Stepping out from the little world of Acorn into the PC Internet can be something of a shock. There are thousands of sites, all claiming to have the answers to your questions, all claiming to be first with the news.
The truth is, of course, that there are good and bad sites. Some simply repeat the latest wild rumour, or advice picked up from a newsgroup. Others seek to influence your purchasing decisions. Good advice is hard to find.
The sites I have listed here are those that I have found to be reliable. None are perfect, naturally, as all authors have their own particular biases. It is often remarked that Acorn Users are fanatically faithful to their computers. Those who venture into this world will soon see that we have nothing on the PC supporter!
If you are looking for an explanation of anything PC related, the PC Guide should be your first port of call. This encyclopedic site of cross-linked pages covers the whole range of topics, from the basics of how a computer works to how to build a PC. Although it doesn't contain the very latest information, it is periodically updated. Rather than discussing individual products, the Guide concentrates on the types of component that make up a PC.
For the ever-present acronyms, Imperial College's Computing Dictionary is both helpful and satirical.
For reviews of the latest hardware and surveys of new technologies, these sites provide a good service. They are all to a certain extent driven by the PC games market; this is particularly true of Sharky Extreme, which could be described as a games and hardware site. The other two sites, Tom's Hardware and Anand Tech, place more emphasis on Windows performance when reviewing products.
All three sites are good at presenting evidence, not just opinions. Tom's Hardware Guide is particularly known for the rigorous way in which tests are carried out. They do, however, concentrate on PC components - graphics cards, processors, etc. - rather than whole systems. For example, they may be able to tell you whether to buy an AMD K6 or a Pentium 2, but they will not tell you whether the Dell is better than the Gateway.
I have yet to find a which reviews Windows applications. Any suggestions?
In contrast, there are a great many games review sites; two examples are given below.
The majority of the comp hierarchy spends its time discussing PC systems - the difficulty is finding the right group. From the point of view of the PC buyer outside the US, much of the purchasing advice given here is useless. No matter how loudly you shout UK - in my case - you will still see replies like "There's a good store in San Diego...". So, I have included a couple of groups from the uk hierarchy below. If anyone can point me to similar groups dealing with other countries, I will be happy to include them.
The main groups discussing PCs are comp.sys.ibm.pc.*, alt.comp.hardware.* and alt.comp.periphs.*. There are a number of groups within these catering for different areas of the system.
Beware of placing too much credence on what you read in these groups. There are some knowledgeable, helpful people out there, but they are in the minority!