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5 Best Online Therapy Services for 2022

5 Best Online Therapy Services for 2022

The destigmatization of mental health has come leaps and bounds over the years, but access to traditional resources hasn't followed suit. As per a study, up to 70% of the people who need mental health care don't have access to it. Enter online therapy. It helps bridge the gap and offers resources to those who otherwise can't get help, whether because of location, finances or scheduling conflicts. 

There are plenty of reasons traditional therapy may not be the best option for you. The convenience and flexibility of online therapy are quickly making it one of the most popular ways to connect with mental health professionals. If you're considering giving online therapy a try or just interested in learning more, here are our top six choices for the best online therapy. 

But not all online therapy platforms are created equal. Below, a primer on five popular HIPAA-compliant therapy services that only employ licensed and trained mental health professionals. 

Read more: Best Mental Health Apps  

BetterHelp

BetterHelp is one of the largest, reputable online therapy platforms that gives you access to over 12,000 experienced mental health professionals. You can feel confident about the therapist you work with through BetterHelp therapists, thanks to experience requirements and a thorough vetting process. Every therapist has a minimum of three years and 1,000 hours of hands-on experience. 

After you sign up and complete the questionnaire, you'll be matched with a therapist, generally within a day. BetterHelp therapists specialize in various areas, including anxiety, depression, substance abuse and eating disorders. You can message your therapist from anywhere, anytime. However, that doesn't mean you will always get an immediate response. Given they are real people, they aren't available 24/7. 

The cost of online therapy with BetterHelp ranges from $60 to $90/week. You are billed monthly. According to the website, pricing is based on your location, preferences and therapist availability. Some users did note frustrations with customer service and technical issues with the BetterHelp app. 

BetterHelp best features:

• You can participate in video calls, instant messages, text and live therapy sessions with your counselor. 
• On the website, you have access to blog articles and educational content.

Things to consider:

• BetterHelp doesn't accept insurance, so what you see is what you'll pay. Financial assistance may be available through BetterHelp for qualified individuals. The initial questionnaire determines the eligibility for financial assistance, as it asks about employment and financial troubles. 
• You get talk therapy with BetterHelp; counselors do not diagnose or prescribe medication. 

Talkspace

Talkspace is one of the most versatile online therapy platforms with several communication methods, therapy options and price points. With Talkspace, you get message-based therapy that's a great option for those who feel comfortable sharing through video or have a changing schedule that cannot commit to weekly sessions. 

Starting Talkspace is simple. Once you sign up, you complete an assessment that includes the payment plan options. Talkspace has three therapy subscription options. Messaging therapy which includes text, video and audio messaging with a therapist, starts at $69/week. Live therapy starts at $99/week and includes four 45-minute live therapy sessions each month. The last subscription option combines the two. Starting at $129/week, it includes four live sessions and text, video and audio messaging. Talkspace notes that pricing is based on where you live and the network of available therapists. 

After you select which plan you want, a consultation therapist selects a list of matched therapists that you can choose from. 

Talkspace best features:

• Those with an employee assistance program through their employer may have coverage. 
• A psychiatrist through Talkspace Psychiatry has the ability to prescribe medication and help you manage it. These services cost $249 for the initial consultation and $120 for your follow-up sessions. 
• TalkSpace has a network of over 3,000 mental health professionals. 

Things to consider:

• While still more affordable than traditional therapy, Talkspace doesn't offer sliding scale payments. However, Talkspace does offer the occasional discount. 
• Your therapist may not reply immediately to messages; it typically takes a day. 
• Recent user reviews note that customer service and insurance claims with TalkSpace can be frustrating. 

Cerebral

Cerebral takes the spot for the best online therapy platform for medication management, thanks to its all-in-one approach to mental health. You have access to talk therapy and medication with a licensed psychiatrist. Those who manage their prescriptions through Cerebral will be shipped directly to your home. 

There are three membership plans. Medication and care counseling includes evaluation, diagnosis and prescription from a psychiatrist, medication delivery and weekly video/phone sessions. This plan is $85/month. Mediation and therapy costs $325/month and includes everything the first plan does, though you can chat with your therapist anytime. The final is therapy, which does not include any medication though weekly meetings with your therapist. It costs $259/month. 

Cerebral subscriptions are about average compared to competitors for out-of-network providers. However, if you have an insurance plan that Cerebral accepts, the price can be as low as $30/month, plus a copay.

Cerebral best features: 

• Membership plans are FSA/HSA eligible. 
• Cerebral is a one-stop shop that offers therapy, psychiatry and medication management. 
• All therapists and psychiatrists are board-certified and licensed. 

Things to consider:

• Cerebral is not available in all states. Treatment for disorders also varies by state. 
• When signing up, you have to add a payment method before an appointment. This may result in your card being charged if you do not match with a therapist within the time period provided. However, since Cerebral recently started issuing refunds for this. 
• User reviews are typically positive at 4.3 on Google Play and 4.6 on the App Store. 

