Everything About Router and Modem Default IP Address on Different Operating Systems

What is a Router and Modem Default IP Address?

The setup page of your PC permits you to alter various settings (for the example, the name and passphrase of the Wi-Fi) as well as to view certain information. For this, we need the IP address of the router. But, let’s start at the beginning: all modems and routers have web-based interfaces and as a result, they are configured by a web browser. There are some modems and routers which can be accessed by their name, but all of them are accessed by way of the IP address. So, in order to have full access to a router, you need a username and a passphrase, although you cannot even get a prompt for this if you don’t know the IP address.

What is an IP address?

An IP address always consists of 4 numbers which are separated by full stops. A common home network uses an IP address which begins with the following line of numbers - 192.168. Most commonly, a router will possess an IP address like for example 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.2.1.

Who knows the IP address?

In the case that the ISP (or Internet Service Provider) which you use has installed the router and modem, the provider knows the IP address as well as username and the passphrase for these devices. It is the experience of most techies that providers never disclose the information about the address to their customers directly. On the other hand, if you installed the router yourself, the IP address can be obtained from the documents given by the manufacturer (sometimes the address can be found on the router bottom, on a label).

How can we find the default IP address?

However, after setting up a network, every device on it can show the router’s IP address if we do what is necessary. This information can help:

WINDOWS:

The IP address of the router is the “Default Gateway” on Windows. There are a couple of ways of finding this address, this being the first one: use the command ipconfig in a window for Command Prompt. The other way is this one:

1. Open Control Panel (on Windows 10, this is done by right-clicking Start and choosing Control Panel).

2. Then click on View network status and tasks in Network and Internet.

3. Further, click your connection name to the right of Connections (the top-right corner of the page).

4. Then hit the Details button in the window that comes up and look for the IP address on the right of the IPv4 Default Gateway part.

On iPhone/iPad:

Open the app Settings, tap in Wi-Fi, and tap the name of the Wi-Fi network you are using. The IP address of the router will appear to the right side of Router.

Mac OS X:

Click on the Apple menu at the top of the screen (on the bar) and choose System Preferences. Then click on the icon called Network. Choose the network connection (Wi-Fi and a wired Ethernet connection). Then tap on the Advanced button which is located on the bottom, and click the tab TCP/IP. What you will see is the IP address of the router shown on the right.

Android:

It may sound strange, but the Android system offers no way of viewing the information on the network connection. Some third-party apps for Android show this information. What you need to do is install any one of it, tap in View and choose AP list. The top of the screen will show this header: Connected to: [Network Name]. Then tap on that, following which a window will be shown with some more info about the network. The address of the router is located on the right side of Gateway.

Linux:

The information we need is really easy to find with Linux desktop, as most Linux desktops have an icon in the notification area. Click on the network icon and choose Connection Information. You will be able to find the IP address next to Gateway or Default Route.

It is possible to find this address, the Internet Protocol one, on all other devices as well, as all devices which let you link to the network and see info about the network connection usually display it. All you need to do is look in the settings for network connections and look at the Gateway address.

Author Bio:

Masha Winget, owner of 192168ll.net is a technology writer & blogger by profession. She loves to write articles for many online communities, blogs, & websites related to computer tips & new technologies.

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7 Reasons to Install Windows 10 Anniversary Update 2016

There is another side (the benefit side) of installing updates for your Windows 10 operating system on your machine. And that side brings the more features in the upcoming update. Microsoft is planning to push Windows 10 anniversary update 2016 with a lot amazing features and upgrades to its operating system.

You should let your system download and install the updates as they are going to bring the valuable visible and functional changes to the operating system even though the automatic updates are disabled.

The anniversary update brings the following upgrades to the UI and functionality of the Windows 10 computer. If you are a UNIX/Linux lover, you would love the new changes that are coming through the aisle.

1. Bash Shell to Command Prompt

Microsoft considered to fulfill the request of the users in providing the UNIX/Linux bash shell for Windows command line interface. Therefore, they have built a Windows Sub-system, for Linux (WSL). This brings the improvements to command shell with the added functionality of bash shell.



The bash shell can be accessed by entering the command ‘bash’ in the command prompt. You will have the full control over the UNIX/Linux libraries and no virtualization is needed to enable it. Just install the anniversary update and you will get the bash shell functionality get installed with it.

2. Dark Theme

The whole Windows open with a white background by default. We didn’t had an ash gray or dark matte gray themed Windows so far. The new anniversary update brings the dark theme for Windows which is pretty cool and geekish. I’d also prefer to use the word eye-friendly. However all apps might not adhere the black theme except the windows of settings menus.

3. Emoji's with new skin tones

The Emoji’s are totally revamped with the new skin tones and it now makes chatting from an Windows device interesting as never like before.

4. Windows Ink

Windows Ink that works as a true digital ink for the windows touch devices, will be added the new anniversary update of Windows 10. User can use his fingers or ePen to write on the screens to look more natural as it looks on paper when drawn written with pen.

You can check out the programming technicalities of Windows Ink technology from the MSDN articles.

5. Cortana anywhere

The Cortana is the one of the best features that Windows brought to us. It would be much better and intelligently accessible anywhere including on the locked screen. The voice assistance anywhere responds to the call ‘Hey Cortana’ and listens to your commands. No wonder if it reminds you of the ‘Hey Siri’ feature of Apple iOS.

