When it comes to kitting out an office or workplace, the best business laptop is the right tool for the job at hand. This doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive, the newest, or even the most powerful. It's about picking the right machine for the role.

Do you need all-day battery life? A powerful dedicated GPU? A color-accurate display? Are you a Windows or macOS organization? Would you consider a Windows on ARM device? What's your policy on Copilot buttons? There are lots of key purchasing decisions to make – and, thankfully, lots of great laptops to choose from.

In this article, you'll discover our top picks for the best business laptops in every major category. IT Pro's team of laptop-reviewing experts has decades of experience in laptop reviewing, and in the past 12 months, we've rigorously tested and reviewed a broad selection of laptops from Apple, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and more.

What to look for in a business laptop

It's been another stellar year for laptops. The ARM-based competition from Qualcomm and Apple has given the x86 chips from both AMD and Intel some much-needed competition, and the result is that the latest generation of chips provides a more potent cocktail of application performance, graphics power, and battery life than ever before.

This is great news for buyers: whether you want an affordable everyday business laptop, a long-lasting ultraportable, or a mobile workstation, there's plenty of great hardware out there to fit every use case, both in x86 and ARM-based flavours. You want a powerful, portable laptop and all-day battery life? Your wish has been granted.

AI remains on everyone's lips – and it also remains on their laptops. The neural processors (NPUs) in laptop chips are steadily increasing in power, and both Apple and Microsoft are harnessing that new resource to deploy a range of AI-powered features in their operating systems. These features aim to both boost productivity, power local large language (LLM) models, and shift battery-sapping video, image, and audio processing onto the NPU for more power-efficient operation.

Oftentimes, though, it's the far more basic, physical aspects of a laptop's design which elevate it above the competition: the display, keyboard and touchpad, the connectivity, the upgradability – or lack of it. These are the crucial factors in laptop design that you can only evaluate with proper hands-on testing. And that's why all of the laptops we recommend here have been tested by experts who use these devices for day-to-day work, and benchmark and test every key aspect of their performance.

Read on, and you'll discover our pick of the best laptops that have crossed our desks in recent times. Whether it's an affordable everyday laptop, a high-end ultraportable, or a heavyweight workstation, you'll find something for every desk.

Best business laptops

The Asus ExpertBook Ultra borrows a little glitz from the consumer-focused ZenBook range and brings some much-needed glamour to the business portable. It's also a potent demonstration of just how dramatically Intel's latest Panther Lake generation has caught up with the competition.

The hardware is luxurious. A stunningly bright, vivacious OLED touchscreen takes centre stage, and despite the 14-inch 2,880 x 1,880 panel, Asus has somehow kept the kerb weight down to an impossibly slight 0.99kg.

It's not delicate, though: the featherlight shell is built from magnesium alloy with a 'Nano-Ceramic' coating and has a MIL-STD-810H accreditation for toughness. A matte layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus shields the OLED screen from damage, too. You'd expect an 11mm-thick laptop to feel delicate, but the ExpertBook Ultra is anything but.

Nor is it poorly connected. You get two Thunderbolt 4-equipped USB-C ports, one on each edge, and also a further two USB-A ports, which reach USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 are included, too – although it's worth noting that there's no physical Ethernet socket.

The advances made by Intel's Panther Lake chips are transformative. The result is a laptop which is able to balance quite formidable power – both in applications and gaming – with excellent power efficiency. The 70Wh battery kept going for almost 21 hours in our tests.

For more information, check out our full Asus ExpertBook Ultra review.

Sometimes you just need a good everyday laptop. A simple balance of sturdy build, ample performance, and good battery life. The Omnibook 5 delivers exactly that for a retail price of around £900 – and far less if you shop around.

Bear in mind, though, that this is a Windows on ARM device. If that doesn't immediately rule it out for your business – software compatibility issues can be a dealbreaker – then Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus chip offers a good balance of stamina and performance. It's around 25% slower than its Elite cousins, but we've found performance to be more than ample for everyday browser-based work. It consistently lasts a full day of work with some left in the tank.

Only GPU performance disappoints. Qualcomm is behind the competition here, and the modest Adreno X1-45 GPU limits it to very casual gaming.

Most buyers are unlikely to care. The 14in chassis is finished in a nicely solid-feeling aluminium chassis that's around 13mm thick and weighs in at 1.3kg. Pop open the display, and you're faced with a comfy-feeling keyboard and a decent-sized mechanical touchpad. The only complaints are minor: the half-height Enter key is one, the touchpad's loose, rattly feel is the other.

The presence of a decent OLED screen really sweetens the deal. Color accuracy is good, brightness reaches an ample 300 nits, and it covers around 99% of DCI-P3. That's impressive for the money.

For more information, check out our full HP Omnibook 5 review.

If it's desktop-adjacent power you crave, then the Pro Max 16 Plus is a superb investment. The specification is highly customisable, the chassis handles high-power CPU and GPU combinations, and the design is rock-solid. Only the cramped keyboard really irks.

The beauty of the Pro Max 16 Plus is that you can build it to your specification. If your use case needs a powerful CPU, no GPU, and a fancy OLED touchscreen that is just burning your IT budget, then you can keep the price under £1,500. If, however, you want a top-end CPU, 128GB of CAMM2 RAM, up to three PCIe 5.0 SSDs, and one of Nvidia's high-end RTX Pro chips, you can relieve a big chunk of your IT budget with ease.

We tested a fully stacked model with a Core 9 Ultra 285HX, RTX Pro 5000, 128GB of LPCAMM2 memory, and a 2TB PCIe Gen 5 SSD; the bill totted up to over £7,000. Around £500 of that was due to the stunning 3,840 x 2,400 OLED touchscreen – and we can confirm that its DisplayHDR 1000 True Black certification is well deserved.

Connectivity is a highlight. You get drop-jaw 2.5GbE Ethernet, HDMI 2.1, two USB-C Thunderbolt 5 ports, a single USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port, two 5Gbps USB-A ports, a 3.5mm headset port, and a full-sized SD card slot. There are optional extras, too: a smartcard reader, Bluetooth, and WWAN.

Bear in mind that the 'mobile' in mobile workstation is relative. Even the most basic specification tips the scales over 2.5kg, and that's before you've considered the extra bulk of a big, brick-sized power supply. You'll need a big, sturdy bag, and you'll get a workout thrown in for free.

For more information, check out our full Dell Pro Max 16 Plus review.

Chromebooks are not always championed when it comes to laptops – even in this Chromebook Plus era. They're often seen as the last resort of IT stock, the machine you take when your Mac or your Surface machine is out of commission. But the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is different and doesn't deserve to be tarred with that brush.

For starters, it's genuinely brilliant – not 'brilliant for a Chromebook' but actually, surprisingly good. The i5 model we tested proved to be the fastest Chromebook from 2024, with a Geekbench 6 multithreaded score of 7608 – that put it ahead of the excellent Asus ExpertBook CX54.

The integration of Google's Gemini AI into Chrome OS is also a big shot in the arm for Chromebooks and, what's more, there is an argument to make about it being more useful than some of Microsoft's more flashy Copilot+ features.

While employees might want Apple Macs, or the flashest Windows devices, IT teams should go against the grain and look at Samsung's Chromebooks. From as little as £649, your employees can have a stunning slimline laptop with a lovely OLED screen. One that is fast, lean, efficient, and easy to manage for small businesses or larger enterprises.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus review here

Squeezing the sort of hardware that keeps hardcore creatives or power-users satisfied into a 13.3in laptop is no easy feat but Asus has managed it and with some aplomb with the new ProArt PX13. Inside this compact laptop, you'll find a 100W Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU, AMD Ryzen 9 CPU and 2TB of storage. And there's a 360-degree lid thrown into the bargain for true convertible flexibility.

Made from matt-black aluminium the ProArt PX13 isn't the lightest 13.3in laptop on the market at just shy of 1.4Kg but the 360-degree hinge accounts for some of that and the whole package is MIL-STD 810H-rated so it should prove every bit as robust as it feels.

Connectivity is bang on point with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 on the wireless side along with two Thunderbolt 4 and a single 10Gbps USB-A port, an HDMI 2.1 video output, an SD card reader, and a dedicated DC-in jack so you don't have to sacrifice a Type-C port to charging duties.

Performance from the new 'Strix Point' AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX370 is impressive but it's the graphics performance from the 100W TGP RTX 4070 GPU that marks the ProArt PX13 out from the herd. To find a better performer you'll need to invest in a larger and more expensive high-end gaming laptop.

The 2.8K OLED screen covers 99.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and recorded a Delta-E variance of just 0.48 which is outstanding. All-in-all It's a great display for creative work and media consumption: HDR content looks particularly impressive. The 60Hz refresh rate rather limits the ProArt PX13 when it comes to motion fidelity and gaming but it's hardly a deal-breaker.

The keyboard is of very high quality and the touchpad is surprisingly large given that this is quite a small laptop. Built into the upper left part of the touchpad is Asus' DialPad, a virtual scroll-wheel that provides granular access to tools in several creativity apps though its real strength is its deep integration with Adobe's creative apps.

Read our full Asus ProArt PX13 review here

Apple hasn't reimagined the MacBook Pro for the arrival of the M5, but then it didn't need to. The 14in model is the smaller of the two Pros, and it's a beautiful thing both inside and out.

The design is simple and elegant and the 1.55kg aluminium body is tough. It's not just a looker, though. The keyboard and touchpad remain top of the heap, with a lovely crisp feel to the keys and a haptic touchpad which doesn't put a foot – well, finger – wrong. It's still the benchmark by which laptop touchpads should be judged and demonstrates the benefit of tight hardware and OS integration.

Connectivity is eminently sensible compared to some rival laptops, too. You get three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, HDMI 2.1, a full-sized SD card reader, and – yes – a 3.5mm headphone socket.

The move from M4 to M5 is quiet evolution rather than revolution, adding a little more single core power and some neural AI processing chops, but if you can pick up an M4 model on the cheap, then do – it's more than good enough. Bear in mind that, at the time of writing, buying direct from Apple only gives you the choice of M5, M4 Pro or M4 Max. For power users, the previous generation Pro and Max chips still outmuscle the M5.

The 14in Liquid Retina display is a typical highlight. The 3,024 x 1,964 resolution is sharp, the 120Hz refresh rate is slick and the Mini LED backlighting pushes brightness over the 1,000 nit mark with ease. You'll need to pay an extra £150 for the matte Nano-texture screen finish if anti-glare coatings are top of your wantlist, though.

Unfortunately, UK and EU buyers won't get a charger in the box. The EU push to reduce e-waste means you'll be paying an extra £59 for the privilege of charging your new MacBook. US buyers can gloat quietly.

For more information, check out our full Apple MacBook Pro M5 review.

The Acer Aspire Vero 16 is a solid 16in business laptop that costs a little less than most. For well under £1,000, you're looking at a 16-inch laptop with a capable all-round specification and good design. Throw in MIL-STD-810H certification for toughness, and you have a recipe for affordable laptop success.

At the time of writing, we're seeing the Vero 16 down to as little as £750 at some retailers – for that money, it's very easy to forgive the all-plastic build. Not that you'll mind: the base feels taut and well-constructed, and there's only a little give in the lid. The 1.8kg weight is modest, and you can remove the base and replace the battery or SSD as required.

There's no skimping on connectivity. You get two Thunderbolt 4-equipped USB-C ports, a pair of 5Gbps USB-A sockets, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm headphone output. Ethernet is absent, but fast onboard Wi-Fi 7 offers some consolation.

The 16:10 panel is a welcome sight: the 1,920 x 1,200 resolution makes the Windows desktop feel more roomy than on a standard Full HD panel. That's not the highest resolution, but the quality is superb. Color accuracy is good, and the panel covers 99.8% of the sRGB color gamut and 82% of DCI-P3.

Performance is also good across the board thanks to the Lunar Lake chips. NPU performance is low at 13 TOPS, but everyday applications – and even games – run incredibly well thanks to the Core Ultra 7 255H in our review sample. For GPU-based duties, the display's modest resolution is more a blessing than a curse. Efficiency is excellent, too, with an impressive 17-hour-plus runtime.

For more information, check out our full Acer Aspire Vero 16 review.

HP's big-screen convertible is a consumer model, but it gets a lot right. The 360-degree hinge allows it to transform from a standard laptop into tent mode and through into tablet mode. The USB-C stylus adds some welcome inking support, too.

It's another good-looking laptop from the HP camp. The chassis is clad in plates of aluminium, which add a nice, sturdy feel, and it weighs a reasonable 1.88kg. The all-important 36-degree hinges feel reassuringly solid, too.

Connectivity hits the spot. There's one full-sized USB-A port on either flank, and two USB-C ports, one of which supports Thunderbolt 4. Full-sized HDMI 2.1 and a 3.5mm headphone socket are welcome, too. Networking is solely wireless: you get Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

The OLED panel has a crisp 2,880 x 1,800 resolution, and peak brightness reaches 520cd/m2 in HDR mode. Color accuracy is great, and it also covers 100% of DCI-P3 and 95% of Adobe RGB. Impressive stuff.

Given the gloriously bright OLED display, the 15-hour battery life comes as some surprise. Performance from the Intel Lunar Lake chip is good, but we'd steer buyers towards a 32GB model, as the on-chip RAM is not upgradeable.

The only slight issue is that the integrated GPU struggles with the display's native resolution – you'll need to use Intel's XeSS upscaling to get playable framerates.

For more information, check out our full HP OmniBook X Flip 16 review.

FAQs

Why are business laptops more expensive?

You may have noticed that laptops which are specifically aimed at business buyers tend to be noticeably more expensive than those which are mostly consumer-focused. Although this is partially attributable to the fact that businesses can usually afford to drop a little more cash on their purchases, there are several good reasons why business laptops are more expensive.

For one thing, they’ll often come with AMD Ryzen Pro or Intel vPro chips. These special professional-grade components don’t confer any additional performance advantages, but they include extra security and manageability features designed to make it easier for IT admins to manage large fleet deployments.

Business machines are also more likely to have a wider range of ports and connectivity options, as many offices still rely on older connections like HDMI or even VGA for connecting to projectors and other peripherals. Other additional features like biometric security and better access to internal components for the purposes of repair and upgrade are a more common sight on business devices, too.

How long do business laptops last?

Another factor in why business laptops tend to command higher price tags is that they last longer than personal machines. The manufacturer’s warranty will generally cover a standard consumer laptop for a year, but business machines often come with a three year warranty.

Even beyond that, the typical device refresh cycle for most companies tends to be around five years - which means that business laptops will need to last for at least that long with no major problems in order to avoid unhappy customers. In fact, some companies can sweat their laptops for as much as ten years before replacing them – although they may upgrade certain components such as storage and RAM every so often.

Should I buy a convertible business laptop?

Convertible laptops allow users to seamlessly flip between tablet-style operations and the more traditional laptop form-factor. In theory, this offers increased flexibility and greater productivity, but while it can be a convenient way to display your screen for an informal presentation to colleagues, you may find its workplace utility to be somewhat limited unless you’re a big fan of taking handwritten notes or doing digital illustration.

The Dell XPS is a stalwart in the tech giant's laptop arsenal and its 13in 'Plus' variation is one of its very best. A refreshed design, smaller, portable size, and innovative keyboard design make the 13 Plus a laptop for the modern worker.

The keyboard design, known as 'zero-lattice', runs from edge to edge to house larger keys. The benefit here is that even the most inaccurate of typists can pick up a decent speed. The travel is good too, as it allows for a nice clean typing action across largely silent keys.

However, the real innovative part is the always-on illuminated symbols that run along the top of the keyboard. This appears to be Dell's take on Apple's ill-fated touch bar but with a more useful layout, with shortcuts for functions like print screen, volume dials, display controls play, and pause buttons.

You can also tap the Fn key and have the middle 13 of these symbols vanish to be replaced with backlit F1 to F12 icons. You can use the Fn-Lock to have the function key icons rather than the symbols as the default. Magic.

How we test

When we review a laptop, there are a number of tests that we use to determine its capabilities. To measure the quality of the display, we use the open-source DisplayCal app and a dedicated colorimeter to determine the maximum brightness, the contrast ratio and how much of the sRGB color gamut it covers (as well as the DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB gamuts where applicable) – which determines the range of colors the screen can reproduce. We also measure the average Delta-E rating, which indicates how accurately those colors are displayed.

Performance is tested by running it through our own in-house benchmarks, which consist of three tests: an image conversion test, which gives an indication of single-threaded speeds, a video encoding test, which makes greater use of multi-core processing, and a multitasking test which runs both processes simultaneously while also playing a video. This test is the most strenuous and is designed to push processors to their limits. These tests give us individual scores, as well as an overall result.

We'll also run the Geekbench 5 performance test to confirm the accuracy of these results, as well as assessing its performance in day-to-day tasks throughout our evaluation period. Storage is tested using the AS SSD benchmark.

In order to measure battery life, we'll charge the battery fully, then set the display brightness as close to 170cd/m2 as possible using a color calibrator, turn on flight mode and play a looped video until the battery dies. This gives us a consistent figure to compare the battery life of different models, although it may not necessarily give us an indication of real-world battery life. For this, we assess how long the battery lasts over several days of actual use, subjecting it to a range of workloads and activities.

Despite its age, Windows 10 remains Microsoft's most popular operating system, and by extension the most-installed operating system on the market today. Just a few years ago, Windows 10 vs Windows 8.1 would be a valid comparison for businesses and personal users, but that's no longer the case.

With the general release of Windows 11 in October 2021, Windows 10 fell into the legacy OS category alongside Windows 8.1 and the no-longer supported Windows 7. With that, the discussion moved away from Windows 8.1 as a viable platform.

As of January 10th 2023, Windows 8.1 reached its end-of-life state, meaning it will no longer receive any technical support, software changes, or security updates. In other words, Windows 8.1 is no longer a viable business tool.

Although it's no longer credible to compare the two systems in a business context, you can find our initial findings below on how the two operating systems fare when put side by side. We have also included a comparison between some of the features once offered as part of Windows 8.1, and how these were then tweaked for Windows 10.

Windows 10 vs Windows 8.1

Boot times

There doesn’t seem to be any real difference in the boot times between these two operating systems. This is at least true for the two devices we conducted tests with; the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Microsoft Surface Pro. Both devices loaded the login screen in exactly eight seconds with both Windows 10 and Windows 8.1, with only milliseconds between boot times on either machine.

Windows 10’s facial recognition tool, however, served as a means to shave a few seconds booting into the desktop. This biometric layer of security allowed a user to quickly hop into their system by just sitting in front of their PC, given there’s no need to enter a secure password, as required under Windows 8.1.

We should note that this feature isn’t available on all Windows 10 devices, as the device in question will need a special Intel RealSense 3D camera preinstalled. These cameras, alongside fingerprint scanners, are fairly common in business-oriented notebooks, though, giving Windows 10 an advantage over its older counterpart.

Winner: Windows 10, by a whisker, but only if you count the small potential time saving of facial recognition.

Interface

Without doubt, Windows 8's initial insistence on imposing the tiled Start screen on devices that didn't even have a touchscreen ruined any chance of the operating system ever getting widespread business adoption.

Although the error was partially corrected by Windows 8.1, when desktop PC and laptop users could boot straight to the desktop and pretend the Start screen didn't exist, it was still needed for many core functions from launching apps to changing settings.

Windows 10 put that right, albeit with an imperfect hybrid of the Windows 7 Start menu and Windows 8 Start screen. On desktops and laptops, the Start menu emerges from the bottom-left corner of the screen, with most-used programs listed down the left-hand side, along with a link to an A-Z listing of all installed apps, while the right-hand side shows the Live Tiles of the Windows 8 era. On tablets, it works very similarly to the way it did under Windows 8.1, with the Live Tiles expanding to dominate the entire screen.

That said, the tiled section of the Start menu on Windows 10 is far from perfect. With four different tile sizes and an awkward drag-and-drop system, it's too easy to end up with an untidy, gap-strewn mish-mash of tiles.

And once you've got more than a few live tiles activated, your screen can start to look like a Las Vegas casino, with a wall of rotating, scrolling squares each trying to catch your eye. Yet, it's undoubtedly an improvement on what went before for non-touchscreen devices.

Other notable new additions are the Cortana search bar in the bottom left of the Taskbar. We'll talk more about Cortana later, but the search bar lets you enter voice or typed searches for apps or files stored on your PC. You can click the My Stuff button in search results to perform more advanced searches of your own files, which certainly makes it easier to hunt down specific files than with Windows 8.1. However, we still find it easier to instigate advanced searches from within Files Explorer (called Windows Explorer in 8.1). Windows 10 did eventually add the option to search emails through this box, which is a great addition.

Talking of Files Explorer, that's had a refresh too. Aside from a stark new set of icons, Explorer now has a Quick Access view which shows your most frequently opened folders at the top of the window, with a list of recently accessed files just below, making it easier to quickly pick up where you left off on files that are nested deep in folders.

You can still pin your favourite folders to the left-hand pane of Files Explorer, but this does create some duplication with the frequent folders pane just next to it, whilst the Libraries first introduced in Windows 7 are now almost hidden from view. The new Explorer is a modest improvement on Windows 8.1's, but again needs refinement.

One significant new interface element for businesses is virtual desktops. An idea brazenly lifted from the Linux world, Windows 10's virtual desktops let you keep different sets of apps open in different desktops. You might, for example, have one desktop dedicated to communications (with, say, Outlook, Slack and Skype running) and another for work on a particular project (Excel and a web browser). It allows you to compartmentalise your work, and avoid having desktops cluttered with several open windows, but it's frustrating that many apps designed to run full-screen on a touchscreen can only occupy a single desktop.

Winner: Windows 10 corrects most of Windows 8's ills with the Start screen, whilst revamped file management and virtual desktops are potential productivity boosters. An outright victory for desktop and laptop users.

Stability

Even though it was the biggest overhaul of the OS since Windows 95, Windows 8 was remarkably stable and bug-free from the get-go. Indeed, we had it running on everyday work systems six months before launch.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of commonly-encountered problems on Windows 10. Microsoft is regularly issuing updates for the software, but these updates often cause problems. It seems like every few months there are new reports of accidental file deletions, glitches, crashes and other assorted errors. General stability is certainly better than it was, but the fact that these errors persist is frustrating.

There haven't been any bugs that we'd consider serious enough to warrant downgrading to an earlier version of Windows, but it has to be said that reliability isn't Windows 10's strong suit - and it doesn't look like it ever will be. On the other hand, Windows 10 Enterprise users can cut out a lot of this headache - which we'll talk about more in a minute - meaning it's not quite so much of an issue.

Winner: Windows 8.1 (prior to its end-of-life). Businesses could opt to skip many of the issues introduced by Windows 10's rolling updates, but the fact that they had to do this in the first place is hardly encouraging.

Enterprise features

Windows 8.1 actually did a fair amount of spadework for business users. Features such as Secure Boot, Windows To Go (giving you a bootable desktop from a USB stick), and Hyper-V virtualisation of guest OSes were features that were overshadowed by the focus on touchscreen devices.

All of those features remain in Windows 10, and there are others that could have a hugely significant impact on business rollouts. In-place upgrades have been made much smoother, meaning IT managers won't have to wipe and reimage as they may have done before. On our ThinkPad loaded with business-oriented desktop apps (Office 2013, Slack, Creative Suite amongst others), we performed an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 Pro in less than 40 minutes, with all documents, applications and settings perfectly retained.

Microsoft is also making it much easier for IT managers to bring off-the-shelf hardware into businesses, with new runtime configuration tools that can implement VPN settings, e-mail profiles, app installations and security policies without wiping the hardware and starting afresh.

Microsoft has also been commendably wary of forcing businesses to install the same rolling updates to Windows 10 that are now mandatory for consumers, who can no longer opt out of Windows Updates. Enterprise users can opt for a Long Term Servicing Branch of the OS another idea pinched from Linux which allows them to install a stable version of Windows 10 on mission-critical machines, which will only receive essential security updates and not the new features that will be periodically rolled out to regular Windows 10 users. Windows 10 Pro users, meanwhile, can defer updates, giving new features a few months to bed down on consumer systems before they're applied to a business machine.

Winner: Windows 10. Windows 8 didn't get the credit it deserved for enterprise features, but Windows 10 expands them even further and makes rollouts less of a headache for IT departments.

Security

Controversial though it was, because of the way it shut out some Linux distros, Windows 8's Secure Boot eliminated the threat of some of the most harmful types of malware. It was also the first version of Windows to ship with built-in antivirus protection, even if Windows Defender does routinely perform poorly in Dennis Technology Labs' independent tests.

With Windows 10, Microsoft is turning the screw even tighter with Secure Boot, giving PC manufacturers the option to prevent users disabling the feature. That might upset consumers who want to dual-boot OSes, but the vast majority of business machines will only ever boot into the OS the device is shipped with, and this prevents almost any chance of malicious rootkits or other low-level malware infecting the boot process.

The addition of face and iris recognition to the list of user authentication options already within Windows 8 potentially adds extra convenience for both users and IT departments alike (unlike passwords or smartcards, nobody forgets their face). However, both require specialised hardware, and neither is common enough to be a universal standard yet.

Winner: Windows 10 edges ahead of its predecessor, but the new authentication options still haven't fully caught on.

Mobility features

Windows 8.1 was already a pretty decent tablet OS, hampered largely by a poor selection of high-quality apps in the Windows Store. At this stage, it's hard to tell if Microsoft's new Windows 10 plan for Universal Apps apps that run across PC, tablet and eventually phones will bear fruit, but Windows 10 is already a better tablet OS than its predecessor.

One reason for this is Continuum, which automatically adapts the Windows 10 interface to suit the mode it's being used in on hybrid devices. Detach a device such as the Surface from its keyboard, and Windows 10 prompts you to enter Tablet Mode, where the Start menu spans the full screen, the Taskbar disappears, apps run in full screen instead of windows, and you effectively get no access to the desktop.