Amwell

Most online therapy platforms don't accept insurance, making counseling unattainable for many. Amwell is the best online therapy platform that takes insurance because of its large network of accepted health plans. 

After signing up with Amwell, you will choose a licensed therapist and schedule your first session. You can choose your therapist based on what they specialize in, allowing you to find the best fit for your needs. Each therapist has a bio on their profile. 

Amwell offers fewer communication options than competitors because it is not a subscription-based therapy. You only have access to virtual video sessions that you schedule. This tends to be the best for people who only have sessions with a therapist and have a schedule that requires flexibility. Most users comment that while the app may not be the most modern, it is typically easy to use. 

The cost of your sessions is based on the therapist or psychiatrist and their experience level. Typically, sessions cost between $109 to $129. Your health insurance plan will determine how much you pay out of pocket.

Amwell's best features:

• You can schedule a session with a psychiatrist for medication.
• Amwell accepts many types of insurance providers. 
• Amwell also offers a variety of services competitors don't have, like breastfeeding support or stress management. 

Things to consider:

• Amwell doesn't do subscription plans; you are charged by session. 
• Since it doesn't have messaging or phone call options, Amwell is not a good choice for crisis situations. 

Pride Counseling

The LGBTQIA+ community struggles with mental health issues at a disproportionately high rate. And traditional counseling options aren't always helpful. A survey of LBGTQ+ people found that 50% had experienced harsh language, scapegoating problems on their sexual orientation or outright denial of care. 

Pride Counseling, a subsidiary of BetterHelp, offers inclusive and accessible virtual counseling specialized for the LGBTQIA+ community to address struggles like gender identity, stigma, eating disorders and stress. Every therapist you encounter when using Pride Counseling has extensive experience working with the LGBTQIA+ community. 

At the start, you are asked several questions, including your pronouns, how you identify and your sexual orientation, to ensure you at matched with the best therapist. Pride Counseling also has taken steps to ensure security and anonymity are valued -- you can pick a "nickname" instead of your full name. 

You have unlimited messaging to contact your therapist at any time. Unlike other options, your counselor cannot diagnose conditions or prescribe medication. Costs range from $60 to $90/week with a billing cycle of every four weeks.  

Pride Counseling's best features:

• All therapists have experience working with the LGBTQIA+ community. Requirements are at least three years and 1,000 hours of experience to become a Pride Counseling therapist.
• Price Counseling has positive reviews from users, with a 4.5 on Google Play and 4.6 on the App Store. 

Things to consider:

• Unfortunately, Pride Counseling does not accept insurance. 
• Pride Counseling is only for adults. 
• The website, while straightforward, doesn't offer any additional resources like blog articles for those seeking an answer to a specific question. 

ReGain

ReGain, a sister site to BetterHelp, is a virtual therapy platform with experts specializing in relationships, intimacy and family issues. That's why it's our choice for the best online therapy for couples counseling. All therapists through ReGain are licensed and hold titles like licensed marriage and family therapists or clinical social workers.  

The sign-up process is similar to the other options on the list -- you fill out a questionnaire and are matched with a therapist. You can have both couples sessions and individual sessions with your therapist. You have access to 24/7 chat messaging, phone and video sessions. Unique to ReGain, there is a one-week free trial when you sign up.  

Another benefit that ReGain offers that alternatives do not is the wealth of educational information available on the website. ReGain offers dozens of articles and advice on relationships, regardless if you are signed up. This is not a standard feature in the virtual therapy space. 

ReGain online therapy costs between $60 to $90/week; you'll be billed every four weeks.  

ReGain's best features:

• You don't have to pay double for having both partners in the session. 
• All therapists through ReGain specialize in relationships and family issues.
• ReGain has a 4.5 rating on Google Play and 4.8 on the App Store. User reviews are generally positive.  

Things to consider:

• ReGain doesn't support three-way video conferencing; you and your partner have to be in the same room for your video sessions. 
• Typically it is not covered by insurance. 

How we chose the best online therapy platforms

Many criteria were considered when choosing the best online therapy platforms. The most important being the therapist's qualifications and credibility, pricing, ease of use, customer reviews, accessibility and insurance coverage. 

All of the selections on the list have positive user reviews, are easy to use and more affordable than traditional therapy. 

What is online therapy?

Online therapy brings the expertise of mental health professionals to the comfort of your home through phone calls, messages and video conferencing. Each online mental health service will vary in what they offer. For example, some services won't be able to diagnose or prescribe medication as a traditional therapy option could. 

Online therapy isn't for everyone. But it's a good option for people who have inconsistent schedules, tight budgets or aren't comfortable meeting with a therapist face to face. Research has shown that virtual therapy can be as effective as in-office meetings for some. 

