How-To Geek

While Windows, Mac, and maybe Linux are the dominant OSes today, there are others that never made it. Here are some of my favorite OSes that never had a chance in the marketplace.

As technology continues to evolve, I take privacy very seriously, especially given growing concerns about identity theft and data collection policies. My phone number is also part of that identity profile, which means yours is too. Sure, I can control which apps I download and who I give my number to, but many things require my smartphone's number.

I had higher hopes for the 2026 Genesis GV60 Performance AWD when the automaker recently loaned me one for a week here in Detroit. It was a sharp-looking vehicle that's for sure, finished in Uyuni White over a Sky Blue and Prussian interior, with all the hallmarks of a luxurious electric SUV listed on the window sticker.

Google Maps feels like an app that's perfectly suited to a phone, but with its growing number of features, it's becoming increasingly cluttered. I recently switched to using my laptop whenever I wanted to plot a route in Google Maps. It turns out it's so much better.

So you've finally got gigabit broadband and Ethernet and Wi-Fi to match. Just a few years ago, this would be an impossible dream, but it's becoming the norm for more and more people. Now, at last, you can stop worrying about how fast your home network is and relax—just kidding!

I'm sick of the poor quality, occasionally poor photos my phone's default camera app produces. While some of this is 100% a skill issue (I'm a hobbyist photographer at best), I sometimes feel like my photos just don't look as good as I'd like. So I tested a few camera apps to see which one took the best-quality photos.

Cadillac hasn't built a true one-off concept since the Cien debuted at the 2002 Detroit Auto Show, a drivable V12 supercar that hinted at where Cadillac's performance ambitions were headed, right up until the cost of its custom engine and a projected $200,000 price tag kept it from ever reaching production.

Nothing starts a conversation faster with high school or college kids than an addictive Netflix series. These shows will spark debates that should spread across campus. It's the kind of show where, if you don't watch, you'll feel completely left out. I felt that way when Stranger Things first premiered and it became a true word-of-mouth show.

I finally decided to jailbreak my Kindle and install KOReader. Doing so has given me access to features that aren't possible on a standard Kindle. I set up an automation that turns off my bedside light when I've finished reading, and I can't get enough of it.

Most people who use Excel on Android tried it once, decided it wasn't worth the hassle, and went back to their laptop. That's a reasonable conclusion if you haven't used it lately, but the mobile version has gotten a lot better. The features that used to make spreadsheet work on a phone feel like a punishment have gotten fixed. In fact, I don’t even mind using Microsoft Excel on my phone anymore.

I thought I had a good handle on what started when I turned on my Windows PC. Then I opened Microsoft's Autoruns and was surprised by how many more entries it showed me. So I decided to investigate them to see which ones actually mattered and how much they were using my PC's resources.

The Raspberry Pi 5 is a fairly capable SBC, but it doesn't make a great desktop—as soon as you start trying to multitask, browser tabs start to lag, and the entire system will struggle. Between a relatively low-power GPU, the limitations of a microSD card boot drive (which is the default unless you buy an M.2 hat), and a CPU that will readily thermally throttle without active cooling, it just isn't up to the job.

I bought my first cordless power tool over 20 years ago, and it was a shiny new Milwaukee V28 with a lithium-ion battery. Who remembers the V28 line? It was a big, expensive purchase, and over the years I've bought Milwaukee tools here and there, but eventually I got rid of them all and switched to Ryobi. Here's why.

When you're navigating from A to B, the last thing you want to do is constantly switch back and forth between different apps. Any time you spend off the Google Maps navigation screen is time when you could miss that crucial turn. Thankfully, Google Maps has some useful integrations that mean you don't need to keep flipping from app to app.

Whenever the discussion about physical media and its inevitable demise comes up, the argument that "discs rot and degrade" will inevitably raise its head.

As great as 3D printing is, you can often tell when an object has come off a print bed and not out of an injection mold. This mostly comes down to layer lines, an inescapable symptom of the filament deposition modeling process.

Learning Python from lectures and textbooks works for some, but I know firsthand how difficult it is to learn that way. When you can actually put your knowledge to use in a game, it's much easier to learn. Most CS courses get you comfortable with syntax and give you problems that have one clean answer and a grade attached. However, it's more fun to go to Python games that put you in situations where the code either works or it visibly doesn't, and the feedback arrives fast enough that you actually learn something from it.

Routers, while important, are not the most interesting bit of tech, and most people aren't interested in learning what all those toggles in the settings actually do.

When it comes to long-term value, few cars hold their resale power like this popular hatchback. Even after five years, it retains a surprising percentage of its original price, making it a standout in a market where depreciation often hits new vehicles hard.

Do you remember your younger years, talking to your friends over AOL Instant Messenger? Wouldn't you like to try it out again? Well, you can, and I did. I fired up this blast from the past to see if it's as fun as it once was.