Reattach the keyboard, and the Start menu shrinks back into its corner, the Taskbar springs back, and apps can be run in whatever size of window you choose, even touchscreen-focussed apps from the Windows Store. It's a brilliant feature, possibly the best Windows 10 has to offer, and a real boon for hybrid devices, making the shifting between modes feel much smoother and making them feel like two distinct devices. Our only gripe is that Windows 10 doesn't always recognise a change of mode if you've, say, detached a keyboard while the device was switched off. However, you can easily activate and deactivate Tablet Mode manually via the new Action Center.

Windows 10 also introduces a Battery Saver mode, dimming the screen and cutting down on needless notifications to preserve battery life. It automatically kicks in when the battery dips below 20%, but you can apply the mode manually, too. It's not going to add hours to your laptop's/tablet's run time, but every little helps.

Winner: An emphatic victory for Windows 10, which finally makes sense of hybrid devices, and adds limited battery-saving benefits.

Windows 10 vs Windows 8.1: Which was the better operating system?

It's not perfect and it's now a permanent work in progress, but Windows 10 showed that Microsoft could pull off what many thought impossible: an operating system that sat comfortably on desktops, laptops and tablets.

It's the reason that the vast majority of Windows installs are still using Windows 10 today. Windows 8 and 8.1 were seen by many as prototype operating systems, which was perhaps necessary given that the company was starting to experiment with harmonising user experiences across multiple devices - it's just a shame the end-user had to be the guinea pig.

Users never really quite took to Windows 8, and today's market shares reflect that. Windows 7, now having reached end of life, retains quite a healthy chunk of the market, naturally only beaten by Windows 10 and Windows 11. In fact, as of Q1 2023, Windows 7 still holds almost 4% of the market share, almost four times that of Windows 8.1.

Windows 8 was arguably a failure, particularly given the huge leap that Windows 10 provided. The start menu on Windows 10 is far less jarring, providing modern tools and layouts sprinkled with enough familiarity that users won't feel alienated. There's a host of new security and productivity features, with more being added all the time, and the migration to Windows 10 is far smoother than anything experienced in the past.

Windows 10 remains Microsoft's most popular operating system, despite having been superseded by Windows 11 in October 2021. The success of the software has prompted many to look back on previous iterations, comparing Windows 10 vs Windows 8.1 vs Windows 7.

However, only Windows 10 and Windows 11 are currently receiving official support from Microsoft, with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 now retired and no longer suitable for business use.

That means that while we have compared Microsoft's various operating systems against each other, any verdicts that lean towards Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 are purely academic and should not be taken as recommendations.

Windows 10 vs Windows 8.1 vs Windows 7

User interface for desktops and laptops

Windows 7 certainly set the benchmark for a relatively consistent and understandable user interface, although its key strength now is its familiarity. You know where to find things, you know what sort of results you're going to get from the Start Menu search bar and you understand the oddities of Windows Explorer, Task Manager and Control Panel.

This familiarity is an asset compared to Windows 8.1. Microsoft's huge push for touchscreen devices and tablets left desktop users feeling not only abandoned, but hugely confused. Hitting the Start button to search for an app or file left you with a massive full-screen Start screen that made little sense when it was first introduced in Windows 8 in 2012 and it still feels jarring today.

Windows 10 strikes a better balance here, with its Continuum mode neatly morphing the compact Start menu into a bigger, touch-friendly Start screen as needed. The Start menu's links to the newly tweaked File Explorer as well as lists of recently used apps and your pinned folders are all huge plus points.

The Start menu in Windows 10 has undergone a few changes since its own release. With the advent of the Anniversary update, it has three columns in the Start Menu with All Apps always visible. The interactive Start Menu also allows you to change the Live Tile apps for apps you use more frequently, and the new clean, square icons lend a simplified look.

Windows 10 holds a small advantage up to this point, then, and that's before you even consider the hugely improved window management system. If you're someone who likes to multitask, Windows 10 has you covered.

Windows 8.1 has better multi-monitor support than Windows 7. Unlike 7, 8.1 has a taskbar on each screen showing only those apps running on that screen. Plus each monitor can have its own distinct wallpaper. and each screen given its own customisable wallpaper.

Windows 10 builds on this foundation, adding an improved version of Windows Snap so you can easily organise your windows in just a couple of clicks. Answering the prayers of those of us with multiple monitors running at different resolutions, there are now settings for scaling text and the UI on a per-monitor basis.

Even if you only have one display, such as when you're using a laptop on the move, Windows 10 now has built-in multiple desktops (like Ubuntu and Mac OS X), so juggling lots of windows and tasks is still easier than ever.

Winner: Windows 10

There's no question Windows 10 needed to make some serious improvements for desktop and laptop users, and Microsoft has delivered. Multitasking has never been easier, meaning it's by far the best choice.

User interface for tablets

Windows 7 only has the most basic interface elements and optimisations for touchscreens, which allowed the iPad and iOS to dominate the market for tablets. This led to the radically improved touchscreen interface in Windows 8, but it alienated a lot of people as it had so few accommodations for keyboard and mouse users.

Windows 8.1 added a few tweaks, nips and tucks, such as the ability to run Modern UI apps in a resizable window, but its display scaling problems made usable high-resolution Windows 8.1 tablets a near impossibility.

Windows 10, while not perfect, is a big improvement. An improved touchscreen gesture allows you to flick between applications quickly and easily than before. If you have a hybrid device and dock it to a keyboard, Windows 10 should recognise this change of state and switch back to its touchpad-friendly desktop mode thanks to Continuum mode, although whether this will work on your device will depend on whether its manufacturers has released drivers that support this.

Windows 10 Anniversary Update features a new Ink Workspace that puts pen-based apps in their own panel at the bottom-right corner. The new apps boast Screen Sketch, Sketchpad and Sticky Notes. The latter integrating with its cloud services. Pen devices should work well with Windows 10 with great Ink support.

Winner: Windows 10

If you have a tablet or a tablet/laptop hybrid, Windows 10 is your best bet. With features catering well for both, you'll work more efficiently that you could on Windows 8.1 or Windows 7.

Security

Windows 7 and 8.1 are by no means insecure operating systems; but Windows 10 has moved both home and enterprise security along significantly, both in terms of local device security and the security of your online services, too.

First of all, there's Windows Hello, which lets you use biometric log-in with a fingerprint, face or iris scan instead of a password. While computers with the necessary biometric scanning hardware built-in are currently uncommon, we're helpful that more will become available quickly given that Hello is built into Windows 10 from the very start.

There's also Passport, a single sign-in service for consumers that allows Windows to authenticate with websites on your behalf without you having to type in a password. This service hooks into Windows Hello, using your biometric scan or a PIN code to verify that you are the person you claim to be. This means you'll use your password less, meaning it'll become much more difficult for hackers to compromise online accounts with stolen passwords. It's not currently supported that widely, but if it takes off, Passport could massively boost security on your online services. As yet, though, Passport and Hello are unproven and very much fledgling technologies.

IT managers will appreciate the ability to organise Enterprise-licenced PCs into circles and choose when updates are applied - great for making sure you don't disrupt your users' work. This also means that Microsoft's new strategy of releasing frequent, individual updates instead of bundling them into Patch Tuesdays or Service Packs won't have a big impact on your office's productivity, as you can delay non-critical updates for up to 90 days if you're on Microsoft's Current Business Branch of support.

You also get Enterprise Data Protection, the ability to sign in with an Azure ID and the ability to set up a company-wide app store.

Winner: Windows 10

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft's latest operating system has the most advanced security features of the operating systems here. It's good for both consumers and IT managers.

Performance

Microsoft cautions that Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 have limited support when running on new processes and chipsets from manufacturers like Intel, AMD, NVidia, and Qualcomm. Users should be aware of the original equipment manufacturer's (OEM) support period, as this can hinder performance.

While anecdotally we have heard of PCs running a lot quicker having been upgraded from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, actual performance benchmarks on our test PC with 8GB of memory and an Intel Core i5 4690K processor show no difference.

What's more important is the addition of DirectX 12 support, a low-level graphics API designed to increase 3D graphics performance with lower overheads while giving developers more control over how hardware is used. This is most important for gamers though as most professional 3D graphics software relies on the competing OpenGL API instead. Although it's still very early days for DirectX 12 with few titles currently taking advantage of it, if you're looking for the best 3D gaming performance available the Windows 10 is likely your best bet as DirectX 12 won't be available for Windows 8.1 or 7.

Winner: Windows 10

Again, no surprises here; with no penalty in performance and DirectX 12, Windows 10 is an easy choice

Searching for files and folders

Search has become ever more important in operating systems, as file and folder hierarchies have become less important and searching for a specific filename has become a popular way of finding important files especially amidst messy desktops and haphazardly organised Documents folders.

Windows 7 had a terrific search function built in the Start Menu, finding files and folders on network shares as well as those stored locally. It wasn't perfect, especially if you needed to refine your search results, but it was useful enough that we were surprised that Windows 8 abandoned this simultaneous search ability. It also adopted a more fiddly Start screen-based search interface and integrated web search results from Bing and app store suggestions. These superfluous additions were far of an annoyance than a convenience.

Windows 10 searches still hook into the Bing search engine and also look for apps in the Windows Store. Even more annoyingly these results are placed ahead of search results for installed apps, files and folders with no option to change this order. Amazingly, the ability to search your computer and network shares simultaneously is still missing.

However, you can at least easily perform more advanced searches from the Start Menu by clicking on the My Stuff button. This lets you filter by relevance or date, and can also narrow down your search to specific file types including documents, photos, music and settings.

Windows 10 also includes Cortana, the personal assistant feature from Windows Phone. This has become a major part of Windows 10 doing double duty as a web search and a Start Menu/Windows search. Plus the ability to search by voice is both impressive in its accurate transcription and in its usefulness for the differently abled.

Winner: Tie

The improved advanced search features in Windows 10 are very welcome, but its insistence on prioritising web search and app store results isn't. Windows 7 still holds a place in our hearts for its quick, simple search results and network integration.

Windows 10 vs Windows 8.1 vs Windows 7: Which version is right for you?

Windows 8 had the unintended side effect of making people significantly more attached to Windows 7 than ever before. It was a happy medium sitting between the Vista mess and the Windows 8 Start screen nightmare.

Prior to the operating systems reaching end of life, we would have said to skip over Windows 8.1 if you were still on Windows 7, given that you could safely upgrade without losing the things you loved most about that OS.

However, now that official support is only available for Windows 10, we cannot recommend using any Microsoft operating systems that predate this version. Not only do the operating systems feel quite dated at this point, the lack of security updates will put you and your data at unnecessary risk.

Windows 10 will reach its own end of life in October 2025, at which point you should have already migrated to Windows 11. If you're wondering how these two operating systems stack up, it's worth reading our Windows 10 vs Windows 11 comparison article.

Microsoft is betting big on the hybrid revolution with its range of Surface devices. The Surface Pro 3, for example, can apparently replace both your laptop and your tablet. However, while there are definite advantages to the hybrid approach, you should also be prepared to make some compromises.

For example, the Pro 3 offers laptop-like performance with a choice of Core i5/i7 processors and up to 8GB of RAM. On the flip-side, port selection is limited to a single USB connection, a microSD card reader and mini-DisplayPort because of space/weightconstrictions. Then there's battery life, which is short of the double-digits you'd expect from a power-efficient tablet.

However, the Pro 3 could still be the right option for you depending on how you want to work.

Latest News

31/08/2016: Microsoft may have fixed the Surface Pro 3's battery problems by rolling out a new update to the tablet computer.

The company said on its forum: "Thanks for your continued patience here. We have now completed our testing of the update and it has passed our quality assurance process. The update, "System firmware update - 8/29/2016", is now available to install from Windows update."

It warned that before installing the update users should ensure their device is plugged in. Any device being updated should have at least 40% battery life before attempting the update, it continued.

"v38.10.90.0 corrects an error that may occur on a limited number of Surface Pro 3 devices where the full charge capacity of the battery is misreported to the operating system and device firmware," Microsoft said in the changelog. "This update corrects the firmware component that functions as a "fuel gauge" so that the battery capacity is accurately reported."

Apparently, the battery problem is related to an error that "causes the full charge capacity of the battery to be misreported to the operating system and device firmware." It is a safety measure to stop the battery from overheating when it reaches fully charged capacity.

Microsoft said that it could take a few charging cycles for the issue to be completely fixed though, so users should not expect it to be sorted as soon as they install the update.

28/07/2016:Battery problems with the Surface Pro 3 appear to be a software issue, Microsoft has said.

Users whose devices are powered by the Simplo battery have had their battery life drained due to a fault, but Microsoft believes it has found an inexpensive solution.

On its Answer forum (spotted by ZDNet), Microsoft said: "We are aware of some customers reporting a scenario with their Surface Pro 3 batteries in which the system is reporting lower battery capacity than expected. We've isolated this to a limited number of customers experiencing this issue.

"Based on our investigations we can confirm that it is not an issue with the battery cells, and we believe this is something that can be addressed via software."

However, it is not clear when Microsoft will resolve this with a software update. "We're working through the details of how we deliver that," Microsoft also said.

Alternative Surface devices

Before we dive into the full Surface Pro 3 review, we should mention the rest of the Surface family.Microsoft has now fleshed out its Surface range with a product in virtually every bracket.

On the more affordable end of the spectrum is the Surface 3, which makes up for its comparatively underpowered specs by being the cheapest in the range.

The Surface Pro 3 itself has now been superseded by the Surface Pro 4. Microsoft has made some substantial improvements to the newer model, including a vastly upgraded TypeCover keyboard and new stylus technology.

The company has also released its first-party MacBook-killer, the Surface Book. With another detachable screen and an Nvidia GeForce graphics card, it's a pretty impressive beast indeed.

Microsoft isn't without competition though; Apple is putting up a fight with its own tablets and notebooks. Click here to read our head-to-head comparisons of the iPad Pro and the Surface Pro 3, as well as the iPad Pro versus the Surface Pro 4.

Display & design

The Surface Pro 3 has a stunning 12in screen. Its unique 3:2 aspect ratio coupled with the cover means it resembles a legal pad or large diary when closed. You get the impression it's sitting there waiting for you to fill the pages of OneNote with ideas and diagrams.

Microsoft has cranked up the resolution to 2160 x 1440. This produces clear, detailed images and also a rich palette of colours. It's right up there with the Retina Display on the iPad Air.

Then there's the size. The large screen means the device is edging more towards laptop territory. As such, web browsing and multimedia playback are a joy. It's also got enough space to place two apps together side-by-side on the screen, which is incredibly useful for those of us who have to multi-task.

That said, the Pro 3 is not perfect. Cramming three million pixels into such a relatively small surface area poses problems, especially when software is not optimised to make use of them. The Surface Pro 3 exhibits the same scaling issues that have plagued other high-res Windows 8.1 devices and icons and text can be minuscule in desktop mode.

The first thing you should do is go to PC Setting > Display and then toggle the Size of application to Larger'. This makes all the Live Tiles, Settings and Charms menus easier to see. Unfortunately, it doesn't do anything to improve the desktop experience and is something Microsoft really needs to fix as the majority of power users will be spending their time in this mode.

Pen input

One of the highlights - and there are many - of the Surface Pro 3 is the pen input. A lot of thought has gone into the design here and the way in which the pen interacts with the device.

The tablet promises a natural writing experience, acting as a pen and paper replacement. It's made from a single piece of aluminum and looks and feels like a fountain pen instead of a plastic twig you'd have found shipped with the device's predecessors.

The standout feature is the ability to activate OneNote at any time (even from sleep mode) with a click of the purple button on the end. You can start taking notes immediately, be it in a meeting or lecture, without having to unlock the device, which is a real bonus. Another click will save the note to the cloud and open up a fresh sheet. It's a simple and well-executed idea and optimal for the times when you want to jot down a quick memo.

However, the best bit is the ability to capture any page on the device and annotate it. Simply double click the pen lid and you'll be presented with an option to print screen or select a portion.

Our only concern is the inability to stash the pen anyway on the cover - so there's a high risk of misplacing it.

Keyboard

Bigger is always better when it comes to keyboards because it means the letters are not cramped and important keys like Shift' and Return' are easy to locate and use.

Microsoft has made the smart decision to scrap the Touch Cover and focus on the mechanical Type Cover, which aims to provide a laptop-like typing experience.

A key feature is the addition of a second magnetic strip on the keyboard. This means you can snap the cover to an angle of six degrees, which makes it much more comfortable to type on.

Typing is improved over its predecessors, but it doesn't replicate the full experience of a desktop and laptop keyboard. Feedback is shallow and each key generates an annoyingly loud thud no matter how gently you press it.

The increased size of the Touch Cover means the Pro 3 has got a step closer to building a usable trackpad. The smooth, glassy finish allows your fingers to glide over the surface and there are properly integrated left-and-right click buttons. Scrolling can get a sticky but it is definitely an improvement. We preferred navigating web pages with the touch screen and only found ourselves using the trackpad when in desktop mode.

For prolonged usage you'll likely want to connect an external mouse to get the most accuracy and prevent fatigue.

It's worth noting that keyboard accessories from the previous generation Surface (right) device will work with the third generation. But you're going to want the latest keyboard (left) because it's the best.

Kickstand

Based on user feedback, Microsoft created a flexible hinge which can be moved into multiple positions. This is a definite boon for users as previous editions rigidly clicked into one (original Pro) or two places (Pro 2).

The kickstand on the Surface Pro 3 relies on friction, so it has multiple angles (up to 150 degrees). This means it can cater for a multitude of situations from typing out a report on a table to watching a movie in bed.

Does the flexibility of the kickstand finally mean you'll be able to use a Surface device on your lap without fear of it backflipping off your knees? Kind-of. Weight is evenly distributed within the chassis and, coupled with the two anchor points for the keyboard, it feels more stable.

Use the lap for prolonged periods of time and the kickstand will dig into your thighs and start to cause discomfort - this is a problem you don't get with regular laptops.

Performance

Our review unit packed close to the top specification available with a Core i5-4300U processor clocked at 1.9GHz with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.

The Pro 3 posted an overall score of 64/100 in our benchmarks, which surpasses any other Windows tablet we've tested to-date.

However, the Pro 3 is not quite able to offer the same performance as dedicated laptops such as the MacBook Pro 13in (late-2013) or the Dell E7440. While the multimedia and responsiveness results were good, the overall score was dragged down by a poor showing in the multi-tasking portion.

What do these numbers mean? The Pro 3 provides the performance of a mid-range laptop in a tablet form factor. The Core i5 configuration with 8GB of RAM is also capable of functioning as a desktop replacement.

Battery life

It's possible to get up towards eight hours with moderate use and by lowering the brightness to the 50 per cent mark and below. But, if you're consistently looking for longevity then the Pro 3, it would be hard to recommend this device.

Software

Microsoft preloads a copy of Windows 8.1 Pro so the device is ready for enterprise deployment.

One of the best things about being a Microsoft own-branded product is the lack of OEM bloatware. There are no annoying tools popping up demanding your attention. Instead, Microsoft has pre-loaded a few core apps in the form of Skype, OneNote and Flipboard.

However, the Office suite is not included so customers wanting to use this - which we would imagine most business users would do - will have to purchase a license. While most businesses will have subscriptions to Office 365, inclusion of the core suite would have sweetened the deal, especially for students, who Microsoft is also targeting the device at.

Connectivity

Port selection remains bare. The Surface Pro 3 does have a microSD card reader and Mini Displayport, but the inclusion of 1 x USB 3 connection isn't enough for a device touted as a potential laptop/desktop replacement.

Wireless connection comes in the form of Wi-Fi 802.11ac/a/b/g/n together with Bluetooth 4. There's no option to have 4G connectivity, but this can be mitigated by tethering a device when you are on the move.

Pricing and warranty

The performance provided by the high-end models of the Pro 3 are reflected in the price. The Core i3 model with 64GB of storage, 4GB RAM and Core i3 chip starts at 639.00. The Core i5 model with 256GB of storage, 8GB RAM and Core i5 chip starts at 1,109. If you want the Core i7 chip, be prepared to pay at least 1,339.

For a limited time, Microsoft is offering a deal for those wanting to buy the 2-in-1.

Whichever configuration you choose you have to factor in another 110 for the Type Cover, which is a necessity rather than a nice-to-have. This easily brings the cost of most configurations up towards the 1,500 mark.

Microsoft offers 90 days of technical support - and extended warranties of up to three years can be purchased for businesses. The vendor also provides detailed guides to help with deployment and there are even video tutorials available.

With the lack of long-term support, IT admins thinking about making a bulk purchase of the Pro 3 are going to want to know about the repairability. The tablet received a paltry 1/10 from teardown site iFixit, with the opening procedure described as "delicate and arduous" due the fused glass and copious amounts of glue keeping everything in place. It is possible to replace components such as the SSD, but be warned that it's easy to render the device unusable so it's not something we'd recommend.

iFixit said the reason why the tablet received such a low score was down to the strong adhesive, non-standard connectors and difficulties opening thehardware. Furthermore, when it tried to remove the battery (which is firmly placed), it described the battery pack as being "stuck like amastodon in a tar pit."

Verdict

The Surface Pro 3 is a significant improvement over its predecessors, which were three-star products. We love the design, the pen input is superb and we can't fault the quality of the display. Unfortunately, software doesn't allow you to get the best out of the screen and battery life is sub-par when contrasted with standalone tablets.

The Pro 3 is best suited for design and editing

professionals

who can get the most out of the stylus. It's also suitable for those looking for a desktop replacement, which they can also use on their commute home. We wouldn't be surprised to see C-level execs showcasing the notetaking capabilities during board meetings.

This article was originally published on 03/07/14 3 July as a hands-on/first look review and was updated to a full review on 13/02/15. It has sincebeen updated multiple times (most recently on 09/03/2016).

Verdict

Microsoft combines the portability of a tablet with the raw power and input of a laptop. Despite its imperfections the Surface Pro 3 manages to live up to the claim of being a hybrid.

Display: 12in (2160 x 1440) OS: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit Processor: 1.9GHz dual-core i5-4300U processor (i3 and i7 variants available)

Memory: 4 or 8GB DDR3L

Storage: 256GB SSD (as reviewed)

Connectivity: Bluetooth 4, Wi-Fi 802.11ac/802.11 a/b/g/n Ports: 1 x USB 3, 1 x mini DisplayPort, 1 x micro-SD card reader

Camera: 5-megapixel front and rear

Other: Pen included, built-in kickstand

Dimensions: 292mm x 201mm x 9.1mm

Weight: 800g (tablet only)

Designing a Windows laptop-tablet hybrid is a very tricky task. Not only are you trying to make a single computer that's both an excellent tablet and a superb laptop, when the requisite design elements for one can compete with and contradict those for the other, you have to try and set it apart from the multitude of competing Windows hybrids too.

The HP Elite x2 1011 G1 may look much like any other detachable Windows hybrid at first glance, but it has several features that set it apart from most of the other hybrids that we've seen.

HP Elite x2 1011 G1: enterprise features

Biometric security such as fingerprint scanners are nothing new on Windows laptops, having been present on some business models for several years now. It's received new impetus though with support built into Windows 10 and renewed consumer popularity following its inclusion in mobile devices such as the iPhone.

The fingerprint scanner built into the HP Elite x2 1011 G1 worked flawlessly in our tests. After setting it up, we were able to log into Windows simply by swiping a finger across the small pad. It worked quickly with few failed attempts. HP has yet to reply to our queries about how the computer stores your fingerprint data - we'll update this review if they do.

A smartcard slot is also present, so you can use smartcards as a means of authentication if your business uses them. Computrace software built into the computer's EFI means your IT administrator should still be able to remotely track, wipe and lock the hybrid if it's stolen or lost.

Although this official images shows theHP Elite x2 1011 G running Windows 7, it actually comes with Windows 8.1 pre-installed with a free downloadable upgrade to Windows 10

HP's included security software can encrypt the entire 256GB SSD. You can save a recovery key either to an external USB drive or to your OneDrive storage, so you can still access your data in case you ever forget your password. Obviously, you'll want to keep that USB drive in a very safe place - especially if you can't use the OneDrive alternative if your business feels queasy about potential compliance or security issues relating to the cloud.

Another handy storage security feature is the ability to require a fingerprint or password before a user can copy files to and from USB sticks and hard disks. This can help prevent data leaks by disgruntled employees, although the lack of an activity log for this feature will disappoint especially paranoid system administrators. Oddly, there's no Kensington security cable slot.

Usefully, a 4G modem is built into the tablet. The micro SIM slot is located next to the micro SD slot underneath a flap on the rear of the tablet. The x2 1011 G1 not only has a dedicated socket for connecting port replicators, but also has the new high speed WiGig short range wireless technology for connecting wireless port replicators. This should be a boon for quickly and easily connecting to a desk full of peripherals without fiddling with any cables, but WiGig docks and port replicators aren't yet widely available.

One productivity extra that definitely falls flat is the pre-installed HP PageLift app which converts photos of documents into black and white PDFs for archiving and sharing. It doesn't perform any sort of OCR though, doesn't handle multipage documents and is dependent on other apps for annotating and highlighting. It's thus no match for similar, but far more refined apps with more features such as Microsoft Office Lens and Readdle Scanner Pro 6 - neither of which are available for Windows.

HP Elite x2 1011 G1: keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard dock component of the HP Elite x2 1011 G1 has one of the most comfortable laptop keyboards we've used in a long time. The large backlit keys have plenty of travel and feedback, so typing is both fast and very comfortable.

The touchpad isn't quite as good. The x2 1011 G1 is the first Windows laptop to have a touchpad that's pressure-sensitive, similar to the Force Touch feature on Apple's 12in Retina MacBook. It's far less ambitious that Apple's Force Touch touchpad though. You can set how much pressure needs to be applied to the touchpad before it will recognise a button press. That's the extent of its pressure sensitivity.