Online therapy benefits: 

• Virtual therapy is more affordable and accessible than traditional therapy options. However, not all platforms accept insurance. 
• It's convenient. You can schedule your sessions around work, childcare or other life events that may get in the way.
• Being at your home when you're working in sessions can be more comfortable than going into an office. 

Read more: Tips to Find the Right Therapist For You

Is online therapy secure?

Privacy is one of the most important concerns when seeking online therapy. The American Psychological Association provides specific guidelines that therapists should follow for virtual sessions. One of the most important guidelines states that all online therapy platforms must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Whether through video or chat or text, all communication is covered under HIPAA. 

Some virtual counseling platforms take extra levels of precaution and allow you to delete messages after reading. It's important to read the privacy policies of each platform before signing up. This information is often found in the frequently asked questions section of the website. 

How to choose the best online therapy

Finding your ideal match can be difficult with so many options available to you. All platforms will vary in strengths and weaknesses, so it's important to know what your most important needs are. When you're looking for the best online therapy, you'll want to keep a few things in mind:

• Your goal: The first thing you want to check is that the platform includes the issue you want help with. Some platforms are specialized, like in the case of ReGain and couples counseling. 
• The therapists' credentials: You should be able to find the credentials and experience requirements for the platform's therapist. This is often located in the FAQ section of the website. You typically also want a service that allows you to change therapists. 
• User reviews: User reviews can serve as a gauge of the satisfaction of the platform. Did people find the website or app easy to use? What were their favorite features? Were there any pain points you need to watch for?
• Your budget and insurance: The unfortunate truth is that money is one of the main reasons people do not get the help they need. The subscription options and cost should be clearly stated on the website. You also should be able to find insurance coverage. 

Read more: How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Can Reshape the Way You Think

More support for your mental health

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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Dish Expands 5G, But There's a Catch: Here's What You Need to Know

Dish Expands 5G, But There's a Catch: Here's What You Need to Know

What's happening

Dish, the fourth US carrier, says it expanded 5G in 120 cities.

Why it matters

Dish took on its fourth carrier role when Sprint and T-Mobile merged, and has been under the gun by the FCC to roll out the service. It's supposed to a viable competitor to its bigger rivals.

What's next

Dish will still need to provide more clarity on the service, which is still invite only for now.

Dish Network may finally be on its way to offering a competitive 5G alternative to the big three national carriers. On Tuesday, the satellite TV provider updated its Project Genesis site to say 5G service is live in more than 120 cities, marking a claim of nationwide coverage amid a Federal Communications Commission deadline to roll out service to at least a fifth of the country's population. 

The announcement, a surprise change from earlier in the morning, when Las Vegas was the sole live city, could signal that the company is finally getting serious about the wireless business. Dish acquired wireless spectrum for years, but very little of a wireless network materialized. Then in 2020, Dish entered the mobile market by acquiring some of Sprint's mobile licenses, which Sprint was shedding as part of its merger with T-Mobile. The complex transaction suddenly made Dish the country's fourth-biggest carrier and led to the creation of Dish Wireless service.

But the FCC had a stipulation. To ensure competition, the regulatory agency required Dish to make sure 20% of Americans would be covered by its 5G network by June 14. The company said in a Wednesday release that the expansion exceeds that threshold. The "beta list" for the service is only available on an invite-basis only, and the company has been tightlipped about how many people will actually be able to access it.  

Dish wasn't available for comment, but Stephen Stokols, CEO of Dish-owned Boost Mobile, tweeted that 5G service is now live in 120 cities and linked to the Project Genesis site. When reached for comment, the FCC clarified that Dish is required to file status reports to the agency, with the first due on July 14. 

"Consumers benefit when there is more competition in our wireless industry," an FCC spokesperson said over email. "We are closely monitoring DISH's 5G build out to ensure that they are meeting all of their requirements in the law."

A host of issues has conspired to trip up Dish. The company acknowledged during an earnings call earlier this year that it had underestimated how much work it would take to get its own 5G network up and running. Supply chain issues only made the situation worse.

It's unclear whether Dish will suffer any consequences if it ends up missing the deadline. Neither Dish nor the FCC responded to a request for comment.

Here's what you need to know about Dish's 5G plans:

Why did the FCC put this requirement on Dish? 

The deadline is the result of a huge shift in the US mobile industry two years ago, when T-Mobile and Sprint combined in a $26.5 billion deal. The FCC nearly quashed the deal out of concern that it would lead to market concentration by taking one carrier out of the market. Only AT&T, Verizon and the new T-Mobile would remain. 

But Dish, which tried to add mobile service to its satellite TV offerings a decade ago, saw the carrier consolidation as an opportunity to become a mobile player. The company paid $5 billion for Boost Mobile, Sprint's prepaid mobile brand, as well as Sprint's 800MHz wireless spectrum specifically for 5G. Dish also secured rights to use part of T-Mobile's 5G network.

