Desktops

Apple unveiled a thin new iMac today, refreshing the design and specs for its popular desktop computer.

"It is absolutely beautiful," Apple's Phil Schiller said during the introduction at an event in San Jose, Calif. "It is stunning from every side."

The new computer is the thinnest desktop Apple has made to date, Schiller said: a 5 millimeter edge, 80 percent thinner than the previous generation. It is 8 pounds lighter as well.

The computer also uses a new "Apple Fusion" drive, … Read more

Wondering if you should upgrade to Windows 8? WD has teamed up with Microsoft to offer a quick solution for business users.

The company announced today that its My Passport Enterprise portable drive is now Windows To Go-certified and will be available on the same day as Windows 8, which is Friday.

In a nutshell, the drive comes with Windows 8 Enterprise environment pre-configured on it and makes it possible to provision a fully featured Windows 8 work space on a bootable USB drive. In other words, you can take this drive, plug it into any computer running Windows 7… Read more

Before taking the plunge into Windows 8, there are a few questions you should ask yourself. We've summarized some of most useful ones here, and by going down this checklist, you'll end up with a much better idea about the right path for upgrading existing hardware versus buying a new machine, and figuring out all the new styles of tablets and touch-screen hybrids hitting store shelves alongside Windows 8.

Do you want to stick with Windows at all, or would another OS work better for you? Microsoft has two new operating systems, Windows 8 and Windows RT. For … Read more

By now, the fact that Apple is holding a press event on October 23 is old news. It's widely agreed that the long-rumored smaller iPad will finally be unveiled. But it's likely that the iPad Mini isn't the only thing that Apple will have up its sleeve. Expect to see at least one new Mac grace the stage during Tuesday's event.

There are a couple of reasons I'm confident that we'll see new Macs. First off, they're overdue -- Apple refreshed MacBooks last … Read more

A little over 36 years ago, Apple launched the Apple I, a hobbyist 1MHz computer often remembered for the classic picture of it housed in a humble wooden computer case with a carved "Apple Computer" logo.

Apple's designs slowly evolved from bulky plastic towers to rounded and colorful products, then solidified themselves in a place where ultrathin components and catchy colors co-exist.

In the below gallery by our friends at CBSNews.com highlighting Apple designs over the years, you may be able to spot when the collaboration between Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive really kicked off. … Read more

I don't want to alarm you, but the clock is ticking.

The Windows clock, I mean. Microsoft's new operating system debuts October 26. This means that very soon thereafter, any new Windows laptop or desktop you want to buy will come with Windows 8.

Let me be blunt: As a desktop operating system, Windows 8 blows. It's completely unintuitive. It forces you to relearn the simplest tasks, like how to shut down your PC. (No, seriously; there's no more Start menu, so to shut down, you have to venture into the Settings menu. Seriously.) And from … Read more

Desktops are a dying breed, but they're still useful for people who want maximum horsepower -- especially for graphics -- at a minimum price.

Today only, and while supplies last, Geeks.com has the refurbished Gateway DX4860-UB33P Core i5-2320 desktop PC for $379.99, plus $20 for shipping. Regular price: $599.99.

This is a seriously loaded desktop -- with one exception. It's powered by a 3GHz Intel Core i5-2320 processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and 1TB hard drive. Like USB peripherals? The tower sports a whopping 10 USB ports, two of them USB 3.0. Also included: … Read more

Coming soon, a veritable evolutionary explosion of Windows 8 devices will be bearing down on you. Big small, tablety, not tablety, full of touch, and ready to fold into strange shapes for your general amusement.

Welcome to the Windows 8 Field Guide, an Audubon's Birds-style attempt to help you identify the classifications and subphyla of this odd new computing world. It's not as hard as you think, once you break down the various common types. Be forewarned: these classifications are works in progress, and there could very well be more evolutionary variants coming soon. But, hopefully, this should help classify some of the multipurpose strangeness you're already starting to see on preorder pages.

Of course, you still have laptops, desktops, and tablets. Some of these tablets will have one of two operating systems: Windows 8 or Windows RT.

After that, the classifications get a little more diffused.… Read more

In the old days, choosing a computer was easy: you bought the one with the fastest processor you could afford. And you knew which processor was fastest (more or less) by its numerical clock-speed rating.

These days it's a lot trickier. Only hard-core techies (and those with the patience to search in Google) know the difference between, say, an AMD A4-3305M and an Intel Core i3-2350M.

And even then, does it really matter? There's a strong argument to be made that processor performance, even in low-cost, entry-level PCs, has reached a level that's good enough for most … Read more