Hardware

PCs Topic Center

Trends, news, reviews and more about PCs

Microsoft reprises free Xbox back-to-school PC promo

Microsoft will repeat last year's back-to-school promotion, kicking off the deal Sunday with an offer of a free Xbox 360 game console to eligible U.S. students who buy a new Windows 7 PC.
Read more...

Microsoft anti-bloatware service to apply to Windows 8 PCs, too

A Microsoft in-store program that scrubs "bloatware" from Windows PCs will also be offered when Windows 8 machines reach the market later this year, a company representative said.

Microsoft to charge $15 for Windows 8 upgrade deal

Microsoft plans to charge users who buy a new Windows 7 PC $14.99 for an upgrade to Windows 8. The upgrade program is expected to kick off alongside the delivery of Windows 8 Release Preview in June.

Lenovo packs 'thinnest' ThinkPad ultrabook with 4G LTE

Lenovo announced a range of new ThinkPads with Intel's latest third-generation Core processors, including a ThinkPad ultrabook that the company claims is the "thinnest ultrabook in the world."

SAP offers mobile device management on Amazon's cloud

SAP's Afaria mobile device management tool is now available on Amazon Web Services' cloud, offered as a way to make it easier to start using the platform, SAP said at the Sapphire conference on Monday.

Microsoft preps Windows 8 upgrade deal for early June debut, says report

Microsoft will reportedly kick off a Windows 8 upgrade program for buyers of Windows 7 PCs in early June.

Lenovo expands recall of ThinkCentre PCs

Lenovo has again expanded the recall of some ThinkCentre all-in-one desktops that could catch fire due to a component defect.

Why Linux is a flop on the desktop

It's free, it's easier to use than ever, IT staffers know it and love it, and it has fewer viruses and Trojans than Windows.

Microsoft releases update for Deployment Toolkit utility

Microsoft has released a new version of a tool designed to let enterprise IT staffers automate and manage large-scale deployments of Microsoft OSes, desktop applications and server software.

Microsoft remains mum on Windows 8 upgrades from Vista, XP

Microsoft today declined to confirm whether users of Windows XP and Vista will be able to upgrade their PCs to Windows 8 when the latter launches later this year.

10 questions for LogMeIn CFO Jim Kelliher

Name: Jim Kelliher

Google's 'Project Glass' teases augmented reality glasses

Google has taken the wraps off its long-rumored augmented reality glasses project, officially dubbed 'Project Glass.'

New Dell PowerEdge: More power, deeper management

First look: 12-gen, 2U Dell PowerEdge R720xd pairs hardware heft with first-rate remote management tools

Amazon expands integrated status monitoring

Amazon Web Services has added the ability to monitor the status of storage volumes on EBS (Elastic Block Store), the company said in a blog post on Tuesday.

What do you get with an ultrabook?

A new category of thin and light Windows 7 laptops called ultrabooks has emerged in the past few months, but questions remain about whether the time is ripe to buy or to wait for Windows 8 models with features like touchscreens.

Standardizing the Desktop

More companies are using desktop virtualization tools to create a 'gold standard' -- one desktop version that gets pushed out to all end users.

Dispatch from the post-PC revolution

We are entering a post-PC world and the devices we use will look a lot like iPads, writes columnist Mike Elgan.

Predator secures your PC with a USB drive...and some difficulty

Predator may not be as magical as BioTrust, which lets you unlock your computer using a webcam and your face, but it's still a nice idea.

Alienware X51: The little PC that could

Among built-to-order gaming PCs, Alienware is about as close as one gets to a household name, and the brand is largely synonymous with huge black boxes covered in garish blinking lights. The new Alienware X51 is a marked departure from that routine, cutting both costs and girth to deliver a machine that's palatable to the masses but doesn't lose any of that gamer cred.

10 IT news stories to expect in 2012

Well, we erred in our 2011 predictions in not repeating a 2010 forecast that Carol Bartz would be ousted as Yahoo CEO -- it was bound to happen, we just called that one too early. Then again, we also predicted last year that Oracle would buy Salesforce.com and have decided not to repeat ourselves this year, so we'll see if we were just ahead on that one, too. Meanwhile, these are our predictions for the next 12 months: