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AS APPLE VICE president Craig Federighi declared in late October that the just-released OS X Mavericks would be a free upgrade, he said: “Today we’re going to revolutionize pricing.” Although the low, low price of $0 for Mavericks is certainly a welcome change from the reasonable cost of previous OS X upgrades, it’s not quite as revolutionary as Apple claims. Mobile OSs have been free for years, and long before Apple’s Mavericks-release announcement, Microsoft made Windows 8.1 a free upgrade for Windows 8 users. But there’s more to Apple’s strategy than price alone, and Mavericks could very well offer a glimpse into the future of Windows now that Microsoft has reimagined itself as a devices and services company (go.pcworld.com/msftreorg). No more stragglers The OS X move to free makes a…

AFTER TEASING ITS Intel Bay Trail–powered, 8-inch Venue Pro Windows-based tablet at the Intel Developer Forum in September, Dell announced several 11-inch versions of the Venue Pro. The company is also releasing three new Ultrabooks bearing its XPS brand. Venue 8 Pro The Venue 8 Pro (go.pcworld.com/venue8pro) features an 8-inch IPS display with ten touch points and a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels. It’s powered by Intel’s quad-core Atom Z3740D processor (Bay Trail family) and 2GB of single-channel DDR3/1600 memory. It has 32GB of flash storage, which you can expand up to 96GB by way of a MicroSD card reader (a model with 64GB of storage that you can expand to 128GB will also be available). A 5-megapixel camera resides in the back, and a 1.2-megapixel camera sits in…

1 HP: Envy 5530 e-All-in-One go.pcworld.com/hp5530 » HP’s Envy 5530 is a borderless photo printer, but that isn’t why it’s special. The 5530 is one of the first models to feature HP’s new Instant Ink program—you pay a subscription fee based on the number of pages you print each month, and HP ships ink to your door. Color? Black and white? It all costs the same. 2 Google: Nexus 5 go.pcworld.com/nexus5 » Google’s new Nexus 5 is larger and snappier than the discontinued Nexus 4 model, with a 2.3GHz processor and 2GB of RAM. Those aren’t the most impressive specs, but Google counts on the software to make up the difference—Nexus phones run a stock version of Android, without bloatware. You’ll find nothing but pure Android 4.4 KitKat here. 3…

WI-FI HAS EVOLVED over the years, and so too have wireless-network security techniques. We’ll separate the signal from the noise and show you the most current and effective means of protecting your network. Myth 1 Don’t broadcast your network’s SSID Every wireless router (or wireless access point) has a network name, also known as a Service Set Identifier. By default, a router broadcasts its SSID in beacons so that all users within its range can see the network on their devices. Preventing your router from broadcasting this information, rendering it somewhat invisible to people you don’t want on your network, might sound like a good idea. But some devices—including PCs running Windows 7 or later—still see every network, even if they can’t identify each one by name, and unmasking a…

YOU’RE FINALLY READY. You punted on Windows 8, and like many businesses, you’re currently running Windows 7, or even Windows XP. But now that Windows 8.1 has launched, your business is going all in, lured by the promise of a direct-to-desktop option, tighter cloud integration, and the return of the Start button. Make sure you have a solid plan in place, one designed to head off problems before they wreak havoc. Consider hardware and software compatibility and other factors before you install Windows 8.1. And of course, back up your crucial data. Let’s look at the upgrade issues, step by step. DIY or go pro? Are you prepared to undertake this upgrade on your own, or does it make sense to bring in outside experts? Installing a new operating system…

IF YOU’VE FALLEN hard for a superthin notebook, you’re probably running into the same issues I am. Mine has a beautiful display and great battery life, but it has just two USB ports—only one of which is USB 3.0—and it doesn’t have a hardwired ethernet port. The transceiver for my wireless mouse and keyboard occupies one port, and a USB-to-ethernet dongle consumes the other. Unplugging the dongle so I can connect a hard drive means that I lose my network connection. Unplugging the transceiver means that I lose my external mouse and keyboard. If you’re getting by with just a tablet, you’re probably having even more connectivity issues than I am, especially when it comes to driving an external display. So I decided to check out the Targus Universal USB…