6. Windows Hello

The is one of the phenomenal feature that is being introduced by the Windows itself first into the market. Windows Hello need no PINs and passwords to unlock the device, it needs you and your eye positioning to unlock the screen. This feature is till in beta phase yet will be introduced with Windows 10 anniversary update of 2016.

7. Connect and play with Xbox One players

Microsoft always loved gamers and is. With the anniversary update of 2016, Windows 10 users will be allowed to connect to the Xbox players and join the games right from their PC’s and mobile phones. Microsoft delivers a special edition of DirectX 12 update with his anniversary update that allows users to connect to Xbox live transforming the conventional PC gaming experience.



Also with this Windows 10 update, you will get Forza Motorsport 6: Apex for free.

Do you still want any more reasons to stop this anniversary update of Windows 10 of 2016? C’mon, you can’t be that rude to your computer.

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How to Enable 64-bit Version Operating Systems in Virtual Box

Sometimes we might want to use different operating systems on our computer at the same time. Virtualization made it possible and thanks to all virtualization software developers who brought this technology to a common man’s PC.

 

Oracle’s Virtual Box is a powerful virtualization product that runs on Windows., Linux, Macintosh and Solaris hosts and supports all major guest operating systems to be installed in it.

 

Sometimes, the Virtual Box won’t allow us to install 64-bit guest operating systems though our host operating system is potentially eligible to do that.

 

 

In this tutorial, I’m going to reveal the trick to unlock the 64-bit options while it is being installed on Windows environment.

 

What’s the actual problem?

Generally, Windows operating systems come with built-in virtualization feature called hyper-v. It works the same way as Virtual Box and is to be enabled to use it.

 

If Virtual Box is installed on Windows environment with hyper-v enabled knowingly or unknowingly, conflict rises between these two virtualization platforms and so Virtual Box doesn’t show up the 64-bit options.

 

What’s the solution?

The solution for the problem is very simple. All you have to do is, disable hyper-v in windows features and restart the computer before you open the virtual box.

 

To enable/disable windows features go to search and type “windows features” in it.

 

 

Click on ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ to open the settings.

 

 

Uncheck the checkbox of Hyper-V and click ‘Ok’.

 

After making the changes, in a minute of two, it will ask you to restart the computer. Restart it and open the Virtual Box now. Check out the guest operating system options while configuring a new machine.

 

 

You’d found new 64-bit options in it. Yippee!

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Windows vs Mac OS X vs Linux: Which is the most secured operating system?

What ever might be the operating system you are using, you need to be aware of the methods to counter malware and viruses. Malware is actually programmed to take advantage of particular exploit in a particular operating system. Malware coded for one operating system won't affect the other. For example, malware coded for windows machines won’t infect Mac OS X machines. Likewise, the virus that deletes driver files on Windows XP won’t affect Linux as the drivers for these two machines are totally different.

By this, we can say that the security of the computer depends on the operating system your are using on it. Everyone would like to have a secured operating system on the board but prefers what they know about well. What operating system is secured by the fact and what’s weak? Let’s see the contradiction among the most used operating systems in the world Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, that are believed to be secured than one another.

Exploring Security Vulnerabilities in Windows

Windows, after 95, 98 and 2000 editions of operating systems, truly tasted success with Windows XP only. The changeover it brought compared to its previous versions made XP Microsoft’s best product in early 2000’s. The simple user interface and capability of running on older systems made XP a lovable operating system for users.

Windows XP was not only the most lovable operating system but also a secured one. Security loop holes in previous versions are closed and enhanced the ability of handling certificate errors. The introduction of the Windows security center in XP service pack 2 made it easier to keep track of defensing status of the computer against malware and viruses.

Windows XP has got older now. The ten year old operating system has been hacked relentlessly over the years. The popularity of the operating system has become a choice for hacking as it was used by most of the computer users.. Thus, the most lovable operating system has become a vulnerability for itself. The security holes found in XP were declared non-patchable by Microsoft experts.

Meanwhile, Windows vista, which made its debut in while XP was still ruling the world, also received bad feedbacks as it was not compatible with the older systems like XP. The users of XP had found it difficult using vista with whole new interface and revamped operations. Adding to that, the graphical interface started to expose annoying bugs while using. Though some security features were fixed by then, vista couldn’t win the hearts of XP minded people.

The drastic failure of vista had inspired Microsoft to develop Windows 7 eliminating the bugs in it and providing a moderate support for older systems. Although, one couldn’t run Windows 7 on 512MB RAM systems which are very good at running XP. But Windows 7 offered wealthy new features, including features related to security.

For example, User Account Control(UAC) was introduced in vista and also continued in windows 7. When the UAC was first introduced, it was mocked in the media - Apple even made an advertisement about it. That’s an odd move because OS X has similar functionality, and because UAC is very important when it comes to security. It protects your PC by ensuring that programs cannot gain elevated access privilege to your system without permission. Prior to UAC, malware could easily do this without the user ever knowing the wiser.

Microsoft had made improvements to it and made windows notify every important security information to the user. The security center is revamped as Windows Action Center now. A windows user would notice it in the system tray with a flag icon showing the security updates and information from time to time.

