m not kidding). You have to really take care of the surroundings when you take your laptop out. Most of use our laptop even on car hoods, outings on sunny days, near to huge machines and other random places. This has to be avoided if you want to save your laptop. You should also take care about few things like,

Don’t bring your laptop suddenly out of a Air condition (AC cool) to a normal or a hot temperature.

If you are changing the place, make sure that the temperature is constant for a while. It’s better to switch of your laptop, if you are not using it. But it’s better to switch it off when you are moving from one temperature to other (like AC and Non AC temperatures).

• Don’t use your laptops more than 2hrs in places where there is no AC. Especially most of us use our laptops in cars which have no AC or buses when traveling long.
• Make sure you always carry a plastic bag with you. In case of rain, you may cover your laptop to avoid water getting into it.
• Try to use a cool pad. This will make your laptop to cool down a bit. I recommend you to use a cool pad if you use your laptop for more than 3hrs continuously.
• Never let your laptop to go near Microwave Ovens, TV’s, DVD Players and other electronic devices. The magnetic force from these devices will corrupt your hard drive for sure.
• Never switch on of your laptop in less than a minute when switched off. Make sure you maintain a gap of at least 1min before actually turning it on.
• There are chances to short circuit if you let your laptop to take water onto it. So, try to avoid using the laptop when it’s wet.
• Over charging will make your laptop behave weird. It may burn up the AC adapter first and then the internal parts slowly.
• Unplug your laptop from charging if there is a heavy rain. It’s better that you connect the power cord to a stabilizer or UPS when you are using your laptop at home.

Save the External & Internal Battery Life :

Most of us fail to save our laptop batteries. We usually screw up our batteries within 2years. There are a lot of issues when it comes to save your laptop battery. The most important things to keep in mind are,

• Never use your laptop when you are charging the battery.
• Wait for the 100% completion of your battery charge up to use it again. It usually takes 2 to 3hrs to charge up completely.
• Don’t expose the battery to direct sun light.
• Discharge the battery from your laptop, if you are not using it from long time.
• Never put your laptop or batteries in hot temperatures like machines, car tanks, sun light, and other hot places.

These were few important points to save your battery externally. But if you want to save your battery from internal point of view, then you have to follow these below steps.

• Switch off the WI-fi and Bluetooth devices when not required.
• Don’t play high resolution graphic games when the battery life is less than 50%. It will drain the battery life 2 times faster.
• Using USB ports will drain your battery life sooner. So avoid using external mouse, pen drive and joystick when not required.
• Use 5/10 minutes power schemes to switch of your monitors when the laptop is idle.
• Use tools like Push Monitor Off to switch of your monitor screen when not used. Just download this application and press Shift + F1 to enable and disable your laptop display screen.
• Turn of the back-end processors and unwanted programs from the Task Manager. Also make sure you don’t have pending scheduled tasks and auto save features in MS office.
• Don’t leave CD/DVD in your disk drive when not required. Remove it as soon as you have done your work.
• It’s better to use Hibernate mode instead of Sleep.
• Don’t use flashy screensavers and funny desktop applications.
• The most important point, Decrease the brightness of your screen. Especially when you are in a dark place.

Installing a good Maintenance Tool :

There are a lot of tools which can protect your laptop. One of the best tools is IObit Toolbox. IObit can protect your laptop with over 20 different tools. You can find options like Cleaning, Repairing, Security and other categories, where you can protect your laptop. Also we all forget how much battery life is left out in our laptops. This can be solved by using BattCursor. This application when installed in your laptop will display a battery bar under your cursor and shows how much battery life is actually remaining for further use. It will change the color of the battery according to your usage. If the color of the battery bar turns red, then make sure to charge your laptop battery again.

Saving the Memory :

If you don’t have enough disk space, you can always use some tools like Portable Apps Suite Standard. This will allow you to install tools in your USB drive. So whenever you have utilities with less memory, try to install them in your USB with this application. And to protect important files in your USB drive, you can always use TrueCrpt

Take care of Keyboard and Screen :

It’s your responsibility to make sure the keyboard and screen are properly protected. Sometimes we observe that there will be a lot of dust around the keys in our laptop. This will make the keys to function slowly and also there is chance to jam your keys. Since we love our laptop, we usually show too much of love towards it. Like, letting it to eat your burger, make it to drink a Beer and offer other food items. Make sure you are protecting your keyboard from liquids. Protect Covers are the best alternatives to save your screens and keyboards. Usually we never take care of the display screen for laptops. The LCD screen of any laptop is very sensitive. Its better to use a screen guard against scratches and other marks. Usually a screen guard will not cost you more than 2$. If you want to protect your mouse pad, then try to cover it with a cover from above mentioned link.