It's far better than the touchpads on almost every other Windows laptop we've seen, with smooth, accurate tracking, but there's still room for improvement. Gestures such as swiping with two fingers to scroll or swiping with three fingers to go back and forth between web pages worked reasonably well, but had some small but annoying problems. Momentum when scrolling was a little off and the touchpad sometimes failed to pick up our finger swipes, requiring a second attempt.

HP Elite x2 1011 G1: build quality and weight

Although only the keyboard dock is made out of metal, with the detachable tablet made out of metal-effect plastic instead, everything nonetheless felt sturdy and well-made. When docked and used as a laptop, the HP Elite x2 1011 G1 weighs a lightweight 1.5kg. The tablet alone weighs 800g.

800g is a little heavy, even for a tablet with a 11.6in screen, but it doesn't feel too awkward in the hand thanks to its evenly distributed weight and tapered edges. It's still not our first choice for extended handheld use over long periods and it's definitely a two-handed job, but this tablet would do in a pinch.

The docking mechanism securely holds the tablet in place when docked with the keyboard. Lining them up for docking was never too tricky or fiddly and detaching the two is simple - just press the button on the hinge and yank the tablet out.

There are a couple of downsides to the docking mechanism though. Its bulk means the screen's hinge is quite large and can dig into your legs when used on your lap as a laptop. It also heavily restricts how far back you can tilt the screen, so getting a comfortable viewing angle can be tricky.

HP Elite x2 1011 G1: screen and stylus

The 1080p resolution in a 11.6in screen gives a relatively high pixel density of 190ppi. Although it gives you plenty of working space, text appears almost unreadably small - especially in programs that haven't been updated for such high resolution, high pixel density screens. Fiddling with Windows 8.1's settings helps somewhat, as does downloading and installing the free upgrade to Windows 10 which has improved display scaling.

The screen is very bright and, despite having a glossy finish, didn't suffer too badly from glare caused by overhead lighting reflecting off the screen. Colour accuracy and contrast were merely okay, with the washed out looking colours a particular disappointment.

A small, basic stylus is included. It doesn't come with any of the additional stylus-focussed features included with HP's Pro Slate Android tablets and isn't pressure sensitive, but it's good enough for annotating documents and quick sketches. It slides into a small nook at the bottom of the tablet so you don't lose it.

HP Elite x2 1011 G1: performance and battery life

The x2 1011 G1 comes equipped with 8GB of memory and a 1.1GHz Intel Core M 5Y51 processor. Although the processor can turbo boost to 2.6GHz, it's built with energy efficiency rather than sheer speed in mind. This means that while it's more than good enough for everyday office tasks, it's slower than most Haswell and Broadwell Core i3 chips so it's not well suited for more demanding jobs such as editing RAW images or 4K video.

The Core M processor's energy efficiency plus the pair of large batteries in the tablet and the keyboard dock mean that battery life is generally lengthy. The tablet lasted 13 hours and 19 minutes in our light usage test, with the dock adding an additional eight hours.

In our more demanding YouTube HD playback test, the tablet lasted just five hours with the keyboard dock adding an additional three hours.

HP Elite x2 1011 G1: conclusions

HP's focus on enterprise and security features is very welcome, so much so that it's almost possible to overlook the numerous hardware flaws in the x2 1011 G1. The chunky and restrictive hinge, so-so screen quality, the tablet's weight and issues with the touchpad mar what is otherwise a surprisingly good hybrid.

There's plenty to like from the sturdy build to the the built-in 4G, comfortable keyboard and superb battery life, but at this price we'd expect far fewer design flaws. If security is of paramount importance then the x2 1011 G1 is a good buy - otherwise, we'd think very carefully about what your mobile computing priorities are before buying.

Verdict

A surprisingly good Windows hybrid with lots of business features built in

Processor: 1.1GHz Intel Core M 5Y51 dual core

GPU: Intel HD5300 integrated graphics

Memory: 8GB

Storage: 256GB SSD

Display: 11.6in 1920x1080

Connectivity: Dual-band 802.11ac/a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, LTE

Ports and slots: 2x USB3, DisplayPort, 3.5mm headset jack, SD card reader

Dimensions: 10x298x193mm (21x289x204mm with keyboard dock)

Weight: 800g (1.5kg docked)

Numerous laptop and tablet manufacturers have been trying to make the perfect hybrid of both for years, with countless detachable and convertible portable computers flooding the market since the arrival of Windows 8. None have gotten the balance quite right, struggling with the competing and often contradictory design choices needed to make both a good laptop and a good tablet.

Toshiba gets tantalisingly close with the Portege Z20T, a Windows 8.1 hybrid aimed at businesses, but it's let down by a few niggling flaws.

The Z20T is available in a variety of configurations - versions with faster processors and more RAM and SSD space unsurprisingly cost more. All of the configurations use Intel Core M processors - the Z20T-B-107 reviewed here has a 1.1GHz Core M 5Y51, 4GB of memory and a 128GB SSD.

Toshiba Portege Z20T-B-107: tablet

As a tablet, the Z20T weighs 730g which is about average for a tablet with a 12.5in screen. It's around a third thicker than the slender 10in iPad Air 2 at 9mm. It looks and feels chunky, but Toshiba has used this extra space to squeeze in some useful connections - a micro SD slot, a micro HDMI port and a micro USB2 connector. You can connect all your peripherals with full-sized USB plugs using cheap and widely available USB-On-The-Go adapters.

Oddly, the proprietary power socket is on the keyboard dock and not on the tablet, so you'll need to drag the keyboard dock along to charge the battery - even if you only want to use it as a tablet while out and about.

Although the 730g weight is hefty compared to much lighter 10in tablets, it's not too much of a strain unless you want to hold and use it single-handed for long periods of time. An even more noticeable problem is the 12.5in screen's resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. This pixel density of 176ppi is relatively low compared to both iPads and many Android tablets and the resulting coarseness in text is noticeable when reading.

This pixel density is still relatively high compared to most Windows tablets and laptops though. Windows 8.1 still struggles with it on occasion, especially when running older software, resulting in incredibly small text that's hard to read. This is far less common a problem with newer programs and almost non-existent with apps downloaded from Microsoft's app store.

A stylus is included for note taking and drawing. Toshiba claims it's pressure sensitive, although we found this to be crude at best. We were also disappointed to find that there's no built-in way of attaching the stylus to the tablet to ensure you don't lose it. It's still handy to have though, especially with neat touches such as the ability to assign a different brush stroke or other function to the eraser end of the stylus.

Core M processors are not only fast enough to run any of the tablets apps currently available in Microsoft's app store, they're also power-efficient enough that they don't need cooling fans or vents, unlike Intel's other Core chips. They instead rely on passive cooling which can lead to the Z20T's metal back becoming uncomfortably warm to the touch. Although this can be mitigated by fiddling with Windows' power settings, this is hardly in the spirit of the hassle-free post-PC ethos that tablets are supposed to represent.

At least the power efficiency of the 1.1GHz Core M 5Y51 pays dividends when it comes to battery life. The big battery lasted 12 hours and 5 minutes in our light usage test and eight and a half hours when playing H.264 video.

We also had no complaints about the thick bezels surrounding the 12.5in screen. Although these will look antiquated to some, this is a superficial complaint as they also make it far easier to hold and use the tablet without inadvertently touching an onscreen control. This is a common mishap on most tablets with far narrower bezels. It's a shame the tablet's casing isn't more sturdy - despite the metal backing most of it is actually plastic with so-so rigidity, but it's not too flimsy.

Toshiba Portege Z20T-B-107: laptop

Connect the tablet portion of the Z20T to its included keyboard dock and it becomes a reasonably stylish-looking laptop. You can flip the tablet around and connect it backwards so that the keyboard dock becomes nothing more than a glorified tablet stand. It's not really designed to be used that way though, if only because the latch for releasing the docking mechanism is located on the hinge facing towards the keyboard and the keyboard itself is still active so you will have to take care to avoid inadvertently tapping the keys.

We did have some initial problems getting the docked tablet to recognise the keyboard dock - keyboard and touchpad input would frequently stop working inexplicably. This was very frustrating, but was almost completely resolved by installing a BIOS update via Toshiba's own software update utility. Although eventually fixed, we'd expect a higher degree of polish at this price.

Although the hinge only tilts back approximately 120 degrees, we didn't have any trouble getting a comfortable viewing angle, when used either on a desk or on our laps, apart from in the most cramped of conditions. This was due, in large part, to the relatively tall height of the 12.5in screen.

Although contrast and colour accuracy aren't quite as good as the very best laptop and tablet screens, it's good enough for all but colour-critical tasks. Plus, it's very bright and has a matte finish too which reduces glare caused by overhead lights reflecting off the screen. This occurs particularly frequently in offices with fluorescent lighting strips, so the matte finish is a very welcome feature. It's a shame matte finishes aren't more common, in hybrids as well as standalone laptops and tablets.

Squeezing 1920x1080 pixels into a 12.5in screen sometimes makes text a little too small to read comfortably though, especially as Windows continues to struggle with text scaling on such relatively high DPI screens.

We're used to seeing shonky, poorly designed keyboards accompanying tablets, but that's not the case here. The large keys have plenty of travel and feedback so typing was fast and comfortable. The hinge props the keyboard up at a slight angle, which makes typing more comfortable for some. The keyboard here is far superior to its counterparts on many of Toshiba's other laptops and hybrids.

Sadly, the touchpad wasn't as good. The touchpad's jerky motion meant it wasn't very smooth or accurate, while the buttons built into the bottom of the pad often require a firm, precise press. Gestures were often quite juddery too, especially swiping two fingers to scroll up and down. This is hardly surprising though; iffy touchpads are distressingly common on Windows laptops.

There is an alternative, aside from using the touchscreen, in the form of the touchstick. It'll be familiar to long-time Portege and ThinkPad users, but it won't suit everyone - like Marmite, you'll either love it or hate it. Even if you love touchsticks, its spongy buttons need improvement.

The keyboard dock adds more than just a selection of input devices. Its second battery almost doubled the Z20T's battery life in our light usage test, adding another 11 hours and 35 minutes and added almost nine extra hours of H.264 playback. Cleverly, Windows uses power from the keyboard's battery first so you can still use the Z20T as a tablet once the keyboard battery is depleted.

The big battery also adds some welcome heft to the keyboard dock so that the docked computer doesn't feel too top-heavy, a problem which afflicts many other detachable hybrids. The keyboard dock also adds a pair of USB3 ports, a full-size HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet and even a VGA socket. The latter might seem antiquated, but is useful for connecting to the legion of old projectors that you're likely to encounter in conference centres and meeting rooms, while Gigabit Ethernet is a useful and faster fallback alternative to the built-in 802.11ac.

Toshiba Portege Z20T-B-107: business features

Although the Z20T is aimed at businesses, it oddly doesn't support vPro so you don't get the benefit of the Intel AMT-based way of managing your deployed Z20Ts even if they're turned off. Windows 8.1 Pro is pre-installed and, unsurprisingly for a touchscreen hybrid, there aren't any Windows 7 downgrade options.

Toshiba offers its own cloud-based MDM service, Toshiba Cloud Client Manager, for the asset and patch management of all your Windows-based devices. It requires a one year minimum contract and pricing is bespoke depending on your needs. If you already use a MDM product, then Toshiba Cloud Client Manager is unlikely to tempt you. If you don't already use MDM, then Toshiba's three month free trial is worth trying.

For physical security, there's a standard Kensington security slot on the keyboard dock. If you flip the separate lock switch to prevent the tablet from being disconnected, then attaching a Kensington security lock will not only secure the keyboard dock but also prevent would-be thieves from simply flipping the lock switch and removing the tablet portion.

Toshiba Portege Z20T-B-107: conclusions

The Toshiba Portege Z20T-B-107 comes close to getting right as a hybrid that's both a good tablet and a good laptop. But as tablet it's let down by its relatively heavy weight, heat issues and its inevitable reliance on Windows which has both benefits and disadvantages, such as extensive peripheral compatibility but a continuing paucity of touchscreen apps. Meanwhile, as a laptop, it's let down by its poor touchpad.

We might have been able to stomach these niggles if it wasn't for its steep price of 1000 ex VAT. At such a high price, we'd expect a great deal more finesse.

Verdict

Close, but no cigar.

CPU: 1.1GHz Intel Core M 5Y51

RAM: 4GB

Display: 1920x1200 12.5in IPS panel

Storage: 128GB

Dimensions: 9x309x200mm (HxWxD, 21x309x215mm with dock)

Weight: 730g (1.5kg with dock)

Part Number: PT15AE-00D006EN

We're big fans of 9in tablets. We think they strike the right balance between having a satisfyingly large screen, setting them apart from even the biggest phablets, while still remaining light and easy to hold.

Frustratingly though, 9in tablets are thin on the ground. There's the consumer-oriented and somewhat limited Amazon Fire HDX 8.9 and the HTC-built Google Nexus 9 which would be perfect if it wasn't for its surprisingly poor build quality.

Now there's the Toshiba Satellite Click Mini, the first 9in Windows 8.1 tablet that we've seen. It comes with a keyboard dock, so it's also a detachable hybrid. It's still very small with the keyboard attached, around the size of a netbook, so it's more compact than all but the tiniest of ultra portable laptops.

Toshiba Satellite Click Mini: casing, keyboard and ports

While the Click Mini has a very small footprint, it is far from svelte. Its combined 20mm height is downright chunky compared to some other 2-in-1 hybrids.

The tablet and keyboard dock are equally thick at around 10mm each. Although chunky, this is justified by the ports available on each. The keyboard dock packs in an additional battery as well as a full-size USB2 port and SD slot. This compliments the micro USB2 port and micro SD slot on the tablet itself, although it's a shame neither has USB3.

As a tablet, the Click Mini weighs 472g which is in the same range as the Nexus 9 and the 10in iPad Air 2. Only the Fire HDX 8.9 is noticeably lighter at 375g.

As a laptop it weighs over 970g which is in the same range as dedicated 11in and 12in ultra portable laptops. It wouldn've been nice to see a lighter weight given the smaller screen size, but it's still easy to carry around for extended periods.

The Click Mini is easily one of the most balanced hybrids we've seen, with the weight divided almost exactly between the tablet top half and the keyboard dock. It feels far less likely to topple over inadvertently unlike many other detachable hybrids we've seen.

The Satellite Click Mini's docking mechanism is perfectly secure, so it's unlikely you'll accidently undock the tablet from the keyboard especially as you need to unlock it by pressing a button. This also means undocking is a two-handed manoeuvre.

This keyboard has nicely textured keys. They could do with more travel, but there's still enough that the keys are responsive and we've certainly seen worse. A bigger problem is the keys' small size, necessitated by the keyboard dock having to match the compact width of the tablet. The result is that typing on the Toshiba Satellite Click Mini will be uncomfortable if you've got medium to large sized hands.

Doing any serious typing in tablet mode is also difficult; in landscape mode, the onscreen keyboard fills half the screen. It's a little better in portrait, but not significantly.

The plastic casing is available in either white or gold. Although not especially rigid, it feels sturdy enough - especially given the low price.The screen only tilts back to around 110 degrees. That's not great for a hybrid as small as this, as we kept having to hunch over it in order to get the best viewing angle.

Toshiba Satellite Click Mini: display

The 8.9in display is surprisingly good quality the 1920x1200 pixel resolution means everything looks crisp and sharp. The viewing angles are wide too.

The brightness is underwhelming, though, so visibility suffers outside. The high resolution also means that text has a tendency to appear small and difficult to read, which results in a fair amount of squinting. Colour accuracy was merely so-so. Colours were muted and blacks were washed out, while whites were rather grey-ish.

The screen surrounds are quite wide: over half an inch on every side. This makes it easier to hold without inadvertently tapping the touchscreen.

Toshiba Satellite Click Mini: performance

Unsurprisingly, given its low price, the Satellite Click Mini isn't fitted with top-notch components. A scant 2GB of RAM and a 1.33GHz Intel Atom processor provide the unimpressive horsepower.

Although it's just about good enough for running touchscreen tablet apps, the processor will struggle if you put it under any strain. The performance is far slower than we'd like, so it has little chance of replacing your existing laptop or desktop unless you're only interested in very basic tasks.

Toshiba Satellite Click Mini: battery

The Satellite Click Mini's battery life wasn't very good. In both our light usage and H.264 video playback benchmarks, it averaged around six and a half hours in tablet mode. That's very poor.

The keyboard dock's battery provided an extra six hours of juice, pushing the total up to 12 and a half hours in each test. That's more respectable, and we're glad to see you can get a full day out of it, although we expected longer given the power-efficient Atom processor.

It's worth noting that the battery life was far shorter in our YouTube streaming test. The Click Mini averaged just six hours while looping a video over WiFi and that's with the aid of the keyboard dock and its second battery. It's worth putting this result in context though it's actually one of the longest times we've seen so far for a Windows computer in this demanding test.

Toshiba Satellite Click Mini: conclusions

The Click Mini is very cheap, especially considering it comes with a free one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365, but this isn't enough to overcome its main failing and it is one that hybrids consistently face: it tries to be both tablet and laptop, and ends up not doing either particularly well. It's serviceable as both the keyboard is good enough for taking quick notes on or typing up an email, and the screen is good enough for enjoying social media and videos in tablet mode but it's not a barnstorming replacement for both a standalone laptop and a dedicated tablet, merely an okay-ish substitute if you can't afford anything better.

Verdict

It's small and it's cheap, but numerous compromises made in pursuit of its compactness and low price means the Satellite Click Mini is fine as a backup machine but little else

CPU: 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z3735F

RAM: 2GB

Display: 1920x1200 8.9in IPS panel

Storage: 32GB

Battery: 12hrs (with dock)

Dimensions: 20x235x171mm (HxWxD, with dock)

Weight: 472g (1kg with dock)

Computers are an essential part of daily life, so ensuring they are backed up has become increasingly important.

Crashes, corruptions and hacks can render a system totally inert, so make sure you're protected with our guide to backing up Windows.

How to back up Windows 8.1

Microsoft has wisely recognised the importance of regular backups, and has introduced built-in data recovery functionality to Windows 8.1. But there are a number of different ways to ensure your data is safe, so we'll go through all of them.

Backup to external hard disk

Having an offline backup is often the best way to protect yourself against online threats such as ransomware, which permanently encrypts your files unless you pay the attackers a fee.

In Windows 8.1, there's an exceptionally easy way to do this. Simply go into the settings menu, click on Update and recovery' and select File History'.

Connect an external hard drive, flick the File History' switch to On', and Windows will automatically back up all your PC's files and settings to that disk.

Go into the Control Panel options for more granular control over the scope and frequency of the backups if you wish, but you're unlikely to need to. The default setting is to back up everything each hour, which is ideal provided you have the space.

It doesn't have to be a big disk, either. If you've only got a few files and folders on your PC, a medium-sized flash drive could be sufficient.

Backup to the cloud

A drawback of physical backups is that they're easy to lose, and can be tough to get hold of when you really need them. Luckily, the cloud has the answer.

OneDrive

Windows 8.1 integrates Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage platform with the basic OS, so if you've got an existing Microsoft account, you can easily link it to your OneDrive storage.

Simply go to the Settings menu, and select the Accounts' tab.

The top option will be to connect a Microsoft account. Enter your email and password, and you'll be greeted with a screen informing you of Windows 8.1's OneDrive integration. Press next, and the setup will be complete.

Doing this just integrates OneDrive with your computer, so there's a few more boxes to check before it backs up your data automatically.

Go back to the Settings menu, and click on the tab labelled OneDrive. The File Storage tab will tell you how much storage allowance you have remaining, and allow you to buy more if necessary.

There's also a switch that ensures Windows saves documents to your OneDrive by default. Set that to on', and all your files and documents will be automatically uploaded to the cloud, as well as being accessible offline.

If you're looking to back up your PC's settings in addition to your files, you can do that, too. Navigate to the Sync' settings tab, and at the bottom of the page, there will be a switch marked Back up your settings for this PC'. Just flick it to on', and you're all set.

Dropbox and Google Drive

Of course, if for whatever reason you're not a fan of Microsoft's cloud storage service, there are numerous alternatives. Along with OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive are two other well-known cloud storage providers, and both have desktop integration features similar to Microsoft's.

Downloading their respective apps will create a folder on your PC, and anything saved into it will then be uploaded directly to your cloud account.

There are some limitations, however. As they're not built into Windows, it's not possible to save files to either service by default. There's also no option to back up your system settings to the cloud.

However, if file storage is all you're after, both services are simple to get up and running. Just go to the download page for either Dropbox or Google Drive, install the program, sign in to your account, and a sync folder for the service will appear on your hard drive.

How to back up Windows 7

Backup to the cloud

As an older OS, Windows 7 doesn't have the same OneDrive functionalities that its younger brother has. On Windows 7 machines, OneDrive functions in much the same way as the Dropbox or Google Drive folders mentioned above.

However, there is an option that can be checked during installation, or in the settings, that allows you to remotely browse and retrieve any file on your PC from your OneDrive account while you're on another machine.

The process for adding Dropbox or Google Drive storage to your PC is the same for Windows 7 as it is for Windows 8, so simply repeat the steps above if you're looking for an alternative service.

Backup to external hard disk

The process for creating offline backup in Windows 7 is a little less streamlined than in later operating systems, but as a trade off it does offer more flexibility and user control.

Where Windows 8.1 simplifies the process by automatically setting the regularity and inclusivity of your backups, Windows 7 gives you a choice during the backup process.

If your hard drive consists of a few key folders containing sensitive or mission-critical documents surrounded by expendable data, then you may want to take this opportunity to prioritise the areas you want backed up.

However, if your files are less polarised (as we suspect is the case in most circumstances), we'd advise sticking with the setting Windows recommends, as these will generally cover most users' needs.

Designed to be equally useful on a tablet as on a PC or laptop, Windows 8.1 is the first operating system to truly make use of apps outside of smartphones and other portable devices. So we've rounded up ten of the most popular and essential apps for your Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 computer, all of which you can download today.

1. Google Drive Explorer

URL: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/app/12e1a89a-6d6d-4dd4-940a-2ee4685adc3c

App Category: Business

Price: 3.49

Description: Store all of your important files, photos and documents safely in the cloud with Google Drive Explorer, and then access them from any device on-the-move.

Details: Get Google Drive Explorer for Windows 8.1 and save all important work files and documents for easy access when away from home or the office. With files stored safely in the cloud, editing and sharing become so much easier and more convenient, with collaborative work made simple and seamless.

2. Skype

URL: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/5e19cc61-8994-4797-bdc7-c21263f6282b

App Category: Communications

Price: Free

Description: Skype is one of the most popular viode, video and instant messaging apps on the planey.

Details: Hundreds of millions of people use Skype everyday to talk to friends, family and colleagues for free. This internet service is more than just a replacement for a phone call. It also offers video calls and instant messages as well. On the horizon is real-time language translation for anyone that speaks English, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.

3. Mobile Document Scanner

URL: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/43d45a0d-81d7-48e7-8533-4f86e6f8a663

App Category: Business

Price: 3.49

Description: What it says on the tin, Mobile Document Scanner lets you scan notes, documents or images and convert them to PDF format.

Details: The app works best for hybrid computers, designed to turn your Windows tablet into a portable scanner capable of turning pretty much anything into a PDF file you can share, store and edit to your heart's content. You can upload to cloud services, share via social media or simply edit and crop images.

4. CatchupTV

URL: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/tvcatchup/7d3a9c06-a804-4df2-8f9c-04acfa1803be

App Category: Leisure

Price: Free

Description: Watch TV over the internet on your laptop or tablet with this handy app.

Details: This app allows Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 users to watch live TV over the internet. It features most of the popular free-to-air channels in the UK and sports a TV guide as well. Users can create their own personal channel list and pin favourite channels to the start page as tiles.

5. Drawboard PDF

URL: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/6d65bcd8-8390-4533-af58-307d2e1ec1dd

App Category: Productivity

Price: 5.99

Description: Get rid of the notepad and edit and annotate your PDFs directly with Drawboard PDF.

Details: There's no need to make notes the old fashioned way when there's an app that can do it for you Drawboard PDF allows you to edit and annotate PDF files directly on your PC, with a huge collection of tools and options that make it the best way to amend and add to documents in a meeting or at your desk.

6. Gotomeeting

URL: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/346bf3d4-6423-44d1-8d43-82c14b7819e1

App Category: Business

Price: FREE

Description: A free app to make setting up impromptu meetings a little simpler.

Details: Gotomeeting allows you to organise meetings in a more cohesive way, using it to either start a pre-planned meeting or set up a new one last minute. Share presentations and images on-screen for everyone in the group to see, display your browser or quickly send files, all to enhance team meetings and get-togethers.

7. Splashtop Personal Remote Desktop

URL: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/3523093b-4869-4076-8c93-c1629c74b861

App Category: Business

Price: FREE

Description: Get remote access to your PC desktop on your Windows tablet.

Details: The only remote desktop app with HD video streaming and full audio, Splashtop Personal Remote Desktop gives you the option of working from your desktop even when you're away from your PC or laptop. Access files over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G on your device, working seamlessly from wherever you are.

8. PowerPoint Templates

URL: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/2a21c399-c036-4c01-a081-082d0db8b484

App Category: Productivity

Price: 5.99

Description: Enhance work presentations with new templates and animated backgrounds.

Details: An add-on for users who already have Microsoft Office 2008 or later, PowerPoint Templates offers lots of HQ designs for you to create your presentations with. This includes templates with animated backgrounds, video backgrounds or more subtle, professional-looking themes.

9. Mail, Calendar and People

URL: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/64a79953-cf0b-44f9-b5c4-ee5df3a15c63

App Category: Productivity

Price: FREE

Description: Everything you need to stay organised and in contact with the right people.

Details: Organise your inbox with Mail, keep on top of your schedule with Calendar and stay in touch with contacts and colleagues with People. This is the best free app collection for professionals looking for a simple and easy way to communicate and manage their time in the most efficient way.

10. Trello

URL: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-gb/app/trello/bd4fa6c1-0994-4caa-b0e1-04eec135667b

App Category: Productivity

Price: Free

Description: This digital Kanbanboard can make your projects easier to complete.