Later, Microsoft introduced Windows 8 with whole new design again. This operating system was made more secure, closing the loop holes in Windows 7 and with revamped metro interface. This operating system is compatible with both the touch and non-touch screen devices making it a all-in-one operating system.

Windows Defender in Windows 8 is made a powerful security tool than in Windows 7. It protects the Windows 8 computer like anything. Defender is simply the best anti-malware and anti-virus tool one can have on their computers. Once you install Windows 8, you no need install third party antivirus software again. This shows Microsoft’s concern about security in the evolution of its operating systems to fight against secured operating systems like Mac and Linux.

Though Microsoft  is making their operating systems most secured from version to version, hackers have got a way with them in finding vulnerabilities.

Exploring Security Vulnerabilities in Mac OS X

Mac OS X was introduced in early 2000s i.e., before Windows XP was introduced. Apple made it so differently that a Windows user will definitely find it difficult to get customized to it, if switched. Apple focuses on big updates unlike Windows service pack updates. So far Apple came up with minor security updates in its later versions of Mac OS X after the primary release. This earned a reputation that OS X offers security far beyond windows.

Regarding security, there is no malware that could affect Mac OS X. After a close examination, it was found that OS X was exposed to less number of vulnerabilities compared to Windows, that too most of them from the internet.

Over the time Apple released more than 100 security patches for Mac OS which are a lot less than Windows. This doesn’t mean that Mac is not a secured operating system. This UNIX’s heritage operating system need root level authentication to make changes to files and programs thus making it a trusty OS on expensive Apple machines. Windows mocked this feature by introducing UAC which is not completely entertaining the purpose it was developed for.

However, an unfortunate number of users seem to believe that OS X is immune to security threats due to its relative obscurity. While there is a degree of truth to this, security threats for OS X computers do exist and can be just as damaging as those that target Windows. The security of Mac OS X is also hampered by a slim selection of security suites.

Exploring Security Vulnerabilities in Linux

Windows and Linux live at two opposite ends. A Linux computer is a alien machine to a Windows user. Linux machines won’t have friendly GUIs where as they have top priority in windows operating systems. So people who are customized to use windows computers can’t put hands on Linux.

But, Linux is more accessible now than it has ever been in the past. Free Linux operating systems like Ubuntu and Jolicloud offer a graphical user interface that is robust and provides a basic functionality of a PC.

Linux like Mac OS X need a authentication to change the root directory files and program settings. Linux also benefits greatly from security by the way of obscurity. The Linux user base is small and, to make matters worse for malware, the user base does not cling to a particular variant of Linux. Although the underlying code is often the same, there are subtle changes to different variants of Linux. Many advanced users code their own custom features on Linux. This makes attacking Linux users in-mass a difficult and also pointless proposition. If you’re looking to harvest credit card numbers, targeting Linux is not the way to go.

This doesn’t mean that Linux cannot be attacked. The desktop versions of Linux expose minor security vulnerabilities. But these vulnerabilities are not patched as quick as on Windows. However, Linux machines are attacked less frequently and these frequent attacks are minute and are negligible.

Conclusion

Incase of security, Mac OS X and Linux are best choices than Windows. According to the statistical information of security threats and exposed vulnerabilities, Windows operating system exhibits more weakness compared to Mac OS X and Linux. The reason why windows is vulnerable is because it is the most used operating system in the world and so hackers targeting it.

Windows computers have powerful anti-malware and antivirus tools inbuilt to protect in from potent attacks. So a windows user would be aware of security issues of the computer. Microsoft is working hard to push windows in those most secured operating system category. So Windows is not totally out of race by this point.

Whatever it may be, coming to the end of the jar, windows is yet a vulnerable OS that most hackers choose to target. Windows users are most likely to be impacted by security threats than Mac OS X and Linux till now.

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How to run Firefox Mobile OS on your Computer?

The Firefox introduced a new product into the software market, the rumored operating system, Firefox OS for mobiles so recently. The browser making company reveled that its going to its debut its operating system through Intex and Spice handsets in upcoming months. The company has signed a fair business deal with Intel and Spice smart phone manufacturing companies to have the new OS for their mobiles.

 

The noticeable thing here is that the mobile phones with Firefox operating system are available for just around $25-$30 i.e., for Rs.1500-Rs.2000 of range. The price announcement is stinging a bit while the leading operating systems like Android are ruling the world and the Android devices are available starting from $70 i.e., from Rs4,200.

 

Tech experts started to estimate the future of Firefox with unclear facts, flaws and looking at the price it offered for. Firefox seems like taken the issue seriously and so it made available the simulator edition of their debuting operating system on their site. You can download and run it on your computer to check out the newfangled features of the operating system before it is released.

 

To get the Firefox on to your computer,

• Go to nightly.Mozilla.org and scroll down to the Boot 2 Gecko category.
• Download the Zip file edition from it.
  

• Extract the Zip file and you will a folder with name ‘b2g’.
  

• Open the folder, find and open the b2g application file.
  

• Now a window simulating a smart phone with Firefox OS startup screen will be shown. Customize the settings just like you set up a newly brought phone when turning on.
• After the one time startup settings are set, the phone will show a home screen like as shown in the following screenshot.
  

