Notebooks - Features

Alienware's ultra-hot M17 gaming notebook

Alienware has launched its M17 notebook, and it’s a strange-looking creature…

How best do I clean my Registry?

Has a surgeon ever told you that, although they're an expert and will do the best they can, the operation still has some inherent risks? Imagine replacing the surgeon with some cheap or free software.

Cheap laptop batteries: Good deal or risky business?

It was five years coming, but the battery of my ThinkPad R50 finally met its maker. On a recent trip, it conked out after powering the notebook for only half an hour -- three hours short of what I'm used to getting out it. Now it refuses to be rechar...

If Windows is a dead end, what's next?

The writing is on the wall. Despite a major push to sell the much-maligned Windows Vista, customers aren't buying. Nearly two years after Vista's release, Windows XP remains the standard desktop OS in business, and Microsoft has extended its availabi...

In pictures: What's new in Windows 7?

Windows 7 — Microsoft's long-waited successor to Windows Vista — is expected to ship in 2010, if not earlier. Until now, the software giant has remained tight-lipped on the features in the new OS.

Windows 7 first look: A big fix for Vista

What if Microsoft waved a magic wand and everything people hated about Windows Vista went away? You might have an operating system that you liked--and that's what Microsoft appears to be striving for with Windows 7. We checked out an early beta of th...

Four new mini-laptops -- which is smallest, lightest, best?

Like a diamond, a digital media player or a rare coin, the latest mini-notebooks are good things in small packages. By squeezing a lot of computing power into a very mobile package at a hard-to-beat price, they are turning the established mobile peck...

10 best features in Windows 7 for IT professionals

Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled its work on Windows 7, the successor to Vista, to a crowd at the Professional Developers Conference that was salivating for information on what's new in the updated operating system. A lot of sites will take you through th...

Apple takes the MacBook upscale

If an Apple iMac married a MacBook Air, what would their offspring look like? A lot like Apple's new upscale MacBook.

The challenge of managing mixed virtualized Linux, Windows networks

The sprawl of management consoles, the proliferation of data they provide and the rising use of virtualization are adding challenges to corporations looking to more effectively manage mixed Linux, Windows and cloud environments.

Gadgets that solve everyday problems

I love gadgets that solve everyday problems. As I look over my desk, I have what seems like dozens of devices that need charging. What to do? Use another gadget, of course. This week I talk about device-charging gadgets, a rear-view camera that I tri...

Ailing laptop: repair or replace?

Remember the opening scene of Night of the Living Dead? A young woman and her brother are visiting their grandfather's plot in a graveyard. A creepy pale-faced dude approaches them, and the screaming begins.

Apple unleashes new Macbook line-up

Apple announced several refreshes of computers in its Macbook line-up yesterday with updated Macbook and Macbook Pros. The new editions of the 13in Macbook and the 15in Macbook Pro feature an entirely redesigned chassis complete with a new manufactur...

A road warrior's guide to netbooks

The netbook is one of the most interesting categories on the market. These small laptops can do most of the jobs of their big brothers while costing under US$500. For some people, such as students, a netbook can be a primary computer. For a business ...

Worst Windows flaws of the past decade

June 25, 1998, and June 30, 2008, marked two important milestones in Microsoft's evolution of the Windows OS -- the passing of the torch from Windows 95 to Windows 98, and the less seemly transition from XP to Vista.