Details: Trello billed itself as the "easiest way to organise anything". You can create boards to organise the things you are working on. You can also invite friends, family or colleagues to work together on tasks. Everyone working on a project can l add cards, make changes, upload attachments, and more.

Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 will go on general release from July 29, with more details on the operating system also revealed.

Below we take a look at how the next version of the OS will compare to the existing Windows 8.1 operating system:

1) Start Button strikes back

Probably the biggest complaint about Windows 8.x was the decision to ditch the familiar Start Button. Microsoft was so focused on introducing the world to its Live Tiles interface, it assumed users wouldn't mind a Desktop with reduced functionality. It was a critical error, which will be addressed in Windows 10.

We've known for a while the Start button would make a triumphant return but we're still excited as it will be supercharged. The Start Menu will allow you to access apps, search for content as well as pin apps, contacts and websites into it.

2) Windows 10 price

Windows 10 will be FREE for existing Windows 7 and 8/8.1 users for the first year as Microsoft looks to kickstart adoption.

Pricing after this has been unconfirmed, with PC Gamer claiming that Microsoft will revert to the traditional one-off license fee model.

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 10 users will receive free updates for the lifetime of their device.

3) Cortana coming to PCs

Microsoft's personal assistant will be pre-loaded into Windows 10. The firm claims that Cortana will be able to provide regional specific answers to questions. Users will also be able to access Cortana's Notebook at anytime to see what the AI knows about you and add or remove information.

4) Microsoft Edge

Microsoft will launch a new web browser for Windows 10, which will be called Microsoft Edge after dropping the "Project Spartan" codename.

So far three key features have been demonstrated:- Users will be able to annotate any web page using finger/stylus or keyboard input.- Spartan will have a reading mode.- The Cortana voice assistant will be integrated into the browser.

5) The end of the password?

Microsoft has confirmed Windows 10 will support the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) standard. This means users will be able to sign into commonly used apps like Outlook using a variety of biometric tools from fingerprint readers to retina scanners.

"The current Technical Preview build enables a number of enterprise scenarios and it showcases our integration with Windows 10 sign-in, Azure Active Directory, and access to major SaaS services like Office 365 Exchange Online, Salesforce, Citrix, Box, Concur, just to name a few," noted Dustin Ingalls, group program manager at Microsoft on the Windows blog.

"With Windows 10, for the very first time Windows devices and Microsoft-owned and partner SaaS services supported by Azure Active Directory authentication can be accessed end-to-end using an enterprise-grade two-factor authentication solution all without a password."

6) Windows Phone 10

A specialised version of Windows 10 will be launched for smartphones, with revamped Office and Outlook applications, which resemble their PC counterparts.

Windows Phone 10 will also have an integrated messaging hub for Skype, texts and other IM services.

7) Windows 10 interface will adapt via Continuum

Microsoft was so keen to push the "touch-first" mantra with Window 8, the experience on traditional machines where keyboards and mice were the primary form of input suffered. This was addressed to some extent with the 8.1 update and the problem could now be solved with Windows 10.

Continuum will allow the Windows 10 interface to adapt based on the hardware it is running in. Anyone upgrading a 7in device with Windows 8.1 will retain full desktop functionality with Windows 10. However, any sub-8in devices preloaded with Windows 10 will not have the desktop functionality.

If you're working with a 2-in-1 hybrid like the Surface, you'll be met with the standard desktop while the Type Cover keyboard is connected. However, when you detach the keyboard the OS will detect this and prompt you to switch over to tablet mode.

8) Multiple desktops debut

Borrowing from Apple's OS X, Microsoft has finally introduced multiple desktops.

This is something power users have been craving as it will make it easier to work on different projects simultaneously. This will also be handy for employees as they can keep their personal and work environments separate.

9) A unified app store

Developers will now be able to create one app that runs across all Windows devices from phones through to 85in touch displays.

Microsoft said it's also going to allow volume app purchases based on existing organisational identity and allow businesses to reclaim or re-use licenses.

Larger enterprises will be able to create their own customised app store for employees, with the ability to include selected public apps alongside in-house apps.

10) Universal apps

One of the main problems with Live Tile apps was the fact they could not be controlled like regular programs. This all changes with Universal apps. They will be framed in the same windows as programs so they can be resized, moved, maximized, minimized and closed.

11) Flexible security updates

Security and critical updates will continue to be pushed out on a monthly basis.

Consumers will get updates as soon as they are ready via Windows Update and now businesses will be able to opt-in' to a fast-paced cycle as well.

Microsoft will also allows businesses to lock-down mission critical apps and segment user groups to deliver updates in a more flexible way too.

12) Improved multitasking

Windows 10 will introduce a quadrant layout allowing up to four apps to be snapped on the same screen.The OS will even make smart suggestions to fill available screen space.

You'll be able to cycle through open apps using the familiar Alt + Tab shortcut, but there is also a Task View button on the taskbar. Pressing this will show all open apps, allow you to re-arrange them and switch between virtual desktops.

13) No more typos in Command Prompt

Power users rejoice as copy and paste will be enabled in Windows 10's Command Prompt.

14) MDM built in

Admins will be able to manage devices through traditional methods like Active Directory and System Center.

Windows 10 will include extended built-in mobile device management (MDM) capabilities - making it easier to manage device from the cloud.

This article was originally published on 1/10/14 and has been updated (most recently on 01/06/15) to reflect the latest information about Windows 10.

The government has ended a custom support deal for Windows XP, despite some public bodies still using the aged operating system.

Microsoft stopped issuing security patches and updates for XP last April, encouraging users to transition to a newer operating system.

However, Whitehall coughed up 5.5 million for a one year custom support deal as departments moved to Windows 8.1, and today revealed it has no plans to renew it.

The Government Digital Service (GDS) said in a blog post: "All departments have had seven years warning of the 2014 end of normal support and this one year agreement was put together with the support of technology leaders to give everyone a chance to get off XP.

"The technology leaders met last month and took a collective decision to not extend the support arrangement for 2015."

However, not all public bodies have moved off XP yet, including the Metropolitan Police, which is running the operating system on 35,000 computers, as revealed by Motherboard.

Interim Met CTO Stephen Deakin told IT Pro that while he's rolled out Windows 8.1 onto 1,000 devices, he has no date in mind for when the migration will be complete.

The NHS also has a way to go before it can transition away from XP.

But the GDS is determined not to renew the contract, saying instead that slow coaches must adhere to government guidelines on lowering risk or sort their own support out.

It said: "There has been good progress in moving away from Windows XP across departments and government organisations and with many public bodies this transition is complete.

"We expect most remaining government devices using Windows XP will be able to mitigate any risks, using the CESG guidance. Where this is not possible, they may need to review their own short term transition support."

Security firm GFI Software called on departments using XP to isolate the operating system to ensure data remains secure from bugs affecting it.

General manager Sergio Galindo said: "The thought that potentially insecure and unsupported XP PCs could still be in use in sensitive areas of the public and private sector is concerning.

"Windows XP has to be withdrawn from use now, or at least isolated using virtual machine images on computers not connected to the internet."

Update - The launch of Windows 10 is fast approaching, and now you can try out Microsoft's mobile version. The Windows Phone 10 technical preview is freely available, to members of the Windows Insider Program, and you can download it now for a sneak peek. Be warned, though - it's still unfinished software, and you run the risk of bricking your device if anything goes wrong.

Windows as a connected platform is deeply at the heart of Microsoft's new business plan. As such, a lot of energy is being invested into propping up the still comparatively unpopular Windows Phone OS. However, interesting Windows 10 features such as Continuum could go a long way to making cross-device integration - and thus Windows Phone in general - a lot more popular.

The Windows Phone 8.1 update (available from June 2014) injects key functionality into the OS, adding everything from a basic drop-down notification menu to a bucketload of enterprise features and enhanced customisation options.

But has Microsoft finally given the stylish interface the substance to match it?

Action Centre

Windows Phone users have had to make-do with a tiny popup notification running along the top of the screen for near-on four years. Action Center puts an end to this misery.

With a swipe down of the screen, you're greeted with a messages and quick-toggle settings where you can adjust Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane Mode and Rotation by default. You're able to swap out any of these quick toggles for a number of others such as Brightness in the settings menu. Below this you'll find any notifications you have displayed in a list and touching any of these will bring up the relevant app.

Enterprise

With Microsoft's track record in the enterprise you'd expect the mobile OS to already be brimming with business friendly features but this hasn't been the case. Windows Phone 8.1 attempts to address this.

The Windows 8.1 update simplifies device manageability for IT admins, allowing businesses to sign up for enterprise accounts to streamline the distribution of apps to devices.

Microsoft's Enterprise Mobility Suite offers Intune cloud-based device management as well as support for Azure Rights Management and Active Directory.

VPN support for vendors including Dell/SonicWALL, Checkpoint, F5 and Juniper is built-in as standard. IT admins also have the ability to restrict access to apps through both black and whitelists, or block access to the Windows Store entirely, for greater levels of control.

Finally, the updated Outlook allows you to sign and encrypt e-mails directly and force S/MIME policies.

Customisation

Windows Phone has always been been in the middle ground when it comes to customisation. It's not as rigid as iOS and but equally you can't transform the homescreen entirely like you can with Android.

With WP 8.1 devices it's possible to have three columns of tiles for any device, something we first saw on the Nokia Lumia 1520 tablet. We found it useful to have large tiles devoted to apps that benefited from live information and a combination of medium and smaller for the lower priority but still often used.

You're also able to set a picture as the Start background and this gives a neat jigsaw effect. Some tiles refuse to change, keeping a solid background colour but it doesn't ruin the overall effect.

Word Flow

Windows Phone has had one of the best default mobile keyboard since its launch and Microsoft has made it even better. The standard keyboard built into Windows Phone 8.1 now supports gesture-based typing, much like the Swype app you can get for Android.

Dubbed Word Flow', this means you're able to type words by touching and swiping through the relevant letters, never having to remove your finger from the screen. This makes one-handed typing a lot easier, as you can swipe using just a thumb. We found Word Flow worked just as well as similar keyboards and was a viable alternative to traditional typing. The dictionary of recognised words in Windows Phone 8.1 has also been increased, meaning less autocorrect woes and better predictions.

Cortana Personal Assistant

Microsoft has joined the voice activated personal assistant party by introducing Cortana.

Cortana only supports American English at present so in order to use her your phone will have to be set to United States English. Getting set up is a matter of first going into Settings and changing your device's Speech settings to English (United States).

This will begin a 66MB download so be aware of this if you're using mobile data. This will get you the necessary speech files for Cortana after a restart. Now you'll need to also set your Language settings to English (United States) which will trigger a further restart. Finally, it's a matter of going back into Settings and changing your Region to United States. After one last restart you'll find Cortana listed under your apps. It's a few hoops to jump through if you want Cortana support now but if you can wait, British English support is expected to arrive later this year.

Cortana is also available anywhere in the operating system from the search button and offers many of the same voice commands as Siri on iOS and Google Now on Android. You are able to ask her to create reminders for you, set alarms, open apps or recommend a local restaurant. Bing will also bring up search results for any voice commands Cortana doesn't understand, similar to how Siri and Google Now operate. Even when set to American English Cortana was able to understand most voice inputs and acted accordingly.

Similar to Google Now, Cortana is also able to access your e-mail for flight information and will also bring up news and articles relevant to your interests. Cortana stores all this information she gathers on you in Cortana's Notebook'. Another nice touch is how search is now incorporated system-wide. Searching will now not only search the Internet via Bing but will also scan through your messages and e-mails making important information only a few taps away.

Wi-Fi Sense

Wi-Fi Sense is baked into Windows Phone 8.1 and operates silently in the background scanning for public hotspots. It automates connections by accepting terms and conditions or provides your name, e-mail or phone number to enable you to get online quickly and easily for wireless networks that require a landing page.We found Wi-Fi Sense worked well, connecting to a number of EE powered hotspots across London without requiring any user input at all.

If your device is work provisioned you might find your IT admin disabling this.

Wi-Fi Sense is also supported by Storage Sense and Data Sense, two useful ways to manage storage space and mobile data you're using. Another app, Battery Saver, gives you an easy indication of what apps are draining your battery.

Conclusion

Windows Phone 8.1 is a giant step in the right direction for Microsoft but there's still work to be done to close the gap to its Android and iOS rivals.

We love the Word Flow keyboard, enhanced notifications and Sense applications. The enterprise features are sure to make this more appealing to business deployments too.

The update has been popular with other users too, with Microsoft boosting this popularity by providing a wide array of apps to download (more than half a million as at the end of 2014).

But where does the future lie for Windows Phone as a brand? In September 2014, a Microsoft document leaded toGeek on Gadgets, suggested the software giant was moving forward with plans to phase out the Windows Phone and Nokia branding after the new OS release.

The company acquired Nokia in early 2014 in a $7.2 billion deal, and is said to have been keen to drop the name ever since.

These rumours were supported by the fact that Microsoft recently stopped using the term Windows Phone in television adverts for new handsets, as well as the increased focus on regular updates for the next OS rather than preparation for Windows 10 and beyond.

In the absence of the Nokia brand as is, the company would be left with the Lumia branding for any premium smartphone releases in the future.

Turn the page for our top 10 Windows 8 productivity tips.

Windows Phone 8: Top 10 productivity tips

Originally published on 1 May 2014 by Paul Briden

1 - Sleep Tracker

Research indicates if you wake up during a light sleep phase you'll have an easier time getting out of bed and be more refreshed. You can use the freeSleep Trackerapp to make sure you get to the best possible start to your day.

Set the alarm for the time you want to wake up and activate Sleep Tracker before you go to bed. Remember to leave the phone close to your pillow. The handset will use sensors to track noise and movement in order to figure out when you enter phases of "deep sleep" and "light sleep".

After a few nights of use, Sleep Tracker figure out the best time to wake you. It also has a selection of tools to let you view your sleep patterns over time.2 - Scan, copy and translate documents

Windows Phone cameras allow you to capture text from documents such as a reports or book. Tap the phone's search key (the magnifying glass) then hit the icon which looks like an eye.

You can scan a body of text by pointing the phone's camera at it and pressingScan text. Once this is done you can either copy the text into a document or message, or if it's another language, taptranslateto have it converted into your own language (whatever the phone's is set to).

Bear in mind this translation feature needs a data connection via either Wi-Fi or mobile data.3 - Keyboard tricks

Windows Phone has one of the best default keyboard on any mobile device.

Pressing and holding any letter brings up accented variations in a little pop-up overlay - punctuation keys will have other variants symbols too.

When you're in the keyboard symbols section you can also press the arrow key on the left-hand side to flip between pages.

The keyboard has auto-correct toggled on by default, but if this is annoying you go toSettings > Keyboard > *select your keyboard*and toggle off "Correct misspelled words".4 - Flagging Priority Emails

Press and hold on an email to bring up the option and tapSet flagto mark it up. This way you can remember to follow it up.

5 - Quick and easy conference calls

Windows Phone makes conference calls easy. Phone your first contact and once connected tap the down arrow. SelectAdd calland phone another contact, then tapMerge calls- you're now in a conference call and can repeat the steps to add more people.6 - Text Size and screen magnifier

You can adjust the size of the text on screen. Inside Settings > Ease of accessyou can choose from five text sizes by dragging the slider at the top of the menu. Experiment and see which is best for you.

There's alsoHigh contrastmode which you can toggle on or off and aScreen magnifier. Toggling this on unlocks a series of two-fingered gestures to zoom-in and magnify a section of the screen when in any app (or the homescreen). You can also pan around and change the magnification level with these gestures (detailed underneath the toggle switch).7 - People Hub

One of the neat things about the People Hub is the ability to create groups of contacts. If you create a group you are able to get a feed of social networking updates from these contacts, and you can also send messages and emails to everyone in the group. You can also get a photo feed from all members.

Rooms are different. They host a chat room, allow you to sync a group calendar and you can create notes for the group which everyone can contribute to.

To create a Group or Room, go into thePeople Hub, swipe to theTogethersection and click the +' icon. Select Group or Room from the list, name it and tap the disk icon to save. You can then add people to the Group or Room in the main page (Members) by tapping the icon which looks like two people. Tap the +' icon to add people from your contacts list.8 - Set Google to default

Microsoft's operating system has the Bing search engine set as default. But most people use Google and you can set this as your primary source.

Open Internet Explorer and tap the ellipsis icon (...') in the bottom right. Scroll down and tapSettings >Advanced settings. Tap "Default search provider and you can see a list of search engines to choose from - select Google.9 - Manage data

In Windows Phone 8 and above, Microsoft has bundled-in an application called Data Sense.This is designed specifically to help you monitor and manage your mobile data and avoid bill shock.

You can configure Data Sense with your monthly bill date and the data allowance given by your plan. Once you've done this the phone will warn you when the data limit is approaching. If you think that might not be enough you can also set it to automatically restrict background data when you hit the limit - this is inside the Settings menu, indicated by a cog-shaped button.

10 - App switching

If you load up an app up by going to its icon in the app tray or by using a corresponding Live Tile, you'll find the phone boots restarts it from the beginning.

To pick up a message or document exactly where you left it, make sure you use the multitasking carousel to access the same app again by holding down thebackkey. Swiping through to the app you want and carry on where you left off by tapping it.

Turn the page for our favourite Windows 8.1 features

Windows Phone 8.1: Top features

Originally published on 3 April 2014 by Khidr Suleman

The most eye-catching feature of the Windows Phone 8.1 update is the introduction of theCortana personal assistant for smartphones. However, this is exclusive to the US for now but there are still a number of important interface and backend enhancements to the mobile OS for UK users.

The forthcoming Lumia 630 will be the first device to ship with Windows Phone 8.1, followed by the 930 in late-June/July. There is no definitive date as to when exisiting Lumia devices will be updated to the Windows Phone 8.1 OS.

1. Notifications "Action Center"

Microsoft has finally introduced a drop down list displaying the latest notifications and allows users to quickly toggle features like Wi-Fi, screen rotation, flight mode and Bluetooth on or off.

It's possible to customise these quick settings and choose exactly which noticiations you want to show up in the Action Center. Windows Phone 8.1 also allows users to set a different alert, depending on the incoming notification.

2. Universal search

When you search for something on your phone, it will not only scour the Bing search engine but also look through your messages/emails for the relevant keywords.

3. Word Flow keyboard

Windows Phone already had one of the best default keyboards on any mobile device and Microsoft has improved this.

The Word Flow keyboard has two core features. It has a Swype-like functionality so users can slide their fingers along the letters to make words instead of typing them out manually. The feature also registers the words users type regularly - so it will predict words faster.

4. Revamped Calendar

The built-in Calendar app has undergone a redesign to look more like the desktop version. It now has a "week view" and weather is integrated at the top, and you can tap on indiviual days to bring up more information about meetings.

5. More enterprise features

Businesses can sign up for an enterprise account to distribute apps to Windows Phone 8.1 handsets. These can be pushed to devices, updated, deleted or defined as mandatory. IT admins can also white-list trusted apps, black-list apps or block the Windows Store completely.

Employees can sign and encrypt email directly from the Outlook client and IT can also force S/MIME policies.

Windows Phone 8.1 now supports VPN vendors including Checkpoint, Del/SonicWALL, F5 and Juniper. It also includes Enterprise Wi-Fi with EAP-TLS and EAP-TTLS, allowing employees to connect to corporate Wi-Fi networks.

5. Start Screen has 3 columns

There's now an option to have a 3-column Start Screen on devices with 5in displays and above - so you can pin more apps or make them larger.

6. Personalisation

Users can upload a personal photo to be the background on the Start Screen. The Live Tiles will automatically adjust to show the picture like a jigsaw piece in the background.

Users can also sync one theme acorss all their Windows 8.1 products by signing into a Microsoft account.

7. Internet Explorer 11

The latest version of Internet Explorer is now available on Windows Phone devices - and will sync browsing sessions between Windows 8.1 phones, laptops or tablets.

8. Sense Apps

Battery Saver shows you a breakdown of the apps using power and allows you to turn on a battery saving mode.

Storage Sense allows you to moveapps, music or photos from the internal memory to an SD memory card, if this is supported on your device.

Wi-Fi Sense will automatically remember the password for secured connections and also connect to open Wi-Fi networks (a feature IT admins are likely to disable).

Finally, Data Sense allow users to monitor their data usage and set limits so that they do not go over their allowance.

This article was originally published on 30/05/14 but has been updated multiple times (most recently on 27/03/15).

Verdict

Windows Phone 8.1 adds core features to the operating system and helps it to become a more credible alternative to Android and iOS devices.

Dell has slashed the priced of its latest 8in Windows tablet to 120 as it aims to compete with low-cost Android alternatives.

The Venue 8 Pro 3000 is available for a competitive 119 (inc VAT). It's half the price of the 2014 Venue 8 Pro, but does this mean performance and build quality have been sacrificed?

Design

The build quality of the Venue 8 Pro is excellent for such an affordable device. Dell has opted for an attractive soft-touch plastic finish that feels comfortable in the hands, and leaves many of its low-cost rivals looking cheap and flimsy. The chassis is sturdy with little hint of flex.

Like its predecessor, the Venue 8 Pro 3000 measures 9mm thick, but is fractionally lighter at 391g. The weight is well balanced too, so you can hold it upright in one hand with no trouble when you're browsing the web or tapping out an email.

We did find the placement of the Windows button to be odd. For some reason Dell has taken it off the front of the device and moved it to the edge next to the volume controls. Reaching it is now awkward and you'll often have to tilt to the device so you can see if you're pressing it.

Connectivity is also limited. There's a single micro-USB port for charging the tablet, but no space for a full-sized USB connection - so you won't be plugging in any memory sticks. There is a micro-SD card slot, allowing you to add up to 128GB of storage if required.

There's no room for any display outputs either, so you can't connect the tablet to a larger screen for presentations at work or just watching video at home.

Display

The 1,280 x 800 resolution (189dpi) provided by the Venue 8 Pro 300 is modest when compared to the 2,048 x 1,536 resolution (326dpi) of expensive rivals such as Apple's iPad Mini 3. However, the IPS panel used here provides bold colours and good viewing angles, and is more than adequate for web browsing or watching streaming video. It wasn't as bright as we might have liked but, to be fair, the display is still above average for a tablet costing just 119.

There's a headphone socket on the top-right corner of the tablet, but the built-in speakers sound quite respectable, so the Venue 8 Pro 3000 will work well for an impromptu presentation in a coffee shop or simply watching some streaming video at home.

The Venue 8 Pro also includes a 1.2-megapixel front camera, and 5-megapixel rear camera. Neither of these is high quality, but they'll be adequate for quick snapshots and the occasional Skype call.

Performance

One of the cost-cutting measures that has allowed Dell to reduce the price of the Venue 8 Pro 3000 is the use of the free 32-bit version of Windows 8.1 With Bing'. Microsoft introduced this edition last year in order to counter the onslaught of low-cost Android tablets. As the name suggests, devices running this OS will have Bing preloaded as the default search engine.

There are a few compromises when it comes to the use of components as well.

The Venue 8 Pro 3000 is based on the Intel Atom Z3735G, a quad-core chip that runs at 1.33GHz with a burst option capable of hitting 1.83GHz. It's supported by a meagre 1GB of memory, which limited it to a score of just 26 points when running our Windows benchmark tests. It was slower than last year's Venue 8 Pro (36 points), and reflected in the rather leisurely 15-second start-up time.

There's also a noticeable pause when you rotate the screen. But the tablet wakes from sleep as soon as you tap the Power button, and once up and running we found it usable when performing routine tasks such as web browsing or typing in Microsoft Word or Excel. Dell has also included a free one-year subscription to Office 365 to provide access to your business documents, which adds value for money.

Storage And Battery

The Venue 8 Pro 3000 is only available in a single configuration with 1GB of memory and 32GB of internal storage. On our review unit, 16GB of storage was available for our own files. You can use the micro-SD slot to add extra storage, but if you want to increase the standard memory or storage it's worth considering the Venue 8 Pro 5000 model, which provides 2GB memory and 64GB storage for 235 (inc.VAT).

Even the Wi-Fi is rudimentary, being limited to a single-band (2.4GHz) 802.11n. However, the Venue 89 Pro does deliver when it comes to battery life. Running our video playback test with Wi-Fi turned off and screen brightness set to 75 per cent, the Venue 8 Pro 3000 lasted for a healthy 11 hours and 30 minutes, so it's got the efficiency to last through the working day.

Overall

The Venue 8 Pro 3000 is good value. Build quality compares well with similarly-priced Android tablets. If you're in the market for a low-cost tablet with full Windows compatibility then it's one definitely a contender.

Verdict

Despite its limited performance, the Venue 8 Pro 3000 a great value full Windows tablet

Processor: 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z3735G

Display: 8in IPS panel, 1,280 x 800 resolution

GPU: Intel HD Graphics

Memory: 1GB DDR3

Storage: 32GB eMMC (16GB available)

Connectivity: single-band 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0

Ports: 1 x micro-USB, 1 x micro-SDXC, 1 x headphone

Dimensions (HxWxD): 216 x 130 x 9mm

Weight: 391g

Dell's latest Latitude is one of the most expensive hybrids around. The main reason it's upwards of 1,200, is because the 7000 series is one of the first to ship with Intel's latest Core M technology, which brings plenty of advantages.

The Impact of Intel Core M

Core M processors mark the debut of the Broadwell revision. The reduction in chip size from 22nm to 14nm delivers significant reduction in power consumption via improved voltage regulation and on-chip controllers. This is done without any detrimental effect on performance.

The power drop in particular is drastic. The Dell's Core M-5Y10 has a top power draw of 4.5W a huge reduction from the 11.5W and 15W requirements of previous low-power Core i3 and Core i5 Haswell chips.

These improvements mean Intel can drop its clock speeds another move to reduce energy requirements. The Core M-5Y10 motors along at 800MHz and tops out at 2GHz when the Turbo kicks in hundreds of Megahertz lower than older silicon.

