With Windows 7 arriving soon, is now the time to upgrade to 64-bit? Here's the first part of our guide to everything you need to know

A solid, assured drive with plenty of interfaces and enough style to justify the price.

A new interface and extra web-protection capabilities make AVG our top free antivirus choice

A free package that scores highly, beating almost all its big-name competition. It’s just a shame it’s such a nag

Our full guide to saving cash-saving secrets is here, from how to get discounts on PCs, to SIM only phone contracts, the best DSLR cameras deals, and discount licensing from Adobe, Microsoft and others.

Still not sure whether it's worth upgrading to Vista? We put XP and Vista through the ultimate face-off.

High-capacity desktop drives have never been so affordable. Darien Graham-Smith puts 23 to the test to find the best

Stack your system full of software without paying a penny, with our guide to essential downloads

A well-featured package with some unusual tricks that falls just short of a first-rate performance.

A broad and likeable package, but needs better malware detection.

AMD’s next generation of CPUs brings 45nm technology and higher clock speeds - but is that enough to compete with Intel’s latest and greatest?

A credible contender, but F-Secure Internet Security 2009 is neither the lightest nor the most effective security suite for your PC

An affordable way to get excellent frame rates.

Comprehensive, competent and configurable protection at a good price. This is the best security suite out there

A comprehensive package, but not the most usable or effective

An improvement on last year’s package, but sadly still flawed.

Lighter than ever, but its all-round performance isn’t quite first class.

A fierce protector when it comes to web threats, but merely middling elsewhere

There may be two main CPU manufacturers, but picking the right processor is anything but simple. We put 51 CPUs through their paces

Intel’s three new CPUs promise Core i7 power in an economical and efficient package. We put them through their paces to see whether small really is beautiful