What are some other popular tech newsletters?

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Summary: The results of my reader survey of popular tech newsletters that you might be interested in.

I recently asked the readers of the Ask Leo! newsletter this question:

What other tech, email newsletters do you subscribe to, or find valuable?

Here are the most popular responses, as mentioned by my readers.

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First, I do have to say "Thank You!" to everyone who said "just Ask Leo!", and variations there of. I'm glad you're finding what I do helpful.

Here are the top five vote getters:

1. Windows Secrets is a very popular newsletter in its own right, and it's grown in recent years by acquiring or merging with Fred Langa's "LangaList", and Ian "Gizmo" Richards' "Support Alert" newsletter. Windows Secrets tends to be just a tad more techie in general, though Fred Langa's and Gizmo's sections are often better targeted at the average computer user. Windows Secrets has both a paid and free version, and online archives.

2. The Internet Tourbus, by my friend Bob Rankin, is a twice-weekly newsletter that's been publishing since ... well, since a long, long time ago in internet terms: 1995. Bob also runs Ask Bob Rankin (gee, that sounds like a familiar concept! ), and the articles he writes there also appear in the Tourbus.

3. Kim Komando has a popular national radio show (not surprisingly, "The Kim Komando Show") where she answers technical questions on the air. Naturally, I'd heard of her long ago (and it seems only recently that her show reappeared in my radio market), but I didn't realize that she'd branched out into email newsletters to the degree she has. Hers is a daily newsletter with lots of tips and tricks that I assume both come from, and compliment her radio show. (She actually has several newsletters with a single sign-up.)

4. Tech Bite by former PC World columnist Steve Bass, who, to quote his site: "writes weekly commentary on the technology products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and the gotchas that can cause computing misery plus a couple of weekly laughs." Steve always has a number of good tips and tricks (though personally I think his "time wasters" section probably gets the most hits, and might even be his true passion - and darn it if I didn't waste some more time myself after just visiting the most recent issue. )

5. Tech Republic is actually a blog/forum/publication site, owned and operated by the tech publishing powerhouse ZDNet. It shows up in this list because they offer a fairly wide variety of different topical email newsletters. While most are targeted at tech professionals ("The Web's largest community of IT leaders"), publications aimed at Windows XP or Windows Vista and 7 can still include a fair amount of interesting information for a lot of people.

I found it interesting to note that I'd already subscribed to three of the top 5, but as is always the case, I get to learn things from my readers and have subscribed to the other two as well.

In no particular order, I wanted to throw out a few "honorable mentions" that were also high ranking responses from the list of around 200 different publications (and websites):

• Ask The Computer Lady is published by Elizabeth Boston. She targets the average computer user with helpful answers and tips.

• Neat Net Tricks is an interesting publication that includes a few tricks, but is perhaps most valuable for the list of useful software and utilities it presents each week.

• PC Pitstop's Tech Talk newsletter combines a blend of their own articles and content with that from other newsletters, including my own, for an interesting mix of topics. (Disclaimer: PC Pitstop is a regular advertiser in the Ask Leo! newsletter. No product endorsement express or implied, yadda, yadda, lawyers.)

• And I'd be completely remiss if I didn't mention Word Tips and Excel Tips by my good friend Allen Wyatt. Focusing on these two Microsoft Office products, these publications - both free and premium - offer a wealth of information about what are two incredibly complex pieces of software.

Thanks again everyone for the input! If you happen to run across a valuable resource that you're convinced everyone must see, drop me a line and I'll have peek.

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Article C4122 - January 17, 2010

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