PC Booster Blog

Could putting many large files on the desktop cause problems?

David Taylor — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:45:42 +0000

I don’t suggest anyone to put files in the desktop. It can lead to some technical problems but aside from that it’s simply not a good practice and there are better ways to organize your files. I have recently been told by a friend that the desktop isn’t a good place to store videos since it can cause a few problems. I have a folder on my desktop that contains videos of no more than 32 MB. Over time, it has accumulated more and more videos and it now contains a total of almost 4GB. This is an actual folder on my desktop and not just a shortcut. I haven’t noticed issues so far but I’m getting concerned. Please tell me if I am doing the right or wrong thing. Files on the desktop It’s hard to say for certain whether your friend is right or wrong but I am going to say that he’s wrong. Let’s get into the details as to why I said so. In this case, the difference is in the technical issues, although may be very few, it doesn’t completely eliminate the possibility and personal issues which are more common. Clean desktop I like to keep my own desktop squeaky clean. My reason is that I find the desktop and everything in it somehow hidden as opposed to a very accessibly menu or sub-menu on the Start menu. That’s why I prefer to keep my desktop really clean. Right now, I have only two icons on my desktop and I hardly ever click on them. Not everyone has the same desktop as mine though. In fact, I have found the exact opposite of my desktop in a lot of people’s computers. They have a whole lot of stuff on the desktop and it seems cluttered. But that’s their desktop and that’s kind of okay. It won’t cause a clear technical problem but it’s a possible case to accidentally click on something and cause some sort of problem. Another thing, doesn’t it make looking for things difficult? Desktop folder Did you know that the desktop is nothing more than just a folder? Not many are aware of this but it is true. It is just like any other folder except that it has this unique feature wherein it displays on the screen everything that you put in it. For example, dropping a shortcut of a certain software on the desktop will allow you to see that shortcut all the time. By dropping I mean dropping the shortcut in the desktop folder from the Windows Explorer. To have a clean desktop or to have one with a lot of files in it is a personal preference. I personally find it cluttered and I’m having a hard time locating my files on the desktop if I have too many on it but the same does not apply to everyone. It doesn’t matter how many and how big the files you have on your desktop are. It doesn’t affect anything on your PC. Computer organization The folder called My Documents was created for you to put your files in. For your videos, there’s the My Videos folder and it’s located in the My Documents folder. Putting files on either folder would not have them displayed on the desktop. Shortcuts are what you could put on your desktop. They are basically shortcuts to some software or file and are basically small files themselves. They are lightweight and would allow a quicker display of your desktop. But then again it’s up to you. Slow computer The only thing that a cluttered desktop could cause is the slowing down of the display of your desktop. Not because it has negatively affected anything but because it will take some time to display all those icons. What can go wrong is that your operating system will have to go through each and every file that is in your desktop to see what the respective icon is. So if you have way too many icons on the desktop, it could take a lot of time. To answer your question, no. It will not cause any issues with your PC. I don’t suggest that you clutter your desktop but it’s really up to you.

Is it okay to unplug the computer to shut it down?

