PC World's 30 Most Popular Stories of 2007

Downloads, TVs, Cameras, and More

11. 15 Great, Free Security Programs: If you have a Windows computer, you have security headaches to worry about. For this download extravaganza, we focused on ways to ward off spyware, viruses, and hackers without spending a nickel.

12. 15 Great Free Utilities You've Never Heard Of: If you've read all the way to this point in this list of our hits, you know that people love to come to PC World to learn about useful free software. This story is yet more evidence of that.

13. How to Buy a Flat-Screen TV: In the market for an HDTV? You have company--lots and lots of it. Our guide to the products, technologies, and specs is an essential resource, all year long.

14. Top 10 Compact Cameras: Cameras have been a hot topic for PCW since the dawn of digital photography, but as our reviews show, you've never been able to get so much camera in such a small case for so little money.

15. Cell phone reviews: Computers may look more and more alike these days, but wireless phones are anything but a commodity. And we're thankful that we haven't had to change our name to Phone World to become a popular source of information on them.

16. The 20 (Mostly Free) Downloads You Can't Do Without: Here's yet another collection of helpful downloads for customizing, troubleshooting, and speeding up Windows. We won't stop doing 'em until we run out of good picks, or the world loses interest--and we don't think either of those scenarios will play out anytime soon.

17. Great Free Files--20 Fantastic Open-Source Downloads: Some open-source apps are household names, like Firefox. But there's plenty of good stuff you might not know about, such as the utilities, multimedia tools, and other downloads in this feature.

18. Before They Spoiled the Software: With software, newer isn't always better--sometimes, it's slower, more annoying, and less intuitive. So we called out some examples of programs that have moved in the wrong direction over the years, and showed readers how to grab the older, sprightlier versions that made the applications popular in the first place.

19. Desktop reviews: Portable computers may be taking over the planet, but plenty of people are still shopping for solid desktop computers. No surprise, then, that they're still among the most popular review subjects on our site.

20. How to Buy a Laptop: If you go to Google and type the simple phrase "how to buy a laptop," the first link you see will take you to this buying guide. That's presumably one reason why the story is a year-round hit.