Indice dei contenuti per August 2017 in Maximum PC

IT’S NEVER STRAIGHTFORWARD moving from one operating system to another. It doesn’t matter how well versed you are in Windows, you can’t simply transfer everything you know and apply it equally to your new OS—and that’s particularly true when it comes to Linux, even when it’s as user-friendly as Ubuntu. Some things translate, of course—how many ways are there to point and click, after all? Nevertheless, there are still fundamental differences in the way Linux operates that you need to understand. Failure to do so could result in you breaking your system. In this feature, we take you on a tour of the key differences you’ll encounter in Ubuntu, and give you a grounding in how they work and what to expect. To begin, we examine the Linux filesystem, and how…

MANY LINUX PACKAGES are stored in what are called online “repositories.” These are channels that usually bundle together software of similar types, built for specific versions of Ubuntu (so Ubuntu 17.04’s repos aren’t the same as those for Ubuntu 16.10, or indeed 16.04). There are four main channels for each separate version: Main, Restricted, Universe, and Multiverse. The Main repo contains free software that can be redistributed freely, and is fully supported by Ubuntu with regular updates. Universe contains a vast array of free and open source software, where the community provides updates. Restricted houses a small set of proprietary (closed source) tools and drivers required to support Ubuntu on everyday hardware, while Multiverse contains software that is not free nor supported. These repos can then be accessed by package…

UBUNTU 17.04 was released only a couple of months ago, and contains several new features and beneath-thehood changes. The release was overshadowed by the news that Canonical—Ubuntu’s developer—has decided to retire its current desktop, Unity. All development has been ceased, and while Unity 7 remains the default for this release, it will be replaced by the GNOME desktop in Ubuntu 17.10. But what else is new in Ubuntu? One change—hidden from view—is that Ubuntu has switched from storing virtual memory in a separate, dedicated partition to using a swap file in a similar fashion to Windows. If you’re upgrading to Ubuntu 17.04 from an earlier release, the existing partition structure remains in place, but if you install from scratch, it defaults to a single partition with swap file. If you…

examining technology and putting it to use TIP OF THE MONTH A GOOD FRIEND I officially started working here in early 2015. After 66 different job applications (journalism is tough to get into), I finally made it. But not without a lot of help. Just prior to joining, my interest in technology was waning. I was an avid gamer and overclocker, but the stress of finding work began to take its toll, and cycling relieved the pressure. What brought me back to the path of the righteous transistor was a good friend of mine, another journo student. We started a community-led social media news platform, and managed over 16 volunteers, writing games news and reviews, and even developed our own website. When the opportunity to work for Maximum PC popped…

YOU’LL NEED THIS VIDEOPAD VIDEO EDITOR Grab the free version from www.nchsoftware.com/videopad. GIF-WORTHY VIDEO Needs to be short and sweet. A BASIC WORKSTATION PC Yes, your quad-SLI rig will do, too. GIFS ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE INTERNET. Without them It would be a whole lot harder to digest all the times someone fell over at an inopportune moment, or convey a reaction to something using a reality star’s facial expressions. The humble GIF’s abundance across the Internet is testament to the ease of its creation, but with so many different browser-based options and apps dedicated to the process, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Not so with this guide. Using the surprisingly powerful free video editing program VideoPad, you’re empowered to make a looping GIF with minimum hassle, while retaining…

SOMETHING WEIRD is happening at Intel. Recent years have seen small, incremental upgrades to its top-drawer enthusiast chips. A speed bump here, a couple extra cores there. And that was if you were lucky. Out of nowhere, however, Intel announced a whole box full of new CPUs, a new LGA2066 socket to stick ’em in, and a new X299 chipset to underpin the whole shebang. The new chips aren’t the usual minor massaging of specs, either. In one fell swoop, Intel has gone from a maximum of 10 cores for desktop PCs to 18 cores, with additional ’tweener options filling the newly opened chasm between the old and new realities of Intel’s high end. That’s all remarkable enough. Where the real weirdness comes in is that Intel has announced all…

the beginning of the magazine, where the articles are small The One X is twice the price of the One S, and plays the same games. ON NOVEMBER 7, you’ll be able to swap $499 for what Microsoft proudly claims to be the world’s most powerful console: the Xbox One X, previously known as Project Scorpio. And yes, the name is a little clumsy. The headline is enough power for full 60fps 4K gaming. The sleek black box packs a custom 2.3GHz eight-core processor, a 40 Compute Unit AMD GPU, and 12GB of GDDR5. Plus, there’s 1TB of storage and a UHD drive. A decent, if not spectacular, hardware upgrade. And that’s what this is: not a new system as such, but an Xbox One with more oomph. The One…

