When Windows Vista was launched, User Account Control (UAC) was the most criticized and misunderstood feature. Even though it is very important for security, many people have chosen to disable it and expose their systems to possible security problems. This feature has been improved in Windows 7 and Windows 8 and, even if it adds a lot to the security of the operating system, many users still choose to disable it. That’s why, in this article, I would like to clarify what this feature is, how it works and the benefits of keeping it active.

The App History tab in the Windows 8 Task Manager collects and reports usage statistics for the apps and programs running on your computer. For instance, you can check in regularly to see how much CPU time or network usage an app has accrued over the past month. This may not be a glamourous feature, but it can come in handy, especially for mobile users. Identifying a high CPU using application can help you save battery life and slowing down a heavy downloader can keep you from going over your network usage caps. Let’s see how it works.

Eugen Males, the 25 year-old lead vocalist and guitarist of up and coming post rock band "Fluturi pe Asfalt" (Butterflies on the Asphalt), has a passion for photography and all visual design and believes in the beauty that chance brings to photography. In his opinion, haphazard represents reality much better than any artificial poses and sets can. Originally from the Republic of Moldova, he is currently residing in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and also works as a graphic designer. His work is atmospheric and moody at times, but offers charmed snapshots of the beauty always lurking around the corner of our everyday existence. To find out more about Eugen and his photography of chance, we recommend reading his interview below!

Recently I wrote a review of the Windows 8 for Dummies online course, which I liked a lot. That’s not the only Windows 8 course available from the For Dummies crew, which is good news for people who don’t want to learn through online videos alone. This week I took a look at Windows 8 for Dummies eLearning Kit, which contains a book, a CD, and, as a special bonus, six months free access to the Windows 8 for Dummies online e-learning course (which is not the same as the one I recently reviewed). I was interested to see how this course’s approach differed from the previous wholly online course (besides the fact that one comes with a book and one doesn’t). Here’s what I found.

An early build of Windows "Blue" - the next update to Windows 8 (more of a service pack if you wish), expected to arrive in the second half of the year, has leaked on the web. We downloaded this leak and took it for a quick test drive. Here’s what we learned about what’s new, the changes and improvements that are coming to Windows 8 later this year. The list is longer than you might expect and it includes some interesting surprises.

When I want to tweak different aspects of the operating system, I generally prefer to use the built-in tools provided by Windows. Both Windows 7 and Windows 8 provide some great tools you can use. One such tool is the underrated Disk Cleanup, that allows you to free up space on your partitions and safely remove even system files that you no longer need. Let’s see how it works and why it is one of the best tools for cleaning up space in Windows.

Windows 7 and Windows 8 include a disk error checking utility named Check Disk. It allows you to scan your partitions and see if they have issues with lost sectors, bad sectors or file corruption. Let’s see how to run Check Disk, identify and fix issues with the data stored on your computer’s hard discs.

Dan Gheban's photographs take you on a whirlwind adventure from dizzying panoramas through storms, fog and clouds to the intricate frailty of microscopic life. It's only natural, the 50 year old anatomical pathologist and amateur photographer from Cluj-Napoca claims, since optical systems and the microscopic world are a part of his everyday life and constitute the tools of his trade, not just of his photographic pursuits. To find out more about him, his passion for photography and what exactly is an anatomical pathologist, read our interview with him.

If you’ve been following along with our Family Safety series you’ll know what it takes to get this fantastic feature enabled and configured for your child’s account. Once you’ve enabled web filters, game filters and time limits, you’ll know that you child can’t get into much trouble. Even still, you may still find yourself wondering what they do with their time on the computer. Thanks to the Family Safety website, you don’t have to wonder any more. You can visit the page any time to view usage reports for your child’s account. You can see what pages they’ve visited, what games they’ve played and plenty of other information to ensure they’re computing responsibly.

It will be quite obvious to any first-time user that Windows 8 is very different from previous versions. While the obvious interface changes will be the most talked about, the addition of a number of great security features is really worth getting excited over. Combine new features like early launch anti-malware with oldies like the Windows Firewall and you have an operating system that you can feel secure using.

Having multiple accounts logged in on your Windows 8 computer can make swapping between them faster, but it can also waste system resources as your computer is forced to maintain two separate environments in memory. If you want the chance to weigh the benefits of this action against the costs, the Windows 8 Task Manager can help. Check out the Users tab to view which user accounts are logged in and view how much of your resources are being used to maintain them. You can also use this tool to close the apps opened by another user or even log them out. Let’s see how it works.

The IP address or Internet Protocol address is a numerical label that is used in networks to identify and location network devices, from computers to smartphones to printers and other devices. Learning the IP address can be very useful information, especially when you want to set up your home router or when you want to connect to other devices on the network. But how do you learn a computer’s IP address in Windows 7 and Windows 8? Let’s find out from this tutorial.