Don’t use a detergent or a cleaning liquid to clean your laptop display screen. Always try to take a soft cloth to clean the screen. It’s better that you spray the detergent liquid on the cloth first and then rub it on the screen.

Protect Your Laptop with Few Important Software’s :

Your laptop should always have a track of what applications are running behind. So you have to track what are the software’s which are in use, what is the disk space used, and what CPU usage is allocated to the installed applications. Since we can’t monitor all of these things at a time manually, it’s better to use Freemeter.

You can use Battery Care to know information like battery capacity, Battery Mode, Basic Information, Automatic Updates and etc. and to know the performance of your laptop, you can use Performance Monitor. This will show you CPU memory, disk network and other important aspects in your windows system tray. You can also try other software’s like:

• CPU Thermometer.
• Laptop Battery Power Monitor
• CPU-Z and etc.

This is our complete guide to protect your laptops from many issues. We hope these tips will help you maintaining your laptop well and good. If you have any queries or suggestions on the above post, Please leave a comment below. Hope this article will surely help you to protect your laptop.

Top Internet Security Suites to Protect your PC from Malware – 2012

Security suites are probably the most essential software you will need for you computers, no matter old or new. There are a host of security suites available at various price ranges and licenses, what matters is how good the suite is at protecting you from the different types of malware. A few suites might be strong at protection from a certain type of malware and not so strong with others. The trick is to find an all round suite that fits your budget as well as offers the best protection. Often, security suites come bundled with a PC optimization program, cloud storage and some other extras as well. Before we go through the most popular suites on offer, let’s recap on the different types of malware:

Viruses: Basically, any malicious computer program that replicates itself to harm a computer system is called a computer virus. It is the sub category of malware, it includes trojan horses, worms and rootkits. Contrary to popular belief, spyware and adware come under malware but not under viruses as they are not self replicating, nor do they actually infect files.

Trojan Horses: Named after the Trojan Horse in Greek mythology, Trojan horses or simply trojans are malicious programs that replicate themselves and steal information or harm the host computer system. They usually masquerade as helpful or harmless programs and begin to steal private data, delete files, log keystrokes or provide an opening for further malware to get installed. For example, trojans claim to detect hundreds of viruses and remove them while actually harming the computer. The term trojan horse was adapted from the Trojan Horse in Greek mythology where the Greek army hid in a hollow horse made of wood that was given as a gift to the City of Troy. Upon nightfall, the army burst out of the horse and conquered Troy. Similarly, the malicious code is hidden in an apparently helpful program and finally causes harm.

Computer worms: Worms are another type of malicious software that exploit a vulnerability in the computer system to cause harm. They usually corrupt or delete critical files, consume excess bandwidth and often put the computer under control of the worm author. Once infected, computer systems are used to send spam mails and perform many such unwanted functions. They also usually create a backdoor where security can be bypassed to further infect the system. These backdoors allow remote access to the infected system and files and are usually undetected. Furthermore, worms do not need to attach themselves to another program and can be spread individually over networks.

Rootkit: Rootkits are a type of malware that mask malicious processes and software in the infected systems to ensure privileged remote access. They are usually installed after a vulnerability has been found and detected so that the infected computer continues to be under the control of the malware author. Rootkit detection is quite difficult as they are designed to stay hidden from the very software used to detect them. But, behavior patterns or memory analysis can reveal the presence of one. Removal of rootkits is extremely difficult and sometimes even impossible, depending on the extent of infection. Nevertheless, modern security suites can remove a few classes of rootkits.

Spyware: As the name suggests, spyware are programs that spy on the users. They steal user logins and passwords, document sites visited, log keystrokes and even redirect browsers to unwanted sites. They can result identity theft and sensitive bank information can be compromised as well. While some spyware just document sites visited or the like, more dangerous spyware can steal very important information.

Adware: Adware as such are quite harmless, although they are annoying. They generate ads in the form of popups and interrupt other programs. Usually shareware come with such popup ads. However, adware can come bundles with spyware which can cause further complications. But adware as such is not that difficult to remove.

So now that we have a basic idea of the types of malware and what they can do, here’s the top security suites to protect against them:

AVG Internet Security 2012:

AVG always has been the go-to antivirus software as it provides very good protection for free. However, does the full security match up? Unfortunately not. The antivirus bundled up with the Internet Security is the exact same one you can get for free and no doubt, it is good. The other components like the firewall don’t quite match up though. The firewall displays vulnerabilities and anti-spam filter doesn’t block much spam. The phishing protection isn’t up to the mark either. But, the PC tuneup, online backup and AVG accelerator work well and speed up few areas of the PC. The core antivirus program that can be obtained for free and performs well in real world situations, but the rest of the suite isn’t all that. Overall system performance impact is small as well. This suite retails for 55$ for a single license.

