Software: Reviews

OpenXchange's new word processor, OX Text, is the first in a set of Linux-based productivity apps. Can it compete with Google Docs and Office 365?

Toshiba's new KiraBook ultrabook offers a sleek, rich look along with high-end components, including a fine display and great speakers. The question is: Can you afford it?

HP 3PAR StoreServe 7400 combines high scalability, high performance, and a big bag of tricks for easing storage management

Lenovo's Atom-based Windows 8 tablet-laptop hybrid is lightweight and usable, but build quality doesn't cut it

Plenty of specialized companies out there sell PCs with Linux, but Dell is one of the very few mainstream contenders to have done so over the years. After some spotty initial offerings, it's taken a different approach with its latest Linux PC. Rather than try to sell Linux hardware to the masses, which the company has said typically requires support, it's focusing instead on developers, a savvy group that tends to need less help.

Today's video editing apps have made many pro-level features available to anyone who wants to use them. We review four of the best known video editors to see what they offer and how easy it is to use them.

HP's smartly designed, solidly built, Atom-based Windows 8 tablet makes a solid case for mobile fleets

Impressive Xamarin SDK brings native iPhone and Android development to C# programmers, Visual Studio

VMware takes virtualization higher and deeper with rich storage automation and more advanced virtual networking tools

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V brings advanced virtualization features to small shops, but VMware still reigns at the high end

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V combines easy setup and management with new features that lower the entry barrier to highly available virtualization clusters

Connecting remotely to network servers is a fact of life for millions of end users. Whether working from a PC or a mobile device, users rely on secure, reliable remote connections to maintain their productivity.

Available since Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsofts DirectAccess server role became fully integrated with the OS in Windows Server 2012. DirectAccess is designed to connect a VPN-type session automatically as soon as a compatible Windows client is connected to the Internet.

Most of the products tested (except Windows Server 2012), use Oracle's Java in one form or another, at least for client access and also in some cases within the management interface. With numerous vulnerabilities recently discovered in Java, leading to guidance from Department of Homeland Security and others to disable it entirely, this raised some questions about usability and possibly even security of the devices tested.

Surprisingly beefy, browser-based JSFiddle, Icenium, Cloud9, and Codenvy stretch from client-side JavaScript to server-side Java and Web stacks

Samsung's Windows 8 convertible is long on horsepower, but short on build quality

Adobe has released a public beta of its Lightroom 5 photo-editing application. While not a radical reworking, it includes some useful new tools.

Windows 8 has been out for a while, featuring an interface that's as cool as it is annoying . . . until you get the hang of it. But, like any computer operating system, it can fall over. Luckily, there is an easy way to solve the cause of most crashes; just call up WinDbg, the Windows debugger; a free tool to diagnose the most common causes of Windows crashes -- misbehaved third party drivers.

Before getting into the installation and use of WinDbg for W8, I looked for additional sources to help with crash resolution. Just Googling "Windows 8 crash" returned forums, guides, tools and books, all offering varying levels of help.

Smart in design and stingy on power, HP's Envy convertible works well as a laptop or a tablet