David Taylor — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:45:01 +0000

Improper use of the Power button on your computer or unplugging it without shutting it down properly can cause data loss. Let’s discuss how you should turn it off properly. There’s something wrong with the power button on my PC as it turns on and off by itself. I have had problems turning it on so I stopped shutting it down. All I do is leave it on all the time and I only restart it in the morning when I have to use it again. I don’t like this method but it’s the only way now. I’m thinking of unplugging it instead of shutting it down, which I can’t do, and just plug it back again when I need to use it. Will I have to use the Power button if I do it this way? Will this do any harm? You will be damaging your computer with your methods. When you pull the plug without properly shutting it down, you are risking corrupting data on the hard drive and damaging the hardware as well. I don’t know exactly what the problem with your computer is that you can’t use the Power button but whatever that is, it has to be fixed so you can properly shut down your system otherwise, you will end up with even more problems. Start to stop During Windows’s earlier days, people joked about having the need to go to the Start in order to stop the PC. People can joke as much about it as they want but it’s a crucial process. Properly shutting down a PC is not comparable to turning off light bulbs, not even close to other electronic devices. Shutting down a computer is a process in itself. A process that begins with the click of the Start button and ends with the computer completely turned off. But what happens in between? I can just say that a lot of geeky stuff and complicated technical processes but in layman’s terms, what happens is programs are closed, the different hardware are turned off in the proper order, files are saved, all information in the memory are permanently written to the disk and so much more. Many processes that are part of the turning off process happen when you turn it off properly, some of which are bookkeeping and some cleanup work. Cleanup work and bookkeeping processes that need to happen. Power button Sometimes, it is fine to use the power button. I know, now things are getting more confusing. Some computers, especially older ones have their power butting function the same way as the shut- down button on the start menu of the computers that we know today. In those older computers, what you should do is to press the power button for not more than a second. Pressing it for more than a second will initiate a different action that we’ll get to later. So if you press the power button until you see the computer to be shutting down properly then it is okay to continue to do it. The only problem with this is that it may not properly shut down your PC. It may simply put it either on sleep or hibernate. You can configure it to be what you want it to do in the setting under power button from the Control Panel. But if it shuts it down completely and immediately, then this isn’t a way that you can do it. It’s just the same as pulling the plug and neither is a good thing. When you don’t have much of a choice If you turn off your PC by pressing the power button for longer than a second, maybe five seconds, this isn’t a good thing either. That’s equivalent to pulling the plug. It doesn’t undergo the proper and necessary shut down process and it can lead to serious problems. If you have been doing this for some time now, you better stop. Doing this is similar to provoking your PC to corrupt all the data on your hard drive. The function of shutting down through the long press of the power button on most computers is implemented on other hardware and should only be used as a last resort if no other option is available. In hardware, long pressing the power button to supposedly shut down the device is not much different from pulling the plug or immediately removing the battery. If pulling the plug is the only way to shut down your device then something is wrong. In today’s computers, the shut-down method from the start menu is the only way to do it. If you are unable to do this then you must have your computer fixed ASAP to avoid causing further damage to your PC and stop risking losing data every time you turn it off improperly. Why is unplugging bad? Every time you press the power button for a few seconds, unplug the computer from the power source, remove the battery, or anything that forces the computer to stop, you are doing something beyond the control of the operating system. Take note that I said operating system and not Windows because this applies to all other computers and not just to Windows. Your computer is always doing something even when you are not doing anything with it. Even when it seems to be resting, it is actually doing a lot. Programs are running, the disk is being accessed, files are open, these are only a few possible things that are going on in your computer. Exactly how busy it is, we don’t know but this is where the problem comes in. Even without you initializing an action from your computer, it could still be doing something such as updating a program on the disk, programs like anti-malware tools, system indexing tools or whatever else necessary. The moment that you suddenly turn off your PC or deprive it of its power source, the following could happen: · Nothing. Nothing would happen to your computer if you are lucky. The writing was completed because it was quick enough. While there’s a big chance that nothing will happen, don’t let it give you a false sense of security. · The file being written while you unplugged it will be incomplete. Two things could happen if a file is incomplete, either it will not affect the program or it can cause a big problem every time you try to open that program. · If your computer was writing on a file system directory entry while you unplugged it, it could cause an incorrect or partial update of the file on your disk. This can cause nothing too if you are lucky but then it is possible that it can corrupt the file. Worse, it can affect a number of files and not just the one concerned while you pulled the plug. · You might interrupt the disk drive while it is writing a sector of some information to the hard disk media. What this can do is result in CRC errors for that specific sector and to nearby information on other files too. The worst case scenario here is having the need to do an advanced disk recovery or maintenance. If you are lucky, you will only need to do a CHKDSK/R repair. While this is a rare case, it is not impossible. So there you have the risks that entails to doing what you are doing, not properly shutting down your device. Sure, you are doing it since something is wrong and is a last resort but I suggest that you have it fixed before you cause any further damage.

The internet on my new computer is slower than on my old computer’s.