Core M also has redesigned integrated graphics. The M-5Y10's HD Graphics 5300 core is a mid-range Broadwell GPU clocked at a top speed of 800MHz.

Performance

The lower clock speed and power draw makes Core M sound like a low-impact chip, but that's not the case.

The Latitude scored 48/100 in our benchmarks, which isn't as abysmal as it looks. It's only one point slower than the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro, which had a faster Broadwell processor and double the RAM. In general it's around 10 points slower than last generation Haswell hybrids, which tended to deploy more power hungry Core i5 silicon.

The Latitude 13 is best used for word processing and web browsing. And, while the Latitude's Broadwell chip returned a middling benchmark score, we rarely noticed its lack of speed in real-world use: Windows 8.1's Start screen and the desktop both proved snappy, applications loaded quickly and we never encountered serious delays.

The HD Graphics 5300 core helped the Latitude score 77/100 in our Photoshop test. It doesn't quite match the 85/100 scored by the Lenovo, but it still highlights this chip's potential in graphical applications.

Broadwell's reduced thermal footprint bodes well for heat and noise: the Latitude is silent when running demanding software, and the temperature of the chip did not rise above 59C.

Core M isn't the only future-proofed component here. Storage comes from a 256GB Samsung PM851 SSD, which connects using the newer M.2 standard rather than the traditional SATA 6 port a move that seems to have paid off, with a rapid 12s boot time. The Samsung's sequential read and write speeds of 470MB/s and 187MB/s are mediocre, although this never translated to sluggish real-world pace.

Battery life

Broadwell's improved efficiency helped battery life, and Dell gives the Latitude a helping hand by installing two batteries: a 30Wh unit sits in the screen, and a 20Wh power pack sits below the keyboard.

With both batteries deployed the Dell lasted for 7 hours and 15 minutes in our standard video loop test (75 per cent brightness, Wi-Fi off). That's 30 mins ahead of the Lenovo Yoga, and 3 hours behind Apple's MacBook Pros, but it's still a decent result. The Dell can handle working all day a web-browsing test with the screen at lesser brightness levels saw the dual batteries make it to the 10 hour mark.

On its own, the tablet lasted for almost 4 hours. Not as impressive, but it's still better than some clunky laptops manage.

Connectivity and Specification

There's no room for Gigabit Ethernet, but connectivity elsewhere is better, with dual-band 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 a good selection for a business notebook. Physical connectivity favours the keyboard, which has 2 x USB 3 ports, an SD card slot and a mini-DisplayPort connector. The tablet has the headphone jack, and our sample has a smart card slot and a fingerprint reader but those latter two are optional extras.

Four gigabytes of RAM is ample for this class of machine, and businesses will be pleased with TPM 2.0 chip, as this has more security features than the more common TPM 1.2. It's got Intel vPro (remote management), NFC (wireless authentication), and an accelerometer (motion detection).

Screen

The Latitude's matte finish and 1,920 x 1,080 resolution are sensible office-based specifications. Brightness of 357cd/m2 means the screen is punchy under office lights and visible in sunlight, and it's backed up by a deep black level (0.3cd/m2).

The contrast ratio of 1,170:1 is better than most laptops, and its aids colour depth every tone is rich, and it's easy to pick apart subtly different shades.

A Delta E of 1.31 is exceptional. It's one of the best results you'll find outside of dedicated workstation hardware and high-end monitors. If screen quality is a key consideration, this is the best we've seen on a hybrid.

Design

Dell has opted for a detachable mechanism, and it's easy to use: slide a latch below the screen and the panel lifts free. The simple design extends to the aesthetic, where Dell has avoided extravagance there are a couple of logos and status lights, but that's it. The Latitude is black, grey and brooding, and it'll cut a serious note in any office.

Build quality is excellent, with a little expected flex in the thinner base and a sturdy back panel protecting the 13.3in screen. With its two halves clasped together the Latitude weighs 1.69kg and is 20mm thick. That compares poorly with the Yoga Pro 3, which tips the scales at 1.2kg and is 12.8mm thick.

It's chunkier than some rivals, but the detachable design gives the Latitude an edge the screen's 930g weight is decent when compared to 2-in-1s from Toshiba and HP.

The only machines Dell's latest can't fight against are the proper tablets, which are lighter and slimmer. Apple's iPad Air 2, for instance, weighs just 440g, and its 9.7in screen makes it more manageable.

Ergonomics

The sunken keyboard doesn't look like it would afford much travel, but that's not the case. The keys have good vertical movement, which helps typing feel solid and consistent, and the keys feel light but well-made.

Keys are as comfortable as anything we've used on a hybrid, and not far behind the best fully-fledged notebooks so if you need a hybrid to cope with a large workload, this is worthwhile. Our only complaint, the single-height return key, is minor.

The trackpad is sensitive, but a quick trip to the control panel will fix this. Once it's toned down, the wide, smooth surface proves accurate and responsive, and the two built-in buttons have a pleasant snap.

Specification and Service Options

We've reviewed a mid-range Latitude 13 7000 which initially costs 1,199 but rises to 1,230 because of the upgraded rear panel, which adds the smart card and fingerprint readers. Our sample also has a standard three-year warranty.

Two cheaper models cost 1,151 and 1,175. They've both got the same specification as our sample aside from a 128GB SSD, and the more expensive of this pair adds a next-business-day Pro Support warranty.

A version for 1,223 replicates our sample's specification but adds the improved ProSupport warranty. The priciest model costs 1,271 and only has a 128GB SSD and the basic three-year warranty, but it comes with a Core M-5Y71 processor clocked to 1.2GHz with a Turbo speed of 2.9GHz the fastest available in this new range.

A mobile broadband modem can be added for an extra 56, and accessories are available, with various options for carrying cases and docking stations.

Numerous service options are available. Warranties can be upgraded to four- or five-year deals, data protection packages are available, and elsewhere you'll find accidental damage protection, desktop docking stations and anti-theft markings.

Overall

Intel's Core M technology is a substantial step forward for mobile processors. It means machines consume less power and last longer without sacrificing any performance.

Dell pairs the new chip with a fantastic screen, and the smart exterior is paired with a keyboard and trackpad with the quality to help get work done. There are plenty of business features, too.

There's no denying the high price of this machine, though, and proper tablets are still easier to work with than the Dell's detachable screen. But if you're in the market for a hybrid, this is one of the best available.

Verdict

An all-round hybrid with a good screen and solid battery life.

Processor: 800MHz Intel Core M-5Y10

GPU: Intel HD Graphics 5300

Memory: 4GB 1,600MHz DDR3L

Storage: 256GB Samsung PM851 SSD

Connectivity: Dual-band 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0

Ports: 2 x USB 3, mini-DisplayPort, SD card slot, headphone jack, smartcard reader, fingerprint scanner

Dimensions: (WxDxH): 320 x 230 x 20mm

Weight: 1.69kg

Google could feel the full force of Microsoft's wrath again by going public with details of a Windows 8.1 security flaw before the software giant has had a chance to fix it.

The search firm's security research team claim to have uncovered the issue, which allows hackers to impersonate users and decrypt sensitive data on Windows 7 and 8.1 machines, in October 2014.

"This might be an issue if there's a service which is vulnerable to a named pipe planting attack or is storing encrypted data in a world readable shared memory section," the Google research team wrote in a blog post.

The researchers then go on to acknowledge the security hole may have been created purposefully by Microsoft, before sharing details of how it can be replicated.

"This behaviour, of course, might be design. However, not having been party to the design, it's hard to tell," the post stated.

The group claim to have notified Microsoft about the issue, with further posts on the site suggesting the vendor had planned to release a fix for it during the January round of Patch Tuesday updates.

However, it's claimed the patch was pulled because of undisclosed compatibility issues, and is now set for release in February.

Under the terms of Google's disclosure policies, Microsoft was given 90 days to patch the problem, but in this instance has failed to do so. As a result, Google has now gone public with the details.

That decision is unlikely to have gone down well at Redmond, after Microsoft recently hit out at Google for disclosing details of another security hole before it had a chance to patch it.

IT Pro contacted Microsoft for comment on Google's decision to publicly release details of this latest security flaw, but was still awaiting a response at the time of publication.

Microsoft has hit back at Google's decision to publicly disclose a Windows 8.1 security flaw several days before the software giant was due to patch it.

As reported by IT Pro last week, Google decided to speak up about the bug over claims Microsoft had failed to fix it within 90 days of its discovery.

The flaw could have left Windows 8.1 users open to Elevation of Privilege attacks, and is set to be fixed tomorrow in Microsoft's first Patch Tuesday of 2015.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Microsoft has not reacted kindly to Google publicly announcing details of the bug, given that it was days from being rectified.

In a lengthy blog post by Chris Betz, leader of the Microsoft Security Response Centre (MSRC), he said the vendor specifically asked Google to withhold details of the security flaw until tomorrow, but the search firm declined.

"Although following through keeps to Google's announced timeline for disclosure, the decision feels less like principles and more like a gotcha', with customers the ones who may suffer as a result," Betz wrote.

Now details of the flaw are out in the open, Microsoft fears users could be put at increased risk of cyber attacks.

"What's right for Google is not always right for customers. We urge Google to make protection of customers our collective primary goal," Betz added.

"We believe those who fully disclose a vulnerability before a fix is broadly available are doing a disservice to millions of people and the systems they depend upon."

Betz then goes on to talk about Microsoft's preference for Co-ordinated Vulnerability Disclosure, which he claims "limits the field of opportunity" for hackers to carry out attacks, as it gives vendors ample time to address issues.

The alternative approach of full disclosure, which is the one Google employed, forces customers to take action to protect themselves, Betz said. But it's not always terribly successful.

"The vast majority take no action, being largely reliant on a software provider to release a security update," Betz explained.

"Even for those able to take preparatory steps, risk is significantly increased by publicly announcing information that a cybercriminal could use to orchestrate an attack and assumes those that would take action are made aware of the issue."

IT Pro contacted Google for its response, but had not received one at the time of publication.

Microsoft has decided to restrict its Advanced Notification Services (ANS) about upcoming software updates to its Premium customers, rather than alerting all users via a blog post.

Google has exposed a security flaw in Windows 8.1, saying it decided to uncover the problem because Microsoft didn't fix it in time.

The bug, which allows application data to be cached when processes are created by an administrator, doesn't correctly check the impersonation token of the caller, meaning anyone could bypass the required checks.

The post on Google's Security Research blog said the system call, "reads the caller's impersonation token using PsReferenceImpersonationToken and then does a comparison between the user SID in the token to LocalSystem's SID. It doesn't check the impersonation level of the token so it's possible to get an identify token on your thread from a local system process and bypass this check."

Hackers could potentially use this vulnerability to gain access to systems and applications on a user's computer that would normally only be available to administrators. It could also allow anyone to make themselves an administrator and access server functions.

Microsoft responded to the public exposure, saying: "We are working to release a security update to address an Elevation of Privilege issue. It is important to note that for a would-be attacker to potentially exploit a system they would first need to have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to a targeted machine. We encourage customers to keep their anti-virus software up to date, install all available Security Updates and enable the firewall on their computer."

The bug was discovered as part of Google's Project Zero, which seeks out bugs in a range of operating systems and platforms before privately notifying the companies responsible for applying a fix. If the company fails to act on Google's alert within 90 days, information about the flaw is released to the wider world.

The blog continued: "This bug is subject to a 90 day disclosure deadline. If 90 days elapse without a broadly available patch, then the bug report will automatically become visible to the public."

The market share for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 saw a significant rise between September and October 2014, indicating that users may finally be coming round to the operating system's charms.

In September, Windows 7 was in the lead with 53 per cent, with the stubborn Windows XP hanging around with 24 per cent and Windows 8.x coming in third with 12 per cent combined market share. Mac OS X and Vista were next with 4 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively.

The surprise news comes with the difference between these numbers and those reported by NetMarketShare for October, then.

Though Windows 7 actually saw some growth, Windows XP fell to 17 per cent and Windows 8.x rose by around 5 per cent to almost 17 per cent combined market share. Most of this comes from the Windows 8.1 update, but new adopters don't seem to have dented the numbers of the standard version of Windows 8 too much.

The surge in Windows 8.1 adoption could continue now Microsoft has ceased sales of Windows 7 and 8 in preparation for the release of Windows 10 in 2015.

Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate will no longer be sold, starting from 31 October, and Windows 8.1 will be the default operating system pre-installed on new PCs.

The last-minute success of Windows 8 and 8.1 is good news for Microsoft, who has had trouble luring consumers away from older operating systems like Windows XP, despite withdrawing support for the OS in April 2014.

(Images courtesy of Netmarketshare)

The adoption rate for Windows 8.1 is reportedly rising, prompting Microsoft to recommend targeting the latest operating system to developers via a recent blog post detailing current trends.

According to the blog, around 70 per cent of downloads from the Windows app store came from users on PCs running Windows 8.1.

Adoption is also growing for Windows Phone, and it was the primary operating system source for apps in September. At the same time, downloads coming from devices running iOS 7 have dropped to just 5 per cent.

In terms of making money from apps, Microsoft has informed developers that revenue from advertising and in-app purchases far outweighs money made from paid apps.

For Windows apps, advertising is the top revenue source, while this switches to in-app purchasing for Windows Phone users. Developers seemingly have more success with free apps that offer additional extras than if they charge users outright for buying the app.

In-app purchasing is also the fastest-growing source of revenue for Windows app developers, and those using the model are quickly rising to the top of the app store.

The monthly blog is aimed at informing developers of ongoing trends for both Windows and Windows Phone apps, with data relating to markets and categories also detailed.

Earlier in the month IT Pro reported the compared share of Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 stands at 13.37 per cent of computers worldwide for September, with Windows 7 and Windows XP still in the lead with 51.21 per cent and 23.89 per cent respectively.

No one would argue that the two most maligned operating systems ever to be released by Microsoft are Windows Vista and Windows 8, but it might surprise some to know that Vista was actually more popular in its heyday than Windows 8 is now.

As it stands in September 2014, according to stats available from NetMarketShare, Windows 7 is still the most popular OS with 51.21 per cent worldwide market share, followed by Windows XP in second position at 23.89 per cent.

This leaves Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows Vista to make up the rest of Microsoft's share (Windows 2000 and Windows NT also make up 0.09 per cent).

The combined share of Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 stands at 13.37 per cent for September, with Windows Vista falling to 3.02 per cent, behind Apple's top offering, the Mac OS X 10.9. Windows 8.1 is just about topping its immediate predecessor.

When Vista was released in 2007, it must be noted Microsoft accounted for a higher percentage of the PCs used, at the same point in its lifespan as we are currently in for Windows 8, Vista enjoyed a larger percentage of users at 14.3 per cent.

This brings to light a smaller yet still significant problem for Microsoft, with previous concerns centring on the continued prominence of Windows 7 over the company's newer operating systems. The silver lining is that August 2014 saw Windows 7's share stick at 51.2 per cent, staying in place for the first time in months.

But Windows XP is also still clinging on, despite a steady decline as users opt for operating systems that still enjoy Microsoft support. Its second place position is not a good indication of Windows 8 and Windows 8.1's success, with the next iteration just around the corner.

Windows 9 is expected to be announced at an event on 30 September, with a technical preview launched in early October.

Early rumours and leaks indicate the operating system will attempt to correct some of the less popular features of Windows 8, such as the removal of the start menu and the tablet-geared Metro UI which is considered unfriendly to desktop users.

Microsoft is reportedly planning to offer incentives for existing users of its OS to upgrade to Windows 9, the software giant's next-generation operating system that looks set to debut on 30 September.

This news comes courtesy of well-known leaker WZOR, reportedMyce, who has claimed that Windows 8.1 users will be offered the upgrade to Windows 9 for free, while those currently working with a retail or OEM version of Windows 8 could get it for a heavily discounted price ($20 in the US).

Microsoft also has plans in place to get rid of its ongoing Windows XP problem, by offering Windows 9 upgrade incentives to those still using the aged OS, it is claimed.

The company ended support for the older operating system earlier this year, but many are still holding on tight.

Microsoft clearly wants people on board with the new operating system as quickly as possible, and is willing to give it away for free to achieve this.

WZOR has become well known for offering reliable sneak peeks at Microsoft products ahead of their release, so there's plenty of reason to believe this latest leak may be accurate. There's also the fact that Windows 8.1 was previously made free for Windows 8 users to upgrade to.

The report also revealed that Microsoft isn't releasing a test version of Windows 9 Pro OEM, with a Windows 9 Enterprise technical preview already out there.

A developer preview event taking place on 30 September is widely thought to be where Microsoft will launch the new operating system, with pricing and features confirmed.

Microsoft has openly mocked the MacBook Air in comparison adverts with the Surface Pro 3. But if you take a closer look at the specifications of the Windows 8.1 hybrid, you'll see it has more in common with Apple's premium MacBook Pro range.

Hence it's fairer to compare the Surface Pro 3 with a fellow high-end rival like the 13in MacBook Pro (mid-2014). The devices battled it out to see which had the best design, display, input, operating system, battery life, performance, ports, repairability and pricing.

If you're eager to find out which device we recommend - jump to our verdict.

Design and Versatility

Microsoft has designed the Pro 3 as a 2-in-1 hybrid. It's got a detachable keyboard, which can be clipped in to use the device like a laptop. Or the machine can be used as a tablet with the touchscreen.

The built-in kickstand allows the Pro to be propped up on any flat surface and it tilts back to 150 degrees giving you multiple viewing positions.

The Surface Pro 3 has a beautiful and tough Magnesium-alloy chassis. It's got a thickness of 9.1mm and the tablet alone weighs 800g. Realistically, you're going to be spending most of your time with the Type Cover attached, which brings the weight of the device to just over 1kg. But even with the cover, the Pro 3 can be carried about comfortably.

The 13in MacBook has Apple's trademark aluminum finish. It looks great out of the box, but the light colour isn't good at disguising scratches and blemishes. Being the bigger device, the MacBook is bulkier with double the thickness of the Pro 3 at 18mm and a total weight of 1.6kg. The overall footprint isn't too much larger than the Microsoft device - and if you get a cover, this can easily be carried around too.

Designed as a content creation machine, the MacBook has a clamshell form factor. It looks great but it's as not as versatile as the Surface Pro 3 when it comes to viewing angles, with thescreen tilting back a maximum of 140 degrees.

Winner: Surface Pro 3 - It's thinner, lighter and can be used as a tablet or laptop.

Display

The Pro 3's 12in screen is made using reputable Gorilla Glass 3. Microsoft has squeezed in 3.1 million pixels (2160 x 1440). It's fully touch screen enabled and we measured a maximum brightness of 352cd/m2. It's excellent for web browsing and multimedia tasks.

The Windows 8.1 device lays down a high-marker but the MacBook Pro is able to surpass it. Users get a 13in display with 4.2 million pixels (2560 x 1660) and the brightness is a touch higher at 374cd/m2. The only area where it does not match the Surface Pro is touch screen functionality.

Colours are deep and vibrant on both machines, making it possible to use them for multimedia work. The Pro 3 does have more saturation, so colours look more realistic on the Mac.

Apple does more work on optimising the panel with OS X so you won't find scaling issues in the MacBook. Conversely, this is a problematic area on the Surface Pro 3, as current third party apps, such as Adobe Photoshop cannot be used comfortably on the high-res screen as the icons are tiny.

Winner: MacBook Pro - Perhaps the most closely contested category in this head-to-head. There is little to separate the displays but the MacBook offers a bigger, sharper and brighter screen.

Input

The Surface Pro 3 has three forms of input. The touch screen is ideal for web browsing, as you can tap in web addresses, click on links, pinch-to-zoom and scroll. It's also there when you want to switch between apps or close them down.

The keyboard can be clipped in for long-form writing and editing. It's adequate when you're on the move but typing on it all day can lead to wrist and finger fatigue. The trackpad is the weakest part of the Pro 3, but this is compensated to some degree by the touch screen.

Pen input is available for note-taking via OneNote and can also be used to interact with design applications. It's got 256 points of pressure and the implementation is fantastic. You can click the pen-lid anytime and start taking notes immediately.

In comparison, input on the MacBook Pro is restricted to the keyboard and trackpad. The chiclet style keys are well spaced - although travel could be better. The sharp edges on the MacBook can also be punishing on your wrists and we've experienced wrist cramps when using it for long periods. The trackpad is outstanding in terms of responsiveness and there are a number of gesture controls available to switch between apps and desktops. These work flawlessly and aid navigation between multiple apps.

Apple has yet to integrate a touch screen into its laptop devices and there's no pen input either.

Winner: Surface Pro 3 - Both keyboards could be better. The Pro 3 might have a poor trackpad compared to the MacBook but the outstanding pen input and touch screen functionality give it the edge.

Battery Life

Windows 8.1 has closed the gap to OS X devices but MacBooks remain king when it comes to battery life. This is an important consideration as the batteries are sealed into the devices.

Both Apple and Microsoft claim up to 9 hours of battery life. At 75 per cent brightness and with Wi-Fi turned off, we were able to surpass this on the MacBook, but the Surface Pro 3 struggled to live up to the claim.

The Surface is able to creep up to 8 hours, if you lower the brightness below 50 per cent and then continue to turn it down. You'll get close to nine hours of Wi-Fi browsing on the MacBook with 75 per cent brightness.

Winner: MacBook Pro - It's got considerable longer battery life.

Performance

Our review units packed similar specifications, giving a good indication of the performance levels you can expect.

The Surface Pro 3 unit was powered by aCore i5-4300U processor clocked at 1.9GHz with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.

Meanwhile, the MacBook Pro 13in had a faster 2.6GHz Core i5-4278U, the same 8GB RAM and half the storage capacity with a 128GB SSD.

Boot times were close to identical with the machines ready to roll in 10 seconds from a cold start. Resuming from sleep took a couple of seconds apiece.

Both machines were quick to open and close apps, zipped through web browsing and crunched through light-to-midrange multimedia work. However, the Apple device proved more capable, especially when it came to running multiple applications simultaneously.

Winner: MacBook Pro - For everyday usage there's not too much of a difference, but when it comes to multitasking and responsiveness, the OS X machine is superior.

Operating System

This is the most subjective part of the overall test. Some users prefer Windows, whilst others swear by OS X.

The Surface Pro 3 ships with Windows 8.1 Pro (64-bit). It's defaulted to boot to the Start Screen with the Live Tiles but this can be bypassed in the settings menu. Unless your business has developed an app in-house, you're unlikely to spend much time in this portion of the OS.

Windows remains suitable for business deployment as it supports all commonly used programs and admins are used to managing it. However, security remains a concern and machines will need to be pre-installed with anti-virus software, which in turn can affect end user performance.

The MacBook Pro is currently shipping with OS X Mavericks, which has the classic desktop interface. If you're switching over from Windows, you'll need to get used to the keyboard and menus. But it is intuitive and overtime we find there's less performance degradation than with Windows devices.

Apple has been rolling out desktop updates on a yearly basis and the latest - OS X Yosemite - will be available in the autumn for free. Microsoft has also been keen to adopt a more regular update cycle. Windows 9 will reportedly be announced on 30 September.

Winner: MacBook Pro - Apple has kept the desktop interface simple and easy to use. The firm also has a yearly refresh cycle in place, whereas Microsoft update process remains jumbled.

Ports + Connectivity

Neither device is bursting with physical ports. The Surface Pro 3 includes a microSD card reader and a Mini Displayport to hook up a display. However, it's got just one USB 3 connection and this isn't enough when you want to use this in the office as desktop replacement.

Being a laptop, you'd expect the MacBook to have significantly more USB ports, but it maxes out at two. There are 2 x Thunderbolt 2 connections and an HDMI port. Plus there is space for an SD card.

Wireless connections are tied with Wi-Fi 802.11ac/a/b/g/n together with Bluetooth 4 included as standard. There are no options to have 4G connectivity integrated.

Winner: MacBook Pro - It's got more USBs (only just) and HDMI as standard.

Repairability

The beautiful unibody designs come with a catch. They are difficult to open and once you're inside you'll find key components, like the battery, are fastened with glue. You can easily cause more damage when trying to replace components and this results in the devices sharing a repairability score of 1/10 on teardown site iFixit.

Choose your specification wisely at the time of purchase because you won't be able to upgrade or repair it without splashing out.

Winner: Draw - Both are a nightmare to open and repair.

Pricing & Warranty

There's a big gap between the entry-level pricing for the products but all is not as it seems. The Surface Pro 3 starts at 639 for the standalone tablet with a Core i3 processor, 4GB and just 64GB of internal storage. Then you have to factor in 110 for the Type Cover, so realistically the minimum amount you'll spend on a Surface Pro 3 is 750.

Apple's 13in MacBook Pro (with the Retina Display) starts at 999. However, it has a faster Core i5 processor as standard, double the RAM (8GB) and 128GB SSD.

When you compare like-for-like specifications, the Apple device ends up being cheaper. The 13in MacBook with a Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD retails at 1,199.

The Surface Pro 3 model with Core i5 processor, 8GB and 256GB SSD is 1,109 plus the 110 for the Type Cover. This bring the total cost of the Pro 3 to 1,219.

Warranty options aren't as comprehensive as business OEMS like Dell and HP. Apple offers a standard 1-year warranty and 90 days of telephone technical support. It's also possible to drop in to an Apple Store for help during this period. Extended warranties are available via the AppleCare Protection service.

Microsoft offers a 2-year limited warranty and Microsoft offers 90 days of technical support. We haven't seen any options to extend this.

Winner: MacBook Pro - The Apple device is cheaper when the specs are compared.

Verdict

To recap, the MacBook Pro has taken this with a convincing 6-2 victory.

The Apple device won the following categories: Display, battery life, performance, operating system, ports and price.Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 was victorious when it came to design/versatility and input. The devices drew when it came to repairability.

Despite being a solid 2-in-1 hybrid, the Surface Pro 3 isn't able to match the performance and battery life of the MacBook. And based on our experience with both operating systems, the Apple device is going to have longevity and represent a better investment.

