How-To Geek

Every year, someone jokes that this may just be the "year of the Linux desktop." It's a meme. But under the radar, enough pieces are falling into place that someday we might look back on 2026 as the year, not of the Linux desktop, but of Android-based ones.

BMW’s midsize luxury SUV has long been the benchmark for buyers who want performance, prestige, and everyday usability in one package. But a newer challenger from Korea is forcing shoppers to rethink that default choice. With a lower price, a longer list of standard features, and a growing reputation for long-term dependability, this luxury SUV is proving that you don’t need a German badge to get a truly premium experience.

If you're trying to squeeze a few more movies into the weird in-between stretch of the month/year we find ourselves in right now, you've come to the right place. I regularly dig through the huge library of movies on Paramount+, and as we wait for the new swath of titles for January 2026 to arrive, below are three excellent movies to watch this week.

RSS is older than most of the stuff we use on the Internet on a daily basis. It's older than Facebook, it's older than this very website, and it's just as old as Google. And it remains very widely used because it's tremendously useful.

As we celebrate the passing of one year and welcome the arrival of a new one, we’re doing so in style with Amazon Prime Video.

You've probably been using ps, df, and curl for years, but there's always room for improvement. I know I'm always on the lookout for new tools, and perhaps you are too? If that's the case, I have three modern replacements for these tools that you may appreciate.

As we leave 2025 behind and enter the new year, there is one thing we know for sure: Netflix has plenty of great movies to watch. That said, there is ample trash too, and you shouldn't waste your time watching a turkey.

Do you like the freedom Linux offers but hate how it looks by default? Or do you love macOS’s polished, modern design but dislike its restrictive nature? Either way, here are five macOS-like Linux desktop environments that let you pair freedom with aesthetic polish.

Working remotely, I often switch between a desktop computer at home and a laptop when I’m out and about. That’s as simple as it gets; in theory, I could work anywhere, on any computer, with just a few basic requirements.

Notepad has been a hallmark of the Windows operating system for decades, and for most of that Notepad has been largely unchanged. It has been simple, reliable, and one of my go-to programs. Recent updates have changed that, and I've started using something else entirely.

Look at almost any mission-critical computer system in the world—servers, workstations, embedded computers, and many more—and you'll see Linux in some form. The open-source juggernaut may not have a large share in the desktop market (yet), but when stability, security, and uptime actually matter, Linux seems to be the OS of choice.

2025 has proven to be a strange year for PC hardware, with DRAM prices surging late in the year just as graphics cards released at the start of the year began to fall in price.

The movie Flow was made on a small budget, with a modest team of people, all within the open-source 3D modeling software Blender. Yet, the result was good enough to snag this plucky film an Oscar for "Best Animated Feature."

In 2020, Apple pulled off one of the rarest events in the world of computers—a multi-generational leap. The first generation of Apple Silicon chips weren't just better than the Intel Macs that had come before, they were substantially better in every way. They were so good, that most people didn't need anything more than the cheapest Mac Apple sold—five years later, they still don't.

I love tinkering with my smart home. It's provided me with endless hours of fun and has made many aspects of my home life simpler. I have one terrible smart home habit, however, and it's one I don't see myself shaking any time soon.

Electric vehicles are becoming more capable, but long range and affordability rarely go hand in hand. Many EVs that promise 300 miles of driving on a single charge come with price tags that put them out of reach for mainstream buyers. That’s what makes this particular model so compelling. It delivers true long-range capability while remaining one of the most affordable electric vehicles you can buy today.

Smart switches are the usual go-to choice for reliable, full-featured smart home lighting. Be that as it may, they're not always the right option, and sometimes they're not even an option. While tech geeks like to scoff at smart bulbs, I personally love them for one simple reason—they're plug-and-play. Allow me to explain.

Microsoft included a new Terminal app with the 2022 update of Windows 11, and it quickly became one of my go-to apps. Before Terminal, you had to load PowerShell, Command Prompt, and WSL windows separately, which made me want to avoid using the command-line on Windows whenever possible. The Terminal app unifies all those shells and the apps I run inside them save me a lot of time.

All we need is for Apple to release a foldable iPhone, and we can officially say that the 2020s are the decade of the foldable phone. But we did have foldables in the 2010s, too. Kind of. Here's what they looked like.

There are tons of Linux distributions out there, and for better or worse, the list keeps growing. Here are some 2025 arrivals fresh out of the open source operating system development oven.