THE LINUX FILESYSTEM (ext2, ext3, and ext4) is radically different to Windows. The key change is how it references drives and partitions—not as separate, distinct drive letters, but as files within the main filesystem itself. It is logical, though, and it won’t take you long to adapt. Open the Dash, and type “disks” to open the Disks utility, to help you visualize how things work. Select a drive in the left-hand menu, and look in the Disks menu bar. You’ll see your drive is referenced something like /dev/sda. This refers to the “dev” (devices) folder, inside which each physical disk is assigned a unique file, which begins “sd” (for “storage device”), followed by a unique letter from “a” through “z.” This follows a logical pattern: /dev/sda is assigned to the…

Get Help There are three ways to get help in the Terminal. Know the name of the tool? Use the “--help” flag: $ ls --help The “whatis” tool is also useful, providing you with a brief description of a fully formed command: $ whatis apt-get install vlc This describes the “apt-get” tool, the install argument, and the package “vlc.” Note: “whatis” ignores any flags. The Terminal also provides access to an online manual via the “man” utility. Start with “man intro” for a detailed intro to the Terminal, and “man man” for advice on navigating the manual. Pair it with a tool—for example, “man apt-get”—for a detailed description of that tool. Navigating the Filesystem Open the Terminal, and you start in your home folder. Use “ls -l” to confirm this.…

AOC PDS241 THIS SCREEN is truly something to behold. A design unlike any other on the market. Don’t let its paltry 1080p resolution fool you—the AOC PDS241 is an absolutely stunning piece of craftsmanship. As far as AOC was concerned, teaming up with Porsche was a logical move. The supercar company has built a number of bespoke products in the past, and it made sense to have the German firm join in on this professional series of screens, too. The story of the PDS241’s conception is outstanding. According to AOC, Porsche came into its offices, sat AOC’s entire design staff down, and schooled them on what the perfect screen should be. According to Porsche, it’s a single panel, floating in the air, with no cables, no frame, no bezel—nothing. It…

Apple iPad 5 About iFixit iFixit is a global community of tinkerers dedicated to helping people fix things through free online repair manuals and teardowns. iFixit believes that everyone has the right to maintain and repair their own products. To learn more, visit www.ifixit.com. BACKGROUND The iPad team took a page from the iPhone SE playbook, and released what appears to be a throwback—an arguably under-specced tablet that takes aim at the education and enterprise markets. This iPad is supposedly reasonably priced, and powerful enough for professionals—but will it also earn high marks for repairability? Let’s find out. MAJOR TECH SPECS • Apple third-generation 64-bit A9 processors, with embedded M9 motion co-processor • 9.7-inch multitouch Retina display, with 2048x1536 resolution (246 ppi), and non-laminated digitizer • 32GB or 128GB of…

YOU’LL NEED THIS PHOTOSHOP Subscribe at www.adobe.com. SOME PHOTOS See step one for requirements. A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT Sign up at www.facebook.com. THOSE 360-DEGREE PHOTOS ON FACEBOOK ARE MAGIC, aren’t they? You spin around, and the input from accelerometers in your cell phone is used to scroll the image, giving the impression of peering through a window into another place entirely. They’re usually taken with the kind of camera that would set you back a couple hundred bucks— and you’re looking at thousands to get pro-quality gear. Then there’s all sorts of rules to follow if you want to avoid catching yourself in the image, and the vagaries of the stitching software, that can make objects disappear around the stitch lines and generally soften the image—which can be a low-res one…

WE LIVE IN AN AGE when tablet computers with high-DPI IPS screens are handed out in boxes of Corn Flakes (other cornbased cereals are available). Well, almost. Similarly, you’re nobody in the smartphone game without a decent high-DPI IPS panel at the very least. To be really competitive, you’re talking OLED technology. Yet the one device that could both most benefit from and make the best use of such displays lags miles off the pace, wheezing along as other devices dip over the horizon. Yes, we speak of the PC. That’s not to say the PC monitor market has been stagnant. Far from it, what with the arrival of adaptive sync, HDR, and super-wide aspect ratios. Resolutions and panel sizes are up, too. But true high-DPI? Not so much. At…

1 TAKE THE FIRST STEP YOU KNOW THE ONE THING we almost always forget to do every time we build a system? Install the rear I/O plate. After you’ve got all your shiny new hardware unboxed, prepped somewhere sensible to build your new rig (no woolen socks, or fluffy carpets), and stripped your case of any unnecessary hard drive cages and accessory boxes, install your mobo rear I/O shield. It helps reduce potential static discharge from your cables and peripherals, and also reduces the amount of dust entering your system. Once that’s done, line up your motherboard with the pre-installed stand-offs, and secure it with the correct screws (often included in your case’s accessory box/bag). It’s worth noting that if you have an air tower cooler that requires a backplate,…