Avira Internet Security 2012:

Similar to AVG, Avira also offers a free antivirus that is really quite good. Again, the same antivirus turns out to be one of the best components of this Internet Security suite. While it doesn’t offer much by way of extras, Avira performs well in malware detection and removal and has a robust firewall. Again, the phishing filter and anti-spam filter don’t perform particularly well. Furthermore, Avira is weak with rootkit detection and removal. On the bright side, the best feature, the antivirus, is available for free and the suite as a whole doesn’t slow down system performance. Avira Internet Security costs 60$ for a single license.

Bitdefender Total Security 2012:

Bitdefender is one of the best suites available on the market. Along with essential components like antivirus, firewall and anti-spam, Bitdefender offers PC tuneup, Facebook protection, online backup and more. This suite offers fairly good malware protection, although not the best. The firewall is efficient, strong and silent as well. The extra features like PC tuneup and online backup perform well too. Phishing protection and anti-spam is decent and in general the suite offers good protection. However, it does slow down the system a bit and malware removal is good, but not great. Overall a good suite, retails at 80$ for 3 licenses.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2012:

One of the stalwarts in the security software game, Kaspersky’s new internet security suite offers a great firewall and antivirus. It’s malware protection is very good, but rest of the features don’t match up. The anti-spam and phishing protection miss a lot of threats and the suite in general does affect the overall system performance. Kaspersky Internet Security offers a unique feature called Safe Run that creates a separate, temporary desktop and registry isolated from the main desktop. This can be used to run files or install programs you don’t entirely trust. If any problems are seen, the temporary desktop can be wiped clean without any effect on your main desktop. Also, the UI is completely new for the 2012 edition and is a pleasant departure from previous iterations. Kaspersky Internet Security costs 80$ for 3 licenses.

McAfee Total Protection 2012:

McAfee Total Security offers a large number of features in it’s suite. It includes anti-spam, intruder detection, parental controls, file shredder and a lot more. Unlike most other suites, the add on features in McAfee Total Protection 2012 actually perform well. Intruder detection and anti-spam are very efficient and online backup is useful as well. But, the core malware detection/removal and firewall don’t perform nearly as good as the best in the business. Also, McAfee affects system performance adversely. So if you’re looking for a suite that offers a host of features, get this suite, but keep in mind malware detection and removal is better in other suites. McAfee Total Secuity 2012 costs 90$ for 3 licenses.

Norton Internet Security 2012:

One of the most well known names in the market, Norton Internet Security more than lives up to it’s name in it’s latest iteration. Unlike previous versions, specifically the ones leading upto and including the 2010 version, Norton Internet Security 2012 is fast, efficient and doesn’t affect system performance. It looks good, is easy to use and offers exceptional firewall, on access and virus protection and effectively removes threats. Even the anti-spam works very well. Although, SONAR (on access protection) can get a bit overzealous at times and block harmless programs that aren’t very widely used. Overall it’s one of the best suites to have, it costs 70$ for 3 licenses.

Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete:

Webroot isn’t one of those suites that strikes you when you’re thinking of security software, but this lesser known suite offers surprisingly good protection! It offers great malware detection/removal, is supported on Android devices and is very light on system resources. Webroot’s online backup and password protection is very good as well. As for the cons, it doesn’t include parental controls or anti-spam and the firewall is a tad bit weak. But, the core antivirus is excellent and the installation is less than 1MB! The complete suite occupies just 50MB of space. This excellent and light suite costs 80$ for 3 licenses.

ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 2012:

ZoneAlarm has traditionally been known to create excellent firewalls and this suite doesn’t disappoint with that regard. Extreme Security 2012 offers a great firewall, anti-spam & phishing protection and a few other extra features. The preinstall virus scan is a nice touch too. The bundled parental control, download manager and registry tune-up work well and you won’t be disappointed. A spiffy complete drive encryption can completely lock down data and prevent usage. But, the malware detection and removal could use some sprucing up and aren’t really in the league of the top competitors. General online protection is very good and so is on access protection. ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 2012 costs 80$ for 3 licenses.

So these were the top security suites, each have their pros and cons and sometimes offer completely different features. Question is, what would you prefer?

Be Smart In Selecting a Laptop – What to Look for In Today’s Laptops

Always be smart in buying a laptop, most of the people are investing their money in products which are not that worthy. Now-a-days everyone has a laptop or atleast a tablet with them. People are showing a lot of interest to buy laptops instead of a desktop PC’s. This can be now observed more in Asian countries and specially in India. The market is very high when it comes to buy a branded laptop. So, today we will guide you on how to get a better laptop within your range and budget. By the end of the article, you will be smart enough to buy a best laptop yourself. We will discuss about the key factors you have to keep in mind while buying a laptop. We have to keep many things in our mind while buying a laptop these days.