Dish still needed to build out its own 5G network, a task that it started mostly from scratch. To ensure Dish mobile customers would have solid service, the FCC originally set March 7, 2020, as the deadline for the company to have its 5G network up and running. The FCC also stipulated that coverage should reach 20% of the US population. 

The deadline, however, was pushed back at Dish's request several times. The latest deadline was set for June 14, 2022. Dish Chairman and co-founder Charlie Ergen decided against requesting another extension and expected that the carrier would meet the FCC deadline, the Fierce Wireless news site reported in May.

Did Dish make the deadline?

Dish updated its Project Genesis website the day of the deadline to say its 5G network has reached over 120 cities. But we don't know how many people in those cities are covered by the network, and ergo whether Dish has met its goal of covering 20% of the US population by June 14. According to the FCC's terms, failing to meet the deadline could result in Dish's license for wireless spectrums being revoked and paying fines of up to $2.2 billion, the Light Reading news site reported earlier this year. 

How far along is Dish's 5G network?

In early May, Dish made its 5G service publicly available in Las Vegas. Customers sign up for the service through "Project Genesis," an early access program that costs $30 per month and currently is only available on Motorola Edge Plus handsets. (The service plans accommodate other phones in the future.)

In February, Dish had said its 5G service would be live in more than two dozen cities by the June deadline. And after the Las Vegas service launched to the public, the carrier published a list of 113 cities it planned to include in Project Genesis. As recently as its first quarter earnings call in May, Dish had said it remained confident that it would activate 5G service in enough cities to reach 20% of the US population by the June deadline. 

The carrier didn't make public where 5G service was live beyond its first city until today, when it suddenly listed over 120 more cities that now have active service on the Project Genesis site. The service remains invite-only, and we don't know how much area in each city is covered.

In addition to securing Sprint's 800MHz range, Dish has also bid in several separate auctions to secure 5G spectrum licenses. These include spending $7.3 billion in January on midband 5G in the 3.45GHz spectrum and $913 million on the so-called C-band 5G in 2020. Combined, the chunks of connected 5G spectrum will serve as the backbone of its service. 

While Dish can use some of T-Mobile's 5G spectrum for years to come as part of agreements between the carriers, Dish also paid AT&T at least $5 billion in July 2021 for a 10-year contract to lean on the latter's 5G network while it builds out its own infrastructure.

What took Dish so long?

Unlike other carriers, which built their 5G networks on existing 4G LTE, Dish has more or less been building its network from scratch. It's also building the service on OpenRAN, a flexible type of cellular network that uses infrastructure from multiple vendors. 

Dish executives have acknowledged that they'd underestimated the work it would take to build their network and that they hadn't anticipated supply chain issues. 

How can you sign up for Dish 5G?

Right now, you can only sign up for Dish 5G's Project Genesis service by getting on a "beta list" of subscribers. First, check if you're located in any of the over 120 cities with 5G service. Then register by entering your email and address on the Project Genesis member site. Since the program is invite-only, there's no guarantee that applicants will be given the chance to subscribe.

Those in the Project Genesis Beta can use the Samsung Galaxy S22 and/or the NetGear 5G hotspot to access Dish's 5G network, while those in Las Vegas can use the Motorola Edge Plus smartphone. More devices will be made available later in the year.

Update, 1 pm PT and 3:45 pm PT: To include more details of the Project Genesis site and the 120 new cities. 

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The best Halloween movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and more

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The best Halloween movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and more

Halloween movies are a thrilling watch year-round, but there's no better time to enjoy them than when chillier temperatures settle in. Especially this year, with the COVID-19 pandemic changing the way we partake in classic Halloween activities like trick-or-treating, you might need something to transport you to fictional places where the horrifying stuff isn't actually real. (We all cope differently, right?)

Here are our top picks for the scariest, creepiest and sometimes silliest films to stream or watch on demand on platforms including Hulu, Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, HBO Max and others. We've noted which of these films require higher-tier streaming subscriptions like Hulu Plus Live TV, or a Showtime or Cinemax add-on.

Read more:  15 of the best movies to see on Amazon Prime Video

Disney

Hulu started life as a joint venture between ABC, NBC and Fox. Since Disney (ABC's parent) absorbed most of the Fox Entertainment properties, however, it's been buying out its remaining partners and converting Hulu to more of a Disney Plus for adults. As such, you can watch the movies below with their full, R-rated gore intact. The baseline subscription includes commercials, and you can also bundle this with Disney's other online properties, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus.

(Available on Hulu Plus Live TV. Also available on Peacock.) We always appreciate a well-done horror comedy! You can catch the sequel, Zombieland Double Tap, on Starz.

(Also available on Tubi.) Something about murderous children in a cornfield just feels autumnal. 

It's a Swedish film about a little girl vampire. Are we selling it? It's fantastic, trust us. 

(Also available on Tubi.) We don't particularly get this franchise, but Hellraiser viewing parties are a pretty common Halloween activity. You do you.

