Tech Tips 2009 – The Year in Review

by Chris Herzog – January 10, 2010

The beginning of a new year presents us with the ideal opportunity to imagine where we might be going by examining where we've been.

A year is a long time in the tech world, and a lot of things happened in 2009. Our own little corner of it (Tech Tips) is no exception. In this issue of Tech Tips, we’ll take a look back at some of the great articles we brought you in 2009.

In January of 2009, in what was also our 200th installment of Tech Tips, we took a look at the “new” technology of Solid State Hard Drives. This technology has made great strides in the past year in terms of performance generic viagra usa and longevity, as well as becoming far more affordable; it seems that a re-visit might be in order for 2010. We also started off the year with a look at eBook readers and some great gear for geeks on the go.

February came with our customary review of what was hot at CES 2009, and Bryan Lambert began a two-part guide to making the most of Craigslist without getting ripped off.

In March, Scott Nesbitt gave us a handy video format guide, and we also took a refresher course on motherboard basics.

Also in the spring, we brought you an introduction to “cloud computing”, and a look at must-have Blackberry apps for you ’berry addicts out there. We also studied up on learning new languages online, as well as taking a big breath of Adobe Air.

2009 saw the launch of Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing, and in June we examined five reasons why Bing outshines Google. The “dog days of summer” brought us several more great Tech Tips including dealing with identity theft, a look at some excellent (free!) open-source alternatives to popular Windows applications, and some advice on wrangling those pesky passwords.

In September, we explored how to watch your PC on a TV, and in October we checked out four free apps for editing photos online.

The last quarter of 2009 finally saw the long-awaited, much-anticipated release of Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 7, and in November we explored “7 Fantastic New Features of Windows 7”.

We rounded out a great year with a look at streaming movies using Netflix, and finished strong with a review of the top tech winners and losers of 2009.

With nearly 50 Tech Tips articles in a given year, these are only a few highlights from a very busy 2009; click here for the complete archive of Tech Tips articles all the way back to #1.

Or, become part of the conversation: join the Tech Tips community and visit our blog – we welcome your comments!

We sincerely hope that we have provided you with a wealth of useful, entertaining, and occasionally thought-provoking information throughout 2009, and we look forward to continuing to be your source for information that will help you survive and thrive in a digital world – have a Geeky New Year!