How to be smart in buying a laptop :

So before going to shopping, you need to understand some standard features and what exactly is your requirement and necessity to buy a laptop. Its not that good to spend much money on things which are not worthy, its always a better choice to think and proceed. Whenever we walk into any store to buy a laptop, the first thing we ask is the cost of the laptop. You can able to see a lot of available models which often confuse you the most. Many people will have particular kind of taste which make their job very easy to buy a laptop. But what about people who are unable to select from a wide range of models, here the key factor we have to keep in mind is our “requirement”. This is very crucial in buying a laptop in these days. Your laptop must not be only good looking and attractive. But it should also have proper performance and reliability. Don’t worry, this article will guide you to buy a better laptop with all latest upgrades.

Key Factors You Have To Keep In Mind While Buying a Laptop :

1) Design and Budget :

The first and foremost thing you have to check out in a laptop is its design. Most of the laptops use plastic in their designs, which is less expensive. We find few designs in laptops like HP, Toshiba and Acer which has complete plastic in their laptop models. These companies use IMD (In-Mold Decoration) technique to design their laptops where the patterns are infused in between the plastic layers. You can feel the patters in the plastic body of laptops by running your fingers on them. If you feel plastic is used in cheap laptops which most companies do, then you can shift to metal body laptops. There are a lot of companies which wont prefer plastic in their products. Some of them are Apple MacBook Pro 13″ Thunderbolt laptop, Dell XPS 15z, HP Envy 14 Sandy Bridge and etc.These luxurious laptops are very fashionable and thinner compared to plastic.

Normal laptop companies would never try to compete with these kind of laptops since they are very expensive to produce. You can also observe magnesium alloy body laptops in most of the business laptops. These laptops have very strong durability. Also we can view carbon fiber body laptops in Sony products. Recent one which i saw was Sony VAIO VPC – Z214GX laptop. You wont find these kind of laptops anywhere in market apart from Sony VAIO Series. If budget is not your problem, then try to go for a brand which offers anything other than plastic. You will love your laptop when you work good looking laptops but remember that budget is always important when we are buying something. There are a lot of laptops under budget and still having amazing performance like top quality laptops.

2) Screen Size and Weight :

The second thing you have to keep in mind is the laptop screen size and weight. The words weight and screen size are related to each other when it comes to laptops. A laptop should be compact and should be easy to carry. When ever you want to travel somewhere, your laptop shouldn’t be one among the luggage which you keep in your car. It should be easy to carry and i personally prefer a 14″ widescreen laptop. This screen size laptops are very comfortable when it comes to traveling. Since we all use laptops to communicate with people in different locations, i would prefer a small screen laptop with a compact design. We have few wonderful laptops in 15″ size like the MacBook Pro Thunderbolt which are a exception.

If you are selecting 13″-14″ laptops, you can be productive without sacrificing the portability. There are few awesome laptops like Toshiba Portege R835-P50X and Sony VAIO-SA2FGX/BI which are best example of 13″ laptops. If you are willing to get a laptop more than 14″ size, then you are contended to lose room for yourself where ever you go. Few people even prefer 16″-18″ screen size laptops which are very useful for media centers, gaming rigs, desktop replacements and etc but not while traveling somewhere. The more the size of a laptop, the lesser chances of portability. Usually the 14″ laptops are lighter in weight and very easy to carry.

3) Technology :

The third thing you should always focus on buying a laptop is to know the technology in it. Most of the people fail to do this while buying their laptops. We usually find a lot of features in a cheaper laptop which you would never find in a expensive one. You may get 3 to 4 USB ports with 3.0 USB speed. The data speed and transfer rate of 3.0 USB is pretty fast when compared to USB 2.0. Look for laptops which has advance features with minimum of core i5 even if it has 1 USB port with 3.0. Because now a days, the applications which we use require a lot of RAM and processor speed. So we require a good processor than a 3-4 USB ports. The second generation laptops are selling like hot cakes in market now. Recently we posted a article on Best Core i5 Second generation laptops which got a good response.

You should be aware of hardware requirements of the laptop before you buy it. The important thing you have to note down in an laptop before you buy is to know it hardware configuration. Like, you have to note down the basic things which you require. Like number of USB ports, Size of RAM, Type of processor, Screen size, Clock speed and Variant, Size of hard-disk, Motherboard and etc. May be you can increase your RAM speed at any point of requirement in future. But you cannot upgrade your processor, motherboard and hard-disk like RAM. so think wisely before you select the hardware for your laptop. Its always better to take more what you require sometimes.

Most of the people confuse between Mobile Broadband 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity. They both are completely different and have their way of functioning. Most of the laptops will not have Wi-Fi in them. which is not a good sign of a modern laptop. Try to find a laptop which has Wi-Fi connectivity in it and also Bluetooth. Apart from these things, many people will also consider the HDMI ports in their laptops. Most of the laptops today are supporting the Full HD (1080p) resolution screens. These laptops will have amazing clarity and depth. I would personally suggest you to invest your money in a Full HD screen laptops, because its worth buying them. And finally you have to also take care of the Optical drive, Webcam, and battery backup before buying the laptop.