Details about the first $199 Windows laptops have emerged as Microsoft looks to counter the threat of low-cost Chromebooks.

The HP Stream was announced at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in July but no specifications were revealed at the time. A comprehensive data sheet has now been obtained by Mobile Geeks, ahead of the official launch.

Key features of the low-cost Windows 8.1 laptop will include a 14in non-touch display (1366 x 768) with 200cd/m2 brightness. The device will be powered by a low-energy AMD quad-core A4 processor with a clock speed of 1.6GHz.

Windows 8.1 vs Chrome OS

Can Google's web-based operating system save your business money?

Find out in our Windows 8.1 vs Chrome OS head-to-head.

Stream devices will be preloaded with a maximum 2GB of RAM and this is not user accessible or upgradeable. Laptops will support either 32GB or 64GB of storage.

To mitigate the lack of physical storage, users will get 100GB of OneDrive storage for two years. The Stream will also support SD card slots.

Physical ports will include 1 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2 ports and an HDMI output. On the wireless front there's support for Wi-Fi 802.11bgn along with Bluetooth 4 and Miracast-certified devices.

HP will ship the stream with a 3-cell 32 Watt-hr battery, but projected battery life is unknown at this time.

An official release date for the HP Stream is yet to be revealed. Microsoft COO Kevin Turner did say the product would ship before the end of the year, so it's expected to launch in time for the Christmas season.

Chrome OS laptops have proven popular in the education markets and earlier this year Barking and Dagenham Council deployed 2,000 Chromebooks to replace Windows XP devices. Microsoft will be hoping to muscle into this low-cost market with devices like the Stream.

HP's ElitePad 1000 is distinguishable fromcompeting Windows 8 devices thanks to its range of clip-on 'Jackets' and outstanding battery life.

Designed for enterprise deployment, the Windows 8.1 Pro tablet ships with aTrusted Platform Module (TPM), drive encryption and a password manager.HP also throws in Absolute Data Protection software so IT admins can manage, lock and wipe devices out-of-the-box.

Build quality on the tablet is top notch - the single piece of Aluminium has minimal amounts of flex. With an initial weight of 680g and 9.2mm thickness, it's doesn't feel much bulkier than consumer devices like the iPad Air (469g, 7.5mm). But the weight does pile on quickly when you add accessories.The Jackets

Although touted as extras by HP, purchasing at least one Jacket is recommended especially if you want to get the maximum possible battery life.

There are three Jackets offered. We tested out an Expansion Jacket (below) which has 2 x full sized USB ports, a HDMI connector and SD card slot as well as space for a second battery. In exchange for the 450g of bulk (Jacket + 2nd battery) added to the device, you get an additional 6 hours of usage.

A Productivity Jacket has a cover with an integrated keyboard is eye-watering expensive at 186. Not only does it add native typing input, you get 2 x USB ports and an SD card slot.

Should you want to use the tablet as a desktop replacement too, a docking station is available for 98. This adds 3 x USB ports, along with HDMI, VGA and Ethernet connectivity.

Battery life

This is by far the biggest strength of the ElitePad. HP touts up to 20 hours of usage on a single charge when using two packs concurrently.

In our Iron Man test (75 per cent brightness + Wi-Fi off) the ElitePad 1000 managed to loop a video for 14 hours and 41 minutes. It's the only Windows tablet to surpass the iPad Air in our tests - although it did require two batteries to do this.

Display & connectivity

The ElitePad 1000 has a 10.1in display with a 1900 x 1200 resolution. We measured a maximum brightness of 292cd/m2. It's passable for everyday applications but the colour palatte is washed-out and isn't optimised for multimedia use.

HP toldIT Proit had experimented with a matte finish, but this degraded responsiveness and brightness to such an extent it had no choice but to opt for gloss.

One of the most interesting display tweaks is found on the Start Screen. HP defaults the interface to the 'Apps' view instead of the Live Tiles allowing you to see all programs. You can access the Live Tiles by swiping up but it's possible to use the device without ever seeing them. Most enterprise users are unlikely to mind this.

A pen accessory (40) is available should you want to take notes on the device. It's a solid pen built from aluminium and is responsive when it comes to notetaking. However, it feels like an add-on especially when compared to how Microsoft has integrated its pen functionality into the core of the Surface Pro 3.

Physical ports are almost non-existent without the aforementioned Jackets. But the ElitePad has all the standard wireless connections you'd expect from Bluetooth 4 to WLAN 802.11 ac/a/g/b/n. It's also possible to get 4G connectivity embedded if the device is going to be used away from Wi-Fi frequently.

HP provides a SIM-card through its partner Cubic Telecom. If you ever need 4G data on the move you can activate a pay-as-you-go plan depending on how much data you need from 75MB to 2GB or how long you need it for (up to 30 days). It's like signing up to your own personal hotel Wi-Fi on the move and best of all there is no monthly contract.

At present 4G service is available in following European countries:United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands and Luxembourg,Spain, Poland and Austria.

4G roaming for the US, China and Hong Kong is "on the way" but there's no time-frame.

Performance

The specification of the ElitePad 1000 is comparable to a tablet rather than an Ultrabook. The device is powered by a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3795 processor with a speed of 1.6GHz together with 4GB of RAM. HP offers 64GB or 128GB of internal storage.

The ElitePad is a responsive device but the 4GB of RAM struggles with the demands of multimedia apps and when it comes to multitasking.

This places the device in the lower-end of the performance scale when compared to fellow Windows 8 tablets.

Pricing

The HP ElitePad is available starting at 780. Our review unit with integrated 4G cost 839. A variety of next-day business service agreements with three-year onsite support can be bolted-on for 156.

We'd recommend the Expansion Jacket (83) together with the extra battery (83) to get longevity out of the device. The Productivity Jacket, which costs 186 is pricey and unnecessary for the majority of deployments.

As accessories have to be factored into most bulk orders, wide scale deployment is likely to get costly.

Overall

The ElitePad is a solid Windows 8.1 Pro tablet prioritising longevity over performance.The 15 hours of battery life is the stand-out feature, making this the Windows 8 tablet with the longest battery life.

HP told us that the predecessor, the ElitePad 900, has been used by companies such as Bacardiand Nestle, which have deployed the tablets to sales teams and used them in customer-facing roles. The ElitePad 1000 is likely to be used for similar deployments.

This article was originally published on the 24/02/14 as a hands-on piece and has be updated to a full review.

Verdict

The longest-lasting Windows 8 tablet to-date, the ElitePad 1000 can power through the day with two battery packs.

OS: Windows 8.1 Pro (64-bit) Display: 10.1in, 1,900 x 1,200 (292cdm/2) Processor: 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z3795 RAM: 4GB Storage: 128/256GB + micro SD Camera: 8-megapixel with flash, 1080p front-facing Connectivity: Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4, 4G (optional) Ports: 1 x Proprietary (charging/docking), micro SD Dimensions: 179 x 261 x 9.2mm Battery: 30Whr (2-cell) + 21Whr (2nd battery) Weight: 680g starting, 260g (Productivity Jacket), 190g (2nd battery)

Microsoft has posted nine bulletins in its August Patch Tuesday update, covering Internet Explorer, Windows, Office, SQL Server, and Sharepoint.

Two of its bulletins are rated critical and the updates should be applied immediately because they relate to Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities, while the others are ranked important.

Bulletin #1 relates to all versions of Internet Explorer - from IE 6 up to IE 11 on both Windows RT and Windows 8.1. It fixes bugs that could allow hackers to use Remote Code Execution through malicious web pages opened using the browser.

Wolfgang Kandek CTO of Qualys said: "These pages can be on sites that are either set up specifically for this purpose, requiring him or her to attract your users to the site or are on sites that are already under control of the attacker with an established user community, such as blogs and forums."

Bulletin #2 is a critical update for Windows affecting Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 plus the Media Center TV pack for Windows Vista. The update will fix bugs relating to the graphics processing pipeline that could allow a hacker to trick users into opening a malicious file.

Bulletin #3 affects OneNote in Office 2007 and targets a vulnerability relating to the file format and Remote Code Execution. Not applying the update could result in an attacker leading you to open a malicious file sent via Outlook. Newer versions of OneNote are not affected.

Bulletin #4 addresses vulnerabilities in SQL Server 2008, 2012 and 2014. It's ranked important because although it could mean a hacker could elevate their privileges, they would already need to have an account on the machine to exploit the vulnerability.

Bulletins #5 and Bulletin #6 relate to the Windows core operating system and like Bulletin #4, involve elevation of privilege vulnerabilities for existing users on the machine. A hacker could use the local network to achieve code execution remotely.

Kandek added: "Exploits for these types of vulnerabilities are part of the toolkit of any attacker as they are extremely useful, when the attackers gets an account on the machine, say through stolen credentials."

Bulletins #7 is a vulnerability in SharePoint Server 2013, while Bulletin #8 and Bulletin #9 are Security Feature Bypass bugs in .NET and newer versions of Windows.

Microsoft's Patch Tuesday update will be rolled out on August 12 (Tuesday). Anyone using the software and systems affected are advised to run Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), Systems Management Server (SMS), and System Center Configuration Manager to detect and install the updates.

Some further light has been shed on the reworked Start Menu Microsoft may be planning to introduce in the "next version" of Windows, with evidence strongly suggesting it will appear in Windows 9.

New leaked screenshots, reportedly taken from Windows 9 ahead of its official unveiling, have revealed a Start menu consisting of two columns: one that functions much like the old menu and the other a Metro-style home for Live Tiles and modern apps.

The shots also reveal the Windows Store in windowed mode, which suggest a move away from the full-screen view for all modern apps introduced from Windows 8 onwards.

Tony Prophet, corporate vice president of Windows Marketing, recently said at the company's Worldwide Partner Conference that the firm has been "hard at work" on the next version of Windows.

During his time on stage, he described the new iteration of the Start Menu as better for its inclusion of Live Tiles and modern apps.

"The second feature we're thinking about is enabling modern apps to run windowed on the desktop versus only running in the immersive full-screen mode," he continued.

"This will enable you to run multiple modern apps side-by-side or layered or a combination of modern apps and desktop programs side-by-side or layered."

It is still unclear whether users will find this new generation Start menu on Windows 8.1 Update 3, or have to wait until Windows 9 is unleashed later next year, but this latest leak suggests the latter.

Start Menu rumours

Microsoft has been teasing Windows 8 users for some time now with the imminent return of the Start Button, but it seems the software giant's plans to bring it back are unlikely to reach fruition until even later next year.

Sources claim the Start Menu has now been delayed from April to June 2015, with Microsoft going back on reported plans to reinstate it with the second update to Windows 8.1 this summer. Windows 8.1 Update 2 will arrive next month.

Apparently now, the Start Menu is being kept back until the next "major" version of Windows, codenamed Threshold or Windows 9, which was rumoured to drop in spring 2015 but was thought to be pushed back to summer in favour of a third upgrade to Windows 8.1.

Recent rumblings have negated this rumour, however, with sources claiming that Windows 8.1 Update 3 has been scrapped so that Microsoft can concentrate on Windows 9. The report comes from Mary Jo Foley, who has said that, while a third update for Windows 8.1 is now unlikely, smaller updates and fixes to be released monthly could see users through until the arrival of Windows 9/Threshold.

According to the same source, Windows 8.1 Update 2 will arrive on August 12, but will be much more low-key than Update 1 in that it won't be mandatory for users to download it. Rather than the larger update it had been pegged as, the "August update" will instead include just a few minor changes to design.

When it does arrive, the next Start Menu will likely be similar to that of Windows 7, with a list of apps and folders and a search bar included alongside another column of Live Tiles for Windows Store apps. This will address a major problem experienced by users, with the disappearance of the menu confusing many and proving hugely unpopular among Windows' fan base.

While the Windows 8.1 update did bring back the Start button, this merely took users back to the Start screen and did not reintroduce the much-missed menu itself. But even with Microsoft teasing its return with Windows 9 in 2015, there's no word on how much the Threshold update might set users back.

Back in April, commenters told IT Pro of their annoyance with Microsoft's decision to ditch the button, with one revealing that some users have resorted to installing unofficial replacements such as Windows 7 Shell' in order to restore the feature.

Many enterprise customers have reportedly shunned Windows 8, though the company's decision to include the Start Menu in their next update could go some way towards encouraging those hesitant users to upgrade after all.

This article was first published on 03/06/14 and has been updated multiple times (most recently on 04/08/14) to reflect new rumours regarding Windows 8.1 Update 3.

The second update for Windows 8.1 is reportedly set for release on 12 August, which will be the same date as next month's Microsoft Patch Tuesday.

The claim was made on Russian site PCPortal.org.ru and, while this has yet to be officially confirmed, it fits in with the previously predicted release date of either August or September.

The second update to Windows 8.1 was announced at the Microsoft annual WPC event in July, where it was revealed that it would be available for free to Windows users with Update 1 already installed, and for a low price to those running an earlier version of the operating system. It will also come pre-installed on computers following its initial release.

Those eagerly awaiting the teased return of the Start Button will most likely have to wait until Windows 9 arrives in 2015, but it could yet be included with Windows 8.1 Update 3.

A recently revealed third update to Windows 8.1 has pushed the release date of Windows' next big iteration back from spring 2015 to sometime in June, with rumours around this being the result of decisions from the Chinese government to ban Windows 8 on government computers also circulating.

Microsoft has been experiencing significant problems with leaks of test builds for Windows lately, leading them to make many internal changes such as restricting access to servers and individually assembled test builds further to help identify the source.

Although Update 2 will reportedly be arriving next month, not much is currently known about it at this time, yet both Update 2 and 3 are expected to address many of the problems users have had with Windows 8.1 since its release.

Reports suggest that Windows 9 Enterprise could offer users the ability to disable the OS' Metro interface for the first time, and cloud integration would be removed from the eventual release of Windows 9.

Microsoft is rumoured to be removing the desktop mode from Windows 9 for mobile devices, while PCs running the operating system could be sold with the Metro view disabled.

A lot of talk around Windows 9 has centred on the return of the classic Start Button, taking a step back from the unpopular Metro menu introduced with Windows 8.

Rumours suggest the live tile view will even be disabled by default, though the apps will still be available to users.

For phones and tablets running Windows 9, however, it is rumoured the traditional desktop could disappear completely with the next iteration.

Hybrid systems will offer both modes, and which one displays will depend on whether the keyboard is attached.

Windows 9, or "Threshold", is expected to arrive sometime in 2015, with Windows 8.1 Update 2's release imminent and Update 3 set for April next year.

This third update could delay the release of Windows 9, with the rumoured launch date moving from April to June 2015.

The troubled launch of Windows 8, the first to move away from the traditional desktop and Start Menu, has served to put many people off of Microsoft's operating system, and Windows 9's reinstatement of these features is likely to pique the interest of hesitant late adopters.

It looks like a MacBook Air, has the same 1.35kg weight and even a 1,299 premium price. But can a Windows 8.1 machine match the Apple devices when it comes to performance?

On paper you'd think so. The Kira packs a 2,560 x 1,440 touchscreen, Core i7 processor and 8GB of RAM into its magnesium alloy exterior.

The high price guarantees premium materials. The Kira's chassis is made from magnesium alloy, uses Toshiba's patented honeycomb skeleton to increase strength and has a brushed finish.

It's a good-looking system thanks to the two-tone contrast between the metal chassis and the black keys. But build quality is mixed. While the underside is solid, the Kira has a weak wrist rest, poor screen flex and sharp edges.

The Kira looks like the MacBook Air, and the two machines weigh 1.35kg, but the Kira's 21.5mm body is four millimetres thicker than the Apple machine. It's lighter than the 1.5kg Dell Latitude E7440 and Asus UX302LA, but both of those machines are 17mm thin.

Scaling issues

The Kira's 2,560 x 1,440 screen means it's got more pixels than the MacBook Air (1,440 x 900) and the Dell and Asus machines (1,920 x 1,080). However, the MacBook Pros are still king of resolution with the Retina Displays offering up to 2,880 x 1,800.

Toshiba uses Windows 8.1's settings to scale up text, native apps, icons and other OS furniture so they mimic a 1080p panel. The OS and Microsoft's proprietary software, including Live Tiles look great.

But don't let this fool you into thinking it's the best screen on the market.

Third-party software doesn't work as well with the huge resolution, as most tools haven't been optimised to make use of these extra pixels. Apps handle these scaling problems in numerous ways, none of which are particularly effective. Some have tiny interfaces, which can't be seen without squinting, and others display text, selection boxes and other page elements incorrectly.

Adobe's Photoshop is a popular program suffering from this problem and the whilst Adobe has acknowledge the issues, there is no timeframe as to when this will be fixed. Google Chrome's is another app where pixelated text and icons are a problem. Low-resolution fonts and images found online will not look good either.

It's a shame the Kira's screen is hampered by its pixel count, as it performed well in our benchmark tests. The 253cd/m2 brightness level is ample, and the 0.1cd/m2 black level is deep.

Those numbers combine for a 2,530:1 contrast ratio, and mean light colours and dark shades are displayed with clarity. Dell's screen had better brightness but poorer contrast - on balance, the Kira wins here.

The 1.84 Delta E doesn't let the side down, either, and the Kira continued to impress with a 94 per cent sRGB colour gamut coverage level. Both those figures aid work: the former means colours are accurate, and the latter ensures the screen displays almost all colours to their fullest extent.

At the extreme high-end, the Kira isn't able to get near displaying the entirety of the Adobe RBG gamut, but laptops rarely do, and the 7,075K colour temperature is on the cool side. We're also not keen on the glossy finish and average viewing angles.

The impressive colour accuracy, brightness and black point mean this is one of the best screens we've seen on any Ultrabook, but its high pixel count brings a huge caveat.

Lacking power

The Core i7-4500U sounds capable on paper thanks to its two Hyper-Threaded cores and 1.8GHz stock speed.

The Toshiba's 64/100 benchmark result was disappointing considering the Core i7 processor was paired with 8GB of RAM. It's enough to handle work tasks, but it's not as good as similar priced MacBooks or Dell laptops.

It scored a reasonable 85 points in Photoshop test but fell behind with harder work, partially because of its lowly Intel HD Graphics 4400 core - scores of 51 and 41 in the video and 3D rendering tests demonstrate the lack of muscle in this machine.

The low-power processor with Haswell architecture is efficient, and the Kira's battery benchmark result of 8 hours 47 minutes in our standard video-looping test. This exceptional result is better than any Windows machine we've tested but still can't overhaul the MacBook Pro at the top of our table.

The 256GB SSD provides plenty of space for documents and multimedia, and its sequential read and write speeds of 512MB/s and 457MB/s are excellent. The Toshiba is responsive too, booting in 13 seconds. It's a fraction behind MacBooks which are ready to roll in 10 seconds.

Connectivity is reasonable. There's dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4. Gigabit Ethernet is absent, without a USB adapter in the box. This is the biggest omission from a reasonable port selection including 3 x USB 3 connectors, HDMI output, an audio jack and an SDXC card reader.

The Kira is a quick machine with superb battery life, but it's not subtle. The high-pitched fan spins up during demanding benchmark applications and stress-tests, and it was noticeable in our quiet office. The fan even springs into life during mundane tasks.

None of the internal components came close to overheating, but the Kira's bottom became noticeably hot. The temperature wasn't dangerous, but it'll prove distracting.

Ergonomics

The Scrabble-tile unit has black keys with a concaved top in an attempt to improve accuracy.

We've got no problems with the layout, but the lack of travel makes it tricky to use the Kira for lengthy work. The lack of movement from every key means typing lacks any crucial feedback, and we also noticed the space bar occasionally missed our taps. The Dell's keyboard is superior, and the typing equipment on MacBooks and ThinkPads is better.

The touchpad is reasonable, with a wide, responsive surface and gesture support, and the two buttons are light and clicky, again not quite up there with MacBooks.

Software

The UK gets a bum deal when it comes to software. Our Kira notebooks include a one-year warranty and a 30-day trial for McAfee LiveSafe. Toshiba has wrapped many of Microsoft's own settings in its branded front-end, and installed apps like eBay and Evernote, which are free anyway.

The US model has more generous add-ons including a two-year warranty, two-year subscription to Norton Internet Security, and full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11.

Overall

The Kira's price and availability - 1,299 and from Selfridges - makes this machine feel like a high-class affair, but the reality isn't quite so sweet. The high-quality screen is hampered by lack of software optimisation, the performance is mediocre and is accompanied by noise and heat, and the design just can't match the pure class of rivals. The keyboard, trackpad and battery life are all good, but are also all bettered elsewhere.

We like the fact that Toshiba is trying to make luxurious laptops - but it hasn't quite nailed it here. If you want to spend this much on a laptop, you'd be better off investing a bit more to get a MacBook Pro or Dell Latitude E7440.

Verdict

Despite the great battery life and design, the Kira can't quite capture the performance of the MacBook range.

Processor: 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-4500U GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4400 Display: 13.3in 2,560 x 1,440 IPS touchscreen Memory: 8GB RAM Storage: 256GB SSD Connectivity: Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 Ports: 3 x USB 3, HDMI output, 1 x audio jack, SDXC card slot Dimensions: 316 x 207 x 21.5mm (WxDxH) Weight: 1.35kg

Windows 8.1 users are being urged to install Update 1 as soon as possible, as from 10 June they will no longer receive patches and fixes from Microsoft for their systems unless they do.

Moved from the original date of 13 May, the extended deadline of 10 June was imposed by Microsoft for Windows 8.1 users who had not yet installed the operating system's first update.

Business users, however, have until 12 August to update their systems to allow for those using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), Windows Intune or System Centre Configuration to get their IT estate up-to-date.

Though the deadline is designed to prompt users to update quickly, those with Automatic Updates turned on do not need to take action as the update will have already been installed. Those running Windows 8, rather than Windows 8.1, are also exempt from this warning, with support from Microsoft continuing until January 2016.

The Update has been created with mouse and keyboard users in mind, and is designed to make the experience more pleasant for those wishing to use standard navigation and typing methods, with a significant security update also included. It is also cumulative and so contains all previous updates.

Users will also be able to boot straight into the desktop view, rather than the Windows start menu as was standard before. This can be changed manually, though.

The Windows Server 2012 R2 Update also needs to be installed now, if users want to continue to receive updates from Microsoft. This includes many bug and security fixes, and the deadline for it was also 10 June.

Microsoft has launched Windows 8.1 with Bing for installation on budget devices.

The platform was released on Friday 23 May to manufacturers to help "OEMs add Windows to low-cost devices while driving end user usage of Microsoft Services such as Bing and OneDrive," according to Microsoft.

The big difference between Windows 8.1 standard and Windows 8.1 with Bing is that the default Internet Explorer browser has been programmed to launch with Bing as the search engine.

End users of a Windows 8.1 with Bing device are able to change the default search engine within the Internet Explorer settings menu if they, for example, want to use Google or Yahoo as their default search engine.

Windows 8.1 with Bing will only be available on devices from Microsoft's hardware partners including HP, LG, and Lenovo.

To make the tablets more affordable, Microsoft will also be shipping them with a free version of Office or a year's subscription to Office 365 for extra affordability.

Microsoft said: "The end result is that more peopleacross consumer and commercialwill have access to an even broader selection of new devices with all the awesomeness that Windows 8.1 provides, and get Office too, all at a really affordable price."

Microsoft has already taken steps to make Windows 8.1 accessible to more people at a lower cost, with the most recent update allowing hardware partners to build lower cost devices with only 1GB of memory and 16GB of storage that "provide customers with the fast and fluid experience they expect from a Windows device."

Windows 8.1 is also available for Microsoft's hardware partners to use for free on devices with a screen measuring nine-inches or less.

It's not just the revamped interface in Windows 8.x which has caused confusion amongst users. There are a number of niggles in the operating system which can stifle productivity and even render machines unusable.

We take a look at 13 common problems and help you fix them:

1 Blue screen of death

It wouldn't be Windows without the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) would it? Thankfully, you won't see this as regularly as you may have done in the past (we're looking at you Windows ME).

The most common messages that will accompany the frowning emoticon is the message "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". This means there is a problem with a driver.

Windows or Mac?Want to be more productivity with Windows 8.1? Check out our essential tips and tricks.

Or alternatively if you're fed up with Windows and fancy a change, take a look at 8 reasons to switch to Mac.

C:/Windows/Minidump folder.

A common cause of this fault, according to this Microsoft forum, is AvastSvc.exe. This is connected with the free Avast AV software. Uninstall this application and try another AV app instead or see if an update is available.

Of course, it may not be this particular software, but so the minidump folder is a good place to look for clues about an offending app.

2 Explorer crashes and regularly restarts

You may experience a recurring problem where Windows Explorer regularly crashes, making the operating system impossible to use.

The problem lies with a bug in how Windows deals with hardware drivers or installed software.

Fixing this is easy, using the Refresh My PC options. Click or tap on Settings > Change PC Settings > Update and Recovery.

Then open the Recovery option and then select Get Started and Refresh Your PC Without Affecting Your Files. This reinstalls Windows without trashing your data. As an extra precaution, make sure your data is backed up.

3 Backup makes multiple copies of data that hasn't changed

There's a backup function built into Windows 8, which automatically makes copies of files when you make changes. This is helpful because if you make a mistake with a file you can rollback to a previous version.

However, a bug means that you may find Windows 8 is making copies of the same file, even when no changes have been made to it. This will take up unnecessary space on your hard drive.

There doesn't seem to be any official fix for this. The best way around this is to disable the default backup service and use a third party service to backup data.

4 Getting the desktop version of IE back on the Start screen

In Windows 8.1 you will find the desktop version of Internet Explorer has disappeared from the Start screen. The way to get this back is to go into desktop IE > Internet Options > Programs.

Tick the box next to Open Internet Explorer Tiles on the Desktop. You should now go straight into Desktop IE instead of having to use Metro IE.

5 USB drives freeze

To preserve power Windows suspends USB flash drives and external hard drives when they are idle. These drives are suppose to switch themselves back on automatically when you want to access them, but not all of them do.

