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PC Advisor's winter photo competition

November 20, 2009

Send us your best winter photograph and be in with a chance of winning one of five star prizes.

Following the success of our reader photo competition in the summer, we've once again teamed up with Corel and this time around have five copies of Corel Digital Studio 2010 to give away.

PC Advisor Blog | PC Advisor staff | Read more...

Why Google Chrome OS is bad for business

November 20, 2009

IT manager Michael Scalisi argues that Google Chrome OS has a long way to go before it becomes the primary operating system for most companies.

Yesterday in Mountain View, Google held a press event to announce details of its upcoming Chrome OS. What it unveiled is an exciting new platform for web computing that is aimed squarely at consumer netbooks, and has little relevance to businesses today. (See: Google Chrome OS: first look video.)

PC Advisor Blog | Michael Scalisi | Read more...

5 things to love about Office 2010 beta

November 19, 2009

Microsoft has unleashed the public beta of Microsoft Office 2010, and you can download it right now from the Microsoft Office 2010 beta site. Here are five reasons that you should download the beta and check out what Microsoft Office 2010 has to offer.

1. Ribbons. OK. I admit that the ribbon interface takes some getting used to. If you're still using Office 2003 and you're used to the standard menu options across the top of your Office application screens, prepare yourself for a little learning curve when you start using Office 2010.

PC Advisor Blog | Tony Bradley | Read more...

9 things I hate about laptops

November 18, 2009

Laptops I'm a big man with big hands. And if there's one thing I've learned from testing laptops, it's that a good keyboard and trackpad on a laptop is a bit like a toilet: you take it for granted until you're stuck with one that doesn't work so well.

Here's our list of complaints about the keyboards and trackpads of laptop PCs, some of which were provided by readers via Twitter.

PC Advisor Blog | Patrick Miller | Read more...

Why I hate Microsoft Office 2010

November 17, 2009

Office 2010 logo Office 2010 is clunky - that's the first word that comes to mind as I meander around the recently leaked official beta release (build 14.0.4514.1007, for those keeping score).

The default colour scheme is a ghastly gradient grey blur, while the new Outlook Scenic Ribbon toolbar is a disorganized mess.

PC Advisor Blog | Randall C Kennedy | Read more...

Apple 'to force you to watch adverts'

November 17, 2009

Apple And now, a word from our sponsor. True story: last year, Apple filed for a patent on technology that would force you to watch advertisements, no matter how hard you tried to avoid it.

First made public back in October, the concept is getting more attention thanks to an essay in Saturday's New York Times by Randall Stross, who has picked a few bones with Apple in the past.

PC Advisor Blog | Robert X Cringely | Read more...

Good, clean fun: but what is Twitter for?

November 16, 2009

Internet Ask even the most avid Twitter fan to explain the benefits of their obsession, and it will take them considerably more than 140 characters to come to no good answer.

For all the obvious popularity of social media, it's not always easy to see, well, why? ;-(

PC Advisor Blog | Matt Egan | Read more...

Technology for free, and other terrible ideas

November 16, 2009

Wireless I wish my landlord realised that housing should be free. And why doesn't my favourite restaurant understand that French food should be given away? Also, how come I have to pay to get on the bus? Okay, that sounds silly, but is it any sillier than the idea that Wi-Fi should be free in airports?

Writing at PCWorld.com (our sister publication), David Coursey says: "Having to pay for internet access in airports and other public places is simply stupid." I can't agree. I care a lot about the future of the technology industry, and I don't want to see it make the same dreadful mistake that has hurt the publishing industry so badly.

PC Advisor Blog | Bill Snyder | Read more...

Meet the man who said Win 7 was Mac-inspired

November 13, 2009

It may be the biggest blunder Microsoft has seen since Vista. In an interview with PCR, a British trade publication, a Microsoft manager named Simon Aldous implied that Windows 7 was based on the anti-Windows itself: Mac OS X. So who is this guy, and where did he come from?

We did a little digging to find out.

PC Advisor Blog | JR Raphael | Read more...

Apple's 12 biggest failures

November 12, 2009

Apple Apple has developed a reputation over the years that's almost on the level of religious faith: if Apple builds it, they say, it will be a success. But that isn't always the case...

While Mac OS X, the iPod, iTunes, the iPhone and many other Apple releases have set the standard, the firm's successes don't cover the whole story. Apple's's periodic failings of arrogance, in-fighting and shortsightedness have also played a key role in the company's long and complex history.

PC Advisor Blog | Galen Gruman | Read more...

Windows 7 on a shoestring

November 12, 2009

The falling cost of computers means keeping up with the latest technology has never been easier. You can get hold of a brand-new desktop PC with a decent specification and Microsoft's just-launched Windows 7 operating system (OS) for less than £400.