• Scroll through the pre-installed apps and other features of Firefox operating system.

Screenshots:

 

Watch our first hands-on experience on Firefox OS in the following video:

 

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How to Install Windows 7 or 8 in Linpus Linux machine?

Some new laptops comes along with Linpus Linux operating system. Though this Linux version of the operating system will not have features like Windows, people still choose to buy laptops with Linpus versions. The reason why, is the bottom line of the story, ‘to reduce price'. Laptops with Windows versions literally costs 4-5k extra bucks over the Linpus version of Linux.

Buying a product with desired configuration and for lesser price than the actual is a smart move. But remember, the smartness lasts till you don’t spend an extra rupee/dollar after that. If you are not familiar with Linux, you would find it difficult installing Windows operating system in Linpus environment and would regret buying the machine for a second.

I’ve faced such problem once and found a simple solution after a lot googling. The Linpus machine would take you to some where after the boot that makes you feel casted away. Don’t worry, the process will go smooth and will pick you up from the casted away island.

Booting in Windows environment

Before you boot your computer in Windows environment, make sure you had the bootable Windows 7 or 8 DVD or any other similar source for booting Windows.

 

Get Windows 7 Professional Now

 

In these times of Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 technical preview, Windows 7 professional stands out as the most used operating system after Windows XP from Microsoft.

 

 

1. Restart your computer by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del in Linpus environment.
2. Keep pressing F2 or any other similar button that brings up BIOS options. Look for boot priority settings and change the first boot priority to ‘DVDRAM’ if you are using OS DVD or ‘Removable Media’ if you are using Bootable USB.
3. Insert DVD into DVDRAM or plugin Bootable USB to the computer.
4. Save settings and exit. The computer will restart and while booting it will ask you to hit any button to boot computer with DVD you have inserted(In some laptops, the ‘press any key to boot into DVD’ text may not be shown. Instead, a blank underscore(_) will be shown blinking for a couple of seconds. In that case also, press a key within 2 or 3 seconds).
5. Then your computer will be booted into Windows environment. Don’t rush to the drive options and format the drive or delete the partition.

Note: Remember that you can boot into Windows environment but the actions on drive or drive partitions will not be considered.

Formatting Linux Partitions with Windows

Booting into Windows environment alone won’t bring you full control over your computer. Remember that the hard disk would be formatted with Linux before Linpus installed in it. So to install Windows, we must re-format it in Windows environment.

Formatting options that are available while installing Windows 7 or 8 aren’t helpful at all.  You must format the Linux partitioned HDD with Windows command prompt. To do so,

1. Restart the computer into Windows environment again.
2. Wait until the ‘Install Windows’ screen is shown.
3. Press Shift+F10 to bring up the command prompt.
4. Now type the following commands one after another,Type ‘diskpart’ and hit enter. A new DISKPART prompt will be opened.

Type ‘help’ and hit enter.

All the commands for DISKPART will be shown. Of them, we’ll be using SELECT command only. Using of other command options are up to you.

Type ‘select disk 0’ and hit enter. (disk 0 means disk zero).
Now type ‘clean’ and hit enter. This command will clean all the previous formats that are made using different other operating systems.

Close the command prompt window and proceed to the windows installation. Now format, delete or create partitions as per your requirement.

Please like and share this article if it helped you! Comment below if you had any problems regarding the processes.

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Disk Format: How Better is Full Format than Quick Format? | Full Format vs Quick Format

We are much familiar with the word ‘Disk Format’. Formatting a disk isn’t such easy as you think. It is not just clicking a couple of options from the context menu as well. Disk formatting is of two types, one the quick format which we opt for in most cases and another the full format. There is a significant difference between these two options that you’ll regret going for quick format after reading this article.

 

Antivirus shown virus in my pendrive and I formatted it. I thought I lost virus along with my important data, but when I tried to use it the next time, the virus showed up again. I’m afraid if i’ll have to format my computer. I don’t want to do it as I had all my data in it. Please help me on this regard!

- A visitor of amfastech

 

Is that happened with your too? if not, beware! this might happen to you also in future. Can you guess what made the virus come back in that visitor’s case? It is the ‘quick format’ which did it all. Confused? read out further.

 

 

Quick format will only remove all the files on the drive. The files include visible, read-only and system files. I believe formatting is not just removing files. It should repair the bad sectors by removing the fragmented data in the drive. I am not blaming the quick format option but I'm trying to point out the situation of formatting the disk when a drive is affected.

 

Quick format option is good to go when you want to delete all information in the drive along with the hidden and system files. On the other hand if you want to clean format you disk that removes the bad sectors and hidden viruses also , go for full format.

 

The reason why people go for quick format is the time it takes to format the disk. As there is no extra thing to do other than deleting all files, quick format completes in very short time. Though it is, it won’t help you in tough situations.

 

You no need to format the disk every time you see a virus notification from it. Some viruses look typical but it is easy to get back data with little knowledge of DOS.

 

Full format would clean up the disk along with the bad sectors and fragmentations. So it takes a little longer time for it to complete the formatting.

 

Full formatting a newly brought hard drive is also the setting up of file structure. So the brand-new hard drives always needs to be full formatted and you cannot go for a quick format for the first time. When you choose to reformat your hard drive, do it with immense care and have patience till it finish.

