The Best New Features in Windows 8

I know to a lot, this will fall on deaf ears, but I figured some might like the article. (via Lifehacker)

One feature I'd not heard about and it seems as easy to use as System Restore (which is one of the best features of recent years) is "Refresh your PC"

It also has a really cool feature called "refresh your PC", where you can do a clean install with the tap of a button. Whether you're selling your machine or just want a cleaner, faster installation of Windows, you can do it all in one click. You can even set refresh points, similar to restore points, so you can refresh your PC to the way it was at a certain point in time.

So ok...Ars Technica has a long and detailed review of Microsoft's new "hope for the future" poster child - The Surface Tablet.

Intriguing as much for what it is as it isn't.

Link to article here.

Very interesting blog post on Windows 8 Password Security system and policies:

http://securitynirva...ssword-security.html

I remember wanting to remap my Caps Lock key to something more useful awhile back and aside from digging into the registry I looked for a bit for a small tool to do the dirty work. Didn't come up with anything I really liked.

Found SharpKeys today through pure serendipity.

From the review:

Before you read another word of this review, I need you to do something very important. Take all of your preconceived notions about what Windows is today and what you are familiar with, and put them aside. It’s time to reinvent the desktop OS and Microsoft is leading the charge.

At the end of this review, you will see three scores. One score is for using Windows 8 with a keyboard and mouse, one is for using Windows 8 as a touch-based platform and the final is a combined score. The reasoning for this is that each input method offers two distinct experiences and to combine them into a single score would not accurately reflect the true value of the product; the summary score is made up of the two independent scores.

Source

Like Neowin says, take Windows 8 for what it is. Do not try and compare it to the past versions of Windows. While some will oppose this change, those that I know who run Windows 8 are actually enjoying it once getting past the new "Metro Screen".

On a side note, I have been running Windows 8 for over a month and love every aspect of it. Once I get a touch screen laptop (next month or two), I can see a lot of this new functionality being VERY useful.

-DC member Josh

Our annual NANY event is just around the corner -- it's where we celebrate the creation of new software by asking the coders who hang out on or visit DonationCoder to create some new piece of software that is free (at least for home use), and share it with the world.

We're pretty informal here, so your new creation could be a new website, a new desktop app, a new mobile app, a game, etc.  It could even be an addon for an existing tool, or maybe even a substantial new version of something you've created before.

And I think this year we should say that NANY should be a celebration of new stuff created in the last twelve month, since the last NANY event, rather than what we have done in the past which is to ask people to only enter stuff created in the last couple months of the year..

We don't have prizes for the best entries -- NANY is an open celebration and everyone is welcome, whether you are a new coder or a long time pro.  The reward for submitting something is one of our prizes NANY mugs starring our mascot Cody the bird/duck.  Yes you can submit multiple entries, but you still only get one mug.

If you are a coder and need an idea, make a post in this section and tell people what kinds of ideas you are looking for.  Or if you're not a coder and have an idea you'd like someone to code, now would be a good time to post it.

And we strongly encourage (require) coders to start a new thread in this section, "pledging" the app they are going to release.

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Let the games begin!!