My Windows 8 Review

Many years after the release of Windows 7, when a new version was announced, It created much curiosity in the market because 7 was a good combination of beauty and performance. Although it too had some flaws i it, the new version might have something to remove it. After surfing for details regarding it, I've go to know many things about it. Windows 8 was under its development even before windows 7 was launched! the existence of the same was revealed in CES 2011, and then a user preview version of it was released. it then raised the hopes among the users with its much enhanced user interface and support for touch interface. Windows 8 was released for three forms of computing: tablets, Laptops and Desktops. Also a mobile version of it for use in windows phones called Windows RT: that finds compatibility for smart phones with ARM architecture was also released. Now we have all together four forms of Windows Operation System for computation in the market.

Windows Phone 7.5 was another form of Windows' new Operating System optimized for smartphones. Nokia Lumia was one among many companies to adopt this Operating System, to their hardware.

Lets Explore the Desktop:

Windows 8 has is an operating system  that mostly works with the help of internet: i'm not saying you can't work without internet, but its true that most of the programs: apps cannot work without internet connection. So for enjoying the features, go get a internet connection. You need a Windows Live account or mostly a Hotmail account to work with windows 8.

Requirements for Desktop:

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2 (more info)

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)

Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

There's no thing called log in and log out with your username, you can log in with your live mail id, like with your username. All the programs you have in windows 8 actually have to called as apps. Because they look and feel are much like apps than programs. There are some apps that create interest in the users:

As I have mentioned earlier, you need to possess a live account for you, or most likely a Hotmail account so that you can enjoy the features of this OS. All the apps in windows 8 need a Microsoft account to get worked.

The start menu in windows 8 is the main attraction: its much enhanced, elaborated and is dynamic! the colors and background can be changed, the boxes represent the thumbnails of the applications present in the computer. its similar to the start menus of win 7 or XP, but its much stylish than them!                                   

The Messages app in the start menu, is interesting as a dedicated chatting app for windows. It supports windows live accounts and Facebook accounts. So you never need to look after a new Facebook messenger for you!

The Video app in the start menu, is a dedicated movie/ video player for windows, other than WMP. It supports mp4, mkv etc., formats but doesn't have support for 3gp videos. Also the plyer displays a list of xbox videos, that can be streamed.

Windows 8 also has a Weather ap powered by Bing. This can show you the current weather conditions in your place. But this too needs a Microsoft account to access.

The sports app, gives you the sports news and matches and lots more! a complete app dedicated for sports.

Music app, is a music player for windows 8, that provides a beautiful play of all the music files on your computer. 

The photos app helps to view all the photos located on your computer. but the photos that are present in the pictures library are only displayed. 

The people app, is like a social network app that gives a summary of the feeds of social networking sites like Facebook  twitter, linked in etc., its a great app, with the options of notifications, chat and wall feeds.

Tip: I've come to know that if we want to take a screen shot, just press windows key + Prt Scr

General Keyboard Shortcuts used in Windows XP

Its obvious that the most used peripheral device connected to the computer is mouse, after the Monitor: when talking about a basic user. Considering myself as an instance of a basic level user, I can't do anything without using a mouse. Even I've been using mouse more than keyboard in typing this post. But, moved by the question that: 'Why can't we use only keyboard in place of a mouse?' I've searched and found something interesting. Microsoft has designed some shortcuts for the functionality that can be done with a keyboard only. They have categorized them into several aspects, I've replicated some of them: the most general functions we do everyday, with a mouse. I've categorized them based on the key we use in the operation. I see some keys that are basically built for specific functionality. They are the 12 Function keys (F1-F12), Shift, Control (Ctrl), Alternate (Alt).

Control (Ctrl) Family:- 

The set of keys that come under this are, mainly file operations and some special functions. 

Ctrl+C : Copy

Ctrl+X : Delete selected item and save a copy to the clipboard

Ctrl+V           : Paste

Ctrl+Z           : Undo

Ctrl while : dragging an item (Copy the selected item)

Ctrl+Shift : while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)

Ctrl+Right Arrow  : Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word

Ctrl+Left Arrow    : Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word

Ctrl+Down Arrow  : Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph 

Ctrl+Up Arrow : Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph

Ctrl+F4 : Close the active document in programs that enable multiple documents to be open at the same time

Ctrl+Shift with any arrow key : Highlight a block of text

Ctrl+A : Select all

Ctrl+Shift+Esc : Open Task Manager

Ctrl+Esc : Display the Start menu

Alternate (Alt) Family:-

The main function of the Alt key is to swap between processes, tasks etc., the keys in this are:

Alt+Enter         : View the properties for the selected item

Alt+F4         : Close the active item, or exit the active program 

Alt+Enter         : Display the properties of the selected object 

Alt+ Space-bar  : Open the shortcut menu for the active window

Alt+Tab                 : Switch between the open items

Alt+Esc                 : Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened

Alt+ Space-bar  : Display the System menu for the active window

Alt+Underlined letter in a menu name : Display the corresponding menu

Shift Family:-

Shift as the name indicates, shifts the control from one process or task to another, the keys in this:

Shift+F10 : Display the shortcut menu for the selected item

Shift+Delete : Delete the selected item permanently without moving the item to the Recycle Bin

Shift with any arrow key : Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document

Shift when you insert a CD into the CD drive : Prevent the CD from automatically playing

Function Keys:-

There are 12 function keys exactly placed at the top of the keyboard, right in the first row:

F2 key : Rename the selected item

F3 key : Search for a file or a folder

F4 key : Display the Address bar list in My Computer or in Windows Explorer

F5 key : Update the active window (Refresh)

F6 key : Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop

F10 key : Activate the menu bar in the active program

Other Key Commands:-

There are other combinations, that provide several specific functionality. they are:

Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu : Perform the corresponding command

Right Arrow : Open the next menu to the right, or open a sub menu

Left Arrow   : Open the next menu to the left, or close a sub menu

Backspace : View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer

Esc : Cancel the current task

Delete   : Delete

Intel's Unique Style

World's Processor giant, Intel has a unique style in its wide ranged high performance products and efficient processors. It also has a unique style in the naming of its products, do you know that?

