Cut the Rope, a popular puzzle game on smartphones, is now playable on PCs via modern web browsers that support HTML5. IE9 users get bonus levels.

ZeptoLab, the creators of Cut the Rope, collaborated with technology specialists at Pixel Lab and with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Team, to deliver the game to online audiences with HTML5 technology and JavaScript.

The developers discuessed their technical approach and challenges that they faced in the following video found here:

There are 18 levels of the game are playable with most modearn web browsers (support HTML5) but 7 bonus levels are available exclusively to users who pin the game – by grabbing the browser tab and drag it down to the Windows taskbar – with IE9.

Play Cut the Rope online and tell us what you think.

(source: press release)

Now You Can Play ‘Cut the Rope’ Online, Free! is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Now you can download free Windows 8! Microsoft has released Windows 8 Developer Preview for free download. You can download it online on Windows Dev Center. No torrent needed. No MS LiveID needed.

Read on for more information about Windows 8 developer preview downloads.

What is Windows 8? Developer Preview?

Windows 8 is the codename of the next version of Microsoft Windows, a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, servers, and media center PCs. It adds support for ARM microprocessors in addition to the traditional x86 microprocessors from Intel and AMD. Its user interface has been changed to make it better suitable for touchscreen input in addition to the traditional mouse and keyboard input. — WikiPedia

Windows Developer Preview is a Pre-Beta version of Windows 8 for developers. It is buggy, not stable, no support, and should not be used in a production environment.

In short, install Windows 8 developer preview at your own risk!

Download Windows 8 Developer Preview

There are 3 different Windows 8 developer preview versions: Windows Developer Preview with developer tools (64 bit, 4.8 GB), Windows Developer Preview (64 bit, 3.6 GB), and Windows Developer Preview (32 bit, 2.8 GB). Each download is a ISO disk image file. You need to burn ISO into DVD before install Windows 8.

Comes with developer tools

Windows Developer Preview with developer tools, recommended for Windows developers, includes the following extra:

• 64-bit Windows Developer Preview
• Windows SDK for Metro style apps
• Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Express for Windows Developer Preview
• Microsoft Expression Blend 5 Developer Preview
• 28 Metro style apps including the BUILD Conference app

Windows 8 system requirements

If your computer hardware is working fine with Windows Vista and Windows 7 then it probably works fine for Windows 8 too. Windows 8 requires at least 1 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB disk space.

Clean install? Upgrade?

Windows 8 Developer Preview with developer tools only supports clean install. It wipes off existing Windows before installation. Windows 8 without developer tools can keep your accounts, files and settings. If you are installing on Windows XP, only accounts and files are kept. You cannot uninstall Windows Developer Preview.

Visit Windows Dev Center for more infomation.

Download Free Windows 8 (Developer Preview) is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Acer notebook does not come with recovery disc nor Windows installer. What happens if the notebook hard disk is replaced and you need to re-install Windows? Here is my true story with my wife’s Acer notebook.

My wife owns an Acer notebook for two years. The hard disk was replaced last year and has failed recently. She managed to backup her personal files before the notebook showed: “No bootable device found – Insert boot disk and press any key” message (read: death) at start up .

The hard disk got replaced and she asked for my help to reinstall Microsoft Windows Vista and upgrade to Windows 7 (she bought Acer Windows 7 Upgrade kit).

No problem! The Acer Recovery DVD (2 discs!) I made for her notebook last time had been waiting for this moment! (The Acer notebook doesn’t come with recovery discs nor Windows installer)

I was wrong. The Recovery DVD failed at the half way of copying files into the newly installed hard disk. Acer didn’t give a Windows installation disc. And, I can’t install Windows 7 because the upgrade kit DVD was not bootable…

My wife paid for both licenses of Windows Vista and Windows 7 upgrade, but I didn’t have a way to reinstall Windows to her notebook.

That’s bad.

At the end, I made a call (1800-88-1918) to Acer’s official service provider in Malaysia — Highpoint Service Network Sdn Bhd. I took 5 minutes to have the staff understood that the notebook hard disk has been replaced, it’s new and blank — it cannot boot up the hidden recovery partition got in the original hard disk…

After he understood my situation (blank hard disk, recovery dvd failed, no Windows installer), he ask me to send the notebook to their service centre for reinstallation service, which cost RM120 because not longer under warranty.

We went to their service centre at Berjaya Time Square in the morning and have it done in the same day evening. Very efficient! Paid RM120, and the Acer notebook had Windows Vista installed, as well as many other Acer bloatware… Then, I took over 1 hour to upgrade Vista to Windows 7 using the Acer Windows 7 Upgrade Kit.

My two cents

I can’t help but to compare it to my OS X Lion experience. Upgrade Mac OS X only took half an hour. The Lion operating system is in the cloud storage, you can download and install it anytime, anywhere as long as you have an Internet connection. Yes, Internet Recover works even if your Mac has a blank hard drive! You can also easily make a bootable Lion OS installer (see instruction here).

I could have saved all the trouble if my wife were using a Mac notebook… Since MS Office already in the cloud, Will we have Microsoft Windows in the cloud, too? What’s your suggestions to prevent this kind of disaster from happening again? How do you backup Windows installer? Please share with us in the comment.

When Acer Notebook Self-Burn Recovery DVDs Failed… is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

My friend has been using Microsoft Office 2003 for a long time and she recently changed to a new company which is using Microsoft Office 2007. After a month, she is still having difficulty to find the menu item she wants in the “Ribbon menu” (which is new since Office 2007).