Quite frankly, this adaptation isn't the greatest, but then again neither was the first one. Still it definitely has some chilling moments.

(Available with Showtime add-on.) The first Paranormal Activity was pretty unnerving. It might be worth a revisit this Halloween. 

(Available on Hulu Plus Live TV starting Oct. 7.) We refuse to fact-check this, but Get Out is possibly the only Oscar winner on this list. That's inaccurate. Ruth Gordon won an Oscar for Rosemary's Baby. And The Silence of the Lambs won like 5 Academy Awards too. Are you happy? Get Out is fantastic though.

Get Out 

Universal Pictures

Our 8-year-old selves still believe deep down this is the greatest Halloween movie ever made. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, please, please return to making films.

This Korean creature feature is easily one of the best films on this list.  

As far as haunted house movies go, this one is better than The Amityville Horror, but not quite as good as The Conjuring.

(Available on Hulu Plus Live TV starting Oct. 8.) Once again we learn abstinence is the only way to prevent slow-moving nightmare monsters from trying to kill you. What a helpful PSA!

(Available on Hulu Plus Live TV.) This is the part where you stop reading the article and immediately go put on Ghostbusters. Don't worry, this article isn't going anywhere. We'll wait. 

(Available on Hulu Plus Live TV.) Rebecca's mom really loves the Madea movies. And who are we to deny you options?

(Available on Hulu Plus Live TV.) On the one hand, it's a pretty good remake. On the other hand, Zack Snyder directed it. Your call.

(Available with Cinemax add-on.) Don't you want to finally understand what a "Jacob's Ladder scenario" actually is?

Ever since Dead Snow came out, we are always 100% down for any movie with Nazi zombies. 

(Available on Hulu plus Live TV. Also available on Spectrum.) It's possible Rebecca has seen this film more than any other film on this list. Don't judge!

Saw (2004)

(Available on Hulu with Cinemax add-on.) If you plan on watching Saw, we also recommend checking out our interview with screenwriter Leigh Whannell. He tells us about his 5-year-old's bedtime story demands and let's just say, twisted storytelling definitely runs in the family.

Netflix hardly needs an introduction, but the biggest streaming service out there remains a mixture of TV shows and movies, including content licensed from other studios and a growing stable of originals. 

We probably didn't need a family-friendly version of The Omen, but we enjoyed it nevertheless.

If you've come to this list looking for the scariest horror films, watch this one. Maybe with the lights on. 

Anjelica Huston is majestic in this Roald Dahl adaptation.

Even if you're not into super dark films, the storyline in this Guillermo del Toro masterpiece will be enough to win you over.

One of our favorites and Zelda Rubinstein's performance is really just the cherry on top.

This is probably the most under-the-radar film on this list, but it's absolutely worth your time.

Certain horror fans find themselves disappointed when the "big bad" turns out to be metaphorical. Don't worry, this one has a satisfying "actual monster" payoff.

This movie is carried by Mark Duplass and his amazingly sinister face. A delightfully creepy watch.

(Also available on Spectrum.) Ghost movies are great for Halloween, right?

Universal Pictures

Already subscribe to HBO? You can probably get HBO Max at no extra charge. Think of it as (wait for it) "HBO Plus" -- everything on HBO, plus a bunch of additional back catalog and exclusives from Warner's catalog, as well as some nice licensed exclusives like Doctor Who and the Studio Ghibli library. 

Shark movie!!! Sorry, didn't mean to get that excited. But we did see The Meg on opening weekend. Are you a "shark movie" person? No better time to find out!   

Possibly the last time we found the ending to a horror film surprising. 

I (Rebecca) thought this movie was really scary when I was 13. It might still be scary. There's really no way of knowing these things. 

We all know the saying, "In space, no one can hear you scream," but your neighbors will definitely be able to hear you scream while watching this on your couch.

It's pretty rare with a horror masterpiece to stumble upon a masterpiece of a sequel, especially with a different director. Thanks, James Cameron!

John Landis doesn't get enough credit for being able to blend horror and comedy.

While The Shining is probably the favorite horror film of many and may not have needed a sequel, it's one of the better Stephen King adaptations in recent years.

A very enjoyable example of a dark comedy and horror mashup.

Disney

You know ... for kids! It's probably not the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of "horror," as nothing here eclipses PG-13 scares. But it also has the full libraries for everything from Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and The Simpsons, to name just a few of the big content silos you'll find here. As with Hulu, you can subscribe to this solo, or as a Disney/Hulu/ESPN bundle.

A cult classic you can finally stream. 

(Also available on Hulu Plus Live TV.) It's really a Christmas movie, but also you should be watching it year-round.

This vibrant, touching film brings Day of the Dead to life in the most beautiful way.

Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but this is simply a Disney classic.

Feel-good and Halloween don't always go hand in hand, but this nostalgic Halloween classic always warms our witchy little hearts.

