How-To Geek

Windows Media Player (WMP) used to be the best. It didn't quite whip the Llama's behind, but I remember a time when it was fantastic. But, as these things tend to do, it got worse over time. Streaming came along, people shifted away from local media players, and Microsoft just shifted its focus elsewhere. Windows 11 replaced it with Media Player, but you can still access the legacy version of WMP. Better media players that could handle more formats appeared, and Microsoft kept breaking WMP features. WMP lost me completely last yearwhen I tried to rip a brand-new CD I bought and discovered the database that used to pull metadata no longer worked (the CD in question was Richard Thompson’s The Old Kit Bag, if you're curious). Fortunately, there are a bunch of fantastic open-source alternatives. Here are some of my favorites.

It's always frustrating when you can no longer use a perfectly functional gadget because the company behind it shuts down the service or stops developing the software. Thankfully, the open-source community has found plenty of ways to keep using old devices that would otherwise become e-waste.

One of the perks of Linux is that both the operating system and the vast majority of apps are free. Yet if you try to buy a PC that comes with Linux, you might end up spending more than buying one with Windows. Why spend that extra money when you can install Linux on an existing computer for free?

Time is a valuable thing. As much as I would love to watch and finish a show in one sitting, it's unattainable to do every weekend. If you're like me, you're always on the go. Thanks to streaming, you can take your favorite shows on the road and watch them on a phone.

For most of my Windows-using life, there was an annual ritual we all got to know very well. When your computer started getting slow and creaky, you'd back up all your files to a separate medium, format your system disk, and reinstall Windows.

While SSDs get all the glory these days, mechanical hard drives are not only still in use, they're advancing in both speed and capacity. These devices hold huge amounts of data all over the world, but that data is just not likely to be in your house.

Two years ago, I refused to use AI in any way, shape, or form. Today, I use it heavily, but not necessarily in the ways you might think. I don't use AI to think for me, but I have definitely turned my $100 ChatGPT Pro subscription into a virtual assistant for my small business. Here are three projects that have justified my subscription, and I can't wait to find more ways to continue justifying it without increasing what I spend.

When you buy an iPhone or an Android phone, you'll not only get the underlying operating system, but also the apps that form part of a specific ecosystem. So, for example, you'll find Google Drive, Google Play, and various other Google apps that are not actually part of the core Android build.

After years of complaints about how little you could customize the Windows Start menu, Microsoft is finally overhauling it in the 26H2 update. In reality, though, they are only catching up to something an open-source app figured out years ago. Meet Flow Launcher, a keyboard-first app launcher that is superior to the current Start menu from all directions.

My current phone is the most expensive one Motorola sells — the Razr Fold. But I've fallen in love with many more adorable Moto phones over the years: a Moto E, a Moto G, a Moto G Stylus, and a Moto Edge. Some of these were very cheap, but they punched above their weight, and it's possible to jazz them up even further still.

Thrillers are currently dominating Netflix's weekly top 10. The Whisper Man, which was one of our top movies to watch in August, remains at No. 1. The Secret Woman and Ready or Notalso landed in the top 10, so thrillers are of interest to subscribers at the moment.

I spent nearly six years running a dual-socket decade-old Xeon server as my primary NAS. Recently, I moved to an off-the-shelf Ugreen NAS and started comparing the two. The thing is, they really can't be compared, and I realized I've spent way more money on that old Lenovo than I originally thought.

Most of us learned Microsoft Word while growing up and never really questioned it. It was on most computers, so it became the default for everything, including notes that had no business being formatted like a printed document. You don't need an entire document to take a few notes; you should use an app built to manage them like databases.

I am suspicious of fitness trackers. I'm not saying we can't trust companies to safeguard the data they generate, but it would be nice to not have to trust them in the first place. That is why I've been happy to wear a Pebble Time 2, which is the first Android-compatible product I've worn that generates health metrics without also uploading that information to the web.

If you're new to Linux, or you've happily existed in Mint's easygoing ecosystem for years, you might want to hear what its downsides are. That comfortable feeling may cost you dearly.

Google Lens tends to get catalogued as a way to figure out how to identify plants or translate a menu while traveling. That's true, but it can do a lot more than that. You don't need to wonder about stuff or run vague Google searches to figure it out; Google Lens is basically Google search on your phone.

If you've ever used a mesh Wi-Fi system, you've probably noticed that the satellite nodes usually have a spare Ethernet port. It is tempting to use that port to attach a NAS. After all, it seems like a good way to get your NAS connected without running a cable across the floor or through a wall.

Physical media has been dying quietly for years, and most people didn't fight it because streaming was just easier. Buying a digital copy felt like the same thing, just without the disc. The problem is that it isn't the same thing at all, and it's not just about ownership; it's about the quality that we're all losing out on.

When I first tried out Google Drive, it changed everything. Being able to share files and collaborate on documents with others so easily was a complete game-changer, and it made us all so much more productive.

You want your phone to last as long as it can on a charge, but you should pause before you swipe away those background apps — closing them might cause your phone to use more power, not less. It's counter-intuitive, I know, but here's why.