Windows 8 introduced new type of Applications now a days known as Windows 8 Style Applications. These Windows 8 Style Applications typically run in full screen mode and can be launched from the Windows 8 Start Menu. These Windows 8 Style Applications are much safer to download and install as compared to Desktop Applications. The Windows 8 Applications can be downloaded from only Windows 8 Store which is run by Microsoft. Software Developers develop Windows 8 Applications and submit them to Windows 8 Store from where Users can download the Windows 8 Style Applications.

Switch to Windows 8 Style Application from Task Manager

These Windows 8 Style Applications have a little bit different control mechanism. Some Windows 8 Applications close automatically when user navigates away from them and some applications go into suspended mode. Windows 8 Applications can be closed using the Alt + F4 key combination and are visible in the Alt +  Tab Sequence. The Task manager displays history of Windows 8 Style Application and displays lots of information about them such as CPU Usage, Network Usage, etc. You can even switch to a Windows 8 Style Application from the Task Manager from the App History tab by selecting the Windows 8 Style Application, doing a right click on selecting the option Switch To as displayed in the above screenshot.

There are lots and lots of other new features in Windows 8 and yes ofcourse, these Windows 8 Style Applications are at the top. With new types of applications being developed every day, you get more and more free and paid Windows 8 Style Applications. You can find lots of screenshots of Windows 8 Style Applications and there are even websites which allow you to preview Windows 8 Applications. In case you do want to try out the Windows 8 Store and the Windows 8 Style Applications on your Physical Computer or even on a Virtual Computer Box, Download Windows 8 for free from Microsoft Website and delve right into the world of Windows 8 Style Applications.

Whether you have connected a webcam , mobile, tablet, camera or any other electronic device, you can easily get the updated drivers in Windows 8. Yes all you need is an active internet connection and that’s it. Windows 8 can automatically deliver you the best updated drivers for your electronic device, provided manufacturer has provided them to Microsoft. Drivers are low level software programs and they have to follow extreme testing in order to pass the Driver Validation and as they have full control over your Computer System, they are tested to an extent that everybody cannot even imagine.

Check for Updated Drivers in Windows 8

The best part in getting updated drivers in Windows 8 is that you do not have to do a manual search. Gone are the days of Windows XP, when searching for drivers was a headache and a software engineer could only provide you the updated drivers. Now all you need is an active internet connection Check for Updates using Windows Update to find out the best driver for your electronic device.

Updates in Windows 8 are categorized in two categories. The first category is Important Updates and Second one is Optional Updates. Depending on the driver version installed on your Windows 8 computer, you may find updated drivers in Important or Optional Updates. Just connect your electronic device using USB port or any other appropriate port to your Windows Desktop or Laptop Computer in order to get the updated driver(s) for your electronic device. Open Control Panel, Navigate to the Windows Update Icon and click on the Check for Updates link as displayed in the screenshot above to get updated drivers delivered right to your computer without doing any manual search for drivers on internet..

Sending Video Greetings to someone can be real fun. Now whether you are using Windows 8, Windows 7, Macintosh or any other Operating System which supports Flash Player, you can send Video Greetings easily and quickly. This post talks about all the steps required so that anybody who has used internet can send video greetings quickly and easily. You would need many things in order to send video greetings. First you should have access to a good computer, it does not matter which operating system it is running as long as the operating system supports flash player. Next thing you would need is a USB Camera (preferably with inbuilt microphone) and an active internet connection.

Once you have got all the appropriate hardware including a good computer, camera / webcam connected to your computer using a USB cable and an active internet connection, you are almost ready to send video greetings to anybody by email. Yes there are lots of steps here and once you have done them one time, the steps will reduce and next time you have to send video greetings to anybody, it would be easier to you. Apart from an active internet connection, you would need a youtube account as well as required in this tutorial. Yes you can even send video greetings without a youtube account, however this tutorial uses a youtube account to send video greetings. Login to your youtube account or create a youtube account if you do not have a youtube account. You do not need to have a gmail account for creating a youtube account and any working email account can be used to create a youtube account. Once you have logged in to your youtube account, look at the top right corner of the youtube website and notice a link to upload videos, click on the upload link as displayed in the screenshot below.

First Step in Sending Video Greetings Online

Yes even if you do not have a video to upload and you want to record a video greeting from your webcam / camera connected to your computer, the first step required here in this tutorial is to click on the Upload link as displayed above in the screenshot. Once the Next Screen appears, look to the right hand side of your computer screen and find a link that says Record a Video and click on it. As of this writing, the option of recording a video with webcam / camera appears as given below.