As if trusting her new beau wasn't hard enough already.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Peacock is NBCUniversal's recently launched streaming app that includes several free movies and TV shows. Paying customers can unlock the platform's full library of content, and can also pay a little more to go ad-free. 

You should really watch/rewatch them all, but the third film does have the most Halloween-y vibe. 

You can't get more classic than Frankenstein!

We love a good dystopian film.

Another for the classics fans.

Screenshot by Abrar Al-Heeti/CNET

This ad-supported network offers a range of free TV shows and movies. It's available on devices including Roku and Amazon Fire TV, as well as on Android and iOS. You won't need an account to watch content, but creating one enables you to save favorites and resume playback when switching between devices.

Is it really Halloween if you haven't watched a creepy Tim Burton film?

A cannibal villain is as horrifying as it gets.

Not exactly sure if a flick about a viral outbreak is something you want to watch right now, but if it is, you're in luck.

MGM

Existing Showtime cable subscribers can access all of its content on the Showtime Anytime app on most major app platforms. But you can also get it as a straight streaming app for a monthly fee. (Disclosure: Showtime and CNET are owned by the same parent company, ViacomCBS.)

(Also available on Netflix.) This is one of our favorite films to watch on Halloween. Hannibal Lecter is a magnificent villain.

If you don't barf while watching the shaking cameras, it's a pretty good creature feature. 

This would pair well with The Omen for a Halloween double feature. 

We're going to throw this out there: More films should be set in the 1600s. Provided they're as good as The Witch.

Focus Features

Like Showtime, this premium cable movie service is also available "over the top" as a direct streaming option on most app store platforms.

This is the quite possibly the most perfect Halloween movie on this list. Demon spawn! (If you're interested, you can also find the 2006 version on Hulu.)

Not big on horror? No worries, you can check out one of the greatest comedies ever made instead.    

Is it just us or does anyone else find Edward Scissorhands incredibly soothing to watch?

Jeff Goldblum in a creature feature is all we're really looking for in a Halloween film.

Watch this after you finish watching The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET

Epix is another pay cable channel that's expanded its horizons to the digital realm. Get it with your cable or satellite subscription, or as a digital streaming option instead.

We're almost positive people have written dissertations on the influence of this film on the horror genre. So, we dunno, maybe check out?

Definitely worth it for Vincent Price. 

(Also available on Hulu.) Creature features often don't get enough love in the horror genre. But this one was our jam!

Warner Bros. Pictures

Prime Video is thrown in "for free" for anyone subscribing to Amazon's membership program, which otherwise guarantees delivery of a wide array of products in two days or less at no additional charge. It's got a ton of movies and TV shows from third-party studios, and a growing list of Amazon exclusives, too. Note, however, that only the first few selections are available via Prime; the rest are available as 48-hour rentals at a pay-per-view cost.

This movie will freak me out always and forever!

Chris Sarandon as a vampire? Sold!

(Available to rent.) This Michael J. Fox classic about a teen werewolf will have you howling for more! I promise that's the last pun in this article.

(Available to rent.) It's a Halloween movie list, so I'm obligated to include Pumpkinhead.

(Available to rent.) One of the few films on this list that is also a cinematic masterpiece.

(Available to rent. It's also available on Hulu Plus Live TV.) I know the found footage gimmick is tired, but do you actually remember how scary this movie was? An entire generation couldn't go camping for like a decade after it came out. 

(Available to rent.) This film was so scary that I still can't bring myself to watch any of the sequels or prequels! But if you are interested in watching The Conjuring 2, it's available on HBO Max. 

(Available to rent.) I went as the Bride for Halloween one year. This isn't relevant to my recommendation, but I'm trying to sell you on a film from 1935.

(Available to rent.) Carrie is so good! Sissy Spacek just has a special place in my heart. It isn't at all related to Halloween, but you should also check out Coal Miner's Daughter.

(Available to rent.) This is the American remake of Let the Right One In. And it's pretty well done for US market cash grab. 

It (2017)

(Available to rent. Also on Hulu plus Live TV.) This film is alway a thrill. The sequel is also available on HBO Max.

(Available to rent.) Frankly, I could use more sci-fi horror films. And more Vin Diesel.

(Available for rent.) For all the gore lovers.

(Available to rent, though the 1972 version is included with a Prime membership and is also on Hulu.) I'll say this about the remake: it's probably more suspenseful than the original. But the original left me feeling emotionally violated, and that's a special kind of horror that's hard to replicate. Still the remake is worth a watch.

(Available to rent.) Down with the yuppies! Honestly this is one of my all-time favorite films.

(Available to rent.) As a child I was only afraid of two things: Chucky and spiders. I am still terrified of both. But hey, now I'm also afraid of heights!

(Available with a Prime Video Channels subscription. Also available on Tubi.) It's Wes Craven so I'm not even going to bother trying to convince you. Just watch it.