David Taylor — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:41:00 +0000

The internet connection on a new computer can be slowed down by either the internet connection itself or by having too many software run at once. You should on a few places to fix this. I have a new desktop computer and I have noticed that opening websites is slower on this one than on my previous XP PC. My new computer contains all the programs that my old one had. I just transferred the very same things. The only thing new is probably Microsoft Office. What’s slowing down my internet connection? Could it be the Microsoft Office? Another thing that’s new is the AMD Catalyst Control Center that came preinstalled. I have Windows 8 and I didn’t have this on Windows XP. Please tell me what this programs is or and if it is essential or not. If it’s not important, how can I uninstall it? Thanks! Internet access on new PC There are a few things that come to mind upon reading your case. Comparing your old computer to your new one is like comparing apples and oranges. Both are so different based on their hardware. Supposedly, the newer computer would have a faster internet connection compared to the old computer, given that they both are connected to the same internet connection because it has a faster processor, a faster disk and an overall better hardware and features. The internet connection factor The internet connection should be the determining factor whether you have a fast internet browsing experience or not and not the computer itself. A few things that you should consider in this case: One is if you are connecting both computers to the internet. They are forced to share and divide the internet connection between them thus slowing down either one or both. If your two computers are doing something on the internet all at the same time then they will also become slower. Usually, the things that you do on the internet should not affect either one of your computers significantly. It will only affect the connection if one is doing some heavy task such as a download or a Microsoft Update. These actions could be the cause of a slower internet connection. Pre-installed software Because you mentioned that this happens on your new computer, there’s one more thing that could be causing it to have a slower internet connection. It isn’t surprising for new computers to come without some of the essential software that should have been pre-installed. Generally, having too much stuff run all at the same time on your computer affects its overall performance. If this is the case for you, I’m afraid I don’t have a single solution since the proper solution differs from one computer to another based on their manufacturer and make. The Software If I were in your shoes, I would do exactly what you are doing; analyze every software that’s on the machine and uninstall those that you don’t need or don’t want. Software that’s installed on your PC but are not running should not affect anything. In your case, that’s Microsoft Office. Having it or not having it on your PC should not make any difference. We can eliminate Microsoft Office to be the factor why you are having a slower internet connection. What could be affecting the speed of your internet is the software that’s running while you are experiencing the issue. If you don’t mind downloading and installing one more software, I would suggest you to get the Process Explorer. This program will be able to show you the different programs on your computer and which ones are hogging the different resources and affecting all the others. It is possible that one program requires too many resources in order for it to run and is making everything else slow down. That’s not all the possible factors though. It could also be that the hard disk has some issues or it is simply slower than the hard disk on your old computer. While that’s a possibility, I doubt that it is the case for you. So I would like to ask you to check on the software that’s installed on your PC and the one that’s running while you are experiencing the issues that you are talking about. Catalyst Control You wanted to know more about the AMD Catalyst Control Center. The AMD Catalyst Control Center is a software that’s designed specifically for the video card. The video card on your computer is using an underlying technology from AMD. The Catalyst Control Center on the other hand is a software that enables you to configure, play around with and control the different characteristics of the video card. I have it on my own machine and I suggest that you leave it alone. This is not a performance hog issue. This case should not affect much of anything. Especially not the internet performance of your computer nor the overall performance. It’s a simple useful utility that allows you to manipulate the more advanced settings on the video display of your PC. Different browser Since you are running on Windows 8, I reckon you have Internet Explorer 10. I suggest that you try using it to see if you still have the same problem. You can also go for Firefox or Google Chrome. Try using them and see if your internet connection is still slower. The internet should be faster on one of three browsers.

Is the Cloud dangerous?

David Taylor — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:37:06 +0000

Many people are having second thoughts about using the Cloud what with the security compromises occurring more and more. My say regarding this matter is, its safety depends on you, the user. You’re just unaware that you are already using it.

Someone once told me that the Cloud is dangerous. It was a response to my discussion about the recent public online hacking. I talked about the lessons we should all learn from the hacking incident and one of the responses were, that is why the Cloud is dangerous.

I don’t blame him for thinking that. In fact, I think that a lot more people share the same sentiments as that guy.

I think it is a misconception though.

And I think that those who think that are missing out on the many advantages of the Cloud. Thinking that it is dangerous stops you from enjoy its benefits such as protecting your own data.

The same goes for a lot of the things that you have been doing in the past years.

The Cloud

Let’s begin by getting rid of the marketing term “the Cloud”. The words the Cloud is nothing more than just a marketing term and has no real meaning whatsoever or significance to what it actually is.

Technically, the Cloud is just the services available online on the internet. That’s all it is. Nothing more, nothing less.