4) Battery Backup :

A better battery for any laptop can be your savior in traveling places. A good battery is like your ally on a travel hectic day when you have important work to do. Most of the people have preferred buying a multiple battery laptop when compared to normal ones. Laptops like Apple wont have non removable batteries, but they are bigger than the average ones and give good battery back up. Most of the laptops use the 6 cell batteries which gives a minimum of 4-5 hours of backup. You can also find some ultra portables in market for business laptops which give a 10 hour battery backup. I would suggest you to carry a additional battery with you when you are traveling, especially if you spend more time on road then office or home. Always check the battery’s capacity which is measured in Watt-hours. A big battery would definitely weight more, but its better to carry one with you when you are out most of the times. There are a lot of traveling batteries on market now.

5) Warranty Period :

Almost every laptop is backed with minimum of one year warranty. In this one year, the laptop will get a free service from the company which you buy the laptop from. After one year, even though they give service for your laptop, they will charge you for sure. Companies like Asus and Costco sell their laptops with standard two years warranties. But the standard warranty is a limited one where there will be no warranty on burn or physical damage. Apple offers 3year warranty on their laptops. And most of the windows based laptop manufactures will offer up to 4years. You have to always keep in mind that once the service charge is increased by 20% of the actual price of laptop its in serious trouble. Better you change it as soon as possible. Mostly you may be doing this only after 3 or 4years after you bring your laptop.

If you keep these five key points in mind, then you got the best laptop you ever had. Remember to memorize these five key features, they are must for anyone who is willing to spend their valuable money on something which is unique and lasting long. I hope you have liked our article on be smart in buying a laptop.

Microsoft Surface Tablet PC Technical Specs and Features – Apple Rival

Finally the most awaiting Microsoft Surface Tablet PC has been reveled. Few gossips say that Microsoft is completely frustrated with their longtime hardware partners and want to produce the hardware themselves now. This decision of making their own Tablet PC proves that Microsoft doesn’t want to depend on other third party services. It is clearly proved that Microsoft has been struggling to get over Apple from many years now. This bold movement by Microsoft shows how concerned they are about Apple growth. Also Apple have caused a threat to Microsoft empire earlier by its latest products. Keeping all this in mind, Microsoft on Monday has unveiled their first ever Tablet PC, The Surface. So lets check out the technical specifications and the amazing features provided by Surface.

Microsoft Surface Tablet PC:

Market and Availability

Microsoft Surface has been the most awaited tablet computer from many days, and aims to challenge the dominance of might Apple iPad. Looking at the sleek design and the amazing features, Microsoft Surface will not only be a tough competitor for Tablet PC’s, but also for Ultrabooks. And this can be easily achieved by targeting a competitive market like India. News say that Microsoft will launch Surface Tablet PC in the market by end of this year. And also these devices will be sold in few limited stores of U.S. If this is the case, Microsoft has to work a lot on getting a upper hand in Indian market. Because already Tablets like Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPad have conquered the Indian market. Apart from these tablets, you can always expect competition from cheap android tablets. Specially in India, this is seen more often. You can see too many tablets which are below 200$ and are technically as good as the mighty Apple and Samsung Tablets. This is what, Microsoft has to take care of, and also if Microsoft starts to build their own PC’s through its devices and accessories, then all the third party manufactures have a super thin edge to survive the market. They have to really start worrying about this revolutionary step taken by Microsoft.

Microsoft Surface Tablet PC – Technical Specifications

Microsoft Surface Tablet PC announced the two models of Surface as. Windows 8 Pro and Microsoft RT. Check out the detail description and Technical specifications given below.

Windows 8 Pro

Operating System: Windows 8 Pro

Weight (Light): 903 grams

Dimensions (Thin): 13.5 mm

Screen (Clear): 10.6” ClearType Full HD Display

Power (Energized): 42 W-h

Connections: microSDXC, USB 3.0, Micro Display Port Video, 2×2 MIMO antennae

Productive: Touch Cover, Type Cover, Pen with Palm Block

Accessories (Practical): VaporMg Case & Stand

Camera: Front and Rear

Storage (Configurable): 64 GB, 128 GB

Price: Not Defined (Estimated Price: 45,000 INR onwards)

Windows RT

Operating System: Windows RT

Weight (Light): 676 grams

Dimensions (Thin): 9.3 mm

Screen (Clear): 10.6” ClearType HD Display

Power (Energized): 31.5 W-h

Chip: Tegra 3 AMR SOC

Connections: microSD, USB 2.0, Micro HD Video, 2×2 MIMO antennae

Productive: Office Home & Student 2013 RT, Touch Cover, Type Cover

Accessories (Practical): VaporMg Case & Stand

Storage (Configurable): 32GB, 64GB

Camera: Front and Rear

Price: Not Defined (Estimated Price: 35,000 INR onwards)

These are the two Surface models which Microsoft will launch by this year end. A Tablet PC with Windows 8 Pro OS and lots of other features will get the maximum attention from Indian Tablet Market. Because, most of the Indian PC users already use Windows Xp, Windows Vista and Windows 7. This tablet will get a hug response when launched in India. Hopefully by next year atleast.

