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

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

After the disappointment - perceived or otherwise - of Windows Vista, many are pinning their hopes on a revival with Windows 7. And from our first impressions of the pre-beta code, that's exactly what they can expect.

LGA 1366 is Intel's first new desktop socket in four years. It uses the same ZIF design as the familiar LGA 775 architecture, but it incorporates many more contacts

A winner on the strength of its excellent protection, coming first or equal-first in our malware and firewall test.

The move to a new platform brings credible new challengers to Intel’s Core 2 processors

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

From personal printers to home office colour, we put 12 lasers through their paces. Some are lightning fast; others produce dazzling colour. Some are tiny, and some are surprisingly cost-effective.

This motherboard is a promising appetiser – although the real meal is yet to come.

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

Symantec’s latest offering is lighter than ever and an extremely effective security package. And get this, a RAM footprint smaller than Kaspersky

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

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

Top-notch print quality makes this a contender, but it isn’t fast

A competent card with older games, but it can’t handle the new generation of games.

A surprise return to form for Nvidia, as this card matches ATI’s latest for both performance and value.

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?

With so many factors to consider, choosing a motherboard can be a bewildering exercise. We put 11 models through their pace to find the ultimate in performance, flexibility and value

When it comes to getting real work done, there’s still nothing to compete with a laser printer’s combination of quality, speed and economy. We tell you how to choose a busines laser, plus review 3 examples.

Fifteen security packages go head to head in our labs test, including Kaspersky, Norton, ZoneAlarm, McAfee, F-Secure and AVG. Find out which will keep you safe and which could let you down.