Top Ten Best of 2009

Like many I thought it might be a good idea to recap the best of 2009 and remind folks of some important posts.  The following were some of the most popular stories of 2009.

Who Gets Your Personal Information on Facebook.

Even before Facebook changed their privacy settings I did some research on what companies were getting your information directly from your friends. The companies frequently have no privacy policy or physical address.

 

Four Secret Reasons Why Win7 is Ten Times Better

Windows 7 is turning out to be a success and as I pointed out in September users were destined to be happy. The core components of Windows 7 were created to increase performance even more than expected.

 

Free #1 Tweak to Improve Windows Performance

One of the most popular posts all year thanks to all the folks on Twitter, Facebook and PC Pitstop giving the thumbs up to this easy tip.

 

Security Vulnerabilities near Apocalyptic Proportions

Unfortunately, not a lot has changed. The vulnerabilities in 3rd party application continues to be a serious problem. At one time I expected the day would come when WinPatrol would be obsolete but that day is still far away.

 

We Have Your Password, and We Own You!

Bad password habits will continue into the year 2010. If you haven't already reconsidered your password habits you should read this story.

 

Mystery Filenames that Make No Sense 

Even though Microsoft Window now allows long descriptive filenames many developers fail to take advantage of this feature. The worse offender continues to be Microsoft with filenames like lsass.exe or ctfmon.exe.

 

Windows 7: Good, Bad and the Ugly

Another popular post let folks know what they could expect before Windows 7 was finally released to the public. I still think Recycling Bin is a stupid name.

 

No, I Don't Want Your #^$% Toolbar 

I’ve continued to resist allowing Toolbar vendors to bribe me into allowing their software to be included with WinPatrol. Unfortunately, many other free programs don’t care and you may be installing unwanted toolbars.
 

Conficker Threat: Fact or Fiction

Everyone was on alert for Conficker to strike on April 1st. If you read Bits From Bill you knew the real danger started on March 31st when folks in the far east had their clocks turn pass midnight way ahead of those of us in America.

 

Bill's Predictions for 2009

My favorite prediction that came true was “Windows 7 Won’t Suck”. See if you think I was correct with my other predictions.