Tech Today w/ Ken May

Barence writes “PC Pro has picked out its 30 best features of Windows 8. Its countdown includes features such as the revamped Task Manager, the option to run ISOs and VHDs natively, and Windows To Go, which allows you to take a portable installation of Windows 8 with you.” They’ve also listed ten features they’d like to see added to Windows 8, “including the return of the Start button on the desktop, virtual desktops and one-click sharing of optical drives.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Nimey writes “Adobe has posted a security bulletin for Photoshop CS5 for Windows and OSX. It seems there is a critical security hole that will allow attackers to execute arbitrary code in the context of the user running the affected application. Adobe’s fix? You need to pay to upgrade to Photoshop CS6. For users who cannot upgrade to Adobe Photoshop CS6, Adobe recommends users follow security best practices and exercise caution when opening files from unknown or untrusted sources.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Don’t have an AirPrint-enabled output machine to get that much-need TPS report off of your iPad? Worry no more. Netgear has you covered with an update to its Genie app for both Mac and PC. With the aforementioned software running on your computer, you’ll be able to print from your iOS device to any printer just like it was outfitted with AirPrint right out of the box. Your Apple or Windows machine acts as a liaison of sorts via its network or USB printer connection to get the job done. Sure, you’ll have to keep the application churning constantly in the background, but the app is free and provides a much cheaper solution that splurging for a new printer . Looking to take the revamped software for a spin? Hit the source link below to start your download. Continue reading Netgear updates its Genie app to make even the loneliest printer AirPrint compatible Netgear updates its Genie app to make even the loneliest printer AirPrint compatible originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 00:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink    |  Netgear  |  Email this  |  Comments

Windows/Mac: If you have more than one computer at your workspace, ShareMouse will let you control them all with a single keyboard and mouse, as well as copy and paste text between them and drag files back and forth. More »

Ever wondered if you could control your house’s climate, security, and appliances — along with your PCs and peripherals — using Microsoft software? That day may soon dawn, as its Research arm has started testing its home automation software, called HomeOS, in twelve domiciles over the past few months. The budding system views smartphones, printers and air conditioners as network peripherals, controlled by a dedicated gateway computer. The project even has a handful of apps in play, which perform functions like energy monitoring, remote surveillance and face-recognition . This growing list of applications, available through a portal called “HomeStore”, will allow users to easily expand their system’s capabilities. So how does it all work out in the real world? Head past the break, and let Redmond’s research team give you the skinny. Continue reading Microsoft Research wants to automate your house, introduces HomeOS Microsoft Research wants to automate your house, introduces HomeOS originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink   Electronista  |  Microsoft Research (PDF)  |  Email this  |  Comments

We’ve known for what feels like ages that Windows 8 would come in at least two flavors: one supporting x86 devices and one for ARM machines. Now Microsoft’s ready to put a naming scheme on its much-anticipated menu for the operating system. According to a post on the Windows blog, ARM devices will get Windows RT, while x86 / 64 devices will run Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro (also for x86 devices) will offer the suit-and-tie set added features for “encryption, virtualization, PC management and domain connectivity.” Windows Media Center will be packaged as an add-on for the folks who go Pro. For a full break down of what each version will hold hit the source link below and check out our hands-on impressions of the OS preview here . Microsoft outs three flavors of Windows 8: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink    |  Windows Team Blog  |  Email this  |  Comments

In a post to Microsoft’s Windows Server blog , Microsoft Senior Program Manager Gaurav Gupta revealed that the company will offer an integrated cloud backup service for Windows Server “8″(the current designation of Microsoft’s next release of its server operating system). Microsoft Online Backup Service is now available as a free preview , but is limited to 10 gigabytes of cloud storage, works only with Windows Server “8″ beta, and will only be offered to a limited number of customers. While it’s not an enterprise data protection solution, it does provide an option that may be attractive for small and medium businesses, as well as for servers that are hosted in the cloud. Microsoft Online Backup is designed to provide incremental backups of server data, tracking changes at both the file and storage block level and only copying changes to backup storage. It also encrypts and compresses files before transferring them to Microsoft’s cloud, and can throttle the network usage of backup during business hours.  The Online Backup client integrates into the backup functionality of Windows Server “8,” and can be managed both through the existing Windows Server Backup utility and Windows PowerShell command line. In addition to backing up to the cloud, it can also manage backups to local storage. Gupta said in his post that the service also provided data integrity checks on the cloud side, to ensure no data was corrupted in transit. And administrators can also put a retention policy in effect that sets how long to retain backups in the cloud—based on how much cloud storage they’re willing to pay for, as well as company policy. The service can also be customized to work with other providers through Microsoft’s Cloud Backup Provider API . Read the comments on this post