windows

The RipTunes user interface is simple and straightforward. At the top are four tabs: Search, Library, Queue, and Ringtone. Search is self explanatory, Library is where you can view all downloaded files, Queue brings up a page showing current downloads, and Ringtone is where you can cut MP3 files to make ringtones.

The Search tab is where you want to go first. Inputting any artist name or song title will bring you to a new page. Overall the program works amazingly well downloading and converting to MP3. A typical song will take about 30 to 45 seconds to completely download … Read more

Many humans are competitive.

They want to prove that they have the winning hand -- or even the winning phone in their hand.

Microsoft, over recent times, has been keen to humiliate these people in public. First, there was the "Smoked By Windows Phone" challenge, in which Redmond's indefatigable Ben Rudolph proved that Microsoft's phones were so much faster than iPhones or Samsungs.

With the advent of Windows Phone 8, you are invited to a new challenge. This is called "Meet Your Match."

It is similar to the "Smoked By Windows Phone" … Read more

Windows Phone 8 devices just started hitting the market, but a number of users are reporting spontaneous reboots and email-sync issues with various devices on different carriers.

I had not had any issues with my loaner HTC 8X Windows Phone 8 on AT&T, which I've been testing since October 29 -- until yesterday, that is. This morning, my email accounts, as well as my Microsoft Account, were stuck in an endless loop of continually trying to sync. This was not happening on my Windows Phone 7 device (an HTC Trophy on Verizon). My Windows Phone 8 device … Read more

User interface design guru Jakob Nielsen is none too pleased with what he's found in Windows 8, which he calls a "misguided" product.

Nielsen, who has spent much of his career analyzing all kinds of user interfaces, including most notably Flash software for Web animation, says that the new Windows 8 user interface "smothers usability with big colorful tiles while hiding needed features."

To arrive at that conclusion, Nielsen brought in 12 "experienced PC users" to try out Windows on both PCs and Surface RT tablets. In that study, Nielsen found that the … Read more

Getting to a Microsoft store isn't easy. That's a problem.

It's a problem because in the wake of the Windows 8 release late last month, the best selection of the coolest devices is at a Microsoft store. Throw in solid ambiance too.

Best Buy? I don't think so. Though my local Best Buy in Los Angeles has a few interesting Windows 8 PCs, like the Lenovo Yoga convertible, it's mostly business as usual.

Same old big box chaos with clam shells that look pretty much like the clam shells that were there last year.

And … Read more

Windows 8 may not be selling nearly as well as Microsoft projected, according to a report.

"Sales of Windows 8 PCs are well below Microsoft's internal projections and have been described inside the company as disappointing," Paul Thurrott wrote on his Supersite For Windows today, citing a source inside Microsoft.

The culprit? "Lackluster PC maker designs and availability," according to Thurrott.

But he lists plenty of other reasons too, including Windows 8 itself as "confusing" because of its mix of touch and a standard Windows 7 desktop.

And he cites the simultaneous release … Read more

With the introduction of tabbed browsing, the way we surf the Internet has never had more distractions. Session Buddy and Session Manager aim to bring a little order to the chaos. Whether you're a couch surfer, a college student, or an office jockey, chances are you probably have what seem to be a thousand tabs opened right now. Managing all those open windows were a hassle before, but now with each one having about 20-plus tabs opened, too? One trick was to force shutdown Chrome. The crash-saving feature would save your session for the next time you launched your … Read more

Update, November 16, 2012: The method for pinning Web sites with Chrome was added to this blog post.

The Windows 8 Start screen comes prepopulated with lots of tiles, some of which you won't ever use. Instead of wasting that precious space, you can remove the tiles you don't use and pin your favorite Web sites to the Start screen for quick and easy access. Here's how:

Step 1: Open Internet Explorer from the Start screen and go to the Web site you want to pin.

Step 2: Click the pin icon in the lower right-hand corner … Read more

Better mobile support and more desktop options give SkyDrive users a bit of a boost today, as Microsoft updates its cloud storage service.

The desktop improvements include the ability to share SkyDrive files with one click from Windows 8's File Explorer (also known as Windows Explorer in previous versions of Windows,) and selectively sync folders from a Windows or Mac. This can help keep small-drive devices from filing up too quickly.

Android and Windows Phone apps have been updated, too, so that you can now more easily browse files in your SkyDrive. You'll also be able to control … Read more