Teaching little kids to use computers is a great idea, but the thought of exposing innocent minds to the drek that flies across the Internet is enough to make a sane parent think about relocating to ...

As we all know, Linux, BSD, and a host of other operating systems have been “free” for years, if not for their entire existence. Sure, there are for-cost distributions backed with support, but the ...

Free operating systems based on the Linux operating system kernel invented and published by Linus Torvalds are now a serious alternative to Windows, not least due to the wide range of open source ...

What are open-source operating systems? Underpinning an operating system, for example Windows on your PC or Android on your phone, is many, many lines of code. Allowing anyone to inspect the source ...

Until recently if you wanted to upgrade (or downgrade) old Mac to Mac OS X Lion (from 2011) or Mountain Lion (from 2012) you needed to pay Apple and the company would send you a special download code ...

When someone buys a new smartphone, often they're preoccupied with the camera specs or the size of the screen or its storage capabilities. It's easy to overlook one of the most foundational aspects of ...

Windows 11 might be the latest version of Windows, but if you still use Windows 10 and need to "clean install" the operating system, or install or upgrade to it for the first time on an older PC, ...

Apple's latest operating system MacOS Big Sur is now available for download. Here's how to get it on your Mac. Managing Editor Alison DeNisco Rayome joined CNET in 2019, and is a member of the Home ...