UP

Productivity

What does it mean to use technology productively? Which apps and gadgets make your work easier? How to personalize the computers and other gadgets you’re using?

Introducing Windows 8: The Complete Guide to the Calendar App

Life can be hectic. As your individual worlds of work, play and family come together you can be left with a jumbled schedule of overlapping appointments, parties and events that can be impossible to keep track of without help. Windows 8 offers you the help you'll need with the bundled app named Calendar. This new app gives you the ability to keep track of all of your various engagements and
tutorial How to Use Outlook.com to Import POP3 Mail to Windows 8 Mail

How to Use Outlook.com to Import POP3 Mail to Windows 8 Mail

For those of you who've had a chance to try out the new Mail app in Windows 8, you'll know that it's a convenient tool for aggregating all of your emails into a single location, that is, unless you have a POP3 email account. While most email providers have updated to the IMAP protocol, some major ISP's, including Comcast and Verizon, still use POP3.
tutorial How to Install and Enable a New Display Language in Windows 8

How to Install and Enable a New Display Language in Windows 8

Not too long ago, we wrote a tutorial on how to add or remove keyboard input languages in Windows 8. To continue with the topic of working with languages, I would like to show how to install and enable additional display languages. I'm sure many of our readers would like to switch between at least two languages in their daily work. And, luckily, Windows

Introducing Windows 8: How to Rename an Account in Mail

When you add an email account into Mail, the app automatically configures the name of the account to match the account provider. That means you're likely to see accounts named Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo or others such as that. While that makes perfect sense and will work quite well for most people, this system falls apart in a few key situations. What happens for an individual with two Gmail accounts? What

Book Review - The How-To Geek Guide to Windows 8

I have been a fan of the How-To Geek website for a long time. They've got a great mix of interesting articles, created by some of the liveliest and best-informed writers on the Internet (next to the crew from 7 Tutorials, of course). So it was only natural that I had high expectations for The How-To Geek Guide to Windows 8. Did the book live up to those expectations? Let's

Introducing Windows 8: The Complete Guide on How to Use the Mail App

Once you get your hands on a copy of Windows 8, you'll notice it comes packaged with a few useful apps to get you started. These apps aren't the standard Desktop applications you're used to, they're Windows 8 apps, and they're nothing like anything Windows has offered before. The first of these apps that we'll take a look at is Mail. After a short setup, this app can take the
tutorial Introducing Windows 8: How to Configure App Notifications

Introducing Windows 8: How to Configure App Notifications

Have you ever had an appointment that you remembered about 15 minutes after it was past? Have you ever had an important email message that sat in your inbox far longer than it should have? If you've known these annoyances in the past, you don't have to repeat the experience. Windows 8 has a very handy system of notifications from important apps such as

Book Review - Windows 8 Step By Step, by Ciprian Rusen & Joli Ballew

Windows 8 is now on sale, and the interface is something radically different from any previous version. There are features that are entirely new, features that work differently from their previous incarnations and features that are pretty much the same. What's the best way to hit the ground running with Windows 8? Windows 8 Step By Step is part of a series that has a well-deserved reputation for explaining things

Introducing Windows 8: The Complete Guide to the Windows Store

The Windows Store is Redmond's answer to the Apple Store and Google Play. Users can visit it to download new Windows 8 apps and update their existing apps. While the Store is a bit sparsely stocked as of now, offerings are sure to expand as the user base grows. However, it is an exciting new feature that should generate a lot of interest. It's entirely new and thus can be

Windows 8 Step by Step - The Best Windows 8 Book is Available Worldwide

We did it! We finished the work on our second book! You can't imagine how happy we are to share this: Windows 8 Step by Step - the best Windows 8 book ever - is now available in many markets, for all our readers and fans to purchase and enjoy. To learn more about it and the best place to purchase it, read this article. [DC-SUMMARY-BREAK] Windows 8 Step by

Introducing Windows 8: 7 Tips for Working with Apps

Windows 8 apps are applications that run in full screen mode in Windows 8. They can provide both basic and advanced functionality, depending on how they were designed. But, at least so far, they provide basic functionality just like apps you'd use on your iOS or Android tablet. While using them on a mobile device feels comfortable and familiar, their inclusion on the desktop OS will be a bit of

Download the Windows 8 Logo & Other Windows 8 Icons

Do you want to use the Windows 8 logo as an icon on your computer? Are you interested in using other icons found in the final version of Windows 8? We extracted, converted and packaged together some of the Windows 8 specific icons, in a way that works on all versions of Windows and other non-Microsoft operating systems. Check them out! [DC-SUMMARY-BREAK] Here is how the icon with the Windows
tutorial How to Install Windows 8 RTM on Your Computer

How to Install Windows 8 RTM on Your Computer

Windows 8 has been finalized and it is made available gradually through different channels. For those who are new to Windows 8 and would like a detailed step by step tutorial on how to install it on their computers and devices, we have created this guide. We will cover the following: how to burn your Windows 8 image to a disc or create a

Download the Desktop Shortcut to the Windows 8 Start Screen

I've noticed a growing complaint with Windows 8: the fact that, on the Desktop there is no visible shortcut to take you to the Start screen. Something like "Show Start", just like we had Show Desktop in Windows XP. For a novice user, there is no clue shown on how to get back to the Start screen. That's why I decided to investigate and found a hack that gets this

Is the Windows 8 Start Screen an Improvement vs. the Start Menu?

One of the biggest changes in Windows 8 is the fact that the Start Menu has been replaced by the Start Screen and now you have a very different way of launching applications. While the Start Screen is great for making instant searches and launching applications with a few keystrokes, it is not that friendly to users who love using the mouse instead of the keyboard. Therefore, I decided to

How to Change the Metadata Stored in Executable Files in Windows

In another article about the metadata included in files, we showed how to view a file's metadata and how to change it for common files such as documents or images. But what about the metadata included with executable files (.exe,.dll or.ocx)? With the help of third party tools, their metadata too can be changed. This tutorial will show how. [DC-SUMMARY-BREAK] Resource Editors for Windows Programs If you want to change

Dual-Monitor Annoyance: Mouse Pointer Drifting to The Other Screen

Having a dual-monitor configuration gives you a pretty good productivity improvement but introduces a few annoyances you don't have when working on a single monitor. For example, it is more likely for your mouse cursor to slip to the second screen when all you want to do is close the active application window or press the Show Desktop button on the taskbar. How do you fix this? We've got a

How to Burn Labels on the Back of your DVDs with LabelFlash

In our previous disc-labeling tutorial, Ciprian mentioned the two types of label-burning technologies: LightScribe and LabelFlash. He covered only LightScribe as such drives are much more widely available. I happen to have a LabelFlash drive and I was able to use this technology a couple of times. Are there major differences between the two types of disc labelers? Is burning labels easier with one than the other? I was also

A Real-Life Review of the Logitech M600 Touch Mouse

These days, the touch mouse concept seems to be the new cool kid on the block. Microsoft has launched a touch mouse with great fanfare, and also has Logitech. They recently released the Logitech M600 mouse which aims to compete with Microsoft's Touch Mouse. I used it for a couple of weeks, shortly after ending my test experience with Microsoft's mouse. Let's see how the Logitech M600 fares and if

How to Burn Labels on the Back of Your Discs (CDs & DVDs)

Have you wondered if it is possible to burn a label on the back of your discs? Due to technologies such as LightScribe and LabelFlash, it is not only possible but it is also very easy. In this tutorial, I will show how to burn a custom label on the back of a DVD, using a LightScribe capable disc burning drive. The steps involved are the same also for CDs.