Willamette 

Northwood 

Prescott 

Cedar Mill 

Gallatin 

Smithfield 

Presler 

Covington 

Mendocino 

Coppermine 

Tualatin 

Banias 

Dothan 

Yonah 

Do you know what are all these??? these are names of cities. These are also the names of the products of Intel.  Intel names its processors and motherboards from cities and rivers of USA...  

Funny isn't it??? its also smart as their products!

Cloud Computing: A Revolution

Intro:

In an organisation where a number of employees work on same platform, we need a system for each and so have to buy a licensed software for each new computer purchase. This in turn is very lossy to the administrator, since its a huge expenditure. A small thought raised in such situation, 

"Why to buy a cow, if we need milk?"....

This thought gave birth to a new era of computing architecture, a centralized architecture where a number of people utilize the same single software deployed in a server, with the help of an internet connection.

This new architecture is called "Cloud Computing"....

Into the Topic:

What is it??? 

                             Cloud Computing is a technology that uses Centralized servers and internet to make use of data which is shared among many users. The user need not install the software he is working, he can access the files and data using the internet connection.

One of the best examples of this technique is the internet mailing: we use G Mail or Yahoo mail to send or receive mails, but do we install them in our PC? we just access them through the network connection, the processing will be taking place at the server it self.

Cloud Computing: Its Working

How it Works???

                             Cloud Computing architecture involves two things in main: 

                                                  the Front End that consists of the user's side components like web browsers, or any other applications that are used for Cloud Computing. 

                                                  the Back End that involves the computers, Servers and other Storage that are used for processing the requests. this is the Cloud section of the system. 

                                                                                   the two components communicate through internet connection. the whole system is controlled by a centralized server that handles the transactions by multiple users smoothly. The Server uses a set of protocols to control its activities and uses a kind of instructions called middleware that controls the communication between the computers in the network.

Cloud computing also requires at least twice the amount of storage, in order to maintain a back up so that data wont be lost if the server crashes.

What are its benefits???
                            Cloud computing is one of the advantageous technologies that reduce the organizational problems regarding the data management and handling. The benefits offered are countless.

• Data can be accessed at any time, from anywhere since the communication is through internet, and also the data is independent of the storage since anyone can access it.

• Hardware costs will be reduced since the load on the client side is low, all the client need is an internet enabled computer with simple I/O devices and processing capacity enough to handle the middleware.

• Companies need not buy licensed software for each and every system, it can only pay for a single software which can be shared by several systems.

• The user can utilize maximum of the processing power, if the back end system is a grid system. This enables complex tasks that cannot be done by a single computer, can be done easily.

Does it has only Benefits???

                                             Every coin has both the sides, so as every thing in this world. Cloud Computing too suffers from two main issues that make the companies think about it. they are Security and Privacy.

                                             Security issue is that cloud computing system cannot be secure, since we are handling the data to another company that owns this system. Many companies feel that handling such precious data to another company for adopting this technology is a thought provoking one.

                                             Privacy issue is mainly concerned with the client side. Since Cloud computing is a portable thing, i.e., user can access data at anywhere, this implies that the external conditions of the user can damage the privacy of data.

My Word:

                               Keeping the issues aside, Cloud Computing is a really a good revolution in computer technology with wide range of benefits and applications. 

                               Even the present day smart phones' applications and internet mailing systems make use of this architecture.

                               Thus, Cloud computing has got its own reputation and importance as a Computer Technology and Data Management Architecture. 

Sources: HowStuffWorks.com and wikinvest.com

IBM and Infosys are heavens to work

In a survey conducted on graduate students about their most preferred companies to work, IBM and Infosys were opted as the top. The survey was conducted by First Naukri.com and was conducted in the form an interview of more than 2000 Engineering (B Tech) and Non Engineering(B Sc, B Com etc) graduate students.




Non Engineering students opted mostly for Infosys and Wipro as their favorite companies to work. IBM stood in the Third place while TCS was limited to Fifth.

Coming to the Engineering students' opinion, IBM was opted first while Infosys stood Second. TCS stood Third while Wipro and Accenture took the next two places.



Students Poll:          

Non-Engineering         

Infosys 41% 1st       

Wipro 39% 2nd     

IBM                                                                                                    3rd      

Engineering

IBM 43% 1st 

Infosys                                                                                                  2nd

TCS                                                                                                       3rd




While they were asked on what basis they have opted, majority of them preferred "Job Profile" as their first choice. Second stood the "Growth Respect" within the company and some felt "brand image" of the company.

Basis of Opinion:

Job Profile                                         33%

Growth Respect                                27%

Brand Image                                     27%

When they were asked who were the best preferred influences during the campus interviews, most opted was "Alumni", some opted for "Parents" and some opted for "Batch Mates"

Best Influences in Campus Placements:

Alumni                                               31%

Parents                                              23%

Batch Mates                                     19%


Click Here for more Info

Source: Times of India

DNS:Animated Video from Youtube

DNS or the Domain Name System,

links the Domains and the I.P addresses together.

An animated video, showing how it works....

thanks to its presenters....