 

It is ok when we talk about some external disks like pen drives and removable media. What’s the difference between full formatting and the quick formatting while installing OS?

 

Quick formatting and full formatting options are shown while installing Windows XP operating system. The later version of Windows operating systems like Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 only show up a single formatting option.

 

Windows XP OS uses FAT file system where as later versions are upgraded with the new file system, NTFS. With NTFS, you can control access to any file or folder, allowing different types of access for different users or groups of users.

 

The format options in the FAT files system in the installation of XP is as same as format options we’ve seen before. Format options in NTFS file system in the installation of Windows 7 and 8 consists of one and only one option which completes so quickly.

 

So what do you think? Does it still seems to you formatting is as simple as you think? and which format option are you going to choose for the next time? Comment your thoughts below!

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Windows 8.1 Final Release Featured Review

Microsoft has released long waiting Windows 8.1 recently. When talking about the update, we should talk about the improvements and changes made in the Windows 8 operating system. the improvements made are meant to satisfy the traditional desktop users as well as touch user device users. Let's take a quick journey of the updated features of the tile magic operating system, Windows 8.1.

Restoring Respect to Desktop mode

Start Button: The traditional start button on the windows desktop is restored in 8.1 update which wasn’t seen in Windows 8 initially. Clicking the windows button on the keyboard flips in to the tile interface of installed programs, where you can just tap or click on them to open. Long press of the start button brings you’re the advanced crucial settings in front of the screen.

Boot to Desktop: The new boot to desktop features enables you to boot into the desktop mode without starting up into the times UI for a short time. This feature would be useful for those who doesn’t have touch monitors but wanted to have Windows 8.1 installed on their PC’s.

Updated Touch and Gesture Features

New Onscreen Keyboard: The OSK now enables you to type numbers and special numbers on a simple swiping up of the standard QWERTY keyboard, eliminating to toggle between numeric and alphabetic keyboard layouts. You can also select from the word suggestions using side swipes and taps on the virtual space bar.

Gesture Enabled Apps: Apps in Windows 8.1 Final will respond to the gestures made in the air in front of the front facing camera. You can use the device hands-free only gesturing the navigation over a couple of inches above the touch surface.

Handy Upgrades

Automatic Updates: The automatic updates won’t pop up notify just like in traditional windows 8 any more. App updates will run in the background in 8.1 Final.

Updated UI for Smaller Screens: The Windows 8.1 has the home screen that looks good in the smaller screen sizes of 7 inches and 8 inches diagonally.

Lock Screen Access: You can now access the locked screen in windows 8.1 for some apps. You can answer Skype calls or take photos from the locked screen without having to log in with a swipe down. Some apps notifications like twitter updates can also be made accessible when the screen is locked.

Functional Upgrade

Multitasking Over Classified: You can now run four tasks on the screen at once improving the facility to run two apps at a time in the past. You might need to use widescreen or high resolution monitors to use this feature. Surprisingly Microsoft tablets won’t have such large screen to use this feature so effectively.

Global Search: Searching in the tile based screen brings you the results from your computer, web, windows store and Xbox before you specially choose from one of these. If you search a word ‘Bill Gates’ the results show you the bio, videos and other information from your apps,settings,web and on the internet.

Email Update: The standard mail app now has a ‘power pane’ at the left of the screen when opened with the organized folders like Facebook, messages from favorite contacts and newsletters. Some of these features work only with Microsoft accounts such as Hotmail and Outlook, though. A new ‘sweep’ commands exists to wipeout multiple messages with a couple of taps and clicks.

Browsing Better with Explorer 10: I guess only some knows about the limitation of the tabs in the Internet explorer 10 in the tile version. Traditionally Internet Explorer allows 10 tabs on the browser and no further. Windows 8.1 Final release lifted off that limitation and you are free to use as many tabs as you wish. The automatic closing of the webpages without any prompt notifying is also lifted off. More better, you can now have two different websites displayed side by side, the way you’ve long been able to before windows 8 came along.

Entertainment

Updated Xbox Music: The music streaming app is now optimized with more lists and smaller images. It enables to create playlists from any website with a couple of clicks or taps. When you are streaming on a playlists featuring an artist, swiping on the right edge and tapping on the Share button followed by Music button will create a playlist of that artist, which can be streamed for free.

Picture Editor: Windows 8.1 update seemed to feature desktop to tablet devices. The new 8.1 update comes up with the picture editor with some pre-set effects. The editing presets include touchups, cropping, contrast changes and other features.

Xbox One Integration: You can watch the video purchased on the Xbox video, leave it off in the middle and can resume it on the upcoming Microsoft’s gaming console ‘Xbox One’.

Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with the new Windows 8.1 Final Release in the comments below!

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Windows 8.1 Final was released by Microsoft

Microsoft has released its long awaited Windows 8 operating system update, the Windows 8.1 Final. It has been given as a free upgrade to those who already using tiled magic Windows 8. It addresses some of the minor disappointing issues that had with Windows 8, which paved a short cut to the operating systems in PC’s and touch devices.

Windows 8.1 is as same as the Windows 8 but the little changes it came up with. It still features its functionality to a standard desktop devices as well as the touch based tablets. The 8.1 updates comes with some new finger friendly and gesture friendly shortcuts for the programs installed. The desktop mode to which most the world accustomed to has also been restored.