Microsoft provides a list of devices which may require a firmware upgrade to fix this problem.

If this doesn't fix the problem, locate the drive details in the Device Manager (usually under USB Mass Storage Device), make a note of the 4 digits occurring after "VID_" and "PID_". Then Go into the registry editor, find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\usbstor.

Right-click usbstor and make a key. The name must be VID and PID strings found previously. Leading zeros are important. Then right-click the new key and create a DWORD entry named DeviceHackFlags. Set the value to 400 hexadecimal. Disconnect and reconnect the device. This workaround should prevent Windows switching off the troublesome device.

6 Windows keeps dropping Wi-Fi connectivity

Many Windows 8 users have reported issues with Wi-Fi. You may find your device shows limited connectivity or drops a connection altogether.

There doesn't appear to be an official fix to the problem, but one of the best tips is to download the wireless adapter's latest driver from the manufacturers website (this may have to be done using another computer).

Once you've downloaded the driver go to Network and Sharing Centre > Change Adapter Settings.

Right-click on the troublesome adaptor in Network Connections > Properties > Configure > Driver > Select Update Driver > Browse My Computer > Let Me Pick.

There will be two drivers to pick from: the Windows 8.1 version and the new ODM drivers. Install the ODM drivers and this should fix the problem.

7 Windows 8.1 does not wake from sleep mode

Like a surly teenager, Windows 8.1 has developed a sleep problem. Some devices will not awake and you may be forced to carry out a hard reset.

The exact causes are unknown but two suspects are recently installed third party apps and out-dated chipset drivers.

To fix this, an update of the chipset driver would be the first thing to carry out. Either from Windows Update or from the manufacturer's website.

Users can also adjust the power management options. To do this, press Windows + X and select Device Manager from the list. Here locate Network Adapter, right click on it and click Properties. Click Power management, and then uncheck the option "Allow this device to wake the computer". Click Apply and Ok.

If the cause is a third party app, starting Windows 8.1 in a clean boot state will enable you to investigate potential suspect apps. To clean boot, press Windows Key + R to open Run dialog box, type msconfig and hit press to launch the System Configuration tool.

On the General tab, untick Load Startup Items. Then go to Services tab, Click on Hide All Microsoft Services, and click Disable All. Apply the settings and reboot the PC.

8 Windows 8.1 shows black screen after updates

For some users, updating drivers or the OS results in a black screen and your machine may be stuck in a reboot loop - where it fails to load Windows and simply tries to restart itself.

To overcome this problem you have to download and create a Windows 8 USB drive (Microsoft offers the following process here).

Then insert the media into disc drive/USB port and reboot the machine. At the Windows Setup box, click Next, then click Repair your computer. On the Choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot, then click Advanced options.

On Advanced options screen, click Command Prompt, type C: and press Enter. At the C: prompt, type BCDEDIT /SET {DEFAULT} BOOTMENUPOLICY LEGACY command, and hit Enter. Click on Exit to close this window.

At the Advanced Boot Options screen, make sure that Safe Mode is selected and press Enter. Log in with the administrators account. Click the Desktop tile from the Start screen. In the desktop, go the bottom right corner of the window and click Settings, in the Settings windows, click Control Panel.

Click on Programs and Features; click View Installed Updates from the left pane. In the Installed Updates window, right click the recently installed update. Click Uninstall to remove the selected update.

Reboot the computer and follow a similar process to get to the Control Panel and click Device Manager to open up that window and double-click to expand the device category to view drivers that have been updated recently. Right click the updated driver, click Properties and click on the Driver tab. On this tab, click Roll Back Driver button to roll back to the previous version.

9 Activation errors

Upgrading from a legitimate version of Windows 7 to Windows 8 should be a painless task, but some users have had difficulties making this transition as the OS gets confused by the codes.

To solve this problem, open up the Command Prompt (search CMD) and run this as an administrator. Then type slmgr.vbs /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX, press enter (the Xs are your product key). Then type slmgr.vbs /ato. Activation should now be successful.

10 Fuzzy, blurring text

Some legacy programs such as Photoshop look horrible on Windows 8 and 8.1. This is because they have been designed for low resolution displays. Windows tries to scale them up to a higher resolution but this can result in an application looking blurry.

To stop Windows from doing this, right-click on the executable file of the application, go to the Compatibility tab and tick the box marked "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings." Then restart the program.

11 Svchost.exe slows your PC down

Svchost.exe is a common system process within Windows but sometimes it can hog all the processor resources resulting in a machine slowing to a crawl or crashes.

There are a few potential causes of this. The first is malware, which could be in disguise. The first thing to do is restart the machine and run an anti-virus application to scan the whole system to seek out any malicious software that might be on the machine.

Another problem that could cause a runaway svchost.exe is the Windows uPNP (universal plug-and-play) service. This scans the network looking for devices. This can run amok and scan until it has used up all resources. To fix this, open up Network and Sharing Centre > Advanced Sharing Settings and turn off Network Discovery.

Lastly, some applications can cause svchost.exe to go mad, so try to uninstall the last application that was installed to see if that was the problem.

It's important to note that svchost.exe is an essential service, so only try the above is it continuously runs using up a major part of your CPU.

12 Make OneDrive online files available offline

For some users, upgrading to Windows 8.1 can result in OneDrive files that were downloaded to the machine appear to be "online only". However, this is wrong the files are still on the computer as they once were.

To fix this issue, right-click on OneDrive in the left-had pane of common folders and click on "Make available offline". This will ensure that all OneDrive files are synchronised.

13 Web page compatibility problems in IE11

IE 11, the latest version of the browser for Windows 8.1 has a problem detecting web pages that need compatibility mode. This results in the pages not appearing correctly.

In previous versions, the compatibility view icon could be found at the end of the address bar. However, in IE 11, this convenient icon has disappeared.

It now located as a menu option on the Tools drop down menu. Click on the settings cog wheel and select Compatibility View settings from the menu. This brings up the Change Compatibility View Settings options.

In the dialogue box, add the broken-looking website to the list. Also make sure that you tick the box labelled Use the Microsoft compatibility lists. Note that the Display all websites in Compatibility View feature is no longer available in Internet Explorer 11.

Panasonic's ToughPad isn't a regular Windows 8 tablet. The fully ruggedised device is designed for deployment in healthcare, retail and construction environments.

The FZ-M1 ToughPad might have a diminutive 7in form factor but it's packed with unique features and has multiple configuration options. We take a look at whether the 1,200 price is justifiable.

Military grade design

The ToughPad isn't the lightest or thinnest tablet on the market with a weight of 544g and 18mm thickness. This is because Panasonic has crafted the device to meet the Military Standard 810G specification.

The Japanese firm has raised the bezel around the edge of the device to protect the display from direct impact when dropped. This is a clever feature and is part of the reason the ToughPad is able to survive a plunge from up to 5 feet.

Bumps and scraps are not the only things the ToughPad can handle. An IP65 rating means the device is built to resist dust and water. It's also able to withstand shock, vibration and operate in extreme temperatures (-10 to 50C). There's no need to carry the ToughPad around in bubble wrap as it's been designed to survive in hostile environments. Think of it as the AK-47 of the tablet world.

Display

The 7in LCD display has a 1280 x 800 resolution. It's got an anti-reflective screen and packs a high-brightness of up to 500 cd/m2 allowing users to read it outdoors. Our test readings measured maximum brightness a shade under the quotes figure at 493 cd/m2, but this is more than usable outdoors.

The ToughPad supports 10-point multitouch and allows users to manually adjust screen sensitivity. There are four modes available so you can customise it depending on your input method:

It's a great feature for engineers or construction workers who can continue using the device when wearing protective gloves, for example.

Performance

The ToughPad is the first device to be powered by Intel's fanless Core i5 processor. The i5-4302Y vPro dual-core processor runs at 1.6GHz, with a maximum frequency of 2.3GHz. Coupled with an internal SSD (configurable up to 256GB) the device is silent.

The lack of fan means there no way for the unit to disperse heat so it does get hot to touch when in use. Both the touch screen and metal back heat up even during nominal operation. We measured the temperature at 59 degrees and although not uncomfortable, it was noticeable.

With the CPU drawing just 4.5 Watts of power and accompanied by 4GB of RAM we were expecting performance to be on the low-end.

During our tests which simulated multitasking, video and audio encoding, the ToughPad scored 30/100. We were surprised it was outperfomed by Intel's quad-core Atom processor, which is found in the Dell Venue 8 Pro (36/100).

With the benchmark designed for full blown PCs and laptops it doesn't reflect the performance of the tablet.

The ToughPad was snappy with day-to-day activities such as web browsing, equivalent to other sub-10in handhelds. Realistically, this device is going to be used to run specific business applications. Unless you need to run 3D heavy apps we don't envisage any performance issues.

Ports, buttons and connectivity

Panasonic port selection differs from most tablets. There's a full USB 3 connection on the right hand edge, so you can plug in a regular memory stick to transfer files.

ToughPad recommended use-cases

Retail Mobile POSInventory managementCustomer service

Field service MaintenanceRepairDispatching

Supply chain TrackingPick-up and delivery

Healthcare Patient recordingChart/record management

On the left side is a proprietary power connector. All these ports are covered with flaps to provide protection against water and dust.

A 24-pin docking connector runs along the bottom of the device, and is designed for use with cradles.

There's more. Hidden away on the back are micro SD card and micro SIM card slots. You have to snap out the battery before you get access to these. This is a good move from a design point as it means there isn't another flap to worry about closing on the edge of the device.

The ToughPad has the usual physical buttons you'd expect running along the top of the device together with a couple of custom additions to aid functionality. The volume, power button and auto-rotation keys are self explanatory.

Things get interesting with the "A" key, which can be configured as a shortcut to open a specific app or trigger an action like shutting the machine down. This will be useful to engineers or retail workers who use one app regularly as they have a permanent shortcut.

Wireless connectivity is provided by an Intel dual-band wireless chip (AC7260). This supports Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and there's also Bluetooth 4 compatibility.

A number of authentication and encryption standards are built into the device including the Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol (LEAP), WAP, 128-bit and 64-bit WEP.

Configuration options

Businesses can configure ToughPads for a range of deployment scenarios. Options include the ability to add in a bigger battery, smartcard/magnetic reader or even an Ethernet port depending on individual needs. It's possible to mix and match components as illustrated below:

Software

Running Windows 8.1 Pro out-of-the-box, the tablet is downgradable to Windows 7, but we don't recommend doing this.

This is because the Live Tile interface works well on the 7in form factor and there's plenty of space when it comes to web browsing. You'll get the best out of this device when using a Windows 8 app.

Navigation becomes challenging when you move to the traditional desktop. This is something Panasonic has acknowledged and its Dashboard app allows you to scale up the text for easier viewing. This is a good example of useful OEM customisation as the default Microsoft options to scale up are non-existent.

The Dashboard also allows you to adjust key features like the camera and touch sensitivity. There's little else in the form of bloatware here, which is another positive.

Battery life

Our review unit shipped with the standard 3220mAh battery pack, which Panasonic claimed would provide up to eight hours of usage. In our Iron Man test, the device lasted six hours with brightness set to 75 per cent and Wi-Fi turned off.

The ToughPad has half the battery life iOS and Android devices, but it should be remembered this tablet is running a full operating system and has more functionality.

However, the ToughPad doesn't compare too favourably to fellow Windows 8 tablets such as the Dell Venue 8 Pro. This lasted 10 hours 34 minutes but it did have a bigger 4,830mAh cell powering it. It's not all bad news though. Panasonic has an option for a long-life 7,200mAh pack and we recommend you choose this.

If you carry multiple battery packs on the move then the bridge option also allows hot-swapping. This gives you 30-seconds to switch between batteries without having to switch the device off.

Warranty

Panasonic provides a 3-year warranty with business-class support and is guaranteeing the availability of replacement and upgradeable parts for five years.

Any repairs requested during the period of the warranty will not have any shipment charges and the firm is also claiming a 2 day turnaround on average. Extended warranty and battery warranty replacement program options are also offered.

Overall

Customisation, durability and service/support offered by Panasonic are top-notch. The ToughPad just misses out on full marks due to the average battery life with the standard issue power pack.

Pricing starts at 1,183 so the ToughPad represents a significant investment. However, this device looks capable of reaching the quoted five year lifespan without a problem and should provide a good ROI.

Verdict

Suitable for deployment in a variety of enterprise environments, the customisation options for the ToughPad are unmatched. It's the tablet of choice when ruggedness is the priority.

OS: Windows 8.1 Pro (downgradeable to Windows 7) Display: 7in, LCD 1,280 x 800, anti-reflective and outdoor readability (500cdm/2) Processor: 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-4302Y (fanless) vPro RAM: 4GB Storage: 128/256GB + up to 64GB micro SD Camera: 8-megapixel with autofocus, flash, 720p front-facing Connectivity: Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4, NFC + 4G (optional) Ports: USB 3, micro SD, micro SIM, other such as Ethernet optional Dimensions: 202 x 132 x 18mm Battery: 3220mAh standard, 7100mAh long life (optional) Weight: 544g

Microsoft has stopped business users from downloading its Windows 8.1 update because of a bug.

The software giant confirmed the move on its Windows Server Update Services blog, and said it was because the update caused some PCs to stop scanning against Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 Service Pack 2.

Although Microsoft hasn't revealed how many companies were affected by the glitch, it said only PCs running WSUS 3.2 on Windows Server 2003 (SP2 and R2 SP2) and Windows Server 2008 (SP2 and R2 SP1) when HTTPS and SSL were enabled but TLS 1.2 wasn't turned on were experiencing problems.

Ben Herila wrote: "Microsoft plans to issue an update as soon as possible that will correct the issue and restore the proper behavior for Windows 8.1 Update KB 2919355 scanning against all supported WSUS configurations. Until that time, we are delaying the distribution of the Windows 8.1 Update KB 2919355 to WSUS servers."

As workarounds for companies that had already installed the update, Microsoft suggests enabling TLS 1.2 or disabling HTTPS on WSUS if you are using WSUS 3.2 on Windows Server 2008 R2 or if using WSUS 3.2 on an operating system other than Windows Server 2008 R2. HTTPS should be disabled on WSUS until the company releases an update, it added.

Although the patch is also available via the Windows Update Catalog or MSDN, the company advised organisations not to install it until a bug fix had been released.

It said: "We recommend that you suspend deployment of this update in your organisation until we release the update that resolves this issue. You may also find the workarounds discussed in this article to be useful for testing this Windows 8.1 Update for your organisation. Thank you for your patience during this time."

Windows 8.1 started rolling out in October last year and was the first big update to the Windows 8 operating system.

Earlier this week, Windows XP support was discontinued in the hope that Microsoft users would switch to Windows 7 or Windows 8.

University NHS Foundation Trust (L&D) is a typical acute hospital: a regional hub, busy, multidisciplinary and concerned with costs and productivity. The NHS deals with over one million patients every 36 hours and with the UK population projected to rise from 62m to 71m by 2030 the NHS has been tasked to increase efficiency in dealing with patients.

With clinical staff having to log on to multiple applications across numerous devices, resulting in a complex and time-consuming user experience and one that impacted on time spent with patients; L&D wanted to simplify the process while creating a follow-me desktop that would transform workplace flexibility and deliver more effective care at the bedside.

acceSSOnce, OCSL's clinical desktop solution has delivered a clinical desktop solution that reduces log-on times, cuts calls to the IT helpdesk and empowers clinical staff.

Click the link below to download the full case study.

The Scottish Government wanted to benefit from advances in mobile technology to support key employees to work from anywhere. It chose Windows 8 for tablet PCs with Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Service Pack 1 (SP1) for manageability. Microsoft Partner Trustmarque delivered a proof of concept (POC) for the lab development and is helping deliver the solution to staff, improving flexible working and boosting productivity.

The purpose of the Scottish Government is to focus public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish through sustainable economic growth. In line with this goal, the Scottish Government wanted to improve delivery of citizen services by giving new communications tools to key employees working remotely, on the move, or from home.

Click the link below to download the full case study.

First responder teams at Tube Lines work all day, every day, to ensure safe and timely travel on the London Underground. Tube Lines is re-architecting an iPad app to run as a touch-enabled app on Windows 8 tablets. With emergency data at their fingertips, responders work faster to protect passengers. Engineers also carry the tablets to securely access maintenance data, expediting fault resolution on the lines from days to hours.

A subsidiary of London Transport, Tube Lines maintains and upgrades 320 kilometers of track, 255 trains, and 100 stations for the London Underground. More than 3,000 Tube Lines employees work around the clock to ensure the safety of passengers, who take more than 500 million journeys every year.

"Our task is daunting: the London Underground has been running for more than 150 years and some of the infrastructure is that old," says Adrian Davey, Head of IT for Tube Lines. "To keep the system running on time, our crews require the latest technology to access the information that they need to prevent passenger delays. However, information exchange primarily occurred on paper. It could take up to 10 days to identify a system fault and fix it."

Click the link below to download the full case study.

Microsoft is gearing up to bring back the fully-functional Start button in what could be a massive u-turn to appease loyal Windows users.

A screenshot showing off what looks like the traditional Start menu was shown off during Build 2014. The left side appears to hold your most recent apps and favorites, just like Windows 7. The right side has several Metro apps and Live tiles.

It is unclear when the Start button will return but it is expected to be in a future 8.1 update.

The Start menu has been one of the most-missed features from Windows 7. Microsoft left users confused and wary when it removed the menu from Windows 8. The next version, 8.1, brought back the button, but this still brought you back to the Start screennot menu.

IT Pro asked for the Start menu to come back for Windows 9, so it's good to see it here. Multiple readers have expressed their annoyance that the feature was ditched by Microsoft.

"I couldn't tolerate Windows 8 until I installed Windows 7 Shell' start button," one commenter told IT Pro.

"Bring back the real Start button," said another.

The decision may help engender Windows 8 to enterprise customers who have hesitated to upgrade.

Some banks and the UK government refuse to upgrade from Windows XP. Gartner vice-president Michael Silver estimated that 20-25 per cent of enterprise systems use XP. Continued support and extra enterprise functionality may help attract more customers.

You might think that with a multitude of business and personal devices now being used to access company data in even the smallest of businesses, IT security is a bigger headache than ever before. However, with the Windows tools on offer to both users and IT administrators, securing devices including smartphones, hybrid tablets, slates and laptops running on various operating systems is easier than ever before

Device management

The latest tools in Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Intune make it simple for both employees and IT managers to ensure their devices are being used securely.

Workplace Join, for example, allows users to enter their regular business email address and password in the Windows 8.1 settings menu, and gain access to corporate applications and data. IT departments can apply two-factor authentication to Workplace Join, so that employees must respond to a message on their mobile phone to complete the initial log-in procedure.

Once joined on either a business or personal Windows 8.1 device the IT department then has the option to control device security settings, Wi-Fi network settings, and the business apps available to the user on that device. If the device is lost or stolen, the IT department can selectively wipe the business apps and data stored on the device, protecting business assets even on employees' own devices.

Everything is made as simple as possible for the user. On a Windows 8.1 device, users can click on a company app on the Windows Start screen, and enter a portal showing what business applications are available to install on their device: a company expenses manager, for example, or Microsoft applications such as Skype or OneNote. The company app may also, for instance, provide secure, one-click remote desktop access to the employee's PC in the office, allowing workers to access apps that they don't have installed on a Windows 8.1 tablet with limited storage.

Remote workers can be given secure, seamless access to files they have stored on the company servers, through a new feature called Work Folders. Once signed in, Work Folders appear in Windows Explorer, just like local documents folders or OneDrive (previously known as SkyDrive) files. Employees can create and edit files, which are saved and synchronised to the company server not their local machine.

IT departments can even apply rules to documents saved in Work Folders to ensure that sensitive company information isn't leaked. It's possible, for example, to automatically apply rights management to any document containing the word "confidential," which ensures that it cannot be shared via email or saved to external cloud services such as Dropbox. It's reassuring for the user that Windows is watching their back and preventing them from doing anything that could compromise security and, ultimately, result in disciplinary action.

If an employee accessing Work Folders on a personal PC leaves the company, the IT department can remotely wipe and revoke access to the folders, ensuring that company data is protected, whilst leaving the employee's personal data intact.

And it's not only Windows 8.1 devices that can be managed with the combination of Server 2012's System Center Configuration Manager and Windows Intune: Windows 8.1 RT*, Windows Phone 8, Apple iOS and Android devices are all covered from a single management console.

Secure sign-in

With Windows 8.1, there are more options than ever to ensure that you're signing into your work device with something more secure than a simple password.

Windows 8 introduced the concept of virtual smartcards. Instead of carrying around a physical pass that you insert into a smartcard reader to gain access to your PC, virtual smartcards are built into the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip built into the laptop or tablet. Now there's no fear of leaving your smartcard on your office desk or waiting for IT to replace a lost smartcard before you can gain access to the PC; the smartcard is contained within the PC itself. Users still have to enter a PIN code just as they would have to with a separate smartcard preventing thieves from gaining unauthorised access to the system.

While virtual smartcards may raise the risk of an attacker gaining access to an unattended PC, the other security benefits outweigh that threat. For instance, you're far more likely to notice that your laptop's been stolen than your work smartcard, and you're much less likely to leave your laptop in a coffee shop or your canteen dinner tray than you are a plastic card. IT departments can still instantly revoke virtual smartcards in the same way they can physical passes, and of course, the cost of issuing new smartcards is dramatically reduced.

Windows 8.1 also offers other biometric authentication options, allowing you to sign in to the PC, instigate a remote desktop session or manage User Account Control settings via a fingerprint reader, for example. The already small risk of thieves fooling readers with silicon copies of your fingerprint have been eliminated by modern "touch" readers, which can now detect whether the "finger" has a pulse, for example.

Once you're signed in, Direct Access will give you seamless access to the company network (provided it's enabled in Windows Server 2012). No more fiddling with VPN clients or entering additional logins: you'll have access to the company's assets the moment you're logged into Windows.

Encrypted data

Even if thieves cannot get past Windows' many authentication options to log in to a stolen PC, they might try and remove a laptop's hard disk to access sensitive data. Again, Windows 8.1 brings down the shutters.

BitLocker encryption ensures that thieves cannot simply remove a hard disk and access its contents from a different PC, nor install a secondary operating system and access files that way. Only those with access to the encryption key usually held securely by the IT department will be able to recover the data from a BitLocker-encrypted drive.

For an extra layer of security, IT departments can require extra authentication to access BitLocker-encrypted files on a PC. You may have to enter a PIN code, for example, or insert a special USB drive into the system to gain access.

And it's not only internal disk drives that can be protected. External disk drives and USB thumb sticks can also be encrypted with BitLocker To Go. Using Group Policy, IT departments can even mandate that files cannot be written to external drives unless they are first encrypted, preventing potentially costly and embarrassing data loss.

Reinforced Windows

Combine all these enterprise security measures with the other safeguards already built into Windows 8.1 the built-in firewall and antivirus protection offered by Windows Defender, and the SmartScreen Filter integrated into Internet Explorer, to name but two and it's clear that businesses have never been so well protected from threats to their data.

Whether through accidental loss, employee carelessness or deliberate attack, Microsoft offers solutions that prevent your critical data ever leaving the business, no matter what device it's stored on.

(*Windows 8.1 RT is the version of Windows for devices running ARM-based processors. It's predominantly deployed on compact tablet or hybrid devices.)

Touchscreens have become a way of life. Whether it's swiping down the page to read email or websites, pinching to zoom-in on a photo, or flicking from the edge of the screen to switch between apps, touch gestures are now second nature to most of us.

With Windows, the benefits of touch aren't confined to smartphones and tablets. In addition to the familiar touchpad and keyboard controls, touchscreens are now a routine feature of Windows 8.1 laptops and a mandatory part of Intel's specification for Ultrabooks. That means you have the flexibility to find the combination of controls that best suit the app you're using at the time, whether that be an app downloaded from the Windows Store or a business app that's been custom built for your company.

Familiar touch controls

Windows is the only platform with a coherent look and feel on devices ranging from 4in smartphones such as the Nokia Lumia 625, to the 10in Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, right through to enterprise-grade Ultrabooks such as the Dell Latitude E7440. Nowhere is that more apparent than with touch controls. Those same gestures that you use to navigate around your smartphone's menus are exactly the same as the ones you use on your touchscreen laptop which means there's no re-learning' required.

This gives you the flexibility to use the controls that suit you best in a particular situation. Reading through a long email on a laptop? Simply swipe the screen to gently scroll the text, or tap the bin icon in the Windows 8.1 Mail app to delete the message and move onto the next. Want to drag the message to a particular folder? Just use your finger, rather than fiddling with a trackpad.

PowerPoint presentations can be delivered using gestures to swipe from one slide to the next. To highlight a particular point on a slide, you can engage PowerPoint's virtual Laser Pointer and use your finger to dab the relevant part of the screen, while your clients see a red dot appear on the overhead projector. There's no need to pack dedicated clickers or laser pointers everything you need to deliver a compelling presentation is literally at your fingertips.

Software keyboard

The other great advantage of touchscreens is access to Windows 8.1's virtual keyboard. On devices such as the Microsoft Surface 2 or the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga, the physical keyboard can be folded away or unclipped when you're in a cramped working environment, such as an aeroplane seat or conference hall. With the powerful virtual keyboard built into Windows 8.1, work doesn't have to grind to a halt in pure tablet mode.

Predictive text suggests words as you type, so you often don't even need to finish long words merely tap on the suggested alternative to place it straight into your email or document. You don't even need to lift your fingers off the virtual keyboard to insert suggested words: swipe right on the spacebar to choose between the various suggested options and press the spacebar once more to insert the highlighted word.

For those with larger tablet screens, the alternative split design keyboard puts the critical keys under each thumb at each side of the screen, making it easier to type at speed.

And for those devices that come with a stylus (or even for those without), the built-in handwriting recognition allows you to jot words in reply to an email and have Windows 8.1 convert them to text with astonishing accuracy.