What it refers to when I say services that are available online on the internet are the services that allow you to communicate to others, services that offer different applications, services that offer you online storage of your data, services that sell things, services that answer your questions and so on. They all happen in the Cloud.

That’s really not a new technology.

Nothing but a name

Online services have been available quite some time now and they are nothing new in the world of internet.

· E-mails are sent and received through the Cloud.

· The Cloud is the one keeping all your e-mail in your online e-mail program like Gmail and Hotmail.

· If you are using a photo sharing website like Photobucket, Picassa or Flickr, you’re using the Cloud.

· Backing up using an online back-up service is backing up in the Cloud.

Now you know how much you use the Cloud?

What I am trying to make you understand is that the Cloud is something that we all have been using all along. It’s nothing new, really. We have all been using it before it was coined the name the Cloud and you are just unaware that it is what it actually is.

Let’s cut all the crap, deviate from the fancy name and call it what it really is, online services.

So are online services dangerous?

Not more dangerous as it was back then.

I can fairly say that online services are generally safer now as it was before since service providers have learned from past mistakes and industry breaches.

What I can say for certain that has changed is the expanse of the availability of online services as well as the number of users it has acquired.

That fact remains that anything becomes dangerous if misused.

Let’s say you put sensitive information on your online e-mail account and you don’t back it up and then you don’t practice necessary security measures to ensure the very security of that e-mail account. That could be dangerous but it isn’t the e-mail account or the e-mail service provider that’s dangerous. How you use it is what makes it dangerous.

The concept applies to any services online including those that you have used for years and the buzz generating ones.

Service Providers

If you hear or read about security breaches, you’ll find that many blame the service providers. Even if the fault is not directly by the service providers, it is somehow related to them.

Some are true but not all.

That news isn’t new though.

For as long as service providers are around, there will always be mistakes done by them, security breaches at services providers and policy mistakes at the service providers.

I’ll have to clarify that I am not making excuses for service providers to make mistakes or screw up. They should do everything they can to prevent mistakes and should work to avoid security related problems under any cost.

Having said that, reality check proves that service providers are manned by, none other than humans and it is inevitable for humans to make mistakes. We can never say that there will never be mistakes.

Besides it is for the best to anticipate the worst and we are our own worst enemies when it comes to security issues.

Update

I know of a computer expert, let’s call him Phil, who recently released the statement that he is a bigger believer of the cloud services than he was. Mind you, he said that after recovering from a major hacking incident.

While everyone else blames the cloud from any mishaps, he is not one to judge.

I couldn’t agree with him more.

Protect yourself

Let’s discuss more about Phil’s statements and what happened to him. He is the same person who said that the Cloud is dangerous.

He did not lose all his data because of the hacking incident he experienced.

He did not lose all his data because of issues pertaining to online services although there were surely issues with it.

The reason why he lost all his data is because he did not back them up. He was bound to lose his data anyway. It was just a matter of how. If he lost his laptop or had a hard disk failure, he would have lost his data too.

If only he backed up all his data, we wouldn’t be talking about him because there would be no story to tell.

Moreover, Phil helped the hackers. Obviously not upfront but the fact that he linked all his account together, he made the hacker’s job much easier and lead to them being able to access all his accounts.

I’ll just blurt it out; online services aren’t the ones that are dangerous, it is how we take responsibility for our own belongings.

I’ll take a risk of sounding like a nagger, this isn’t new.

Safety with online services

We are all aware of the guidelines in online safety, you should be. Safety with online services is the same as the general guidelines plus couple.

Don’t forget the common sense. It is much needed.

· Number one, back-up. Remember that storing it in only one place is not backing it up.

· Keep all of your account recovery information in a safe place with a strong password. Always have strong passwords in all your accounts. If you may, use two factor authentication methods.

· Know the risks of using a computer other than yours when accessing personal accounts.

· Know the risks of using public internet connection and use them with all necessary security measures.

· Never link your sensitive accounts that make them vulnerable when one has been breached. It will help to use different passwords and e-mail addresses for each account.

· Regularly update your software, scan your entire computer for malware and other threats and follow all other steps to ensure computer safety.

If you have always practiced the proper security methods to ensuring online safety, you might be surprised about the using new e-mail addresses for different accounts. It is a fairly new guideline but has been found to be very effective in keeping the breach to only one account.

