Mea culpa: In yesterday's post about the free Inpaint program (now expired), I neglected to warn users about the big, blue, fake Download button on Giveaway of the Day's cluttered download page. That's a commonly used adware ploy found on a lot of sites, and I know some people clicked it and got stuck with unwanted toolbars and other junk.

For the record, I did include a direct download link within the post (meaning you needn't have visited GotD at all), but I still feel awful about what happened. It's really important to look before … Read more

Before taking the plunge into Windows 8, there are a few questions you should ask yourself. We've summarized some of most useful ones here, and by going down this checklist, you'll end up with a much better idea about the right path for upgrading existing hardware versus buying a new machine, and figuring out all the new styles of tablets and touch-screen hybrids hitting store shelves alongside Windows 8.

Do you want to stick with Windows at all, or would another OS work better for you? Microsoft has two new operating systems, Windows 8 and Windows RT. For … Read more

Looking for the new Surface tablet? You may be able to reserve one at your local Microsoft store.

A forum user of blog site WPCentral reportedly picked up a reservation pass at a Microsoft Store in Oregon. As displayed by WPCentral, the pass indicates that a Surface RT tablet has been reserved for the customer.

The only requirement is that the person must reach the Microsoft Store before 12 p.m. on October 26, the day the tablet goes on sale. At that point, "your Surface will be ready for you to purchase."

The Microsoft store employee had … Read more

The best news about Apple sending out invites to a (probable) iPad Mini event next week, is that we can finally stop talking about iPad Mini rumors. Finally.

What we don't know yet, however, are any specifics. Will it be 7 inches? Will it come in a rainbow of colors? How much will it cost? All our questions will be answered next week.

Remember that we have a big bet riding on this one -- if Apple in fact announces the iPad Mini next week, Emily has to do something embarrassing! -- so leave us a comment and give … Read more

Microsoft's Surface RT has a better display than does the iPad -- that's the case being made by one of the tech gurus behind the new tablet.

At a Reddit IamA held yesterday, Microsoft engineers who worked on Surface answered questions about the tablet.

One question asked how users might consider Surface versus the iPad in light of their different screen resolutions. Surface for Windows RT offers a resolution of 1366x768 while the current iPad delivers a resolution of 2048x1536.

Microsoft's Steven Bathiche quickly chimed in to address that issue. Bathiche is the director of research for … Read more

Four months after the company unveiled its Surface tablet, Microsoft has finally announced a price and date for the RT version of the device.

Starting today at 9 a.m. PT, the Windows RT version of Surface will be available for preorder at Surface.com with an actual release on October 26 this year. On the same date, Microsoft's brick-and-mortar stores also will begin selling the device; however, preorders are only available online. $499 nets you the 32GB version only, while $599 gets you the 32GB version with a Touch Cover keyboard. A 64GB version with Touch Cover will … Read more

Windows 8 users who still miss the Start button will find an alternative on Samsung's new lineup of computers and tablets.

Buyers of Samsung Windows 8 PCs and tablets will be able to download a free Quick Starter program, which adds a Start button and a toolbar to open your files and applications.

The S Launcher program that lets Samsung users access the Start menu replacement was initially supposed to come with new PCs and tablets. But a Samsung rep confirmed to ZDNet in August that the launcher would not appear in the final products. Instead, it will be … Read more

Coming soon, a veritable evolutionary explosion of Windows 8 devices will be bearing down on you. Big small, tablety, not tablety, full of touch, and ready to fold into strange shapes for your general amusement.

Welcome to the Windows 8 Field Guide, an Audubon's Birds-style attempt to help you identify the classifications and subphyla of this odd new computing world. It's not as hard as you think, once you break down the various common types. Be forewarned: these classifications are works in progress, and there could very well be more evolutionary variants coming soon. But, hopefully, this should help classify some of the multipurpose strangeness you're already starting to see on preorder pages.

Of course, you still have laptops, desktops, and tablets. Some of these tablets will have one of two operating systems: Windows 8 or Windows RT.

After that, the classifications get a little more diffused.… Read more

Windows RT. I'd say it's divisive, but I don't think there's enough support in its corner to elicit much in the way of disagreement. In other words, most people either don't like it or don't understand its purpose. Or both.

If you've no idea what Windows RT is, here's a quick breakdown. It's essentially the "lite" version of Windows 8. It runs on ARM processors (cheaper and more energy-efficient than its Intel counterparts) and is optimized for Microsoft's Windows 8 touch interface. It's also incompatible with traditional Windows programs.

Sure, we've gotten insight into the reasons it was developed, but I still have problems with some aspects of its execution. Namely the Desktop interface.

Also, so far, only three of the five officially announced Windows RT tablets have actually been released, and one of the five, the Samsung Ativ Tab, won't be showing its pretty face to the U.S. market at all. The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 is the only officially announced yet unreleased Windows RT tablet.

Both Nokia and HTC Windows RT tablets have been rumored for a while, but there's still nothing official yet.

Will we see further Windows RT tablets or will the OS suffer a quick death? By "quick" I mean less than a year and by "death" I mean no other Windows RT tablets are announced in the next few months.

It's still too early to tell, so in the meantime if you're interested in a lower-priced Windows tablet, the following four are currently your only choices.

… Read more