Are Multiple Cores Better Than One?

Aaron Birch examines whether multiple slower cores are faster than a single speedy one

Advancement and innovation is one of the best things about PC technology and it's one of the reasons so many people choose the PC as their platform of choice, be they workers, social butterflies or gamers. The simple fact that the PC you buy today probably won't be the same as the one you run tomorrow makes the whole thing far more attractive. Unlike many other devices, you're not stuck with the exact same thing you buy months or even years down the line. You can upgrade them, refitting parts and boosting your PC's power and capabilities. Better graphics, more memory, a more capable audio card - it's all possible, with even the CPU, the brain of the computer, being upgradeable.

Cutting Edge: Web Browsers

Where can you get the latest web browsers with bleeding-edge features? Roland Waddilove shows how to get them and what to expect

Web browsers are one of the most frequently updated applications, with new versions released every couple of months. Minor updates are even more frequent, with updates often silently installed in the background. This means that browsers slowly evolve over time through the many updates they receive.

In addition to the stable release software that is pushed out to the public, there are beta versions of all the web browsers. These contain new features that are currently being tested before they're made available to everyone. Beta software is under development and a work in progress, so it might not be as stable the finished product, although web browsers are more stable than you might think. It's not as if they crash constantly, and a beta can be reliable enough for everyday use.

Mobile Operating Systems

Ian McGurren passes a judging eye over the mobile world's current operating systems

Yes, another year, another roundup of the latest iterations of the biggest mobile operating systems. We've given them a few months to bed in, release the odd point update and even for their desktop counterparts to catch up (hello, iOS), so have any of them made substantial gains or stupid mistakes, and is there a new best-in-show? Let's take a look at what they all have to offer, as well as considering what features they might be missing that we'd like to see.

Screamride

Life is a rollercoaster, just gotta… spend hours building it

Screamride is like Drayton Manor, Gulliver’s Kingdom, or any of those lesser theme parks. It looks like it should be fun – there are lively colours and sounds, and lots of different things to try – but ultimately, it’s not quite there. This is a well-intentioned game, and you certainly can’t criticise it for lack of effort, but, well, maybe that’s the problem. Maybe it’s because Screamride seems so desperate to entertain you that it ends up falling flat. The creationmechanics are a good example of that. Screamride has a campaign, whichwe’ll get to later, but its biggest draw is the Roller coaster Tycoon-esque sandbox mode, which lets you create and customise an amusement park to your heart’s content. There are hundreds of different toys to play with, ranging from loop-the-loops to turbo chargers, and you can even design the colour and shape of your park’s surroundings, tweaking everything from the pavements to the foliage.

Mortal Kombat: Get Over Here!

We’re playing as Raiden, and we’ve just grabbed a man by the crotch and electrocuted him. But that’s not enough – this is Mortal Kombat – sowe broke his jaw by swinging our heel into it. The X-Ray cam zoomed upon this, too, andwe sawasingle tooth fly out of his mouth. Still not content, Raiden dug his hand into the man’s back flesh, grabbed his spine and electrocuted the doomed kombatant through and through. Oh, and just before we pulled off the fatality, we punch his liver to death, too. Raiden’s back, ladies and gentlemen, and he is pulling no punches.

Raiden’s been with Mortal Kombat since the beginning, a crazy 22 years ago. But the Guardian of Earth realm has seen perhaps the biggest change now – in the game’s tenth release, instead of just wailing on your opponents with that crazy across-the-screen lightning dash, or a grapple that electrocutes their brains, Raiden has been given three ‘Variations’ – King Of Storms, Displacer and Thunder God.