Since Microsoft has already design their own keyboards, mice and other computer accessories, they already have a strong market in India. Hope this will bring a revolution in making Tablet PC’s in Windows. But the most important point to be noted is, Will Microsoft allow other Tablets PC’s to adopt Windows 8 as their Operating system? Because Windows is not a open source like Linux and Android. Hmmm, Lets wait and see. Also, lets check out few additional features offered by Microsoft Surface.

Microsoft Surface Tablet PC Unique Features:

1) Since the Microsoft Surface tablet runs on Windows 8 platform, you can be able to use any of your existing software on the tablet.

2) Since Microsoft Surface a sleek and Light weight tablet , it will be easy for you to carry it anywhere you want.

3) The 10.6 inches Clear Type FULL HD display will let you watch high resolution 1080p pictures and videos.

4) The USB port will allow you to connect devices like external hard drives, USB microphones, Modems, Digital Cameras, Phones and other special accessories. The touch cover doubles as a keyboard with a built in track pad.

5) Microsoft will ship Surface Tablet PC with a pen and features a palm block. So when ever the pen tip is touching the screen, it would ignore the touch of the palm and the fingers.

6) Also Microsoft announced that Surface will be a complete entertainment tablet, which works and plays the way you want.

7 Best Windows Alternative Operating systems

Some of the best Windows Alternative OS which are generally under-rated or over-rated. With windows 8 to roll-out in few weeks, you must feel that I’m crazy to write about Windows Alternative OS, at this instinct. Windows is one of the well known operating system from the house of Microsoft that has been dominating the operating system market for a while now, as this operating system has features that many competing operating systems lack but still few people around the world criticize it for few aspects like security, malware attacks, and few more.

The operating system was launched way back in 1985 and it has tasted success ever since with Windows 95 and after every new edition that are launched at regular intervals like Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows 7, excluding few other failures like Windows Me, Windows Vista. Currently Microsoft has launched operating systems for SmartPhones and getting ready to occupy the Mobile Market as well. In this post, we are going to check out 7 best Windows Alternative OS that can satisfy your requirements to a certain extent.

The current market share of Windows OS is expected to be holding around 86%, followed by Mac OS which holds over 7.5% market share and balance is shared between Linux, Blackberry and other Operating Systems. So, in this post we are going to focus on few of the best Operating Systems that holds the balance 14% share in the market.

7 Best Windows Alternative Operating Systems:

1. Ubuntu operating system

The Ubuntu operating system is a simple, snazzy and easy to use operating system which is considered as one of the best Windows Alternative OS. It is preferred by many across the globe including businessmen and students. This software is preferred for personal computers but there is a server version that also exists. The software is available for download, free of cost. The software is similar to the UNIX and it is one of the best Linux Operating System that is based on Debian Linux Distribution and this software can be freely distributed and personalize the software for your benefit.

2. Mac OS

This is one of the best operating systems that can replace the Windows OS and it is known to be one of the most advanced operating systems that are presently available. It is a graphical user interface based operating software that is known to be so slick and smooth that the operating system can be easily mastered. It is estimated that, soon the ratio between Windows and Mac OS might be leading to tough competition. Compiled with the Apple hardware components the Mac OS will provide you with the best operating system experience which makes it one of the best Windows Alternative Operating System in the market. It is a proprietary based Operating System like Windows, and it is mostly compatible with Apple’s devices only, of course there are few techniques that allows us to get Mac OS onto our normal PC.

3. JNode

This operating system is a great freeware Windows Alternative operating systems that are available currently. This operating system code has been written in Java and the operating system is in its virgin stage as it is in the 0.2.8 version. The operating system has a simple and easy to use interface. With the time to come there will be other features that will be added in the form of video customization, lower memory consumption etc. 

4. AROS

The AROS closely resembles Amiga, just that it has many more features and it does not have the memory problem that Amiga was infested with. AROS, which is the abbreviated form of the Amiga Research Operating System is extremely fast and the memory protection issues has also been resolved. It is one of the oldest OS existing since 1997 and it is slightly capable OS to be considered as best Windows Alternative OS. The user interface of the AROS is the same as Amiga and it is a great operating system for laptops and desktops. 