News flew that the update for windows 8 was released as the sales of the desktop and laptop computers were declined from the past season instead of the increased sales of the tablets and smart phones in the market. It also comes as the competition for the companies Redmond, Wash., who already started to focus on the devices not just software. It is well known that the Microsoft has signed a deal with the one of the leading mobile device manufacturing companies, Nokia for $7.2 billion. Microsoft is already announced in the past that it is looking for new CEO to replace Steven A. Ballmer, who announced last month that he plan to retire in the next year.

As talked about the upgrade earlier, Windows 8.1 is free to upgrade to those who have already got Windows 8 on their PC’s. One can simply find the update in the ‘Windows Store’ app easily. It might take a day or two for the update to reach every country. Users with Windows 8.1 preview already installed on their systems can get it on the sale Friday local time. That’s when people will be able to buy the stand alone copies of the Windows 8.1.

See latest review of the Windows 8.1 Final update & its updates features

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The Bing challenge: with iOS 7 and Windows 8.1, search could be Microsoft's new platform

 

Earlier this year, the head of Microsoft's search team, Qi Lu, unveiled a new approach for Bing: the concept of a broad search platform that could feed into Microsoft's own products and third-party offerings. It seemed ambitious, and certainly felt like other unrealized promises to beat Google at its own game, but Microsoft is deadly serious and it now has some proof of its plans in iOS 7 and Windows 8.1.

 

Starting last week, a preview version of Windows 8.1 was made available, and it contains some deep search integration with the base of the OS. Bing's presence in Windows 8 will no longer be felt through a series of apps, but rather from the very search experience that Windows users utilize every day. Surprisingly, work on this integration only really started to take shape around seven months ago, just as Windows 8 was debuting in October. "With the Windows search integration, we’ve done most of the work," explains Bing's vice president of program management, Derrick Connell. "We have about 3,000 engineers worldwide, and this has been our top priority for the past months."

 

The Bing team works in six-month intervals on particular projects, so it switched priorities and focused on the Windows integration in order to deliver an initial version with the Windows 8.1 preview. "It’s probably our biggest engineering project ... since [we did] the original launch back in 2009," explains Connell. Essentially, the new experience pulls web results, images, video, news, and other items into a single hero interface with one central point of contact. It's incredibly powerful when it works on search terms that involve artists or celebrities, and also allows you to search for locations and pull up photos that were taken there from a personal SkyDrive, or to find certain shades of pictures on the web. Alongside this Windows integration, which Connell likens to working with an external partner due to the complexity and location of the teams, Bing is also powering Apple’s Siri search in the upcoming iOS 7 release.

 

"Managing the Windows work and the Apple work in some ways was not easy, but doable on our platform," explains Connell. "About two years ago, Apple included Bing as one of the search engines in Safari." Ever since then, the two companies have had ongoing discussions around what else they could work on together. "It was one of those meetings where we thought 'Wow, we’re ready to work on the next thing together,' back in the fall," says Connell. The big question for Apple was whether Bing's quality was good enough to power Siri. "I think a lot of the execs at Apple switched over to Bing for a period just to see if they could get the full experience of using Bing," notes Connell. The feedback was positive enough for Bing to generate a deal to handle Siri web queries in iOS 7, which launches later this year. Theoretically, a future version of OS X could also integrate Bing, a logical step if the iOS work is well-received by users.

 

 

Bing integration in iOS 7 and Windows 8.1 are separate examples and differ in many ways, but they demonstrate a broader aim for the company. Microsoft is betting that consumers will start to use search in different ways, moving away from web-based search engines and toward the expectation that data will be available within applications or services instantly. If this change in user habits emerges, then Bing appears to be well-positioned to benefit from it. It’s a big break from the past when Bing tried to catch up to Google’s market share and largely failed.

 

The new approach has two big wins so far, with the iOS 7 deal and deeper integration into Windows, but there’s still work to be done to improve Bing overall. Search queries outside of the US can often be incomplete, and Connell admits it’s a challenge to ensure that the Windows 8.1 search experience is as good in London or Stockholm as it is in New York and Seattle. "That’s one of the things we’ve been working on, to apply a lot of our techniques," explains Connell. "It’s a lot of work, but we’re feeling pretty good about where we are."

 

At Build last week, Microsoft launched a number of new Windows APIs that allow third-party developers to plug parts of Bing — everything from optical character recognition to 3D maps — into their own applications. "This is just the first step towards our vision for Bing as a platform," says Bing's vice president, Gurdeep Singh Pall. In an interview with The Verge, Singh Pall outlined a theoretical example of a future in which Bing could offer up in-app results for ink cartridges if you're running low on printer ink. "We would know that inside an Office application, so there's no reason why we would not let you buy that ink if the ink was running out … right inside the Office experience."

 

While Microsoft is struggling to unify its platforms in multiple ways, Bing is poised to become a bright spot. During the Build keynote, Bing got its own dedicated slot where Singh Pall demonstrated what developers could expect from the new tools. It was an unusual outing for Bing, and one that cemented the direction of Microsoft's search engine. Bing now powers Windows 8.1, Windows Phone, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Internally it's already an important and successful tool, but Microsoft hopes to extend this idea to third-party developers. The importance of this platform to Microsoft is clear. "We're just super excited about this," says Singh Pall. "This is a game-changer for the industry."

