Huzzah! Windows 8.1 Update May Boot to Desktop By Default

Talk about a reboot. After going back and forth about how it intends to use its Start Screen and Start button in Windows 8 devices, Microsoft is reportedly preparing an update for Windows 8.1 that will boot to desktop mode by default.

An upcoming “Update 1? for the Windows 8.1 operating system may also bring shutdown and search buttons to the Start screen. According to The Verge, Microsoft will also add the familiar bar with Minimize, Close and Snap buttons to Modern apps. This would make the transition from desktop to Modern mode a lot less awkward.

MORE: Windows 9 Rumors: New Start Menu, Apps on Desktop, More

Microsoft has been heavily criticized for Windows 8 and 8.1's touch-centric interface, which many keyboard and mouse users feel is a step down from the traditional desktop in Windows 7. The company brought the Start button back in Windows 8.1 last year, but the button was a mere ghost of its former self, only letting users switch between Modern and Desktop environments and tweak some properties with a right click or long-tap.

Windows 8.1 also allows you to boot to the desktop, but that option is disabled by default. The update may also let users pin Modern apps to the desktop taskbar so they can launch them without heading to the Start Screen.

Though Microsoft has not confirmed any of the Verge’s report, these rumors dovetail with what we’ve heard from other sources about the company’s new strategy. Earlier this month, we heard that Windows 9, the next major version of Microsoft’s desktop OS, will have a fully-functioning Start Menu and the ability to run Modern apps on the desktop. This Windows 8.1 update sounds like a step in the same direction. 

via The Verge

Cherlynn joined the Laptopmag team in June 2013 and has since been writing about all things tech and digital with a focus on mobile and Internet software development. She also edits and reports occasionally on video. She graduated with a M.S. in Journalism (Broadcast) from Columbia University in May 2013 and has been designing personal websites since 2001.

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Review: Update Your Shortcuts With Broken Shortcut Fixer

Expatriate Scotsman now living in Wurzburg, Germany, freelance writer, frustrated future bestselling author, obsessed bibliophile. Other interests include trying to understand The Architect in the Matrix movies, decrypting codes and ciphers, and trying to persuade my landlord and my wife to let me have a Highland Cow for a pet.
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With the plethora of free software available these days, we all install and then uninstall a huge amount of stuff. The problem with this is that quite often, a lot of shortcuts and other detritus is left behind, clogging things up and making things a mess. The problems aren’t confined to uninstalling, either. When you move things around in your computer you often end up breaking shortcuts pointing to the old location. You may not immediately realize that, and later when you need the file or program, you click the shortcut only to get the dreaded "the item has changed or moved" error. Luckily, there's one free piece of software that can help with these scenarios: Broken Shortcut Fixer.

A shortcut is a link which allows you to start a program or open a file from a different location than the directory that program or file lives in. So for example, you may have Microsoft Word in the Windows folder but a shortcut link will be on the desktop, so you can start a new file right away.  But these shortcuts are only good if the file it points to stays in place. If you move it, the shortcut link is broken, because it is still pointing to the old location.

Broken Shortcut Fixer is a small free app that scans your computer drives, looks for shortcuts and then determines if they are broken or not. If they are broken, it tries to fix the shortcut by looking for the target file or program and linking the shortcut to it. If they can’t be fixed, it displays it in a list for you to review so you can decide if it can be fixed manually. If all else fails, it gives you a big delete button to blast them off into digital oblivion.

To find broken links, just choose your drive in the lower left of the UI, and click “scan shortcuts”. Any shortcuts that the app was unable to fix will appear in the main section for you to review and delete.

To use it, you start up Broken Shortcut Fixer and choose which computer drive you want to scan.  Then press “scan shortcuts” and let it do its work. Since I had just reinstalled my entire Windows system, it only found one broken shortcut. Maybe I should have tested this the day before when my system was the digital equivalent of a junkyard.

As I said previously, when it finds something, it attempts to repair it first, using the Windows Link Resolve method. If it can't reunite shortcut with the intended program or file, you are given a list, so you can examine them and decide which ones you want to keep and fix yourself and which ones can be zapped.

This is a very handy program, worth keeping on the computer and running every now and again, alongside your anti-virus and anti-malware. There’s nothing worse than clicking a link and being told the program can’t be located. Occasional use of this program means you can banish those moments forever and keep on top of your shortcut repairs.

Note: The "Download" button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.

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TweetDeck v1.3 Hands-on: Update Offers Much Needed Tweaks

A new version of TweetDeck for Windows and Mac hit the web today, courtesy of parent company Twitter, and we’re glad to say the app is a significant improvement over Twitter’s first attempt at fiddling with the social media client. TweetDeck v.1.3 now offers a host of new features including a list management function that allow you to create lists within the app without having to visit the web-based version.