Raw (2016) 

(Available to rent.) Watch only if you have a strong stomach!

(Available to rent.) OK, here's our pitch: Jessica Walter and Clint Eastwood. Are you sold?

(Available to rent.) Not to be confused with the Brooke Shields film The Blue Lagoon. This one is about a lagoon monster.

(Available to rent.) You'll never want to fly again. 

(Available to rent.) This is possibly one of the worst films ever made, but it stars Gerard Butler as Dracula. So you should probably watch it anyway.

(Available to rent.) Nearly half the movies in our roundup were in some way inspired by this classic slasher film. An absolute Halloween classic.

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Twitter Expands Fact-Checking Project Birdwatch in the US

Twitter Expands Fact-Checking Project Birdwatch in the US

Twitter said Thursday it's expanding a pilot project that allows users to add context to misleading tweets.

As part of a project known as Birdwatch, users can add "notes" to tweets that contain false information. Twitter said a "small (and randomized)" group of users in the US will see these notes on tweets and be able to rate if they're helpful. About 10,000 people have contributed to the pilot, which was launched more than a year ago, the company said.

The expansion of the project is an example of how social networks are experimenting with ways to combat the spread of misinformation, a long-standing problem that's become a bigger concern after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. From fake profiles to misleading videos, social networks have struggled to stop a flood of lies before they go viral.

While the idea of crowdsourcing isn't new, it's not entirely clear how well Twitter's Birdwatch program has been working. Poynter, which analyzed more than 2,600 notes from Birdwatch and reviewed 8,200 ratings, said in February 2021 it found that less than half of Birdwatch users cited a source and many of the notes included partisan rhetoric. Twitter said Wednesday that the "vast majority" of notes that appear on tweets cite sources. In November, Twitter started allowing users to add notes without providing their name. Twitter said the anonymity is meant to help protect people from harassment and could potentially reduce polarization. The move, though, also makes it tougher to vet a source.

Twitter's Birdwatch program is still small and most users don't see these notes. The Washington Post reported this week that Birdwatch contributors were flagging about 43 tweets per day in 2022 before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Birdwatch also isn't available in Russia or Ukraine.

Keith Coleman, vice president of product at Twitter, said during a virtual press conference Wednesday there are a lot of challenges that come with building Birdwatch.

"As we're expanding, we want to know that the product is really working and is really helpful," he said.

Twitter users can rate if a Birdwatch note is helpful.

Twitter

The company surveyed Twitter users in the US and found that they were 20% to 40% less likely to agree with the substance of a potentially misleading tweet after reading a note about it. Coleman didn't say how many people were surveyed or when this study was conducted. CNET asked Twitter for a copy of the survey, but the company declined to share it publicly. Twitter has also worked with The Associated Press and Reuters to rate the accuracy of the notes. Most were accurate, Coleman said.

Twitter wants people who have different points of view to contribute to Birdwatch, Coleman said. The company doesn't look at a Birdwatch user's political affiliation, gender or location but instead how they've rated notes in the past. 

"If you have a note that's been rated helpful by two people who historically have always disagreed with each other, it's probably a good sign that that note is actually helpful to people from different points of view and could be worth showing," he said.

CNET wasn't invited to the press conference but viewed a recording of the call after learning about the event. 

Twitter users are able to see what tweets are being fact checked on Birdwatch. Some recent examples of notes rated helpful include one that debunked a claim that US Vice President Kamala Harris told a kindergarten class that "Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine so basically that's wrong." The March 2 note cites an article from Media Matters, a left-leaning nonprofit and watchdog group, that points out that Harris was asked to explain Russia's invasion of Ukraine in "layman's terms" on the podcast The Morning Hustle.

Another note rated as helpful appeared below a video with 12 million views that describes a woman at an ice cream stand as a "real-life hero" because she appears to have prevented a girl from getting kidnapped. "This video is most likely scripted or setup. Similar video exists with same people," the note from March 1 said, citing Reddit. The note and replies to the tweet didn't appear to stop people from sharing it. As of Wednesday, the questionable video had been retweeted more than 84,000 times and quote tweeted more than 11,600 times. The quote tweets indicate that users still believe the video is legitimate. 

"Our focus right at this phase is note quality — that notes are helpful to people, inform understanding, and accurate. As we scale and it becomes visible to more people, we believe it has the potential to impact virality, and this is something we'll be measuring," Coleman said in an e-mail after the press call. 

Twitter users aren't alerted at the moment if a tweet has a note but Coleman said as the pilot expands it would "make sense to look at extensions like this, to help people evaluate what they're reading and sharing."

Allegations of bias in fact-checking has been an issue that social networks have grappled with as they try to combat more misinformation. Last week, Russia said it's partly restricting access to Facebook after the social network refused to stop fact-checking and labeling content posted on Facebook by four Russian state-owned media organizations. Russia's telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor, alleges Facebook violated "fundamental human rights" by restricting the country's state-controlled media. Twitter said Saturday in a tweet it's also being restricted in Russia. 

