MS Sites
======

Main UK site
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/

Main support portal
http://support.microsoft.com/

Technet
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/support/default.mspx

Knowledgebase search page
http://support.microsoft.com/search/

MS Windows homepage
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/default.mspx

How to Maintain Windows Security
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/security/default.mspx

MS Security main page
http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.mspx

MS Technet security main page
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/Security/default.mspx

MS Windows Update
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp

MSDN (Developers Network) UK
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-gb/default.aspx

Semi-official blog
http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/



Third party MS products info, advice and 'how to...' sites
====================================

Kayode's Windows Resources, a good place to start
http://www.kayodeok.btinternet.co.uk/

Gizmo's - good freeware / shareware evaluations, how to guides
http://www.techsupportalert.com/

AumHa - some good articles
http://www.aumha.org/

HelpwithWindows
http://www.helpwithwindows.com/

WinDrivers
http://www.windrivers.com/

WinXPcentral, also has other Windows versions info
http://www.winxpcentral.com/

Annoyances.org
http://www.annoyances.org/

Auldfart's, useful stuff starts about half way down this page
http://www.auldfart.co.uk/

Doug Knox's windows tips and tweaks
http://www.dougknox.com/

TechSpot
http://www.techspot.com/

Mdgx speed tweaks etc
http://www.mdgx.com/

Activenetwork forums
http://www.anetforums.com/

Windows Networking
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/

NTFS tech info on that and other file systems
http://www.ntfs.com/

Sysinternals
http://www.sysinternals.com/

Bootdisks!
http://www.bootdisk.com/

Nerdlabs bootdisks
http://www.nerdlabs.org/bootdisks/



Alternatives to Microsoft software
======================

You don't need to use MS software! There are plenty of alternatives, sometimes better, often cheaper or free. MS software is often less secure simply because so many people use it, hackers and virus writers design their malware to exploit weaknesses in MS software.

This page discusses alternatives and provides links:
http://www.livingwithoutmicrosoft.org/features/living-without-microsoft-a-guide-for-windows-users/

I would recommend these free alternatives...

Firefox as browser instead of Internet Explorer, Thunderbird as email client instead of Outlook, both from Mozilla:
http://www.mozilla.com/products/

OpenOffice.org as a complete office suite:
http://www.openoffice.org/index.html

Trillian as a chat client (MSN Messenger alternative):
http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/

These two pages give details on recommended freeware for currently 90 types of software! For applications I know something about I agree with the recommendations, and they are updated regularly:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm
http://www.techsupportalert.com/more/extended.htm