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Windows 8: Surviving without the Start Menu

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As a sales representative at Puget Systems, I’m often asked by customers considering a new PC if they should have us install Windows 7 or the new Windows 8 operating system. When I began running Windows 8 a few months ago, I kept a running list of features I enjoyed along with a few I found perplexing. Over time, my list has grown and contracted, but a few items on each side of the coin have remained.

One of my coworkers has already put together a helpful list of new features while another helps you decide if Windows 8 is right for you. I’m going to take a different approach by sharing my Windows 8 experience with those of you whom I don’t get to speak or email with each day.

Thermal Paste Application Techniques

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The best technique to apply thermal paste is something that is often debated, and as a whole the internet has not decided on a standard technique. There are many varying techniques that are recommended, so in this article we will best test a variety of techniques to see which performs the best.

Gaming PC Configuration Guide – Fall 2012

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This article is intended as a guide to recommended hardware specifications for gaming computers, across a few different price points, based on technology available in late 2012 / early 2013. If you have questions above and beyond what is discussed, here please call or email us – we would be happy to go over your exact needs and provide advice tailored just for you!

Review: SIIG USB 3.0 Dual Head Docking Station

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As more and more people discover the benefit of multiple displays, many – especially those using mobile platforms – are beginning to max out the number of displays their system can handle. The SIIG USB 3.0 Dual Head Docking Station provides an easy way to add two displays through the USB 3.0 interface. The displays, while not ideal for gaming, work great for watching movies or browsing the web.

Windows 8 User Settings

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Changing account settings and adding new users is something that has to be done on any computer system, and unfortunately Windows 8 makes the process a bit more complicated than previous operating systems. In Windows 8 there are now two different ways to change and add user settings, each of which allows different settings to be changed.

AutoDesk Maya 2013 GPU Acceleration

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Similar to AutoCAD, Maya 2013 does not have any specific features or effects that are GPU accelerated, instead almost everything that looks 3D uses the GPU in some manner. You still need to balance a powerful video card with a good CPU and RAM combination, but the video card you use for Maya is an extremely important part of the performance equation. In this article, we will look at a number of desktop and workstation cards to see the performance difference between a wide variety of cards.

Is Windows 8 Right For You?

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Windows 8 launches this fall, on October 26th to be precise, and it is shaping up to be the most controversial Windows edition ever. Past versions like Vista and Millennium Edition were underwhelming, certainly, and others like Windows 95 and XP changed the face of Windows dramatically – but each new version has generally been an attempt to improve the user experience. Some focused on better performance, others on a newer and sleeker interface… and while there were both successes and failures Microsoft has managed to maintain dominance in the PC operating system market.

The latest version of Windows, however, has a lot more to it than just a shiny new taskbar or updated applications: it represents a shift in the whole interface from a traditionally mouse-centered approach to a touch-centric design. The last time that Microsoft tried to add an interface option to Windows was Media Center, which was introduced part-way through the life-cycle of Windows XP and brought a ‘ten foot’ interface designed for use in a living room. That was simply an added interface option on top of the normal Windows UI, though, while Windows 8 has completely removed large parts of the traditional interface that PC users have become accustomed to.

Important New Windows 8 Features

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Windows 8 has a host of new features and improvements that are aimed to improve usability. Many of the larger and more important of these are already very well documented by either Microsoft or third party websites, but it is often difficult to locate the best articles. We researched the best articles for each important new Windows 8 features and grouped them in one place to help you find information on whichever feature interests you.

AutoDesk AutoCAD 2013 GPU Acceleration

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AutoCAD 2013 does not have any specific features or effects that are GPU accelerated, instead almost everything that looks 3D uses the GPU in some manner. You still need to balance a powerful video card with a good CPU and RAM combination, but the video card you use for AutoCAD is an extremely important part of the performance equation. In this article, we will look at a number of desktop and workstation cards to see just how important a role the video card plays in the performance equation.

Our Favorite Games: MechWarrior Online

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MechWarrior Online (often shortened to MWO) is an upcoming “free to play” action simulator, the latest game in the well known MechWarrior series which is in turn based on the BattleTech tabletop game and novels. For those familiar with the franchise the setting is going to put you right at home: you are a MechWarrior, piloting a 20-100 ton bipedal war machine called a BattleMech. The graphics and controls are greatly updated from previous games, the last of which was published more than a decade ago, but the core game-play is very similar.

The main difference from past games is that they tended to be single player, story-driven games – which had small, tacked-on multi-player game modes. MechWarrior Online lives up to its name in that it is all about online multi-player battles – there is no single player option, and no specific story line. Instead, the game is set within the BattleTech universe at a specific point in the established history. Time in the game’s setting is progressing in a 1:1 fashion with the real world: each day there are news announcements pertaining to events going on in the fictional future time period, and eventually this will be integrated into a meta-game where territory is actively fought over by players. That all has yet to be implemented, but should be a huge draw for both competitive gamers / groups and long-time BattleTech fans when it arrives.