A while back, we decided to remove our Links section and start reviewing the best How-To destinations on the web. We thought this would bring more value to both our readers and the sites we choose for reviewing. I would like to initiate this series with one of the sites I read regularly via my RSS feed reader: the How-To Geek. On this site you will find plenty of tutorials, the blogs of the people who write most of the site content, a freshly started How-To Wiki and a pretty active forum.

The tutorials are split into the following categories: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Ubuntu/Linux, Geek Stuff, Microsoft Office and Firefox, those about Windows Vista tutorials being the most numerous.

Good things

If you have the time to check out most of the content, you will see that there are plenty of things to love about this site:

• Quality Content - Most of the writing done by the people from the How-To Geek is top notch. The tutorials are written using a simple language, easy to understand by a 'non-geek' or a non-native english speaker, with just enough screenshots detailing the steps you need to follow.
• Tips&Tricks for Power-Users - There are many articles for people who are or want to become Power-Users. The team behind the site doesn't cover only the basics but it also does additional research to come up with very useful tips&tricks that fix different annoyances in Windows Vista or help you tweak hidden options of the operating system.
• Forum - On the forum you will find plenty of helpful people, who are willing to share with you their knowledge in order to help solve the problems you might have.
• Looks - I personally like the site layout, the theme and most of all - the logo. Also, the ads are not that many and they are placed so that they fit nicely with the overall look and feel.

Top Articles

Here are some of the articles I would recommend to our readers:

How to Regain Access to Your Administrator Account in Windows Vista using System Restore
Fix for Special Folders Reverting to Default Folder Icon in Windows Vista
Make User Account Control (UAC) Stop Blacking Out the Screen in Windows Vista
Dual Monitors: Use a Different Wallpaper on Each Desktop in Vista or XP
Roundup: 16 Tweaks to Windows Vista Look & Feel

Things that could be improved

Personally, I found it hard to identify any weak spots on this site. Some of this things I consider worth improving are the following:

• The Wiki - since it was created only recently, it doesn't have too much content. I'm pretty sure that, in time, it will become more and more relevant and useful.
• Finding content without using 'search' is difficult - if you don't use the search box, finding content can be very difficult. When you open a category of tutorials, all the titles will be listed on one page. Scrolling through such huge amounts of text is very difficult. I think that using small logos or some detailed tag cloudes could help.

Conclusion

In my personal opinion, the How-To Geek is one of the best How-To destinations on the web. This is why we often choose to link back to articles from their site, which complement our own tutorials. I definitely recommend it to geeks and non-geeks alike. Just type 'howtogeek.com' into your browser and you will learn by yourself how good this site is.

Related articles:
Getting to know the Microsoft enthusiasts: the How-To Geek
How-To Top Destinations on the web: ITsVista.com
How-To Top Destinations on the web: simplehelp.net
How-To Top Destinations on the web: Windows Vista Magazine