Saints Row 4 can be had at a deep discount online. Get AMD’s Radeon R9 290X for great gaming performance. There’s plenty of buzz about the new gaming consoles from Microsoft and Sony this year, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that PC gaming is on the wane. The truth is that this segment has never been hotter. If there’s a PC gamer in your life, you’re lucky—it’s tough to screw up a great PC gaming gift. If you don’t have a clue what your gaming fans already own or which games they’re interested in getting into, a gift card is the safest bet. You can buy them at retailers (such as Target, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart) that sell boxed games. But these stores also sell gift cards that…

Watch the video at go.pcworld.com/win81vid WINDOWS 8.1 IS HERE. Now what? A year after Microsoft released Windows 8, the highly anticipated Windows 8.1 upgrade is ready for download and at retail. As our in-depth review of Windows 8.1 (go.pcworld.com/windows81) found, Microsoft left the foundation of Windows 8 largely unchanged, but added tips, tools, and new features that make the OS more accessible. It also introduced incremental improvements in various areas. The bottom line: Unequivocally and indisputably, Windows 8.1 is worth the upgrade. And here’s how to do it. Preparation The first step is to identify your current operating system. I’ll help you sort through some OS-specific issues below, but Microsoft has also provided a handy cheat sheet (go.pcworld.com/81cheat). That page will detect your operating system and configure itself automatically to…

Q: HOW CAN you make a file in a format your PC doesn’t recognize open and become readable (or viewable)? A: READER RED Eye Rose received a file with a strange extension. She doesn’t know what program she should load it into—and neither does Windows. Probably no one knows all of the file extensions people have used since the pre-DOS days of CP/M. Some of them may not even describe a file type. Before Windows started using them to associate files with an application, people used extensions for all sorts of things. But that was a long time ago. Chances are that the extension on your mystery file does indeed identify a program. But how do you find what program? The first thing you should do, as a precaution, is…

1 The native Messaging app surrenders to Skype » In Windows 8, the Messaging app handled IM capabilities. No more: Microsoft has kicked Messaging to the curb, replacing it with Skype. As high-profile as the swap is, it’s no great loss. Messaging was lackluster and largely overlapped Skype’s core functionality. Meanwhile, Skype’s services are also being baked into the Xbox One and Outlook.com. One bummer: Messaging supported Facebook Chat, but Skype does not. 2 The Windows Experience Index fades away » Ever since Vista, Windows provided a “Windows Experience Index” score that was supposed to be an indicator of your PC’s brawn. Unfortunately, the scoring criteria weren’t well known, and the WEI placed odd caps on the highest possible scores. (Windows 7’s cap was 7.9; Vista’s was 5.9.) The WEI…

THE FUTURE OF PC gaming is in the browser, and it’ll be here sooner than you expect. We’ll soon be playing AAA games that don’t require us to make pricey investments in new hardware. Even better, most of these games will be free to play. I recently sat down with Artillery Games (artillery.com) CEO and cofounder Ankur Pansari and StarCraft II community superstar Sean “Day[9]” Plott, who recently joined the company as head of games. Pansari and his team are developing a real-time strategy game, codenamed Project Atlas, that they promise will rival StarCraft in depth and quality. The game will run entirely in a modern browser through HTML5 and JavaScript, and it won’t require plug-ins or downloads. The demo I played loaded fast on a freshly booted, uncached MacBook…

IF YOU’RE FOND of Netflix, Pandora, and YouTube, chances are good that your bit-gobbling ways are coming under scrutiny from your Internet service provider, and that soon you may pay a premium for all those massive downloads and data streams. Over the past few years, AT&T, Comcast, and Time Warner have experimented with data caps and broadband metering. In response to vocal outrage from consumers, the big ISPs have hesitated to roll out new metered billing plans nationwide. Still, say industry watchers, the clampdown is coming. ISPs may be following in the footsteps of the wireless industry by creating service tiers that offer customers varying amounts of data per month. The ISP tracks (“meters”) the customer’s data usage and charges for each additional gigabyte of data the customer uses beyond…

CAFFEINE AND FREE Wi-Fi are a potent recipe for productivity. But whether you’re just getting out of the office or the sidewalk café is your office, working in a public space has some special challenges. These tips will help you stay safe and productive. 1. Stake out your turf Before you put down your coffee, consider the location of your temporary office. Is it too close to the door? Too far from the restroom? Right under a vent that pumps out freezing-cold air? Discomfort and distractions will hamper your productivity. Don’t be shy about asking to share a table. And bring a jacket or sweater that you can drape over your chair to hold your spot. 2. Power up Whether your device is a laptop, a hybrid, or a tablet,…