Bespoke apps

Another great advantage of touch for businesses is that it allows them to develop their own, bespoke apps. These apps can be sideloaded onto the company's devices there's no need to submit them to the Windows Store and controlled centrally by the IT department, ensuring that employees in different departments have access to the in-house apps they need.

It's possible, for example, to design a simple Windows 8.1 app that allows visitors to sign-in at reception, fill in their details on an electronic form, and have their photo taken using the tablet's camera, before the pass is printed out on the workgroup printer. Signing out could be a simple matter of waving a QR code printed on the pass in front of the tablet's camera.

Bespoke apps can also help workers perform specific tasks while out on the road. BT engineers, for example, are equipped with Windows 8 hybrid laptops with BT's own Modern apps pre-installed. This allow engineers to pass the device to customers after a visit, and let them fill out a short electronic customer service survey, before adding their signature using the laptop's built-in stylus. The engineers can also use the device to check their forthcoming jobs whilst out on the road, or check their payslips when they're back at home at the end of a working day. Only Windows 8.1 offers support for such multipurpose devices with full-sized keyboards, stylus input and touchscreen displays, as well as the security and applications that business users rely on.

The business touch

In short, touch is much more than a gimmick for consumer tablets. It fundamentally changes the way we work, making it easier to perform everyday tasks such as responding to emails, delivering presentations, or simply logging on to our PCs as well as tasks specific to your business such as collecting customer signatures or logging visitors.

A touchscreen might sound like a frivolous addition to a laptop, but ask anyone who's ever worked with a touchscreen laptop how often they find themselves dabbing at the screen when they use a non-touch PC, and it soon becomes clear that touch is becoming a business necessity.

Mobile working is about more than just responding to emails. Today, we need fast access to documents, the ability to share documents securely with colleagues, and the flexibility to hold meetings wherever we may be. The tools built into Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 allow you to do all of this - and you don't even need a company-supplied PC or tablet to do so.

Managing business email

Although it's continually written off, email remains a critical tool for the vast majority of businesses. Being able to respond quickly to messages is often crucial for workers in businesses, large or small.

Windows 8.1 offers the traditional Windows desktop, giving you the full power of Outlook on your laptop or tablet, and the ability to deal with messages both on and offline. Windows RT now includes Outlook amongst the suite of Microsoft Office applications preloaded on every device, allowing you to marry the superb battery life of ARM-based devices, such as the Surface 2, with the unrivalled power of Outlook.

The Mail app can also be used to manage Microsoft Exchange or Office 365 email accounts. So when you're working from a cramped train seat or picking up messages on your tablet at home, you can tap a response using the onscreen keyboard, without having to open a full-blown mail client on the desktop.

Only Windows offers the power of both desktop applications and the convenience of streamlined mobile apps on a single device.

Mobile presence

Sometimes work won't wait for an email. Colleagues might need a quick response to a question that can be delivered in seconds via instant messaging, or need advice on a presentation. Here, Microsoft has an abundance of tools that can help.

Microsoft's Lync allows you to quickly switch between instant messaging, audio or video conversation, no matter what Windows device you're using: smartphone, tablet or PC. The ability to quickly answer a colleague's query using Lync instant messaging on Windows Phone might save you the bother of replying to another email chain when you arrive back at the office. The real-time status and presence information provided by Lync also allows colleagues to know when you're available, allowing you to make good use of those ten minutes spent online in the station coffee shop whilst waiting for a train.

The recently revamped Lync app for Windows 8.1 now shows incoming calls from a laptop or tablet's Lock Screen, so you can answer without having to enter a password or passcode. It's now also possible to take control of shared screens, giving you the option to edit a PowerPoint presentation on one of the new breed of compact Windows 8.1 tablets, for example, while colleagues look on and discuss the changes.

OneDrive for Business

Remote access to company documents can also be secured via OneDrive for Business (formerly SkyDrive Pro). This allows employees within the same company to collaborate on documents from different locations, with revisions and previous versions maintained. The OneDrive for Business app for Windows 8.1 allows you to edit those documents in either Microsoft Office desktop apps, or in the browser with Office Web Apps, depending on the Windows device you have to hand at the time.

With OneDrive for Business, documents can also be edited offline using a tablet on a plane journey or with a laptop in the back of a taxi - with changes synchronised back to the server as soon as the employee reconnects to the internet. There's no need to attach documents to email and wait for uploads on slow mobile connections: simply invite your colleagues to open the document from their own OneDrive for Business account.

With the permission rights available in OneDrive for Business, IT administrators can ensure that sensitive company documents aren't stored on personal machines or other, insecure file-sharing services.

Bring your own device

Nowadays, we're increasingly working on our own devices, be that a home laptop or personal tablet, which of course brings inherent security risks. How, for example, can the IT department ensure that sensitive company documents aren't being stored on devices that aren't even protected by a password? Previously, they would either have had to set up a VPN or remote desktop session into office machines and ensured that files were only saved to the company server, or barred external access to company files, both of which could hamper flexible working and increase the complexity of IT systems.

Now, Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 offer several features that allow employees to use their own devices without compromising company security. DirectAccess, for instance, allows you to access files on the company intranet as if you were sat at your office desk, without any need to instigate a VPN session or remember login details. The device connects to the company network as soon as it goes online, without you having to do anything.

Under Windows 8, a PC was either connected to a company domain and had access to company resources, or it wasn't. With Workplace Join in Windows 8.1, however, you can have access to the corporate network from your own device, simply by logging in with your work email address and password. The IT department retains control over what parts of the network you have access to, and can enforce security settings, and revoke access if the device is lost or stolen. The IT department has no control over or access to your personal files or applications, however, providing a clear separation between your work and personal activity.

Work Folders, meanwhile, allow you to synchronise data on your personal device with your company user folder, letting you work on a local copy of documents from wherever you may be at the time. All changes are seamlessly synchronised back to the company's servers, and the IT department can enforce various security measures, such as Dynamic Access Control policies and rights management, to ensure that you don't accidentally email documents via an insecure personal account, for example.

From the IT department's perspective, the tools available in Windows Server 2012's System Center Configuration Manager and Windows Intune make it possible to manage both employees' own devices and company-issued equipment from the same management console. The ability to wipe sensitive business data, whilst leaving employees' personal files and apps intact, gives both parties the confidence to make a Bring Your Own Device policy work.

Flexible and secure

All of these flexible working solutions are backed up by enterprise-grade security. We'll cover more of these in a future article, but support for fingerprint and smartcard readers, multi-factor authentication, and encryption of individual files, folders or hard drives, ensures that businesses need not fear giving you the flexibility to work where you want, when you want and on whatever Windows device you choose.

Microsoft continues to warn Windows XP users they have 30 days to ditch the aged operating system before extended support for its runs out on 8 April.

The software giant is planning to rollout reminders to users of Windows XP Home and Professional editions on their desktops from 8 March that support for the OS will end next month.

The notifications will only appear for people who have Windows Update switched on, and will include links to Microsoft's end of support website for Windows XP, which will advise them on what action to take.

The notification will appear on the eighth of every month unless the user deactivates it.

Furthermore, Microsoft has partnered with PC migration software firm Laplink to provide people with access to a free transfer tool that copies files, settings, user profiles and documents from a Windows XP machine to a new device.

"This tool will copy your files, music, videos, email and user profiles and settings from your old PC to your new device, transferring across your home or work network, and even enables Windows XP users to customise exactly what they want to bring to their new device," wrote Microsoft in the Windows Experience blog.

The Laplink software is called PCmover Express and will be available to download from WindowsXP.com later this week, the company confirmed.

Redmond has also launched a website called AmIRunningXP.com to help users work out what version of the Microsoft operating system they have installed on their machines.

Users simply have to type out the URL, before being told whether or not they are running Windows XP.

These tools and resources are the latest in a long line of initiatives Microsoft has trotted out in recent years to encourage PC users to dump XP.

Last month the company was derided for suggesting buying a brand new PC was the "easiest way" to move off Windows XP.

Microsoft has confirmed the first major Windows 8.1 update will drop in the Spring, with user interface improvements high on the agenda.

While rumours about a possible 2015 release date for Windows 9 have done the rounds, reports that an interim update to Windows 8.1 could be in the offing have also surfaced.

Until now these have been unconfirmed by Microsoft, but the company has now announced that Windows 8.1 Update 1, as it has been dubbed, will drop in the Spring.

No precise release date information has been announced for the software update. However, with company's Build Developer's Conference taking place in April, the company may be planning to drop it then.

Guest editor's thoughts

"I think Microsoft is desperately trying all it can to back pedal on its vision that every device would end up with a touch interface. This release seems to be doing it all can to regain the confidence of consumers before it completely alienates all keyboard and mouse users."

Brendon Petsch, IT director, Gritit

follow-up blog post

In it, Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Microsoft Windows Phone, revealed the Windows 8.1 user interface will be tweaked to make the OS easier to use for keyboard and mouse users.

"We have a number of targeted UI improvements that keep our highly satisfying touch experience intact, but that make the UI more familiar and convenient for users with mouse/keyboard," he wrote.

"Don't worry, we still love and believe in touch, but you'll like how much more smooth and convenient these changes make mouse and keyboard use," he added.

The update will also help the firm's OEM partners make lower cost hardware, said Belfiore, and provide enterprise users with improved support options.

"We are enhancing support for enterprise customers via a few tweaks, particularly including features that greatly improve IE8 compatibility in Internet Explorer 11, which is especially critical for web-based line of business applications," he said.

"Additionally, we're extending mobile device management capabilities and making deployment easier."

HP has unveiled its new Windows tablet for business users, the ElitePad 1000 G2.

It runs a 64-bit version of Windows 8.1 and features an Intel Bay Trail CPU. It replaces the ElitePad 900.

Making its debut at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the tablet is among the thinnest tablets the vendor has ever made, measuring in at 9.2mm and weighing 680g. The 10.1-inch touchscreen WUXGA display has a resolution of 1920 by 1200 pixels and a pixel density of 224ppi. The touchscreen is covered in Gorilla Glass 3.

It also comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage. It also boasts an 8-megapixel rear camera with flash, 2.1-megapixel front camera, and USB 3.0 and micro-SD slots. The processor is an Intel Atom Bay Trail-T Z3795 quad-core CPU running at 1.6GHz.

There is optional LTE connectivity available on some models too. It also includes 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4 wireless connectivity as well as NFC.

For businesses there are also integration tools and "self-repair" features that allow users to remove the back of the tablet to access and replace the battery, display, webcam, system board and other components.

Like the ElitePad 900, the 1000 G2 comes with an array of covers that can add additional batteries and ports to the tablet.

The tablet is priced at $739 and will be available in March. There were no details about UK pricing at the time of publication.

HP also launched a cheaper tablet offering in the form of the ProPad 600 G1. This tablet sports 64GB of storage and weighs in at 652g but is thicker than the ElitePad 1000. It boasts an 8-megapixel rear camera, 2.1-megapixel front camera. It also has micro-USB 2.0, micro-HDMI and micro-SD ports.

Unlike its bigger sister, the ProPad doesn't sport the self-repair features and won't work with the firm's Smart Jacket covers.

Retailers today are faced with unprecedented challenges as any visit to the high street will confirm. Empty outlets are common and many will often only be occupied by charity shops or the same old familiar coffee shops as buyers turn to the internet for lowest-possible prices or out-of-town megastores for maximum convenience. Stores that don't have a strong online presence or app struggle against rivals that have a more advanced virtual store-front. Big-name stores have entered bankruptcy or are desperately reinventing themselves to stay relevant. It's a bleak picture but one that is redeemed by opportunity. Supply chains and distribution are now global and the web makes it possible to market and sell to a global audience and scale in line with demand. There are more channels than ever before for consumers and the old virtues of delivering value and great service are as relevant as ever before. Brand and marketing excellence remain powerful differentiators, operational efficiency is a necessity and understanding the dynamics of store layout is persuasive.

It's a buyer's market: armed with product information, pricing comparisons and even knowledge of inventory levels and product refresh cycles, a new breed of super-consumer is emerging. The retailer has to adapt to meet this keen-eyed buyer and somehow resist the race to the bottom' of competing on price alone. Joining up multiple channels to address different types of buyer will be critical and the ultimate aim of delighting consumers remains as relevant as ever.

Click the link below to download the full case study.

From smartphone to server, Windows has been the backbone of businesses for decades. Now, with Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8 and Windows Server 2012 R2, all of your business-critical devices are more closely aligned than ever before, allowing you to move from one device to another, safe in the knowledge that all your data and settings will be seamlessly synchronised in the background.

The Windows look and feel

Whether it's on the 4in smartphone in your suit pocket, or the 27in screen on your office desk, Windows is the only platform to offer a consistent, familiar interface. Live tiles rotate with the latest information from your apps, so that you can see your next calendar appointment, a snippet of unread messages in your inbox, or live sales figures from your company's bespoke app without even having to open those apps in the first place.

The live tiles can be arranged and resized to suit your needs on each device. Alternatively, you can choose to synchronise your Windows 8.1 Start screen tiles across different devices, and know that you'll find your business-critical apps in exactly the same place on your tablet as they are on your desktop.

The live tiles aren't the only part of the Windows interface that is synchronised across devices. Colours, themes, backgrounds and desktop wallpapers can all be synchronised in the background, so that any Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 RT device* you own is instantly familiar and unmistakably yours.

Synchronised settings

It's not only visual settings that are preserved from device to device. Other settings that are synchronised in the background include network logins, so after you've logged in once to the Wi-Fi network in the company's meeting room, any other Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 RT device you take into the room will be instantly connected, without any user input.

No more work time is wasted setting up a PC the job's been done for you

Internet Explorer settings, history and favourites can also be harmonised, so that the site you were looking at yesterday on your home laptop can be instantly recalled at work. Website sign-ins and passwords are synchronised across devices, so there's no delay at login screens.

Printer settings, keyboard languages, custom dictionaries, File Explorer customisations, and ease of access settings can all be married across any device logged in with the same Microsoft account. Not only does it save you from making the same tweaks on multiple devices, but it makes setting up a new PC a breeze: you simply enter your Microsoft account credentials during the set-up procedure and everything is configured just the way you like it. No more work time is wasted setting up a PC the job's been done for you.

Apps everywhere

Windows apps can be added to the list of things that can be synchronised between multiple devices. Unlike some other platforms, apps bought on one Windows 8.1/Windows 8.1 RT device can be installed on any other device that you own, so you will never pay twice for the same app on your PC and tablet.

Better still, developers also have the opportunity to allow you to synchronise app settings. That not only means that you don't have to keep fiddling with settings to get apps the way you like them, but in-app purchases can be synchronised across devices, too, so that extra feature you added to a business app on your tablet is available on your PC, as is the copy of the digital newspaper you purchased on your way into work.

Aside from the business apps in the Windows Store, with the Enterprise and Pro versions of Windows 8.1, businesses also have the opportunity to "sideload" apps on to employees' devices. This means custom-built business apps can be quickly deployed to a workforce without having to first publish them in the Windows Store. Such an app could give tablet users touch-friendly access to data stored on the company intranet, for example, or provide a company welcome pack for new employees, with searchable phonebook, video guides and access to internal forms, such as expenses or holiday requests.

OneDrive integration

No matter what application you're using, there's always somewhere to save data that can be synchronised across your devices: OneDrive (previously known as SkyDrive). Now fully integrated into Windows 8.1, both Windows Store and desktop apps can save files to OneDrive.

This comes into its own with the latest version of Microsoft Office which comes pre-installed on all Windows RT devices and compact Windows 8.1 tablets. Documents, spreadsheets or presentations can be saved straight to the user's OneDrive from within Word, Excel or PowerPoint, from where they are instantly accessible on any other device.

This means, for example, that you could save a document on your desktop PC before you leave the office for a meeting, and pick up where you left off using a Windows 8.1 tablet on the journey. Word 2013 even helpfully allows you to jump straight to the point you last edited with a single click. Alternatively, you could review the data in a spreadsheet in the back of a taxi using your Windows Phone 8 device, and even make edits to the worksheet using the built-in Office app that ships with every Windows smartphone. All formatting, macros and formulae within your spreadsheet will be preserved, even if you edit the file on your mobile.

On the desktop, OneDrive now appears in the left-hand navigation pane of Windows Explorer, making it easier than ever to access files that are stored in the cloud. The OneDrive app on the Start screen, meanwhile, makes it easy to search, open and view files using a touchscreen tablet.

And there's no need to worry about OneDrive files swallowing up all the disk space on tablets with limited storage. OneDrive will only download files to your tablet as and when you need them. That means you can still have easy access to gigabytes worth of files without wasting valuable storage on files you've never opened on that device. If there are particular OneDrive files or folders that you always want access to, you can choose to make them available offline any changes made to those files on other Windows devices will still be fully synchronised.

Ready for work, wherever you are

With that unique combination of synchronised interfaces, settings and data across all of your devices, it's only Windows that's ready to work whenever and wherever you are. Whether in the office, at home or somewhere in between, Windows brings all your files and business-critical apps with you.

(*Windows 8.1 RT is the version of Windows for devices running ARM-based processors. It's predominantly deployed on compact tablet or hybrid devices.)

Click to find out more about Windows 8.1.

Windows 8 and its app ecosystem is already having a big impact on manufacturing verticals. Not only does the array of devices and touch interface make Windows 8 a far more flexible environment within vertical markets, but the ability to create bespoke Windows 8 apps across platforms improves usability and efficiency.

To ensure safe and enjoyable travel, Emirates pursers, who lead the cabin crew, use a mission-critical application running on a laptop in the galley. IT staff redesigned the application to run on Windows 8 and deployed it on HP ElitePad 900 tablets. Pursers gained a touch-enabled application with passenger and cabin crew data on a device they can carry through the cabin to provide immediate, personal service and better monitor cabin crews' performance.

Emirates is an international airline built on a foundation of outstanding customer service. To deliver the best in-flight experience, pursers use laptops running a proprietary application called Knowledge- driven In-flight Solution (KIS). "We don't send a plane away without a KIS laptop onboard," says Kevin Griffiths, Senior Vice President, Cabin Crew at Emirates. "With information on passengers and crew members, it is a mission-critical tool for our 900 pursers. They use it to brief the cabin crew before each flight so that the team can deliver an amazing customer experience, every time."

However, the laptops were bulky to use on a full flight. "The laptops had to be unpacked and plugged in because they had a short battery life," says Anita Grillo, Purser for Emirates. "We had to ask passengers to come back to the galley to verify information, and passengers would have to wait until we clicked through pages that were sometimes slow to load."

Emirates standardized its corporate PCs and portable computers on the Windows 7 operating system, but it also decided to evaluate mobile computing platforms for a new version of KIS. "We wanted to provide pursers with a mobile device that has an

Click the link below to download the full case study.

The UK education system has seen dramatic changes in its adoption and use of ICT over the past ten years. These changes have been shaped by government curriculum and fiscal boundaries, socio-economic factors, such as the consumerisation of IT, and increasing pressure to deliver technology that not only engages pupils in the classroom, but equips them for 21st century careers. While these factors represent great opportunities for schools to adapt teaching methods and enhance our education system, they also represent unprecedented challenges for schools. For example, securing the network is no longer just about connecting and ensuring the security of the school's own devices, but enabling pupils to connect with their own technology when and where possible. Lessons are no longer just in a classroom, but span other educational facilities on and off site as well as homeworking, and technology must adapt to these new scenarios.

Expectations from teachers, pupils and parents around technology have also changed. Just ten years ago pupils and parents may not have assumed integrated technology to be essential across the curriculum, let alone an element of the school infrastructure and teaching methodology, accessible to pupils and teachers inside and outside of the school. Technology is part of everyday life for all pupils and so needs to integrate seamlessly into their lives at school, as it does at home. Two-thirds of five-to seven-year-olds use the internet at home, rising to 82 per cent for 8- to 11-year-olds and 90 per cent for 12- to 15-year-olds. Over a third of 12- to 15-year-olds own a smartphone and typically use the internet (on any device) for 15.6 hours every week. Children are increasingly embracing technology at a younger age: for example, 23 per cent of five- to seven-year-olds now use social networking sites.

Click the link below to download the full case study.

Microsoft has finally given manufacturers the green-light to develop sub-10in Windows 8.x tablets. Dell is aiming to capitalise on this by offering the Venue 8 Pro, a device chocked full of business features.

The Venue 8 starts at 239 inc VAT more than Google's latest Nexus 7 (199). However, it's less than the iPad Mini, which starts at 319. Is Dell's device better value than Android and iOS counterparts.

Design

The Venue doesn't look like a mid-range tablet. It's coated with soft-touch plastic reminiscent of the Nexus 7. The strong frame makes the device feel sturdy and the concentric circles on the rear give the tablet a touch of style.

The Venue weighs 395g and is 9mm thick. This makes it chunkier than the Nexus 7 (290g, 8.5mm) and the iPad Mini (308g, 7.2mm). Despite this, we never felt weighed down by the Windows device and it is portable.

Dell has opted to relocate the Windows button in a surprise move. It's no longer at the front centre of the machine, instead it resides on the top edge. It takes time to get used to this unconventional placement, but it works well in portrait and landscape modes.

The power button and volume rocker lie on the right-hand edge, alongside a microUSB port. A microSD slot is hidden behind a flap on the same edge, and there's a headphone jack beside the Windows button on the top edge. The speaker on the bottom edge is off-centre so it won't be blocked by a hand in landscape mode a sensible design choice.

Intel Inside

The recognisable 'Intel Inside' logo is emblazoned on the back of the tablet. Dell has opted for the Atom Z3740D - the firm's latest range of Bay Trail chips. The quad-core CPU has a middling speed of 1.33GHz, peaking at 1.86GHz.

The modest clock speed gets a leg-up from the GPU. This particular Intel HD graphics core runs between 313MHz and 688MHz, the fastest speeds available in the Bay Trail range.

The CPU is paired with 2GB of RAM, but don't expect benchmark-blazing speed from this machine. Whilst the Venue had little problem running Start screen apps and basic desktop software, it lacked the power to tackle intensive applications. We also noticed the gyroscope, was sluggish when changing the screen's orientation.

Comparing the Venue to other Windows-based machines such as laptops doesn't yield favourable results. It scored 36/100 in our overall benchmark test. But it scored a high 2,527 points in the Geekbench test, outpacing the Nexus 7 (1,687) and the iPad (759).

When it comes to battery life the 4,830mAh battery lasted a reasonable 10hrs 34mins. It's 90 minutes short of the Nexus 7 and an hour less than the iPad but double digits from a Windows machine is rare and should be applauded. Our final benchmark, boot time, ended on a high note. It took the Venue 9 seconds load the Start screen from a cold start - the quickest you can expect on any Windows machine.

Tablets live and die by screen quality, a lesson Dell learned with the Venue 8 Pro. Early hardware shipped with dim screens, and a firmware update was issued to fix this. The screen's revised brightness level of 399cd/m2 is superb, but it can't compete with the Nexus 7's 540cd/m2 panel. But the Venue does have a better 1,663:1 contrast ratio than the Nexus 7 (1,058:1).

The Dell delivered a colourful, punchy and accurate image. Its IPS technology provided great viewing angles too. But the Venue fell short when it cames to resolution. The 1,280 x 800 screen had 189 pixels-per-inch, falling behind the Nexus 7 (323 ppi) and the iPad (326 ppi). The Dell's screen is fine, but competing panels are sharper - look closely and you'll spot individual pixels.

This is a business machine, so Dell pulls ahead of rivals with support for an active stylus. You'll need to buy this 29 accessory, and it's not available right now.

Under the hood

Our review sample included a meagre 32GB SSD, with 23.2GB of available space. Storage can be expanded with an SDXC slot. Cards up to 128GB in size are supported. But it might be wise to invest in the tablet with 64GB of on-board storage if you are planning on using large files and installing lots of Metro apps.

Business users will be pleased the Venue 8 Pro supports Bluetooth 4.0 and TPM 2.0. Mobile broadband is available in the most expensive model but it's locked to O2.

The Venue 8 Pro also falls short in other connectivity departments. We normally like dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, but the card installed here was a 2x2 MIMO model. It performed slower than the 4x4 MIMO adapter installed in the iPad Mini.

The Dell's single speaker pumped out music at a high volume but lacked quality. The Nexus 7 and iPad Mini have better audio credentials.

Options, services and accessories

Dell sells three Venue 8 Pro models. All include the same Atom processor, Windows 8.1, the screen and 2GB of memory.

The cheapest model (239 inc VAT) includes a 32GB hard disk and standard one-year warranty. The middle machine costs 263 and doubles the size of the SSD to 64GB. For 323 you get the 64GB SSD, mobile broadband, and a year of ProSupport warranty with Rapid Collect and Return service.

Two and three year warranties cost 65 and 100 respectively, and the standard deal can be upgraded to different ProSupport packages.

Dell's basic folio case is priced at 38. A wireless keyboard will set you back 70, and a Targus rugged case costs 46. A 3M anti-glare screen protector is 28.

Verdict

The Venue 8 Pro is the first small Windows 8.1 tablet we've seen. Its Atom processor has enough grunt to beat rivals in Geekbench as well as handle Start screen apps and low-end desktop applications. Stylus support, a range of business-centric service options and other accessories also make this a capable business machine.

However, Android and iOS devices have a greater selection of apps, better screens, and are slimmer and lighter. The Nexus 7 is cheaper too.

The Venue 8 Pro is a good product, but we can only recommend it if full Windows-compatibility is a must. The cheaper Nexus 7 remains the best all-round sub-10in tablet.

Verdict

Dell proves there is life in 8in Windows 8.x devices. There are advantages to having a small tablet which can support all Windows applications, but the screen and specification could be better.

Processor: 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z3740D

GPU: Intel HD Graphics

Memory: 2GB 1,600MHz DDR3

Storage: 32GB SSD

Connectivity: Dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4

Ports: microUSB, microSDXC, 1 x headphone

Dimensions: 216 x 130 x 9mm

Weight: 395g