EDITORIAL By Will Fastie Here are a few things we learned from our 2026 reader survey. First, many thanks to the very large number of Plus members who took the time to complete the 2026 reader survey earlier this year. Your response is very gratifying and greatly appreciated. Not only that, but we received almost […]

ISSUE 23.01 • 2026-01-05 EDITORIAL By Will Fastie To begin 2026, we bring you our best advice about keeping your PC spit-polished and ready for another year of hard work. The article “Let your PC start the new year right!” has been a staple around here for years. The tradition is now in the capable […]

Yesterday, Susan mentioned keeping AI at bay in 2026. We’ve covered that extensively, especially because reader feedback objects to the way Copilot showed up, rather intrusively. I agree with caution, and I have no problem with anyone who wishes to keep Copilot out of their orbit. I can’t ignore AI, because it’s my job. You’ll […]

Today is the last day of AskWoody’s fifth year under the stewardship of publisher Susan Bradley, better known as “The Patch Lady.” I can tell you that Susan’s commitment to the AskWoody Plus newsletter, this site, and its active forums remains firm. Our mission to provide excellence in long-form technical journalism will continue. More important, […]

WINDOWS 11 By Will Fastie The word “agentic” is not as recent as you may think. When I took on my role at AskWoody, one of the first things I did was update my standard reference dictionary, the 1965 edition of Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, to the 2020 version of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh […]

There were some difficulties with the Free newsletter this week, one an internal technical issue and the other an error I made. My goof was skipping a production step accidentally, for which I apologize. The Free edition is now correct online. Thanks to the many readers who alerted me to the problem. Read the full […]

This is a reminder that everyone one of us has the ability to be a bit kinder, to reach out and help where we can.  As we close out this week, use your technology for good and ignore the social media clickbait that can so often be divisive. Find your local food bank or a […]