Watch the video at go.pcworld.com/2350video WHEN DESIGNING AN all-in-one PC, many manufacturers focus more on aesthetics than on performance. That’s certainly not the case with Dell and its 23-inch Inspiron 2350 (go.pcworld.com/dell2350), at least not for the high-end configuration we tested, which racked up both impressive benchmark scores and high marks for style. The 2350’s visual appeal derives in large part from the system’s exceptionally thin profile for a 23-inch touchscreen AIO desktop: The PC measures less than 0.5 inch thick at its edges, and barely 1 inch thick everywhere else—certainly slender by Windows 8 standards. (Dell also sells a nontouchscreen model that’s a tad skinnier.) Moreover, its sturdy, articulated stand lets you adjust it pretty much any way imaginable, from nearly flat against the 10.5-by-9.5-inch base to upright and…

I LOVE THE CLOUD. It allows me to access my data from any device, from anywhere I have broadband access. And I can share some or all of that information with anyone I choose. Western Digital Technologies’ My Cloud storage device (go.pcworld.com/mycloud) gives me all the flexibility of a cloud service without requiring me to pay a subscription fee to a third-party provider. It’s a hard drive that connects to my home network, so it’s as secure as I can make it. But I can access it from a PC, smartphone, or tablet—just like a cloud service. I can create user accounts to allow family, friends, and colleagues to access specific folders. And I can transfer files between the My Cloud and cloud-storage services, such as Dropbox. Installing the My…

An all-in-one PC combines the system unit and monitor into a single convenient, space-saving package. The one downside to this design is that you typically can’t upgrade it later, so it’s important to buy as much computer as you can afford so that you don’t outgrow it too fast. Windows 8 is a touch-oriented operating system, but we recommend that you dedicate more of your budget to screen size (23 inches is the sweet spot), memory (at least 8GB), and a fast CPU, and worry about getting a touchscreen last. You’ll find machines powered by AMD processors to be much less expensive than ones with Intel CPUs inside, but they’ll be less powerful, too. Intel’s fourthgeneration Core family of processors (Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors with model…

Microsoft’s Sculpt keyboard and mouse are curved and padded for comfort. There are generally two types of mice and keyboards: Those designed for productivity and those designed for playing games. It’s important to choose a duo that fits your specific needs. Workaholics who just can’t tear themselves away from their PC should consider ergonomically designed peripherals that reduce the risk of repetitive motion injuries. The best models offer features such as padded surfaces and curved designs that allow you to keep your wrists in a natural position. Microsoft’s Sculpt Ergonomic Desktop (go.pcworld.com/mssculpt) keyboard-and-mouse duo is one of the better examples on the market. Once you get over its quirky design, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more comfortable mouse and keyboard. And it’s wireless! Traditionalists, however, still swear by plank…

THE NEXT GENERATION of consoles is about to kick off a frenzy of game development that will push the boundaries of gaming hardware—so assembling a top-of-the-line gaming rig would be rash at this point. But the welcome arrival of Windows 8.1 inspired us to assemble a gaming rig that runs that OS and costs a cool grand. What you need and where to look for it Snagging an OEM copy of Windows 8 (which you can upgrade to Windows 8.1 for free) costs about $130, leaving $870 for hardware. To build a gaming PC from scratch with $870 worth of hardware, you have to make some compromises. But one component is nonnegotiable: a fairly powerful (and pricey) graphics card to handle high-end games and deliver playable frame rates at 1080p…

WITH THE SURFACE Pro 2, Microsoft isn’t just trying to dominate the tablet market. It’s hoping to replace the PC market. The next-generation Surface by itself is just a tablet (see our review on page 73), but when you pair it with its new Power Cover, suddenly you have a notebook PC. And when it’s docked in the Surface 2 Docking Station, suddenly it could emerge as a replacement for a desktop PC. Microsoft executives say that the Surface Pro 2, equipped with Intel’s fourth-generation Core chip, aka Haswell, offers improved performance that puts the tablet on a par with today’s most powerful laptops. A series of ‘blades’ will transform the Surface 2 into a purpose-built tool. But it’s the Surface Pro 2’s peripherals where Microsoft seems to be setting…