5. KolibriOS

This operating system is known to be the fastest graphic user interface that is presently available. This user interface of the operating system is smooth and fast and you will be able to enjoy different games and other utilities with the help of this operating system. The USP of this operating system is that it is extremely compact and the entire operating system just takes 4.9 MB of the memory. 

6. DexOS

In case you are fed up with the way the Windows operating system looks then you need to use the DexOS. The operating system has a user interface that is closer to that of a console’s operating system. The operating system basically has two aspects, that is, one aspects is really swank and resembles the launcher of a video game and the other is the normal operating system that can be used for daily purposes. 

7. Open BSD

This operating system focuses more on the security of the system than its appearance and this is a good thing as the software cannot be easily cracked by hackers as it does not run the programs in case it detects any loopholes in them. The OpenBSD has its main feature as the space layout randomization. It is considered as underdog, but still it manages to be one of the best Windows Alternative OS. 

These are the 5 best Windows alternative operating systems that are available in the market. The operating systems are very different from each other and even though they are relatively new, these operating systems have already created a name for themselves and they are loaded with features and they have been giving stringent competition to the Windows operating system ever since they have been launched. Hope, you’ve enjoyed our article on 7 Best Windows Alternative Operating Systems, do let us know about your favorite OS, if you think we missed it in our list.

Microsoft Office 2013 Preview – First Look

It’s finally official, Microsoft Office 2013 has been announced and will probably release early next year. The last version of the world’s most used productivity was released 3 years ago and is starting to show it’s age. Microsoft’s new minimalism mantra introduced with the Metro interface is clearly visible in the upcoming Office 2013. It’s the biggest change to the Office suite ever. Everything is different yet strangely, familiar. The biggest change is probably the versions it will be available in. There’s the quintessential Office 2013 and there’s the new Office 365. Office 365 is basically the professional version of Office 2013 that will be subscription based instead of the usual single license retail version. Also, it will include a few more online services and will be more cloud based. Read on for more of the Office 2013 preview.

Microsoft Office 2013 Preview – What’s new?

Changes are both cosmetic (check out the new logo!) and internal. Office 2013 is finally making the leap to mobile devices and it will be available on tablets as well. Office 365 is the cloud based service, but even the desktop Office 2013 will be cloud integrated, although limited compared to the former. Now all documents will be linked across any Office 365 installations anywhere by linking your Microsoft Windows Live ID. By default, everything is stored on Microsoft’s SkyDrive. It makes transferring documents via portable storage media a thing of the past. Furthermore, even drafts of unfinished documents are saved periodically, so in case of a power outage or such the document is still safe! So what else is new? The Metro interface inevitably makes it’s way into Office 2013 and the UI is an extension of Microsoft’s new aesthetic. All the unnecessary tabs and buttons are now gone but the ribbon menu started with 2010 remains, although it can be hidden. The buttons are now more spaced out and have larger fonts, presumably for the touchscreen versions. Speaking of touchscreen differences, Microsoft has clearly designed the new Office with tablets and mobile devices in mind. A nice new feature is read mode, where users can turn a document into a book form to be viewed easily on mobile devices. However, documents cannot be edited and the book form is full screen.

Now media integration and document sharing has also been made easier. YouTube videos can be directly embedded without having to actually save the clip and Flickr photos can be attached without any fuss too! Document sharing takes on a whole new meaning through SkyDrive, presentations and documents can be shared and edited with permissions by multiple people which is a great feature for teams and groups. Individual programs also get new features, like PowerPoint now has an option to show the next slide in advance along with the present slide to the presenter while the screen facing the audience displays only the present slide. Excel gets a neat new feature called Flashfill that predicts data and fills cells automatically, for example formula calculations or templates in similar cells are predicted and filled automatically.

Last year, Microsoft bought out Skype and it will be integrated into the Office productivity network. Home Premium editions of Office will reportedly come with 60 Skype call minutes. This bodes well for the actual “productivity” in the namesake since video conferencing and on the fly editing are two extremely useful features. Microsoft also acquired a enterprise oriented social network called Yammer, so future integration with Office is definitely on the cards. Also, this time around, you will be able to view and edit PDF documents in Office itself. Apart from all the new features, Office is not much more….let’s say polished. There’s little visual flourishes, animations and effects even for mundane tasks like creating a table and it feels rather cool. Icons are also now glossy and overall almost everything has been changed to go with the new Metro look. We are pretty excited and really like this new interface. Installation is also now web based, so make sure you’re connected to the internet during installation.