Record Video Greeting from Webcam or Camera with Microphone

In the Next Screen, the Flash Player will ask your permission to access your Camera. You would need to allow access to the Webcam / Camera in order to record your video greetings as displayed below. You can optionally always allow access to the webcam or camera connected to your computer using the Remember option as displayed in the screenshot below. This Access granted is granted on a per website basis. In case you record videos on some other website using online flash player, you would need to grant the permission again. The Adobe Flash Player in built right into Windows 8 and hence Windows 8 users will not need to worry about the Installation of Flash Player. Other Windows Users might be prompted to download and install flash player.

Allow Flash Player to Access Camera and Microphone to Send your Video Greetings

Now you can record your video greeting with your webcam or camera connected to your computer. In order to start the video recording, look for a red colored button labelled Start Recording as displayed below and click on it. The Video will start recording once you click on the Start Recording button and the same Start Button will change it’s text and will allow you to Stop the Recording. Recording a Video does not uploads the recorded video to youtube and hence after recording your video greeting, you would need to click on the upload button as displayed below.

Send Video Greeting – Upload to Youtube

Note that the Upload Button will appear momentarily and will disappear automatically before you have recorded the video. Once you have recorded the video, the upload button will appear and will allow you to upload the recorded video greeting to your youtube account. You will be able to view the recorded video greeting using the Video Manager link and you will be able to edit your video, change video title / description once the recorded video greetings have been uploaded and processed by youtube.

Windows 8 groups multiple file operations to save space in taskbar and allow user to have full control over multiple file operations. File Copying / Moving from a Computer to USB Device, to a Network Location or even to a DVD Drive can take time depending on the file size. One of the new features in Windows 8 is grouping of multiple file operations in a single window. The screenshot below displays 3 file operations carried out on a Windows 8 computer, out of which 1 file operation has been paused. When the given below screenshot was captured, deletion of files from USB memory stick was in progress and simultaneously data was copied from hard disk to the memory stick. Another file copy operation from hard disk to the memory stick was paused.

Multiple File Operations in Windows 8

This new File Operation window of Microsoft Windows 8 displays speed of data transfer, displays how much time is remaining in order to carry out each action, and lots of other information. The Color combination of this multiple action management window allows you to visually distinguish between running and paused actions. Yes we all want our data transfer to be as fast as possible and this new unique feature of Windows 8 does helps in managing multiple file operations.

In case you have still not tried Windows 8, be tempted to try out Windows 8 on your Computer, browse this website for more information on Windows 8. In case you would like to know some interesting features of Windows 8, do navigate to the the post describing few of the new features of Windows 8. Yes you can even download a free trial and use Windows 8 for at full 90 days without paying a single penny to Microsoft. In case you do use your computer to transfer lots of data to / from your computer, this multiple file operations feature can be a good reason to upgrade to Windows 8.

Controlling a Windows 8 Computer with SMS opens up lots of possibilities. You can do almost anything using a SMS Controlled Windows 8 Computer remotely. Simple things like Remote Shutdown, Restart or other computer control functions can be automated by controlling a Windows 8 Computer with Appropriate Software. Now a days there are lots of Inexpensive Data Modems which allow you to connect to internet with connectivity of 2G, 3G, 4G, etc Mobile Network. These Data Modems also provide SMS Functionality and few provide voice calling facility as well. The Software Solution talked about here is a combination of a Computer running Windows, Data Modem (with enough balance to send / receive SMS messages) and a custom built software application.

Attributes of a Data Modem Displayed by Daanav Data Card Checker

As displayed in the screenshot above, the Daanav Data Card Checker is plugged into a Windows 8 Computer. The Daanav Data Checker can send / receive SMS messages and can launch shortcuts / shutdown computer or even control other devices connected to the Windows Computer using appropriate API available. The Daanav Data Card Checker simply displays various attributes of the Data Card connected to the Windows 8 Computer. As the Software can interact using only SMS, there is no need of an active internet connection and hence this way of controlling Windows computer remotely becomes inexpensive and easy to manage.

The method talked above is to control Windows 8 or any other Windows Computer with SMS only. Although a custom software solution can take advantage of internet connectivity as well. This way of controlling Windows Computer by SMS works in a similar way in which GPS Trackers work. The Custom Software Solution takes into consideration which SMS commands will be sent and whether the Computer has to reply back to the SMS Sender or not. Custom Software Development can get you anything programmed to control Windows computers by SMS only or even using the Internet Connectivity.