IF YOU HAVE A PC, you’re a target. But that doesn’t mean you need to shell out cash for a security suite. You can cobble together a DIY suite that provides most of the protection that the boxed options do, at none of the cost. Once you’ve slapped these apps on your PC, you’ll have a decent amount of protection. Get a good, free antivirus program AVG Antivirus Free topped the chart in our most recent free-antivirus roundup (go.pcworld.com/freeav). Fast and efficient, AVG (free.avg.com) does a great job of blocking malicious downloads, and the program is even better at eradicating malware that has already slipped onto your machine. Notice I said “malware,” not “viruses.” AVG protects against a wide range of infections, and it comes with extras such as a…

YOU HAVE NO excuse for being buried under paper these days. The tools to digitize most or all of your pile are readily at hand and very affordable. Offices are not exactly paperless yet (see go.pcworld.com/notpaperless), but this guide will help you get to less paper, and that’s a step forward in several ways: increased efficiency, better security, and a reduced environmental footprint. We’ve also added a few tips to eliminate paper from your workflow, the better to declutter your office—and your mind. Scan everything The simplest way to eliminate paper documents is to scan and archive them. Try one of SimpleScan Connect’s portable scanners (go.pcworld.com/simplescan), which offer single-or double-sided scanning capability. They also come with a free service to upload scanned documents to popular cloud services such as Box,…

Watch the video at go.pcworld.com/xps12 DELL’S XPS 12 Ultrabook Convertible (go.pcworld.com/xps12 ultrabook) isn’t tremendously different from the original XPS 12 (go.pcworld.com/xps12touch): It’s slightly thinner and a little lighter, but it’s powered by one of Intel’s new Haswell-class processors. That update helps the new XPS 12 deliver better performance and much better battery life than its predecessor. This machine’s key feature is a 12.5-inch touchscreen with a native resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels that pivots inside its aluminum frame—just as on the original. Open the lid, and you can use the computer as you would any other notebook. You simply push the top front or bottom back of the display to pop it out of its frame, and then flip it over and close it to convert it into a…

This is a great year to buy a new laptop. They’ve never been thinner, lighter, more powerful, or less expensive. But before you buy one, ask yourself how you intend to use it. If you’ll be carrying it for long periods, by all means, go thin and light. But remember that you’ll also be limiting the size of your display, keyboard, and storage. A laptop with a solid-state drive will start up and wake from sleep mode much faster than one outfitted with a conventional hard drive. It will also be less prone to damage and data corruption. But be prepared to rely on either cloud storage or an external hard drive if you need to access lots of data. Where mechanical mobile hard drives routinely offer 750GB or more…

Giving the gift of a printer should not be like giving your loved one a vacuum cleaner. It should be about fun, not work. And the recipient shouldn’t want to smash it over your head. Protect yourself—and make your giftee happy—by giving them a capable color inkjet multifunction printer (go.pcworld.com/smallofficeinkjet). In the consumer-level category of printers, it’s a much better deal than a color laser, and its scanner lets it thrive in the digital world as easily as the paper one. Plus, the last few generations present far fewer issues with print quality, speed, and cost per page. Models that cost around $200 offer the best balance of speed and capabilities—so don’t skimp if this is a gift (including a gift you’re giving yourself). Edge closer to the $150 range,…

Watch the video at go.pcworld.com/mistvid THOUGH BUILDING A PC may sound daunting, it’s fairly straightforward. But a few key details can trip up even seasoned geeks who aren’t careful. This guide can help you avoid the most common PC building mistakes. Before you buy Not all PC parts are compatible with one another. Intel’s second-and third-generation Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge chips, for instance, need a motherboard compatible with the LGA 1155 socket; but its fourth-generation Haswell chips use LGA 1150, and its enthusiast-focused Extreme Edition processors require pricey socket 2011 motherboards. Visit PCPartPicker (pcpartpicker.com), which indexes virtually every PC component you can buy, notes incompatibilities between the parts you specify, and points you to the lowest prices for those components. Don’t get miserly while selecting a power supply. See…

TO PLAY UP the launch this fall of the Surface 2 (go.pcworld.com/surface2rev) and Surface Pro 2 (go.pcworld.com/surfacepro2), Microsoft has joined the promotional cloud-storage craze, offering buyers 200GB of free storage for two years. But before you start uploading your entire digital life into sky storage, let’s look at how SkyDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox will deal with your files after their promotional plans expire. SkyDrive Microsoft says that it won’t delete your files when the two-year SkyDrive promotion ends. You can continue to download and share those files, but you won’t be able to add any new files to your collection unless you clear space for them. Also, when you go over the limit, your files will revert to read-only mode when you access them through SkyDrive, so you…