With the free products on our new cover DVD, you need never buy software again. So why do we still keep paying?

Useful new features and a total interface overhaul make this the best Office ever.

What does Google’s online office suite and core applications offer over the Microsoft alternative?

Want to break free from a Microsoft world? Leigh Dyer looks at the alternatives.

Leigh Dyer looks at Sun’s attempts to keep Solaris relevant in a Linux world.

Since the release of the Eee PC 701, the 'Notebook' has dominated. Easy to use, cheap and able to be left on the coffee table next to the remote, Notebooks are true appliance computing. The choice of which one to buy comes down to personal preference, but it's hard not to prefer those with the best usability. Our rundown of your options covers their performance, battery life, and design.

Looked outside lately? David Kidd expects more from the Microsoft machine

An old PC is like putty in your hands. Tim Dean looks at how you can shape it into a new system with a few easy upgrades.

Run Windows apps on Linux by running Windows itself. Leigh Dyer shows you how.

These days, when I need to send someone a document, I use email. Just save it as a Word.

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

With such a vast range of portable applications, which ones should you install? And are any worth paying for?

The proliferation of social networking tools in the workplace is becoming a major headache for IT managers.

Not Apache, MySQL or Firefox, but lesser-known apps that serve a particular function very well – a Top Ten of open-source applications you’ve never heard of.

David Kidd investigates why open source software still falls into the same old traps

Tagging is the best system for managing files ever conceived. David Kidd wonders what Google is so afraid of.

You can be proud of an interface you developed, but this is taking it too far.

An often irreverent look at some of the past week's other news.

Online services are growing smarter by the day – but can they replace desktop applications? We spend a week working online to find out.

We’ve examined the data from more than 8000 readers to reveal exactly what sort of reliability, customer service and satisfaction you can expect in 2007.