Run Windows 8 on your iPad

Want to see how Windows 8 looks and feels on a tablet? Now you can tap into the experience on your iPad via an app called Win8 Metro Testbed.

Designed by the folks at Splashtop, the new app lets iPad users drive the current Windows 8 beta in all its touch-screen glory by remotely controlling the OS from a desktop. All of the Windows 8 tablet features and gestures are fully accessible on the iPad.

The app will set you back $24.99 in the App Store. And that's a special introductory price; it will normally cost $49.99. … Read more

Apple update supports Canon 5D Mark III raw files

Evidently the Canon 5D Mark III SLR must be a pretty hot item.

Because Apple just released an update to its Mac OS X camera support whose sole purpose is to let iPhoto, Aperture, and other photo applications view and edit the new camera's raw images.

Usually such Apple updates add support for a collection of new cameras, but time is of the essence now that the 5D Mark III is shipping. Many photographers who use this class of camera shoot raw images (data taken directly from the image sensor, not processed into JPEG by the camera) for the … Read more

IE10 in Windows 8: Can pinned Web sites truly replace Favorites?

Internet Explorer users accustomed to working with Favorites will find life a bit different in the new Windows 8 Metro version of the browser.

The desktop flavor of IE10 still lets you create Favorites to manage your Web sites, but the Metro edition does away with such legacy options. Instead, you're given the option of pinning often-used Web sites, as described in a new Microsoft blog. Pinning a site places a tile for it on both the Metro Start screen and in the browser when you click in the address bar.

That process sounds convenient in theory. No more … Read more

Latest BlueStacks ARMs your PC

The BlueStacks app player for running Android apps on Windows has taken a major step forward today with the release of its first beta, which can run even graphics-intensive Android apps on desktop PCs.

The BlueStacks beta (download) leverages a new, patent-pending technology that the company has developed called LayerCake, which does two things necessary for running Android apps on Windows. First, it powers the app on hardware that it wasn't originally intended to run on. That's basically the ARM to x86 conversion which runs the apps, and it comes with the blessing of one of AMD's … Read more

Detecting and removing the Flashback malware in OS X

Recently a new variant of the Imuler/Revir Trojan malware for OS X was found being distributed disguised as erotic images that, if installed on a Mac system, would attempt to steal personal information then upload them to remote servers. The malware's initial variants included offensive political material, but in its recent iteration has been distributed disguised among a collection of cover girl images in an obvious attempt to trick people into opening the application.

While these attempts are relatively easy to avoid, security company F-Secure has been monitoring a more serious threat from the Flashback malware for OS … Read more

Windows 8 reportedly set for October debut

Microsoft reportedly will finish work on Windows 8 by summer, setting the stage to release the next version of its flagship operating system sometime around October.

Bloomberg, citing "people with knowledge of the schedule," also reports that there will be fewer than five devices running the ARM system-on-a-chip architecture at launch. Those ARM chips allow for thinner, lighter tablet devices, something that Microsoft hopes will help it cut into Apple's iPad's huge lead in the tablet market. The Cupertino rival just disclosed that it sold more than 3 million of its latest iPad since the third-generation … Read more

Microsoft's Metro: Does it need iTunes to thrive?

To make Windows 8 a success on tablets, Microsoft may well need help from the one company least likely to give it: Apple.

As Microsoft prepares Windows 8 for a launch that analysts expect later this year, it's busily encouraging developers to create applications that work with its new touch-friendly, tile-based Metro interface. That's important, because the thinnest, lightest Windows 8 tablets will be running a Metro-only version of the operating system specifically created for ARM system-on-a-chip devices. Without popular apps, Microsoft's tablet partners will have a much harder time selling their devices.

Apple's iTunes is … Read more

Anonymous OS: Worth the risk?

The hacking group Anonymous may or may not have launched its very own operating system.

Dubbed Anonymous OS Live, the operating system, which is available as a free download on Sourceforge, is based on the Ubuntu version of Linux. According to a description on the Sourceforge page, the operating system is designed for "educational purposes" and can also be used to check "the security of Web pages."

The people behind the software have set up a Tumblr page providing news and updates on the software. Those folks yesterday announced that the OS had been downloaded over … Read more

How to easily install Windows software on Linux machines

Linux is great: it's cheap, it's stable, and it's secure. It can also be somewhat frustrating for those of us who want to install Windows software (especially games), as the Wine interface is still tough for beginners and some intermediate users. PlayOnLinux streamlines Wine installation and makes it much easier. Here's how to use it:

Install PlayOnLinux by searching for it in the Software Center for your distribution,  checking here or typing this into a terminal window: sudo apt-get install playonlinux Run PlayOnLinux. It is likely in the Games section of your software … Read more