Safety

It doesn’t make a difference whether you keep your data securely locked on your PC and tuck it away at a safe place in your house than to keep the data in the Cloud. None of these methods can perfectly and completely secure your data. No method can do that. There is always something bound to go wrong.

The best that you can do is follow the online security guidelines to best secure yourself. This is the only way to safely use online services.

If you use them to their full potential, you can even maximize security by having an additional back-up, replicate data, delete e-mail accounts and so much more.

You can only depend on yourself with these things and take full responsibility for your own safety. Not only should you take every security measure to prevent future problems but do everything you can to minimize the impact should something go wrong.

If you must, you can ensure total safety by not using online services, including e-mail providers but that would take away all the many conveniences that online services has to offer.

I would suggest that instead of being afraid of the dangers of the Cloud, take advantage of the safety measures to fully enjoy the services. The perks of the Cloud are too many to give it all up.

Instant Google Street View, an Amazingly Fun Little Tool

David Taylor — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 17:20:08 +0000

A pretty great little tool that you can switch back and forth between classic view and maps view. If you a person who loves traveling, you would want this amazingly fun little tool to become your best friend! Just type in those names of places, addresses or locations that you want to go visit, virtually. It’s amazing how much fun you could have just by typing in those words in QSView.com that will magically bring you to that place where you’re thinking of going. You might stumble to some places that will pop up that are kind of relative to what you’ve typed in which is an addition to your fun-filled experience! Read more: http://gizmodo.com/5963731/instant-google-street-view-autocompletes-map-searches-on-the-fly

Five Things that Shaped the 21st Century

David Taylor — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 14:25:08 +0000

In the last couple of years, we have seen some crossover points that took place at around the same time. There is the increase of cell phones than landlines, the increase of laptops than desktops, the increase of debit cards than credit cards, the increase of farmed fish than wild fish and the increase of college girls than boys, to name a few. Here are 5 of the top forces that are changing the 21^st century right this very moment.

Big data explosion. In just a couple of years, about 10 times more data has now been created than in all of history. The amount of videos in YouTube is far more than all the movies that Hollywood has created since it started.
Rise of mobility. It took a century to have one billion landlines; it took a decade to have a billion cell phones; and only a single year to have one billion smartphones. In no time, everyone will own a smartphone.
Emergence of platforms. Years back, you need to be a large corporation in order to reach an equally large number of people. These days, there is Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many other platforms where you can reach big audiences from around the world.
Rise of Asia. Some hundred years ago, China and India held two-thirds of the economy of the world. In the 21^st century, it seems that we are now going back to that state.
Math winning over Science. This means that people do not already have to know the “why” of everything. Rather, it is the “what” that they are looking for now.

By taking into consideration these five forces, anyone can already build their own successful business. By thinking outside the box and being passionate, creative and innovative, anyone can make the world a better place to live.

It’s My Boss Sending Friend Request- Should I Click “Confirm” Button or the “Not Now” Button?

Michele Stephen — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 14:22:34 +0000

One of the common factors we share is those moments of trying to decide whether to “accept” or to “ignore” those friend requests on Facebook. Does it necessarily mean that you are hiding something when you ignore your boss’ friend request? Or you’re protecting yourself from the embarrassment you might get from the negative reflections that could be seen on your wall? Whatever your reason is, I think protecting one’s reputation online, is an integral part of our social media success, individually or corporately. Remember then these 4 social media friending strategy that you can start with that might work for you: Do I know you? “Do I know you?” is not a bad question to ask especially in the world of social media. It is actually a good starting point in trying to protect yourself from the harm that can be introduced that will eventually poorly reflect on your personal brand. Do I know you professionally? Coming from my own perspective, I think LinkedIn is a place where like-minded professionals interact. And so if you don’t have a real good reason to connect professionally, don’t hit that button that says “connect” or “accept” in a LinkedIn network. Are we interested in the same things? People who share common interest tend to be attracted to each other. I tend to add people in one of my circles who I find to be like-minded. Are we friends outside of cyberspace? Facebook is one of the many Social Media that gives us the chance to keep in touch to people despite geographical distances. It is then important to consider whether or not you are in the same circle of friends outside cyberspace.

