Six awesome built-in Windows utilities no one knows about

Windows 8 may not be the easiest operating system to use, but no one can accuse it of being stingy. If you poke deep inside the new OS, you'll find a generous assortment of software tools, many of which make third-party utilities redundant.

One built-in tool helps you calibrate your PC’s display. Another helps you investigate system-stability problems. And yet another lets you record on-screen actions to create tutorials for Windows applications. All of these utilities are free and come preloaded in Windows 8, with no hidden add-on costs. (You should be aware, though, that the Hyper-V virtual machine manager requires Windows 8 Pro or Enterprise, not the standard version of Windows 8.)

Have we left out any worthy built-in utilities? Read our list, and let us know in the comments section of this article.

Windows Blue: How it could reinvent Windows (or sink Windows 8)

With Windows 8's much ballyhooed launch barely a month behind us, alleged details of Microsofts next next-generation operating system have already begun swirling around the Net. And if those whispered rumors prove accurate, Windows Blue—as the rumored OS has been dubbed—will continue the seismic sea changes started in Windows 8.

Blue would introduce a standardized software base shared between Windows proper and Windows Phone, and also move toward cheaper, yearly software updates.

Is the rumor true? We won't know for sure until the middle of next year, when Windows Blue will allegedly be released. We can, however, examine the deeper implications of each aspect of the Windows Blue rumors—as well as whether the very existence of these rumors could hurt Windows 8's success in the short run.

More frequent releases mean lower prices

It's uncertain whether Windows Blue could be a service pack, a feature pack or something else altogether, but both ZDNet and The Verge report that it will be the kick-off of a new yearly release schedule for Microsoft's operating system—similar to the cheap, annual releases favored by Apple. After Blue, the "big bang" Windows launches of the past will go the way of the dodo.

McAfee nabbed? His blog says maybe, following CNN interview

The bizarre real-life potboiler concerning on-the-lam software millionaire John McAfee continued today, as -- following a cloak-and-dagger CNN interview with the fugitive -- McAfee's own blog posted an item saying he may have been captured at the Belize-Mexico border.

The item, pictured above and reported earlier by news agency AFP, says little more than that and calls the report of the capture "unconfirmed." We'll update this post -- or link to a new, separate story -- when we know more. (Editor's note: See bottom of story for updates.)

Earlier, CNN managed to track McAfee down for an on-camera interview somewhere in his longtime country of residence, Belize -- where he's in hiding after his neighbor was shot to death. A CNN article accompanying an online video of the interview says its reporter had to provide a secret password and partake in a secret-agent-like, twisting-and-turning car ride to get to the antivirus-software pioneer.

Obama opposes Silicon Valley firms on immigration reform

President Obama opposes an immigration reform bill backed by companies including Apple, Microsoft, and Adobe that would let U.S.-educated computer programmers and engineers remain in the country, the White House said today.

The surprise announcement comes in advance of a House of Representatives vote scheduledfor Friday on the Republican-backed STEM Jobs Act of 2012, which would make up to 55,000 visas available to foreigners who earned a master's or doctoral degree in certain science or technology area from a U.S. university. Those visas would only be available if immigration authorities certify that no American workers are available to fill the post.

The White House's statement this afternoon (PDF) says the "administration opposes House passage of H.R. 6429."

RIM preps for BlackBerry 10 QWERTY smartphone

Research In Motion has introduced the BlackBerry Dev Alpha C, a smartphone developers can use to test their applications and get ready for the launch of the BlackBerry 10 QWERTY device next year. The company also said developers will be able to trade their Alpha devices for a fully functional limited edition BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

Step-by-step, RIM is getting developers ready for the Jan. 30 launch of BlackBerry 10, when the company will introduce one all-touch smartphone and one more traditional model with a QWERTY keyboard.

RIM has already distributed 7,500 all-touch testing devices to developers; its latest move aims to ensure that applications can run on the QWERTY smartphone as well, the company said in a blog post on Thursday.

Google's Horowitz: Facebook is social network of the past

NEW YORK--Facebook is the social network of the past, and the way it implements advertising doesn't really work, a Google executive overseeing the search giant's social-networking product said today.

Bradley Horowitz, the Google vice president of product for Google+, said Facebook isn't set up in a way that's compatible with the real world. People should be able to have a conversation with a certain group of friends without involving others. And they should be able to have real conversations, he said, not 140-character blurbs like Twitter.

"In designing Google+, we keep thinking about the real world, the way people actually are," Horowitz said today during a Business Insider conference in New York. "We're trying to make a product that's ergonomic for the way our attention is wired."

Meanwhile, Horowitz compared the ads in a Facebook user's newsfeed to a sandwich board. Such ads don't really have any context and often aren't very effective, he said.

"Jamming ads and agendas into user streams is pissing off users and frustrating brands too," he said. "That's not the way the world works."

10 reasons to choose Ubuntu 12.10 over Windows 8

Microsoft's Windows 8 dominated countless headlines in the weeks leading up to its launch late last month, but October saw the debut of another major operating system as well.

Canonical's Ubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" arrived a week ahead of its competitor, in fact, accompanied by a challenge: "Avoid the pain of Windows 8." That slogan appeared on the Ubuntu home page for the first few hours after the OS's official launch, and attracted considerable attention.

Apparently Canonical decided to tone down its message later in the day—the slogan now reads "Your wish is our command"—but it seems fair to say that the underlying challenge remains.

Ubuntu comes with a variety of software packages, including Firefox, Thunderbird, and the full-featured productivity suite LibreOffice.

Window of opportunity

Ubuntu is a widely popular open-source Linux distribution with eight years of maturity under its belt, and more than 20 million users. Of the roughly 5 percent of desktop OSs accounted for by Linux, at least one survey suggests that about half are Ubuntu. (Windows, meanwhile, accounts for about 84 percent.)

The timing of this latest Ubuntu release couldn't be better for Windows users faced with the paradigm-busting Windows 8 and the big decision of whether to take the plunge.

Initial uptake of Windows 8 has been unenthusiastic, according to reports, and a full 80 percent of businesses will never adopt it, Gartner predicts. As a result, Microsoft's big gamble may be desktop Linux's big opportunity.

So, now that Canonical has thrown down the gauntlet, let's take a closer look at Ubuntu 12.10 to see how it compares with Windows 8 from a business user's perspective.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for many users of Windows 8's mobile-style Modern UI is that it has no Start button.