Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on ...

After nearly a year’s worth of rumors and months of dabbling with the Developer Preview, the much-ballyhooed Windows 8.1 update finally—finally!—lands in the Windows Store Thursday. Microsoft’s ...

Windows 8 stunk. It might have helped cost chief executive Steve Ballmer his job. Windows 8.1 was a bit better — but if you love it, you have only a month or so left to enjoy it. Microsoft will kill ...

Windows 8 was an ambitious operating system. Microsoft’s goal was, and still is, to have a single operating system that can span the traditional PC, the tablet, and everything in between. To do this, ...

Windows has always boasted an impressive assortment of third-party programs that enhance its functionality. However, until recently there wasn’t a single way for users to get applications. Some ...

Windows 8 no longer includes the traditional Start Menu that Windows users have become associated with using. Instead they replaced it with a new interface called the Windows Start Screen that many ...

Windows 8 has the ability to create a bootable USB flash recovery drive that can be used to troubleshoot a Windows 8 computer that is unable to start. A recovery drive is the same as a startup repair ...

Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" ...

We may have a new version of Windows, but one story is still the same: buying a new Windows 8 PC means that you’re also buying a bunch of OEM-installed software that you didn’t ask for. This software ...

Virtualization has swept through the data center in recent years, enabling IT transformation and serving as the secret sauce behind cloud computing. Now it’s time to examine what’s next for ...