GeekwithEnvy

Computers

Windows XP Users, It’s Time To Move On

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Windows XP has stood the test of time quite well and has remained one of the most popular versions of Windows for over a decade. Many personal users and businesses are still using Windows XP right now, but that needs to change, and soon.

Why? Microsoft will be killing ALL support for XP on April 8th 2014. How does that affect you? The main reason is security or lack thereof. If Microsoft isn’t providing routine security patches to the operating system then it can quickly become vulnerable to attack. There’s no doubt that once the deadline passes, Windows XP will likely become a breeding ground for malicious code like viruses and spyware since XP will basically have a target on it’s back for not having official support. For this reason alone it’s worth it to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8.1 and unfortunately for some users that may mean buying a new PC.

Of course there are other reasons to upgrade as well including driver support, live technical support from Microsoft, newer applications that won’t run on XP, website compatibility,  and not to mention the fact that a newer PC running Windows 7 or 8 will likely be many times faster. Although Windows 8 got off to a rocky start because of criticism over it’s user interface design, it’s probably one of Microsoft’s fastest versions of Windows.

So don’t wait till after the deadline to make your changes, start the upgrade now or at least put together a game plan, especially if you’re a business.

Teardown of the Playstation 4 (Video)

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This video is of Sony engineering director Yasuhiro Ootori tearing down the Playstation 4. Ootori leaves out no details as he takes the PS4 down to it’s motherboard and reveals the true guts of the system. The Playstation 4 was designed with the game programmers in-mind, that’s been the mission of the PS4 from the very beginning.

Even though the Playstation 3 was extremely powerful during it’s release, it was notoriously difficult to create games for, and that’s a problem since great games are what really make a console shine. The hardware capabilities of the Playstation have a lot of promise, especially with the inclusion of GDDR5, and it’s likely that we won’t see games utilizing the full power of the system until a few years from now but there’s still plenty to be excited about right now as trailers for some pretty rad PS4 exclusives begin to hit the web.

Thanks to WIRED for the video.

Valve’s Official Steam Machine Hardware Specs

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If you’re not already aware, Valve is creating it’s own hardware to run Steam to try and create the ultimate gaming experience.

This hardware is just a prototype and the final product isn’t due until 2014, but 300 lucky Steam users will get to beta test the system sometime this year.  Currently, there are no images of the prototype hardware but in a recent post from the company they have provided us with some pretty serious specs.

Here are the specifications for Valve’s 300 prototypes:

  • The 300 prototype units will ship with the following components:
  • GPU: some units with NVidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
  • CPU: some boxes with Intel i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
  • RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB GDDR5 (GPU)
  • Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
  • Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
  • Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high

As a hardware platform, the Steam ecosystem will change over time, so any upgrades will be at each user’s discretion. In the future we’ll talk about how Steam will help customers understand the differences between machines, hardware strengths and weaknesses, and upgrade decisions.

We aren’t quite ready to post a picture of our prototype – just because they’re not finished enough. Before they ship we’ll let you know what the prototype looks like. And we expect people to redesign the machine, too. Both from a technical perspective, deciding on different components, and from an industrial design perspective, changing the enclosure in interesting ways.”

98 Year Old Makes Amazing MS Paint Art

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While reading through a few articles on web, I came across a truly inspiring video. It’s about a 98 year-old man named Hal Lasko who creates amazing 8-bit style artwork using Microsoft Paint. Hal worked as a graphic artist when he was younger and he used to create his own unique typography by hand.

Hal started using Microsoft Paint later on in his retirement when his family introduced it to him around 2005. Hal has been spending hours upon hours every day since then creating his own unique artwork.

You can view more of Hal Lasko’s artwork at hallasko.com and for a deeper look into Hal Lasko’s world, you can head to WIRED.

How to Easily Shut Down Windows 8.1

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In many ways Windows 8 is pretty awesome, but it has many flaws. One of these flaws is the lack of an intuitive UI. Many people have found that even performing the most common tasks, like shutting down the computer, are very difficult thanks to hidden menus and buttons.  Fortunately , Microsoft is looking to solve these problems with upcoming release of Windows 8.1, which is set to be available to the general public on October 17th.

We originally offered up a solution that allows you to quickly shut down your Windows 8 computer in one step but with the upcoming release of Windows 8.1, this process will no longer be necessary but you can still use it if you prefer. Instead, Microsoft offers it’s own solution, the Start Button.

With the new update, instead of opening the charms bar you can simply right-click the Start Button or press the Windows Key + X, which will open up a menu with the option to Shutdown or Sign Out.