 

{Sources: The Verge}

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Windows 8.1: All about Microsoft’s latest update | Windows 8.1 Preview Released

Microsoft showed off a wide range of changes to its operating system with a new update, Windows 8.1, a preview of which was released Wednesday.

Speaking at the company’s BUILD developer conference, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said Windows 8.1 is an attempt to “reblend the desktop and modern experience,” and appeal to both traditional PC and tablet users.

Ballmer said the changes are in response to desktop users who wanted something a little more familiar on their computers.

The new system, he said, refines Windows 8 by bringing back some options Microsoft eliminated in the fall, such as the start button and the ability to boot a computer straight to the desktop.

The start menu hasn’t returned in the same form, but users can access some options from the start button, such as access to the Control Panel and Task Manager, as well as the ability to shut down or restart the computer.

Microsoft also showed off new additions such as a Pandora-like makeover for Xbox Music, deeper search integration from Bing, and more ways to personalize the look of the operating system.

For example, users will be able to pick from more sizes of Windows 8 tiles, which will also be easier to organize. Also, Windows users will have the option to snap more Metro apps to their screens at once — up to four on one screen.

Microsoft is also adding prominent Windows 8 app partners. Facebook and Flipboard will be making native Windows 8 apps, the company said. Microsoft has also made improvements to some of its own apps, including the camera, which now has more photo-editing tools such as options to enhance color, remove red-eye, change the contrast and brightness balances, and overlay filters.

Ballmer said the company expects to pass the 100,000 application mark in the Windows store by the end of the month, putting it in a slightly better position to compete with Apple and Google on that front.

“The future of Windows is very, very bright,” Ballmer said in his closing remarks.

The update will be free for Windows 8 users, and will be available “later this year” through the Windows store, according to Microsoft. And the company said users should be able to download a copy of the preview starting Wednesday

The developers conference continues through Friday.

{Source: Washington Post}

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Ultimate Guide for Using Bash Shell in Linux: Novice Approach

Sometimes, things just don’t work. What do you do if the GUI desktop stops responding to your mouse clicks? What if the GUI doesn’t start at all? You can still tell your Linux system what to do, but you have to do it by typing commands into a text screen. In these situations, you work with the shell , the Linux command interpreter. The bash shell, the default shell in most Linux distributions.

Using Bash Shell

If you’ve used MS-DOS, you may be familiar with COMMAND.COM, the DOS command interpreter. That program displays the infamous C:\> prompt. In Windows, you can see this prompt if you open a command window. (To open a command window in Microsoft Windows, choose Start>Run, type command in the text box, and then click OK.) Linux comes with a command interpreter that resembles COMMAND.COM in DOS, but it can do a whole lot more. The Linux command interpreter is called a shell.

The default shell in many Linux distributions is bash. When you open a terminal window or log in at a text console, the bash shell is what prompts you for commands. Then, when you type a command, the shell executes your command.

Just as there are multiple GUIs (GNOME or KDE) for Linux, you have a choice of shells besides bash. For example, some people prefer the C shell. You can easily change your default shell by using the chsh command.

In addition to the standard Linux commands, bash can execute any computer program. So you can type the name of an application (the name is usually more cryptic than what you see in GNOME or KDE menus) at the shell prompt, and the shell starts that application.

Understanding the syntax of shell commands Because a shell interprets what you type, knowing how the shell processes the text you enter is important. All shell commands have the following general format. (Some commands have no options.)

command [option1] [option2] . . . [optionN]

Issuing such a command is commonly referred to as a command line. On a command line, you enter a command, followed by zero or more options  (or arguments). These strings of options, the command-line options (or command-line arguments) modify the way the command works so that you can get it to do specific tasks.

The shell uses a blank space or a tab to distinguish between the command and options. This means you must use a space or a tab to separate the command from the options and the options from one another. If an option contains spaces, you put that option inside quotation marks. For example, to search for my name in the password file, I enter the following grep command (grep is used for searching for text in files):

grep “Emmett Dulaney” /etc/passwd

When grep prints the line with my name, it looks like this:

edulaney:x:1000:100:Emmett Dulaney:/home/edulaney:/bin/bash

If you create a user account with your username, type the grep command with your username as an argument to look for that username in the /etc/passwd file.

In the output from the grep command, you can see the name of the shell (/bin/bash) following the last colon (:). Because the bash shell is an executable file, it resides in the /bin directory; you must provide the full path to it.

The number of command-line options and their format depend on the actual command. Typically, these options look like -X, where X is a single character. For example, you can use the -l option with the ls command. The command lists the contents of a directory, and the option provides additional details. Here is a result of typing ls -l in a user’s home directory:

total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 edulaney users 48 2010-09-08 21:11 bin
drwx------ 2 edulaney users 320 2010-09-08 21:16 Desktop
drwx------ 2 edulaney users 80 2010-09-08 21:11 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 edulaney users 80 2010-09-08 21:11 public_
html
drwxr-xr-x 2 edulaney users 464 2010-09-17 18:21 sdump

If a command is too long to fit on a single line, you can press the backslash key (\) followed by Enter. Then, continue typing the command on the next line. For example, type the following command. (Press Enter after each line.)

cat \
/etc/passwd

The cat command then displays the contents of the /etc/passwd file. You can concatenate (that is, string together) several shorter commands on a single line by separating the commands by semicolons (;). For example, the following command

cd; ls -l; pwd

changes the current directory to your home directory, lists the contents of that directory, and then shows the name of that directory.