ANY FILESYSTEM WORTH ITS SALT applies restrictions to files in the form of permissions, limiting access based on users and groups. Windows does this to some degree with its NTFS filesystem, but it’s no substitute for Linux. The Basics Everything in Linux is represented as a file, including folders and hardware devices. The ext filesystem applies permissions to these files to determine how they can be accessed, and by whom. These boil down to three basic levels of access: read, write, and execute, expressed as r, w, and x respectively. You can view a file’s permissions in the Terminal with the “ls -l” command, where you’ll see entries such as “rwx” (full access) or “r--” (read-only). These “rwx” permissions apply to folders as well as files, and things are complicated…

ONE OF LINUX’S STRENGTHS is its versatility, and unlike other OSes, that extends to your desktop. Each flavor of Linux ships with its own desktop environment, and while they share superficial similarities—specifically the pointand- click WIMP interface—there can be quite radical differences, in functionality, as well as look and feel. Ubuntu 17.04 ships with two desktops: Ubuntu and Unity8. Ubuntu is the Unity7 desktop, which developer Canonical has announced will be dropped from Ubuntu 17.10. Unity8 is incomplete, full of bugs, and not suitable for day-to-day use, but is worth checking out to see what may have happened if Canonical continued development. The good news is that you’re not restricted to either— Linux allows you to install multiple desktops, and switch between them, so you can compare different desktops side-by-side,…

THERE ARE TWO THINGS going on inside your PC. Data is processed, and data is moved. That’s pretty much it, apar t from a fan or two. The quest for performance is about getting data to and from the processing silicon. There’s a myriad of buses moving that data about, from a sluggish link to the keyboard, where you can almost type at the same speed, to the memory bus, which, for DDR4, starts at 17GB/s and gets faster. While the internal memor y bus has developed alongside CPUs to keep pace, the external or expansion buses have been dragging their feet. The advent of solid-state drives highlighted the bottleneck that storage had become, quickly swamping SATA ports. PCIe emerged rather quietly in 2003, but it took until 2008 before it…

YOU’LL NEED THIS LIGHTWORKS 14 Download from www.lwks.com. IT’S TRULY AMAZING WHAT WE ALL CARRY IN OUR POCKETS. Never forget that your cell phone is a modern marvel, packing in a closet’s worth of tech and tools, particularly when compared to the equivalent from 20—even 10—years ago. And it’s great for on-the-fly productivity: Complete albums have been made from scratch on cell phones; people have written novels and scripts; and, to get to the point, entire movies have been shot on iPhones, and received cinematic releases. So, that’s one piece of the puzzle—you have everything you need to collect footage. To splice it, tweak it, and give it that professional shine, why not lean on a tool that’s legitimately been used to put together Hollywood blockbusters? Lightworks, matured for 25…

Our laptop zero-point is the Asus G752VT-DH72, with an Intel Core i7-6700HQ, 3GB GTX 970M, and 16GB of DDR4- 2133. All games were tested at 1080p at the highest graphical profile with antialiasing enabled. WE’RE BIG FANS of 15-inch laptops. They’re large enough to give you the screen real estate needed to play games without squinting, but not so large (looking at you, 17-inchers) that they require a special gaming laptop backpack to lug around all day. They’re the form factor that lets a portable gaming machine feel portable. Asus’s ROG Strix GL502VS delivers on portability. Measuring only 1.18 inches (30mm) thick, it’s one of the thinner GTX 1070 laptops we’ve tested, fitting into a new breed of portable pixel-pushers that don’t require massive jet engines to cope with the…

THE CONCEPT of a fancy light-up mouse pad seems a bit absurd. Sure, maybe you have 60 bucks in your wallet that’s possessed by some sort of evil spirit, and which you must dispose of immediately lest you spend the rest of your life dealing with a terrible curse—that’s fine, you get a pass, may your demons be sufficiently exorcized. Anybody else in the market for a big-money mouse mat should probably do some cost/benefit analysis on their situation. But here we are, with SteelSeries’s QcK Prism, the third such ultra-pad we’ve reviewed in these canonical pages, the others coming from Corsair and Razer. This loose triumvirate proves that there is a market for these things. And, though it pains us to admit, mouse pads do still have legitimate use…

THE GRIM DARKNESS of the far future, in which there is only war, has turned out to be a fun place to hang out. The Warhammer 40,000 setting has spawned many videogames, but it’s Dawn of War’s sprawling RTS battles, and its sequel’s more focused skirmishes, that have done the most for the Emperor’s cause, recreating the tabletop game better than any first-person shooter ever could. The third game attempts to combine the scope of the first two, with three factions (Humans/Space Marines, Orks, and Eldar) duking it out on a planet for a lost Eldar artifact. There’s building of bases, management of resources, and scenes where walking metal hulks tear into each other. Single-player rotates you between races, building up a story seen from every side, then twisting it…