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TurboTax is big in tax software, so we were interest to see how their online tax service compared to similar services from other big names in the tax prep game. TurboTax Online offers five options: Free, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, and the new Military Edition. The Deluxe edition is the most popular. Why? Maybe its mission: Maximize your deductions. TurboTax Deluxe 2012 is ready to help you prepare and file your 2012 taxes. Better yet, it's ready for the IRS: One of the advantages of online tax tools from trusted services is their ability to handle changes in … Read more

Instant Quote Professional by PC Experts is a full-featured tool for any business that needs to issue quotes and cost estimates to customers, such as parts suppliers, contractors, and technicians. Built around a powerful MS Access customer database, it supports major tax structures such as U.S., VAT, GST, and PST, with many customizable options. It includes contact management tools, call logs, POS invoice, Outlook compatibility, support for Add-Ins, and more than 100 different reports. It tracks mileage, inventory, and serial numbers, too, and supports major parts importing formats. On top of all that, it offers some of the most … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about battery care, where to get Mac-specific training, what to do about guest accounts deleting user data, and the limitations of using an iMac as an external display for other systems. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Common battery care guidelines MacFixIt reader Thomas asks:

TurboTax is big in tax software, so we were interest to see how its online tax service compared with similar services from other big names in the tax prep game. TurboTax Online offers five options: Free, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, and the new Military Edition. The Deluxe edition is the most popular. Why? Maybe its mission: maximize your deductions. TurboTax Deluxe 2012 is ready to help you prepare and file your 2012 taxes. Better yet, it's ready for the IRS: one of the advantages of online tax tools from trusted services is their ability to handle changes in … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about completely wiping a Mac back to factory settings similar to what can be done with an iPod or iPhone, restoring a lost administrative account, removing the account of someone who no longer uses the system, and restoring lost programs that were included with OS X. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Completely wiping a Mac back to factory … Read more

The New York Times' report Monday of state-sponsored hacking in China drew new attention to the sophisticated techniques that would-be infiltrators use to gain access to victims' accounts. But it's not just China, Google said today -- the techniques used against U.S. government agencies and corporations are being used increasingly by hackers around the world.

"Compared to five years ago, more scams [and] illegal, fraudulent, or spammy messages today come from someone you know," security engineer Mike Hearn said in a blog post. "Although spam filters have become very powerful -- in Gmail, less than … Read more

OS X is a multiuser operating system so each user can tailor the system for his or her own needs without interfering with another user's workflow. With this setup, not only can multiple people use a system, but an individual can also configure it to have multiple work environments.

For example, if you use your computer for two jobs and would like to keep all work for one completely separate from another, then one option is to use multiple user accounts for this. Alternatively you might like to have a separate user account for testing purposes if you've … Read more

The end-user is at the mercy of the service creator when it comes to how secure their data will be online. Google, fortunately, offers extra opt-in features to help ensure than no one other than you will be able to log-in and access your information. One of these security measures is the two-step authentication process.

With two-step, the user decides if they want to enter a randomly generated code each time they log in from a specific place, or if they want to enter it only every 30 days. The benefit is that if you try to log in … Read more

OS X is an account-based system, in which individual users have their own accounts storing their own settings and data. When you set up a user account, the system will ask you for your name and then based on that will create a short username the system will use to identify your user account.

This short username is the true username of the account, but you can use the short name or your full name at the log-in window. Since the system initially generates it for you, it's easy to overlook the fact that you have the chance to … Read more