desktop

Plagiarism is a big problem in the online world, not to mention a very old one in academia, government, and industry. Some modern tools have made it easier for teachers, administrators, and employers to check for plagiarism in text submitted by writers, test takers, job seekers, and others who might seek to gain an advantage from others' labors or property (it's known as "stealing").

Plagiarisma's Desktop Plagiarism Checker is a handy interface for a Web-based plagiarism search tool that supports more than 190 languages and many document types. The software and service are free, but you … Read more

It seems like many years since massive CRTs dominated the desktop display market, not to mention the desktop: anything over 17 inches was a sure hernia, and 21 inches was the practical limit. But what many people remember is screensavers, which were as important as Flash is today, and critical for preventing burn-in. Not only are screensavers still with us in the LCD era, they're better than ever, even if they're no longer needed much for their original mission. That's OK, because they have a new one, and that's to place something visually interesting on all … Read more

Sonos has made a big push into the mobile space with controller apps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android smartphones and tablet, turning those devices into remotes for its multiroom wireless audio system. However, the company is now showing a little love to customers still using the Sonos desktop controller apps on Mac and Windows laptops with a new update that adds powerful new "universal" search features and a redesigned interface.

What does universal mean? Well, using a single search box, you can now find artists, albums, songs, and stations from your music library, Internet radio … Read more

There's no doubt that online streaming is TV's future, and lots of programming is available all over the Web, including not only live streaming but also on demand and archived. We've tried several programs that attempt to bring as many of these scattered resources together in a single, user-friendly interface, including anyTV, a free program offering thousands of links to Internet TV and radio sites. AnyTV Pro is a shareware version of anyTV that offers some 3,000 additional channels, a full-screen view, automatic updates, and some other upgrades. While it definitely works better and offers more … Read more

Microsoft Office 15 will come built for the desktop but offer a huge touch of the Metro flair, according to a description posted by Supersite for Windows author Paul Thurrott, who obtained a copy of an early preview version.

Accord to Thurrott, the technical preview of Office 15 kicks off like the current version, letting you choose which applications to install.

But after a full installation, you'll find your Metro start screen cluttered with a huge number of live tiles for each application. That's an inherent flaw in the Metro UI, which doesn't allow tiles to be … Read more

All-in-one computers (such as the Apple iMac) are the most visible part of the desktop market these days, thanks to excellent screen/PC hybrids from HP, Lenovo, and others. But these are largely mainstream machines, aimed at kiosk-like kitchen environments, or family video viewing.

Boutique PC maker Maingear is adding a different take, with its new Solo 21 all-in-one, which focuses on high-end multimedia. The company says: … Read more

Firefox on Windows 8 will be designed to work in both the Metro and desktop environments. But getting there won't be easy.

While most software aimed for Windows 8 will be Metro apps or classic desktop apps, Firefox will fall into a third category, according to a blog post last Friday by Mozilla developer Brian Bondy.

Firefox will be considered a "Metro style enabled desktop browser." That means it will offer the power and flexibility of a classic Windows app when used on the desktop--but can also take advantage of Live Tiles and other Metro features when … Read more

Xearth is a definite blast from the past, and it shows; the program's origins date back more than 20 years, and not a lot has changed since then. But Xearth still functions as a really cool desktop background that shows the Earth's rotation in real time. There are probably similar programs that are much more sophisticated, but if you want to kick it old-school, Xearth is a fun and interesting choice.

Upon installation, the program filled our desktop with a spherical view of the Earth against a starry black background. The default view showed the part of the … Read more

We have a love-hate relationship with desktop enhancements: when they work well, they can definitely change your computing experience for the better, but when they don't, they can be a tremendous pain in the rump. Unfortunately, Smart Desktop falls squarely in the "pain in the rump" camp, delivering potentially useful features in a totally unworkable package.

Smart Desktop is nothing if not ambitious, attempting to cram a tremendous number of tools onto the desktop, including the weather forecast, a slideshow of our images, three different search engines, a calendar, a notepad, information about system performance, and what … Read more