win

WinPDFEditor is shareware that stands above the masses of freeware and just beneath the do-it-all, big-box (and big-bucks) "solutions" for editing and converting PDFs. Since software costing three bills is no "solution" for most users' needs, WinPDFEditor's far more modest price makes it a serious alternative for home users, small businesses, and others who need something they can't find in freeware. WinPDFEditor Version 2 works in Windows versions 2000 to 8. WinPDFEditor is free to try, though the trial version places a watermark on output files, and file conversions are limited.

WinPDFEditor started with … Read more

You've probably heard that regularly changing your password is an important part of protecting your personal information. Even more critical is choosing a password that is difficult to crack. Intel aims to educate and hopefully inspire users to create safer passwords with their just-announced Password Win contest. 30 first prize winners will receive McAfee All Access 2013 and three grand prize winners will be given Intel Ultrabooks.

Entering is easy. Head to Intel's official sweepstakes page and input a password that you think is difficult to crack. Intel will then tell you how long it would take hackers … Read more

Whether you're new to Windows 8 or a seasoned veteran, it's always good to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Let's face it: without a touch screen, Windows 8 can get a tad tedious to use. Here are the most essential Windows 8 shortcuts for accessing and working with the Charms menu, and system-wide. You can thank us later.

Useful keys to access Charms in a touchless world

Still feeling the Windows 7 blues? Ever wish you could take your apps out of Win8's Modern UI and onto your desktop? ModernMix is a utility that enables Windows 8 Modern-centric apps to run inside a windowed frame, resulting in a more traditional experience like previous versions of Windows. Regardless of your feelings about Microsoft's current direction, ModernMix is an attractive utility made especially for the classically desktop dependent.

When running multiple Modern apps, the applications are not normally running or visible in desktop view. Instead, the charms bar acts as your standard task manager for Modern apps. … Read more

Modern Mix is a tweak for Windows 8 that brings users one step closer to the classic Windows experience inside the Modern UI environment. Stardock's latest release removes the barrier between the Start Screen and desktop by enabling Modern apps to run inside a window. The result is a user experience more in line with the traditional Windows 7 way of displaying windowed applications. Regardless of your feelings about Microsoft's OS, Modern Mix is a utility that is genuinely useful for the desktop dependent.

After installation, you'll be introduced to ModernMix's config menu. By default, any … Read more

No one likes to pay taxes, eh? Translated from the original Canadian, that reads, "No one likes to pay taxes." While totally lame, our joke hinges on a fact of life for millions of people: They're Canadian. Specifically, they live, work, and pay taxes in Canada, a place so like its noisier neighbor to the south that it's all too easy to forget that lots of things are done differently up there. Such as paying taxes. WinTax Calculator from HRIS Consulting is a free tool for calculating Canadian payroll taxes. It can determine your tax on … Read more

Review: The story of Internet Explorer resembles nothing less than the "Ugly Duckling," a maligned and mocked bird that grew into something far more beautiful. Such is the case with Internet Explorer 10 and its roots as Internet Explorer 6.

Microsoft has improved its signature browser in fits and spurts coinciding often with major Windows upgrades over the past 10 years, but IE 10 is the winner that Microsoft fans have long been craving. Fast, standards-compliant, and even future-forward in some ways, Microsoft got it right with IE 10. Still, it has some drawbacks that keep it from … Read more

With mobile computing becoming the norm, more and more utilities are being made available for phone and tablet use. WinZip has now introduced its zip file tool to the mobile world, and simply put: It works.

WinZip smartly opens with a two-page, quick tutorial for opening zip files on your iPhone or iPad. To open an e-mail zip attachment, just tap and hold the attachment and then tap Open in WinZip when the menu pops up. To open files from a Web page, the steps are the same. It's as easy as that. Using a zip attachment in our … Read more

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is doing his first-ever Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit today.

Gates started posting answers to questions promptly at 10:45 a.m. PT, as planned. From the introduction, it seemed clear Gates intended to focus the AMA on his job heading the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. ("Many of you know me from my Microsoft days. The company remains very important to me and I'm still chairman. But today my full time work is with the foundation.")

But one of the first questions Gates answered was about Microsoft. Here's the exchange:… Read more