Pay £100 more than that and you'll get a pretty powerful PC compared to the XP or Vista system you're using at the moment. This is definitely the safest option if you want Microsoft's new OS but are wary of upgrading an old PC.

PC Advisor Blog | Paul Trotter | Read more...

Do Macs need security software?

November 11, 2009

Apple Actually, the question should be: when will Macs start to need security software? It's going to happen sometime, Macfans, and you might as well get used to that fact.

Geoff, the revered IT admin here at PC Advisor Towers, would say 'right now', and insists that all the Macs in the office have up-to-date antivirus, firewalls and the rest. But the key industry journalist sitting in my chair has been running a web-connected, AV-free Powerbook G4 for more than five years, with no discernible downside. And I'm not going to be shelling out any time soon.

PC Advisor Blog | Matt Egan | Read more...

Windows 7 is displacing Vista - but not XP

November 11, 2009

Windows 7 is surging. After a massively popular beta cycle, Microsoft's latest OS has exploded out of the gate, grabbing more than 4 percent of the real-world user base after only a few weeks of general availability.

More tellingly, Windows 7 is grabbing a sizable chunk of our new users. Fully 10 percent of the most recent registrants are running some version of Windows 7, which is remarkable; after three years in the market, Windows Vista still barely registers above the 30 percent level.

PC Advisor Blog | Randall C Kennedy | Read more...

Murdoch takes on Google

November 10, 2009

Internet & broadband Will the internet kill newspapers, and is Google holding the pistol? Rupert Murdoch certainly seems to think so. He's mad as hell, and he's not going to take it any more.

But before we get into that, I'd like to make a modest proposal.

PC Advisor Blog | Robert X Cringely | Read more...

Time to boycott the PC Version of Modern Warfare 2?

November 9, 2009

Gaming The PC version of Activision's heavily hyped first-person military shooter, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - officially available in less than 24 hours - may go down as one of the most contentious launches in games history. Who would have thought it?

The game has been mired in controversy of late, a muddle of pros and cons batted around by hundreds of thousands of advocates as well as detractors on message boards and social network sites and pithy missive multiplication mediums such as Twitter.

PC Advisor Blog | Matt Peckham | Read more...

Find your stolen photos online

November 9, 2009

Digital photography A friend recently sent me a link to a site that was prominently using a photography I had taken of some wolves. The problem? I hadn't given the owners permission to use my photo, which they had 'borrowed' from my Flickr page.

I asked them to remove the photo, and they did - but not everyone out there is so reasonable. You can watermark your photos to prevent this sort of thing from happening. But there are some other ways to find your photos online and see if they're being used inappropriately.

PC Advisor Blog | Dave Johnson | Read more...

Windows 7 discounts its way to success

November 6, 2009

The early sales numbers for Windows 7 are impressive. According to market researcher NPD Group, US sales of Windows 7 boxed software were a whopping 234 percent higher than Vista's first several days of sales.

The news is so good, in fact, that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called early Windows 7 sales "fantastic" during a Thursday media event in Tokyo, according to The Wall Street Journal.

PC Advisor Blog | Jeff Bertolucci | Read more...

Android vs iPhone: security nightmare

November 6, 2009

iPhone smartphone Here's an ad you'll never see: "The new Vodafone (or T-Mobile or O2 or Orange) smartphone: Your IT department's best friend."

After all, the smartphone wars have been about the consumer for some time now, promising more features, more fun, more glitz.

PC Advisor Blog | Bill Snyder | Read more...

The Beatles on Apple! (But not how you think)

November 5, 2009

Apple No, you can't get Beatles tunes on iTunes or elsewhere (legally) online. But you will be able to get them on an apple-shaped USB drive.

This is... odd. The Beatles are finally releasing their remastered catalogue in digital form - both high-quality FLAC files and 320-Kbps MP3s. But they're not selling it on iTunes or any other online music merchant. They're releasing it as a limited edition of 30,000 16GB USB drives that fit into an "exquisitely crafted" commemorative apple.

PC Advisor Blog | Harry McCracken | Read more...

Why Google wants you to use a single password

November 4, 2009

It's one of the basic tenets of online security: never use the same password/username combo for every website that requires one. The logic is sound, of course. A single security breach could expose your most private information - such as banking and credit card numbers - to the bad guys.

Problem is, who can remember multiple passwords and usernames? Many times I've signed up for a service, returned to the site a few weeks later, and quickly realised that I couldn't remember my login details.

PC Advisor Blog | Jeff Bertolucci | Read more...

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