PC Plus 243 is another packed collection of the best that the PC industry has to offer. In our motherboard feature, you'll find both a selection of the latest available to buy, and the reasons why you absolutely must upgrade- along with a separate tutorial on squeezing the most out of your BIOS.

Buying PC hardware means buying smart, and in our next feature, you'll find out exactly how to get the best kit without paying the painful premium. We cover both off-the-shelf systems, and the components that you'll need to build your own system from the ground up. Alternatively, if you're more interested in increased flexibility, you may want to turn straight to our Laptop Reborn feature, where we find out if detachable screens are the future of the notebook, or Hi-Grade's new living room computer, described by our reviewing team as 'Viiv right at last'.

As well as this system, this month we offer up reviews of the Mesh Titan Crossfire XTX, Olympus E-330, Buffalo MiniStation, Webaroo, Stikipad, Opera Mobile and OnSpeed mobile, and many more systems, products, and peripherals.

For a more in-depth read, learn how to fight the latest security risks with our guide to the modern threats waiting for you, online and off - backed up with our Hands Off Our PCs campaign against secret installations. From AMD, European Product Manager Dave Everitt chats with our interviewer about the company's vision of future processor utilities. And finally in Features, we examine the Linux proposition in depth. How does the alternative OS really compare to Windows?

In Hands On, in addition to our regular columns on Linux, Mac, Office, web development, C#, Delphi and programming theory, we serve up a special introduction to the world of Perl 6. It's a huge shift for a language that has yet to arrive, but you can try it out today with our guides. This month's dedicated tutorials include a guide to creating the perfect garden with the tool Realtime Landscaping Pro (found on your SuperDisc), getting perfect prints from your printer, and creating a DIY webserver with an ADSL line and a spare PC.

Other products on the SuperDisc include a full DVD production system, eBook chapters on Ubuntu, SUSE, and programming Sudoku, and much much more, including the Essential Collection, and PDF archive.

And what if Bill Gates ran the world? Find out, on the very last page, in a brand new Hypothetical.