To create a list, click the List button at the top of the screen and choose which of your linked Twitter accounts the list will be for. Add a name and a description of the list, choose the Twitter users you want to the list to follow and click save. want to add a user to an existing list, just click their name from your any other column and select Add or Remove from List. The feature is a much needed addition to the desktop client and will save a lot of users the headache of having to create lists from the web client.

The new Interactions column also adds the ability to see who has followed you, added you to a list, mentioned you or retweeted one of your tweets. You can also mark tweets as spam and unfollow other users. Also added to v.1.3 is the Activity column which updates you when someone you are following or follows you follows a new person, favorites a tweet, etc.

Our favorite addition to the desktop client is the new media preview feature. Now whenever someone tweets a photo or video, a small thumbnail preview will appear in line with the accompanying tweet. Clicking on the media will expand it to its original size. We definitely appreciate the inline preview since it makes knowing what you are really clicking on much easier, although we do wish the full-size view made the close button at the top of the screen easier to notice.

TweetDeck has also added an edit option to the retweet feature, which allows you to successfully edit another user’s tweets before retweeting them. It’s a small addition, but one that we like immensely. You can also choose to mark other users’ tweets as spam, block them or delete them from the app, something that was frustratingly missing from Twitter’s first TweetDeck effort.

There are, however, still two things we don’t like about the new TweetDeck. The first is the inability to add more than three columns to your stream on a single page. If you add more than  three  you’ll have to click over to the next page. So you can’t look at your update, mention, direct mention and activity streams on one page, something we would greatly prefer. On top of that, the Compose box functions as a popup box, instead of the bar-style Compose box old versions of the app used. 

In general, the improvements to TweetDeck such as the inline media previews are appreciated, but overall we still prefer the older versions of TweetDeck, those available prior to Twitter’s buyout, to the new version, especially since we could put as many columns on one page as we wanted. If you don’t have a social media client you like already,  we suggest downloading v.1.3, but if you still have the pre-buyout version 0.38.2 installed, we don’t recommend that you upgrade.

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SpoonFed Mobile Episode No. 1: The New iPad, Android Update Blues, and 5 Best Ultrabooks

I’m happy to announce SpoonFed Mobile, a new video show dedicated to bringing you the best and worst in mobile tech each week. From my unique take on the hottest new gear and apps, to answering those burning questions, SpoonFed Mobile will keep you up to speed on everything mobile. This week, I’ll give you my impressions of the new iPad (and its 4G drawbacks). Plus, I delve into those incessant Android Ice Cream Sandwich delays and count down my five favorite Ultrabooks. 

Over time, we’ll be adding all sorts of new segments, including interviews with top mobile executives, quick product test drives and more. So sit back and enjoy, and feel free to tell us what you’d like to see in future episodes.

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Windows Phone 7.5 OTA Update Will Allow Multiple SMS Attachments with Video, Voice Notes

As advanced as Windows Phone 7.5 is in terms of its user interface and software, it has lagged behind other platforms in terms of SMS support as it only allows you to attach a single photo — not video or audio — to each of your messages. Fortunately, that’s about to change with an upcoming OTA update due later this Spring that will allow users to attach multiple photos, videos, or voice notes to a single SMS message. 

Today at Mobile World Congress, Microsoft’s Greg Sullivan showed us Windows Phone 7.5's upcoming SMS improvement on a Nokia Lumia 610. He began by attaching two photos to a message, then showed how the menu allows you to also choose videos from your library, and to record a short voice comment that also sends along with the SMS message. In all, he attached two photos, one video, and an audio recording to a single text message.

Sullivan explained that improved SMS support is just the most visible improvement the update, which also includes a host of subtle performance and security enhancements. Perhaps the most important invisible feature of the new build will be its ability to support lower-end hardware like that found on the Lumia 610. After the update, new Windows Phone handsets will be able to support as little as 256MB of RAM and will also handle the lower-end Qualcomm 7X27A CPU, which is a bit slower than current processors. 

With slightly lower end specs, Microsoft and its partners can target more value-conscious consumers in countries where subsidized phones are not the norm. Along with the build update, Microsoft is adding 28 additional countries where carriers will sell Windows Phone devices. To support those markets, Microsoft has to update its marketplace and also include support for WCDMA connectivity which is very popular in China. In many of these markets, users pay by the SMS message so they need multiple attachment support to avoid running up the bill.

While the operating system itself and its built-in apps run flawlessly on lower-end Windows Phones like the Lumia 610, their lower amount of RAM and processing power means that certain third party applications may not run. Fortunately, with the new update, Microsoft will flag apps that don’t meet your phone’s specifications in its market and prevent you from downloading them.

Sullivan told us that lower-end phones like the Lumia 610 will come with the new Windows Phone 7.5 build preloaded, but all current Windows Phone 7.5 users will receive an automatic update sometime shortly after the lower-end devices ship. No build number has been announced.

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