Combining shell commands

You can combine simple shell commands to create a more sophisticated command. For example, suppose that you want to find out whether a device file named sbpcd resides in your system’s /dev directory because some documentation says you need that device file for your CD-ROM drive. You can use the ls /dev command to get a directory listing of the /dev directory and then browse through it to see whether that listing contains sbpcd.

Unfortunately, the /dev directory has a great many entries, so you may find it hard to find any item that has sbpcd in its name. You can, however, combine the ls command with grep and come up with a command line that does exactly what you want. Here’s that command line:

ls /dev | grep sbpcd

The shell sends the output of the ls command (the directory listing) to the grep command, which searches for the string sbpcd. That vertical bar (|) is known as a pipe because it acts as a conduit (think of a water pipe) between the two programs , the output of the first command is fed into the input of the second one.

Controlling command input and output

Most Linux commands have a common feature , they always read from the standard input (usually, the keyboard) and write to the standard output (usually, the screen). Error messages are sent to the standard error (usually to the screen as well). These three devices often are referred to as stdin, stdout, and stderr.

You can make a command get its input from a file and then send its output to another file. Just so you know, the highfalutin term for this feature is input and output redirection or I/O redirection. The following table shows the syntax of common I/O redirection commands.

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Understanding ACLs in NTFS File System

Each folder and each file on an NTFS-formatted volume has an ACL (also known as DACL, for discretionary access control list, and commonly called NTFS permissions). An ACL comprises an access control entry (ACE) for each user who is allowed access to the folder or file. With NTFS permissions, you can control access to any file or folder, allowing different types of access for different users or groups of users.

To view and edit NTFS permissions for a file or folder, right-click its icon and choose Properties. The Security tab lists all the groups and users with permissions set for the selected object, as shown below. Different permissions can be set for each user, as you can see by selecting each one.

To make changes to the settings for any user or group in the list, or to add or remove a user or group in the list, click Edit. (Use caution. Setting NTFS permissions without understanding the full consequences can lead to unexpected and unwelcome results, including a complete loss of access to files and folders. The permission-setting capabilities of the Sharing wizard provide far greater flexibility and power than were possible in the basic Windows XP interface. Before you delve into the inner workings of NTFS permissions on the Security tab, be sure to try the Share With command or the Sharing tab, both of which invoke the Sharing wizard unless it has been disabled.)

The access granted by each permission type is as follows:

●  Full Control Users with Full Control can list contents of a folder, read and open files, create new files, delete files and subfolders, change permissions on files and subfolders, and take ownership of files.

●  Modify Allows the user to read, change, create, and delete files, but not to change permissions or take ownership of files.

●  Read & Execute Allows the user to view files and execute programs.

●  List Folder Contents (folders only) Provides the same permissions as Read & Execute, but can be applied only to folders.

●  Read Allows the user to list the contents of a folder, read file attributes, read permissions, and synchronize files.

●  Write Allows the user to create files, write data, read attributes and permissions, and synchronize files.

●  Special Permissions The assigned permissions don’t match any of the preceding permission descriptions. To see precisely which permissions are granted, click Advanced.

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Install Ubuntu on Windows System | Use both Ubuntu and Windows Simultaneously | Ubuntu Installation Guide on Windows

Want to see Ubuntu on windows system? Yes! I hoped the same till I don’t know this technique.

1. First download VirtualBox at http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads 2. Install it.
3. Open it up and click New on the top.

4. Hit Next.

5. Name it and choose Ubuntu from the drop-down list.

6. Choose the amount of RAM you would like to dedicate to running Linux. Choose about ¼ to ½ of your total RAM. I have 2 gigs of RAM, so I chose 512 MB.

7. Hit Next.

8. Here we choose whether we would like to create a dynamic or fixed hard disk image. If you have lots of space on your hard disk, I would go with a dynamic image so if you choose to download lots of programs it won’t be a problem. If you have limited drive space, you should go with a fixed-size image so that you don’t have to worry about going over too much.

9. Choose the amount of gigabytes you would like to dedicate to running Linux. I would go with 2 GB at the least.

10. Simply hit Finish.

11. It automatically selects the image you just created. Hit Next.

12. You’re almost done! Hit Finish.

13. You are now back at the main page. Here you will click CD/DVD-ROM.

14. Check Mount CD/DVD Drive and choose ISO Image File.

15. If you downloaded the Ubuntu image file in the beginning, locate it and select it. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, go to the beginning of this chapter where I have a step-by-step guide.

16. Hit Select.

17. You will come back to where you started. Hit OK.

18. You will now see the main screen again. Click on START in the top left corner.

19. You will see Ubuntu boot up in a small pop-up screen. Choose the option “Try Ubuntu”. If you see a list of countries instead of the list shown below, select yours and hit <ENTER>. Make sure you are working in the Virtual Environment by clicking into the Ubuntu window.

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