Stories by Preston Gralla

In Pictures: A deep dive into Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers a new look at Microsoft's upcoming interface for both computers and tablets. Is one device being shortchanged in favor of the other?

10 must-have utilities for small networks

If you have a small network at your business or at home, you need help -- and lots of it. For your home network, you are by default the network administrator. You may also be the de facto network administrator at work, in addition to the other job titles you could claim. And if you are the acknowledged network administrator, you probably have little or no backup staff.

10 great digital photography downloads

Have a digital camera and plenty of photos? Want some help with editing and managing them all? We've rounded up ten downloads that will let you take control of your photos. Whether you're looking for a top-of-the-line photo editor, a great photo manager, or nifty utilities to handle tasks such as finding duplicates, we have just the thing. And every program is free--not only to download but also to use.

10 downloads to power up your printer

What's the most underused productivity tool in your home or office? Your printer. Confined within that unassuming box, however, is a lot of power--far more than you might imagine.

10 great free digital photography downloads

With these free image editors, photo managers, and other utilities, you can take control of your photo collection.

Symantec Norton Internet Security 2010 (beta)

Take a quick glance at the just-released Norton Internet Security 2010, and you won't notice much of a difference from previous incarnations — the interface and feature set are so similar that it appears that only very minimal changes have been made to the suite.

Symantec Norton Internet Security 2010 beta

The just-released beta of Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2010 is more notable for what's under the hood than what you actually see.

Mozilla Firefox 3.5

The Mozilla Firefox 3.5 web browser is a winner, offering significantly faster web browsing, better tab handling, a host of interface tweaks and, like just about every other browser on the planet, a "porn mode".

The 10 biggest annoyances in Outlook

Microsoft's highly capable email client Outlook is glitchy and has too many features for its own good.

Microsoft nearly admits: Wikipedia killed Encarta

Within the last few days Microsoft quietly announced it is killing its Encarta encyclopedia, with the actual date of death October, 2009. What it hinted at, but didn't quite say, was that Wikipedia killed it.

5 great Microsoft Web services you probably don't use

Microsoft is so often the behemoth everyone loves to hate that people overlook the stuff it does right. We tried its newer Web services and found five gems.

Microsoft layoffs: Netbooks sales are killing us

Overlooked in the Microsoft announcement about its layoffs of 5,000 people over the next 18 months is this startling revelation: The company's revenue decline is due, in large part, to the growth in the sales of netbooks.

Which is best for netbooks: Windows 7 or Linux?

Microsoft is clearly positioning Windows 7 as Linux-killer for netbooks. Can it succeed? I've spent considerable time with both Windows 7 and Linux, and here are my conclusions about which operating system is better for netbooks.

Bloggers sneak a peek at Windows 7

The first beta of Microsoft's next OS has been leaked online, and many bloggers already are detailing its new features.

Review: Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 adds speed and privacy

Firefox 3.1 may only be a point release -- from 3.0 to 3.1 -- but its just-released Beta 2 version is a good indication that the final release will be a must-have upgrade for anyone using Firefox.