How do I manage add-ons if the menu item is dimmed in Internet Explorer 9.

Click the little gear symbol to the far right of your browser windows and choose Internet Options from the drop-down menu.

This window will open.

Select the Advanced tab to the far right of the window.

Now scroll down to the Browsing section. It’s a long list, so look carefully.

Make sure that Enable third-party browser extensions is checked.

Hit OK to save the change and restart your computer for it to take effect.

Now if this keeps happening and you haven’t made any changes to your Internet Options, there might be an issue with your profile and you may need to create a new one.

Windows 8 Passes Vista, XP Still Strong

Windows 8 has finally passed the equally unpopular Windows Vista in the number of users according to the Net Applications’ NetMarketshare Tracker.

Windows 8 has been adopted by 5.10 percent of desktop systems tracked in the month of June with Vista dropping to 4.62 % of users.

Windows XP and Windows 7 both held pretty steady. Windows 7 is used by 44.37 of tracked users and Windows XP is still hanging in with 37% of tracked users.

This points to slow but steady growth for Windows 8, but at this rate, it won’t hit XP’s level of popularity until 2016. Many users complained about the touch-friendly Windows 8 interface, finding it confusing and lacking some of the features of earlier Windows Operating systems. Windows 8 relies heavily on apps and was geared toward touch-screen devices and tablets. Windows tablet sales have been slow to take off. However, recently announced changes coming to Windows 8 in Windows 8.1, could help.

Those changes include the return of something close to a Start Button, more control over the look of the Start Screen and better access to the SkyDrive.

Windows XP still has a loyal following despite the fact that Microsoft will be ending XP support in April 2014. That means no new security updates, bug fixes or support for the operating system.

XP will still function on computers, though. So it’s likely many loyal users will refuse to give up the stable, secure platform despite potential security risks.

Typing Tricks

Delete an entire word Instead of deleting a single letter, pressing CTRL + BKSP will delete the entire word behind the cursor. This makes deleting text quicker if you screw up a whole word. 

Move Cursor to beginning of the next or previous word Moving the cursor around manually while typing is a great way to make your work take longer than it needs to. To speed of the process, move the cursor around with keyboard shortcuts. To move it to the beginning of the previous word, use CTRL + Left Arrow. To move it to the beginning of the next word, use CTRL + Right Arrow. In OS X you can accomplish the same using the Option key.

Making sub and superscript text If you need to make sub or superscript text (think exponents for superscript), press CTRL + = for subscript and CTRL + SHIFT + = for superscript.
Paste plain text of what was copied When you copy text from any source, programs will usually copy any formatting that comes with it. To paste this as plain text, press CTRL + Shift + V instead of the standard CTRL + V, and the system will paste unformatted text.
Note that many programs follow this parameter (Chrome, Firefox, etc.) but not all, particularly Microsoft programs like Word or Outlook. For those there's a few alternatives that go beyond copying and pasting in Notepad: 1) CTRL + ALT + V will show a 'paste special' dialog box. 2) CTRL + Spacebar will remove formatting in already pasted text. 3) Download Puretext and choose a hotkey to always paste plain text with it.