Microsoft Office 2013 Preview – Editions and Requirements :

As of now, no pricing details or release dates have been announced, but we do know the editions Office 365 will be coming out in:

• Office 365 Home Premium: Includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Access and Publisher, 20 GB SkyDrive space and can be installed for 5 users.
• Office 365 Small Business Preview: Adds “professional mail, shared documents and HD videoconferencing” to the previous edition and can be installed for 10 users.
• Office 365 ProPlus Preview: Includes all of the above, adds InfoPath and Lync and can be installed for upto 25 users, 5 installations each.
• Office 365 Enterprise Preview: Includes all of the above along with SharePoint online and Lync Online.

The system requirements are as follows:

• 1 GHz Processor
• 1 GB RAM for 32-bit OS and 2 GB RAM for 64-bit OS
• 3.5 GB free space
• Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012

So there you have it, the next generation Microsoft Office 2013 preview. If you’re interested in trying out the consumer preview of Office 365, click here to download it. Tough luck for Windows XP and Windows Vista users though, you can’t use Office 2013. You know what that means, it’s probably time for an upgrade! Please let us know your thoughts and comments below.

Top 5 Universal 3G Data Card Dongles – Use With Any SIM Card

3G Data Card dongles let you connect to the internet anywhere, provided there’s networks available, of course. Usually the 3G dongles available in the market are tied to a single network operator, as we documented here. However, it’s pretty obvious that no single operator has optimum networks everywhere. A frequent traveler will know that each city/state has different “best” operators, so to speak. In state A, operator X might be the best, while in state B, operator Y might be the best and operator X might actually be considered as a bad service provider. It’s also quite common for people to use more than one SIM card and SIM cards are pretty cheap anyway. So your best bet is to get a universal 3G data card dongle, that lets you put in your own SIM card and choose your network operator of choice! They aren’t too expensive either, so here are the top 5 universal 3G data card dongles:

Alcatel One Touch X220

Alcatel is one of the oldest and most respected companies in the field of communications. Although not well known in India, it remains popular worldwide and is now called Alcatel-Lucent. Their 3G universal data card dongle series called One Touch features a lot of products, but the One Touch X220 is probably the best balance of features and price. The One Touch X220 supports download speeds upto 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, upload speeds of 5.76 Mbps HSUPA, incoming and outgoing calls and features expandable memory support upto 16 GB. As promised, all SIM cards are supported as well. It is available for Rs. 1600.

Micromax MMX 353G

Our very own desi Micromax, well known for it’s budget phones jump into the fray with the MMX 353G. It also supports download speeds of upto 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, upload speeds of 5.76 Mbps HSUPA, incoming and outgoing calls and expandable memory upto 16 GB. The installation is quick and easy and call quality is pretty good too. It also includes a Google Chrome installation on it. Balance can be checked directly and text messages (SMS) are viewable directly as well. The MMX 353G is slightly pricier compared to the competition at Rs. 1850.

Beetel MF190

Although branded as Beetel, the MF190 is actually a ZTE device. Like its rivals, it also supports upto 7.2 Mbps HSDPA download and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA upload rates, incoming/outgoing calls and SMS. But the MF190 supports upto 32 GB expandable memory. Unfortunately though, the software is slightly tacky and it doesn’t support balance checking directly either. The good part is that it takes very less time to recognize networks upon SIM change and is generally quite fast. The Beetel (Or ZTE!) MF190 is available for Rs. 1800.

Huawei E303C HiLink

Huawei is the second largest communication equipment manufacturer in the world (after Ericsson). This experience is quite visible in the great E303C HiLink 3G data card dongle. It supports upto 7.2 Mbps download speeds, upto 5.76 Mbps upload speeds, text messaging, inbuilt balance checking and upto 32 GB expandable memory. What sets it apart from the competition, however, is the claim of plug n’ surf in 15 seconds. There’s no installation, dialing or any cumbersome processes before you can access the internet. The user interface is also pretty good looking but there’s no calling facility. It is available for Rs. 1900.

Lava 730G

Last but not the least is the Lava 730G. It’s the most affordable and feature loaded of the bunch. It has almost all features as the competition like upto 7.2 Mbps HSDPA download speeds, upto 5.76 Mbps HSUPA upload speeds, incoming/outgoing calls, text messaging, inbuilt balance checking and of course, expandable memory support upto 32 GB. It doesn’t hurt that the finish and build is pretty sweet too! You can grab the Lava 730G for just Rs. 1600.

High End Universal 3G Data Card Dongles with Wi-Fi:

The 5 universal 3G data card dongles mentioned above are quite affordable but they provide internet access to just a single device. There are also more dongles that can actually be used as portable Wi-Fi routers. They basically have all features as the above dongles, but also include LED displays that give you complete information like number of devices connected, upload/download rate, battery status, call status and network. Both the devices mentioned below support upto 5 computers connected simultaneously.

• Huawei E560 – Rs. 4500
• Alcatel One Touch 3G Wi-Fi Y280 – Rs. 4235