One of the biggest changes in Windows 8 is the fact that the Start Menu has been replaced by the Start Screen and now you have a very different way of launching applications. While the Start Screen is great for making instant searches and launching applications with a few keystrokes, it is not that friendly to users who love using the mouse instead of the keyboard. Therefore, I decided to make a quick analysis and see how the new Start Screen compares to the old Start Menu. Does it help in getting faster access to all the shortcuts installed by your applications? Let’s find out!

In days gone by, screen resolution (also called display resolution) wasn’t much of an issue. Windows came with a few preset options, and to get higher resolution or more colors (or both) you would install a driver for your video card. As time went on, you could choose better video cards and better monitors as well. Today we have lots of options when it comes to displays, their quality and the supported resolutions. In this article I would like to take you through a bit of history and explain all the important concepts.

Some of our readers asked us to test the most popular free antivirus scanners found online. Since such scanners are useful in providing a good second opinion, without having to install a fully-featured security product, I thought it is worthwhile to evaluate such products. I finally found a full day for testing the 10 most popular online security scanners. It took quite a bit of work but I have some exciting results to share. Don’t hesitate to read this article and learn about the best free online antivirus scanner.

Last week we asked our readers How to make safe banking & financial transactions online and we promised to come back with a detailed article filled with useful security recommendations. Today I would like to share the most important tips & best practices for making safe financial transactions on the Internet, indifferent of the device you are using.

We previously brought you the Top 7 Most Downloaded Apps. Next, we would like to see what does rate high on Windows Phone user's list? In this follow-up article we bring you the Top 7 Highest Rated Apps on the Windows Phone Marketplace, as compiled by AppFlow App Discovery. Because all of the apps featured in this article are those with the highest ratings, you have a good chance of discovering some useful apps.

In our previous disc-labeling tutorial, Ciprian mentioned the two types of label-burning technologies: LightScribe and LabelFlash. He covered only LightScribe as such drives are much more widely available. I happen to have a LabelFlash drive and I was able to use this technology a couple of times.

Are there major differences between the two types of disc labelers? Is burning labels easier with one than the other? I was also curious to find out why LightScribe is so much more popular. Here’s what I found out.

Do you want to know how to configure Windows so that you don’t have to use the Safely Remove Hardware notification icon, to unplug external USB devices such as flash memory sticks or hard disk drives? Is it safe to disable it and what is the performance impact of this choice? The answers to all these questions are covered in this article.

Are you looking for a new theme to freshen up your Windows 7 desktop? Today, we have for you a custom made theme, inspired by Ubuntu Linux. It includes most of the official Ubuntu wallpapers and it was tailored to replicate Ubuntu’s colors and sounds in Windows. It really looks beautiful and you should try it out.

Have you wondered if it is possible to burn a label on the back of your discs? Due to technologies such as LightScribe and LabelFlash, it is not only possible but it is also very easy. In this tutorial, I will show how to burn a custom label on the back of a DVD, using a LightScribe capable disc burning drive. The steps involved are the same also for CDs.

We all purchase DVDs and Blu-Rays with all kinds of media content: movies, games, music, software, etc. However, as we use those discs, their quality wanes with time and, after a few years, they become unusable. Your only solution is to purchase them again. But isn’t there a way to make a backup copy? Unfortunately not by means of standard disc burning software. In this tutorial, I will cover what I think it is the best alternative to making a backup copy.

Do you have a laptop or netbook with average or poor battery lifetime? If that’s the case, you might want to use an Internet browser that’s able to take advantage of the power saving features included with Windows 7 or Windows 8. We tested all the major browsers and had some very surprising results. Read on to learn which browser is best at squeezing more time out of your laptop’s battery. Is it Google Chrome? Is it Internet Explorer? Or is it Firefox?

One of the topics of interest at 7 Tutorials is security. Not only we write articles and tutorials about how to have a safe computing experience but we also review security products on a regular basis. One of the things we wanted to learn more about, is how security products are made: what are the steps involved? the most important challenges? etc. Luck has it that we got the chance to meet with Alexandru Constantinescu - Social Media Manager at Bitdefender, who immediately said: "Hey! Why don’t you pay us a visit and learn more from our team? We accepted the invite and today we can share with you an extensive discussion about how security products are made."