Windows

For consistent 15 percent tipsters living in municipalities with a 7.5 percent dining tax, generating the perfect 15 percent tip is as simple as doubling the tax. If that's not you, Oh Arithmetic-Challenged One, you've got a bum deal. (See below for a quick computational technique.)

It's for this set, and for diners who frequently split a bill, that Ilium Software developed Tipster. The free, simple app for Palm, Windows Mobile smartphone and Pocket PC hurriedly computes your tax and total.

Tipster calculates tax in 5 percent increments up to 30 percent, and can evenly split … Read more

Since November, Microsoft has been slowly rolling out an update to its Windows Live OneCare security software. Although the update was designed to bring in new features, such as the ability to monitor the health of multiple PCs, some say the new version has brought only headaches.

Robert Webb of North Carolina said he started having problems from the moment his software was upgraded in early December.

"My main problem has been that OneCare does not always start when the computer is booted," Webb said in an e-mail interview. "It has to be manually started."

Microsoft'… Read more

Lesson learned: Just because something can run two operating systems doesn't mean it's a "dual-boot" system.

Microsoft put the kibosh on talk of a dual-boot XO laptop after OLPC chairman and founder Nick Negroponte told IDG News Service Wednesday that the two organizations are working on such a project. "While we have investigated the possibility in the past, Microsoft is not developing dual-boot Windows XP support for One Laptop Per Child's XO laptop," a Microsoft representative said in a statement Thursday.

While that might appear to be a flat-out denial, in a way, … Read more

One way to get Windows to load faster is by using the System Configuration utility (aka Msconfig) to disable programs that start unnecessarily when you boot the operating system. To view this list in XP, click Start>Run, type msconfig, press Enter, and click the Startup tab. In Vista, open your Startup list by pressing the Windows key, typing msconfig, pressing Enter, and clicking the Startup tab.

Be careful not to disable a program that your system needs to start properly. Paul Collins' Startup Applications List can help you determine whether a program is required, or if it can (… Read more

This is bizarre. Word on the street is that the One Laptop Per Child project will be adding Windows to its repertoire. Not separate machines, mind you. Windows/Linux dual-boot machines.

Where's the sense in that?

It's not that OLPC has been free of proprietary "taint" from the beginning. Back in 2006 it kicked up a furor over its inclusion of proprietary software.

But what about horsepower? Or what about the real question: Why? What purpose does it serve? Mary Jo Foley, of CNET sister site ZDNet, notes:… Read more

In a recent interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Bill Gates was asked about the future and whether or not his company will ever release a a proper competitor to the iPhone.

"No, we won't do that. In the so-called smart phone business we will concentrate solely on software with our Windows Mobile program," Gates said.

"We have partnerships with a lot of device manufacturers from Samsung to Motorola and this variety brings us significantly more than if we would make our own mobile phone," he added.

And with one fell swoop, the founder of Microsoft finally told the world that a Zune Phone or some other Microsoft toy won't be coming to fruition. And while I can't say that I know the exact reason why Bill and company doesn't want to compete with the iPhone, I can see about three reasons why he has decided against it.… Read more

The fact is, you don't need all of the services that Windows starts automatically when it boots. Disabling the non-essential services frees up memory and processor cycles for more important tasks. The trick is knowing which of Windows' automatic services you can do without: disabling the wrong service can render your system unusable. If you're careful, you can figure out which automatically enabled services your PC can do without.

Things would be so much simpler if I could just list which services to disable, but each Windows configuration is unique, so there's no way to predict which … Read more

Alltel Wireless has just announced the immediate availability of the HTC Touch smartphone with pricing starting at $199.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates and discounts. The Alltel HTC Touch has a number of the same features as the other versions of the phone (unlocked and Sprint's), such as the TouchFlo interface, Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition, and a 2-megapixel camera. They've also added a fourth "cube" to the menu interface where you can access some of the carrier's exclusive applications such as Voice2TXT (converts voice mails into text), Games from Magmic, Sharpcast … Read more

Asus introduced several smartphones for the North American market at CES 2008, including the GPS-enabled Asus P527. In addition to the built-in SiRFIII GPS chip, the device has a preloaded application called Travelog that lets you record and share your travel pictures, routes, and more with your friends and family. There's also a program called Location Carrier that can send your position to others via text message.

Aside from the GPS capabilities, the quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; EDGE/GPRS) phone runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition and features a 2-megapixel camera, 128MB Flash/64MB SDRAM, a microSD … Read more