After years of struggling with your old, sluggish Windows PC, you've finally unwrapped a shiny new computer. Here's how to get started tweaking your settings, installing programs, and beefing up security to keep it running like a dream.

Title image remixed from an original by Air0ne (Shutterstock).

Before you do anything, there are a few things you'll want to set up first:

• Install Microsoft Security Essentials—Let's not sugarcoat it: Because of its popularity, Windows is one of the more vulnerable operating systems, so before you do anything, you'll want to put a few security measures in place. Microsoft Security Essentials is still the best darn antivirus we've used; it's free, and it's just as effective as anything you'd pay for. Head over to Microsoft's site, download the suite, and set it to auto-scan and auto-update so you can stop fussing with it and get on to the fun stuff.
• Offload Your Computer's Bloat—Unless you built your computer yourself, it's likely the manufacturer's stuck some unsightly, unnecessary, bloated crapware on your computer that will do nothing but slow your computer down from the start. To get rid of it, download previously mentioned Revo Uninstaller and uninstall the software that shipped with your machine.
• Change Up Your Theme—Okay, so it's not entirely necessary to do this before anything else, but why stare at that bland Windows wallpaper when you could be watching a slideshow of different Ferraris as you set up the rest of your computer? Microsoft's got some great themes over at its site, and there are quite a few others floating around the net as well. Grab some of our favorite wallpapers from our Wallpaper Wednesday series, and if you want to take it even further, check out our guide to fully customizing your desktop and setting up an attractive, customized desktop HUD with Rainmeter. Once you've got your desktop looking awesome, it's time to get to know Windows 7.

                      You've taken your requisite Apple product unboxing video and boasted about your brand new Mac on Facebook, but now it's time to get down to business. Whether you're new to the Mac or not, here's how to set up and get started.

Title image remixed from an original by Air0ne (Shutterstock).

Before you dive right into your new Mac, there are a few things you ought to do first:

• Run Software Update - Chances are your new Mac isn't as new as it could be. Since OS X was probably pre-installed on it quite awhile back, you're probably due for an update. To get things started, head on over to the Apple menu and choose Software Update. This will launch—you guessed it—Software Update and it will check for new updates. When it's done, install everything available. After you restart, repeat this process again to see if there are new updates. Some updates can't install until others have already been installed, so keep checking until Software Update reports that there are no new updates available
• Get to Know System Preferences - If you're new to the Mac, you should probably take a leisurely stroll through System Preferences (which you can access through the Apple menu and likely find in your dock). Take a look at each of the preference panels so you can become acquainted with your options. You'll eventually find yourself spending a fair amount of time in here so it helps to know where things are.
• Set Up Your Sharing Preferences - In System Preferences, there's a panel called Sharing. Open that up and you'll be presented with a long list of sharing services. Many of these services are very helpful if you need to share with another computer (whether it's your own or someone else's). Take a look at them all and enable the ones you'd find useful—just make sure to only allow your user or any future users created on the machine may end up with access to the enabled services.
• Repair Disk Permissions - Once you're all done, it's always good form to repair your disk permissions so nothing gets out of whack. To do this, go into your Hard Drive —> Applications —> Utilities and open Disk Utility. Choose your hard drive from the list on the left, select the First Aid tab, and click the Repair Permissions button. This will take a few minutes and may not end up repairing anything at all, but it's always good to run it on a regular basis and after you've made significant changes to your machine.

                 With the Republican Party presidential primaries beginning in just two weeks, the already difficult to track political race is about to get even more complicated. If you're not a political junkie but you still want to keep yourself informed, it's not hard, and we have a few tricks to keep yourself in the know without being overwhelmed.

We don't all have enough time to go through pages and pages of analysis on every candidate in local and national elections, nor does everyone want a lot of essays from political writers about everything that happens. If you find yourself wanting information, but don't want to sit through hours of CNN, we've gone through and picked a few of the best ways to find information about the candidates, check facts, and do it in a relatively bipartisan way.

Keep Track of News and Decisions on Your Phone

                   It's pretty rare that you'll see a virus or any malware pop up on a Mac, but it can happen. That said, we don't feel you need to be using any antivirus software to protect yourself because your diligent mind should be sufficient. Here's why, and also a few antivirus software options that are worth a look should you want a little more protection than you can provide yourself.

Nothing

Platform: All Platforms!
Price: Free!

• Fastest installation process ever
• Very lightweight
• It's like nothing is even installed (because that's actually the case)
• Surprisingly effective
• User-friendly (unless you're not very friendly)