At some point you may want to disable the touch screen to strictly use your Windows 8 tablet/laptop as a PC with the classic mouse and keyboard combo. There's no built-in option to turn off the touch screen, but Into Windows has a quick workaround.

The product feature that received the biggest cheer during this morning's Build 2013 keynote was decent support in Windows 8.1 for multiple monitors. But for my money the most revealing moment was a very brief demonstration of an alpha of PowerPoint for Windows RT -- that is, an Office app running entirely in the Modern interface. What was revealing? How little it actually did.

Last night I tried some Louisiana fried chicken and went for a quick walk along the Mississippi River near Woldenberg Park. Retiring early for the evening I joined fellow competition winner Adam Webster for pre-conference breakfast at the convention centre. According to the TechEd kitchen so far over eighty-thousand pieces of bacon have been served. As I’ve contributed to that statistic, some serious dieting will need to follow my visit to New Orleans!

Developing apps designed for a touch environment can be deeply challenging if your background is in conventional apps. Here are some tips to make the task less confronting.

Want to make the most of the touch interface on your new Windows 8 tablet, hybrid or desktop? All week we're rounding up the best touch-friendly apps for Windows 8. Today: it's time for some games.

Want to make the most of the touch interface on your new Windows 8 tablet, hybrid or desktop? All week we're rounding up the best touch-friendly apps for Windows 8. Today: apps for tracking your news feeds and finding information fast.

Want to make the most of the touch interface on your new Windows 8 tablet, hybrid or desktop? All week we're rounding up the best touch-friendly apps for Windows 8. Today: apps to control and enhance your entertainment experience.

Want to make the most of the touch interface on your new Windows 8 tablet, hybrid or desktop? All week we're rounding up the best touch-friendly apps for Windows 8. Today: apps to help you work more effectively and be more creative.

Want to make the most of the touch interface on your new Windows 8 tablet, hybrid or desktop? All week we're rounding up the best touch-friendly apps for Windows 8. Today: tools to make social networking even easier.

Here at TechEd Australia 2012, I got the chance to play with Acer's upcoming Windows 8-powered Aspire S7. It's one of several touchscreen Ultrabooks we'll see arrive in October, alongside hybrid laptop/tablets from big brands like Sony, Lenovo, Asus, Dell and HP.

Windows 8 is very touch-centric, but which gestures are actually supported? This handy graphic summarises the main new options for Windows 8 on a tablet or touch screen.

One of my main reasons for using a BlackBerry has always been that I do a lot of writing and text manipulation on my phone while travelling, and for those purposes a well-designed built-in keyboard is essential. But I've had to face facts: in recent months, I've been using its touch-screen interface a lot more than I realised.