Ubuntu is developing on a touch-focused interface for smartphones and tablets, with plans to ship Ubuntu smartphones in 2014. If you’re interested in trying it right now, there’s good news: You can install the preview release of Ubuntu Touch on a Nexus device (the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, or Nexus 10). Be aware though that this is an early version of Ubuntu Touch. It’s been called beta, but it’s actually alpha.

Most people put their PCs to sleep, hibernate them, or turn them off when they’re not in-use. However, you can also choose to run your PC 24/7, contributing your PC’s processing power to distributed computing projects. With these projects, your PC can help fight cancer, test climate change models, or even search for alien life. However, computers use power when they’re on, and they use more power when their CPUs (or GPUs) are going full-throttle.

Your computer’s BIOS (basic input/output system) is the low-level software that starts when you boot your computer. It performs a POST (power-on self test), initializes your computer’s hardware, and passes control over to the boot loader on a connected device. The boot loader then boots your operating system – Windows, Linux, or whatever else you’re using. The BIOS has a setup screen, which is used to configure a variety of low-level system settings.

We make do with Windows, but it isn’t perfect. In fact, Windows computers can be extremely annoying. They’re full of all sorts of annoying features that just get in our way and slow us down, distracting us from getting work done or doing whatever else we want to do. We’ll help you disable some of the most annoying little features in Windows. Many of these features exist for good reason and are useful to some people.

Whether you’re an organization, blogger, video producer, or just someone with something to say, you probably have a Twitter account. However, there are right ways and wrong ways to use Twitter. The wrong way is sending out tweets to all your latest content on autopilot, ignoring questions from your followers, and spamming them. Twitter is a social media site, and your presence on Twitter should be real, human, and interesting.

Private-browsing mode has many other names, including “incognito mode” in Chrome and “InPrivate Browsing” in Internet Explorer. Some people refer to private-browsing mode as “porn mode”, but it isn’t just for porn addicts. It can be used for a variety of other useful things, including determining whether an airfare or shopping website is showing you higher prices.

Windows Explorer – now known as File Explorer in Windows 8 – is a mainstay of the Windows desktop. No matter how many alternative programs Windows tweakers use, most people seem to stick with the familiar Windows Explorer. Windows Explorer is a solid application, no doubt – but what if you want a dual-pane interface, tabs, or any number of other features Windows Explorer doesn’t include?

Whether you’re using a desktop computer or a laptop, your computer’s motherboard contains an integrated battery. Unlike a standard laptop battery, the motherboard’s battery doesn’t power your computer while you’re using it. Quite the opposite, actually – the battery is tiny and only active when you’re not actually using your computer.

Windows 8 brings quite a few password-related changes. It uses Microsoft accounts by default, which means that your log in password is the same as the password for your Microsoft account online. You can reset this password online if you ever forget it. Windows 8 also allows you to create picture passwords, an ideal feature for touchscreen tablets.

Computers were once under our control. We could run any software we wanted on them, and the companies that manufactured the computer had no say. Today, computers are increasingly being locked down. Apple and Microsoft rule over their app stores with an iron fist, deciding what we can and can’t do with our devices. We live in a world where changing an iPad’s default web browser or email app is a crime.

Google+ was never quite the Facebook killer it was hyped up to be, but it’s been growing steadily ever since it’s been introduced and now has over 100 million active users. Whether you’re just getting started with Google+ or you signed up a while ago and never gave it a chance, these tips will help get you up to speed with Google’s social network.

Internet users outside of the United States are blocked from accessing the wealth of streaming video and music content available to Americans. Even Americans are deprived of international services like BBC iPlayer. Faced with this, many people choose VPNs. However, VPNs are not the ideal way to access region-blocked videos and music. There are better ways.

Antivirus software is important on Windows, but it can slow down your computer. The on-access scanning that protects you from malware means your antivirus has to scan every file you access before it actually opens. Luckily, there are a variety of ways to speed things up without losing security. Heavy antivirus programs can slow down a computer – particularly an older computer running an older, poorly optimized security suite.

TrustedInstaller is a built-in user account in Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. This user account “owns” a variety of system files, including some files in your Program Files folder, your Windows folder, and even the Windows.old folder that is created after you upgrade from one version of Windows to another. To rename or delete these files, you’ll have to take ownership of them away from the TrustedInstaller user account.

Microsoft is in the process of phasing out Windows Essentials, formerly known as Windows Live Essentials. Microsoft has included Modern-style replacements for many of the Essentials applications in Windows 8 – email, calendaring, contacts, messaging, photo management, and cloud file storage are all built in. However, some Windows Essentials applications have no Modern equivalent, and you may want to the desktop versions of some applications.