She won’t be alone. I think many people still prefer to use the MS Office’s old classic menu and toolbars in Office 2007 / Office 2010.

After some searches, I found a tool that bring back MS Office Classic menu and toolbars for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. It’s free! Read on for details.

UBitMenu is an MS Office add-on with over a million downloads that add Classic menu as the second tab of the ribbon (as shown in the image at the top) in Word 2007/2010, Excel 2007/2010, and PowerPoint 2007/2010. Using non-English version? UBitMenu has been translated into many difference languages as well!

Here is UbitMenu introduction video:

UBitMenu is free for personal use. For commercial use, it cost $10 EUR and $0.65 EUR per client/user. Let me know if you found this tool useful. Also, share with your friends who miss MS Office Classic menu!

[image by blogspottutorial.com]

UbitMenu: Add MS Office 2003 Classic Menu for Office 2007/2010 [Download] is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Have you installed Internet Explorer 9? (or, already uninstall IE9?) Here is a video walkthrough of Windows Internet Explorer, comparing IE from the very first version 1 to the latest IE9.

Video after the break.

From the video, we can see that Internet Explorer has been improved a lot over the years.

My IE history

My first web browser is Netscape (no longer in development). I am old enough to use Internet Explorer before and my last IE was version 6.0 before I switch to Mac OS X. IE was never my default web browser though.

Andy [via Engadget]

The History of Internet Explorer, from IE1 to IE9 [VIDEO] is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

You installed Internet Explorer 9 but did not like it, and now you want to uninstall IE9? Here you will learn the step-by-step instructions to uninstall Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7 and Vista.

1. Click the Start button, type Programs and Features in the search box
2. Click the Programs and Features then click View installed updates in the left pane.
3. Under Uninstall an update, scroll down to the Microsoft Windows section.
4. Right-click Windows Internet Explorer 9, click Uninstall, and then, when prompted, click Yes.
5. Click one of the following:
   • Restart now (to finish the process of uninstalling Internet Explorer 9, and restore the previous version of Internet Explorer).
   • Restart later (to wait until you shut down or restart your computer).

[via Microsoft]

HOW TO: Uninstall Internet Explorer 9 for Windows 7 and Vista is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) final has been released at March 14, 2011.

Free download is available on BeautyOfTheWeb.com in 39 languages for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008. (No Internet Explorer 9 for XP)

Direct download link after the break.If you do not like the IE9 online downloader or want to keep a copy of IE9 installer, you can download Internet Explorer 9 standalone offline installer in the language that match your Windows version at here. Language interface packs (LIPs) are also available for Catalan, Hindi, Indonesian, and Vietnamese languages.

Click here to find out your PC running 32bit or 64bit Windows.

Have you install Internet Explorer 9? Do you like IE9? What is your default web browser now, and why? Please tell us in the comment.

Installed but dislike Internet Explorer 9? Learn how to uninstall IE9.

Download Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Standalone Full Download for Windows 7, Vista, Server 2008 is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Are you still using Internet Explorer (IE) 6 or the earlier version? Microsoft wants you to upgrade now.Microsoft created a site “The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown” with the target to reduce IE6 users to less than 1% worldwide.

This website is dedicated to watching Internet Explorer 6 usage drop to less than 1% worldwide, so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers.

Currently, there’s 12% IE6 users worldwide. China has the most IE6 users (34.5%), 2nd is S. Korea (24.5%, and India is the 3rd (12.3%).

A check to my site’s statistic, 11.5% of my IE visitors are still using Internet Explorer 6. I joined the cause to reduce IE6 users by putting a banner on my site, which will only be shown if you are using an outdated Internet Explorer (earlier than IE7).

My two cents

Glad to see that Microsoft is putting an effort to dump the outdated web browser. I only use Internet Explorer to download other web browsers. I am using Google Chrome, which automatic update in the background whenever there’s a new version. How about you?

Microsoft Ask Users To Stop Using Internet Explorer 6 is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Windows 7 SP1 final has been released. You may download the “Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1″ on Microsoft Download Center or install via Windows Update.

Service Pack 1 includes all previously released updates for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, as well as some updates and improvements – all in a single download.

The download size ranges from around 300MB to 900MB, depending on your system. Single computer user should update to SP1 using automatic Windows Update, instead of downloading the Windows 7 SP1 standalone installer.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 [via Lifehacker]

RELATED: The BEST way to sell Windows 7

Download Windows 7 SP1 Final (Windows Server 2008 R2, too) is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Now you can download free Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac and try it for 30-day trial period.

Office for Mac 2011 release date was in last October 2010 for Apple Mac OS X operating system. The office suite was almost rewritten from scratch and it is the best ever Microsoft Office suite for Mac to date.

The 30-day trial version is same as the full version of Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 in features and functionality. User may activate the software using a product key without reinstallation.

Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 pack including:

• Word for Mac
• PowerPoint for Mac
• Excel for Mac
• Messenger for Mac
• Outlook for Mac (only in Home & Business version)

Download trial here. The download size is… I don’t know!

When I tried to register for the trial download, I received “Payment Authorization Failed” error message. Let me know if you have successfully downloaded Office for Mac 2011 trial.

Related book: Office 2011 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual

Office for Mac 2011 System requirements

• Mac OS X version 10.5.8 or later
• 1 GB of RAM recommended
• 2.5 GB of available hard disk space
• 1280 x 800 or higher resolution monitor
• Windows Live ID
• Internet access

Ready to buy Office for Mac 2011? Check out latest discount price.

Download Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Trial is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.