Consumers Know Something that Marketers Don’t

Michele Stephen — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 12:25:15 +0000

With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and all those other events that seemed to coerce people into buying something, it seems that people are now faced with a never-ending slew of exhortations to spend their money. But, of course, in order to buy something, consumers will have to make a decision and narrow down what they actually want to buy. This means that those products that will sell most are those that consumers are actually engaged in. Considering this, it appears that the “brand engagement” is not exactly what marketers think it is. Everyone is well aware of engagement and its value on both the consumer and the marketer. Among customers, it is a way to feel more invested in – and therefore, happier – with their purchases. On the other side of the spectrum, for marketers, it is a way to build ongoing relationships with loyal customers who will hopefully keep patronizing (and purchasing) their products. In the past, measuring engagement was very difficult. It was then a murky concept and is not easily quantified via anything other than repeated foot traffic and sales. But with the advent of social media, we seemed to have a rather straightforward way of quantifying the bond between the brand and its loyal consumers. It has come to quantify what was once unquantifiable, giving marketers a clear and easy way to directly communicate with their customers and keep track of their actions. It is not a surprise to see branded Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, and the opportunity to “pin” and “like” anything that a customer likes. But here’s where things get interesting, consumers do not necessarily consider these things as engagement. It is something that they already expect and only notice it when it is not happening. Somewhere along the line, these techniques ceased to become customer engagement and have now become just a requirement.

Online Shoppers, Be Wary of Cyber Attacks this Holiday Season

Michele Stephen — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 11:45:01 +0000

The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) released a new survey revealing that online shoppers this year should be extra careful with their web activities, particularly with shopping online. The industry analysts forecasted that online retail shopping this year will generate a 15% increase from the previous year, raising expected sales figures to go more than $68 billion.

Online spending season for the holidays officially starts this week and holiday shoppers can expect cyber criminals to be in full-force this year with more scams targeting online advertising deals and social media up to December. Shoppers who use their smart gadgets and laptops for online commerce are already exercising the necessary precautions but the survey by NCSA reveals that there are critical areas where online users expose themselves, making them vulnerable to attacks. Take note and adopt the following key tactics to safeguard your online transactions this season.

Download apps or install security software. Sixty-three percent of people who shop through their smartphones in the past half year do not secure their device from malware or viruses.
Be wary of the data that you store in your device. There are people who store personal and business records in their devices, which is the top content that cybercriminals seek.
If something is too good to be true, it most like is. Ask communications that offer too-amazing deals and ask that they give you a link to their website.
Be a sophisticated WiFi user. Utilize a Virtual Private Network to make sure that all your communications over unsecure WiFi networks remain secure.
Make sure that the site you shop in is legitimate. The address bar on your web browser should come with a closed padlock. Or the URL address should begin with “http” or “https”.

When your identity gets stolen, change the passwords on all your online accounts, close any compromised or unauthorized charge or credit accounts, and file a report with your local enforcement agency.

Upcoming Macs May Feature ATI 7000 Series Graphics

Jay Stevens — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 11:24:47 +0000

Apple recently released a new OS X10.8.3 developer preview build to its testing community. Upon investigation, some of the people were able to find that the build comes with new drivers for the high-end Radeon 7000 series graphics cards of AMD. Those who were able to test the build using PC versions of the Radeon 7973 found out that the card works, suggesting that there are new hardware possibilities for Apple currently in the works.

Years back, Apple has been switching back and forth from one graphics processor to another, particularly with Nvidia and AMD with hardware changes. Currently, its systems are using the Nvidia hardware except for the Mac Pro line which comes with the Radeon HD 5770 by default. With evidence that the Radeon 7000 might be supported, Apple might be once again looking to switch some of its systems (MacBook and iMac models) with built-in graphics to AMD graphics, although it is more likely that a Mac Pro update is bound to come out anytime soon.

It is not unknown that the Mac Pro is the least popular of all the Mac offerings of Apple. Plus, it is apparent that Apple is putting utmost focus on its mobile products as of the moment, which pushes the Mac Pro further from their priorities. There is, however a niche market among technical and creative professional who are in need of raw power to which Apple is offering support for new graphics options.

The new support for a high-end GPU can come with changes to the CTO offerings for current Mac Pro models in the Apple Store, also suggesting that the company is keeping its Mac Pro around. This suggests that those who currently own and are using Mac Pros can upgrade their graphics in order to take advantage of the newest AMD offerings.