Facebook pays third-party fact-checkers such as PolitiFact, Reuters and The Associated Press to flag misinformation on its site. The company started a project in 2019 so "community reviewers" who are contractors can help fact-checkers spot misinformation faster. Content flagged as false is shown lower on the Feed, filtered out of an Instagram page that curates content, and is featured less prominently in Feed and Stories where users post content that vanishes in 24 hours. If you try to share a fact-checked post, Facebook shows you a notice that says there's false information in the post.

Outside of Birdwatch, Twitter has taken other steps to help curb the spread of false claims, including adding more labels to misinformation, Russian state-media links and automated accounts.

While there are people who share false claims intentionally, others might share misinformation because they simply don't know it's true.

Yoel Roth, head of site integrity at Twitter, said Russia's invasion of Ukraine has made it more apparent how important Twitter's work in combating misinformation is.

"We're acutely aware of the role that we play in society and the value that public real-time conversation has," he said.

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When Local Newspapers Fold, Polarization Rises. Here's What You Can Do

When Local Newspapers Fold, Polarization Rises. Here's What You Can Do

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rising energy costs and our ongoing struggles with the coronavirus pandemic take up a lot of our attention these days. But there's more going on a lot closer to home -- you just might not know it, because your local newspaper is gone.

More than a quarter of hometown newspapers have disappeared in the last century, leaving about 70 million Americans with little or no way to stay informed about their city and county governments, schools or businesses. As the country heads toward the 2022 midterm elections, Americans are increasingly turning to friends and social media to stay informed -- which isn't always trustworthy, as we learned during the 2016 election when around 44% of Americans were exposed to disinformation and misinformation through untrustworthy websites. 

"The state of local news in America is dire," said Tim Franklin, senior associate dean of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism and head of the Medill Local News Initiative.

Local journalism isn't just a nice idea. Community newspapers report some of the most important stories in our country. That includes the Boston Globe's 2002 series exposing the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston's sex abuse of minors, Sara Ganim and The Patriot-News' coverage revealing Penn State sex abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky and the Charleston Gazette-Mail's 2017 expose on opioids flooding into West Virginia. 

This is part of Citizen Now, a package that aims to empower readers with information about our changing world. 

CNET

But for every Pulitzer Prize-winning local journalism story, there are countless more that have  served as chroniclers of their communities and watchdogs of the people in power. And when they aren't there, research from the Brookings Institute found there's generally more government waste and fraud. 

"When you have less local news, there's various effects, some of which you'd find predictable: lower voting turnout, more corruption, more waste," said Steven Walden, president and co-founder of Report For America, a nonprofit that funds young reporters to work in understaffed newsrooms throughout the US. "There's also evidence that you have more polarization and misinformation."

The journalism industry has been struggling to adapt. Advertising, once a vital part of the newspaper world, has shifted to online. Meanwhile, profit-hungry newspaper owners have chosen to lay off staff and reduce the quality of their products.

Nonprofit organizations have stepped up to support newsrooms in several ways, but ultimately, they live or die by their communities. Many local papers and radio stations depend on individual donations to fund reporting that would never be done by larger publications, covering civic meetings and investigating local issues that lead to exposés which fix injustices. Even simply signing up for and reading local news draws people closer to issues that affect them -- and reinforces what publications do.

"Most of these stories weren't big but they mattered immensely to the residents in a community larger outlets didn't regularly cover," said Greg Yee, now a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, speaking about his year writing for the Farmington Daily Times in Farmington, New Mexico. (Full disclosure: Yee is a former colleague of this article's author.) Stories that stick out from that time include a mobile home park cut off from natural gas in winter and a new gas station opening in a Navajo Nation community, the only fuel access in 30 miles, that significantly improved locals' quality of life. 

"A good local news organization is a problem solver: it identifies problems and helps a community come together to solve it," said Penelope Abernathy, visiting professor at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, who heads a site dedicated to mapping news deserts, areas with one or zero local papers. "And a good news organization shows you how you are related to people you may not know you're related to in another part of the county, region or state."

The Washington Post / Getty Images

Long, withering decline

Journalism jobs have been shrinking for decades, driven by declining newspaper circulation and the rise in digital advertising. The news industry's advertising and subscription businesses have roughly halved over the past decade. Much of that money's shifted to Google, Facebook and Amazon, which together now hold 64% of the US online advertising market.

For newspapers, that shift in spending is catastrophic. In the decade after the great recession in 2009, the Pew Research Center found newspaper newsroom employment in the US had dropped by more than half, to about 35,000 workers. 

Ironically, the news industry has more readers than ever before – upwards of 10 times as many, according to Danielle Coffey, vice president and general council of the News Media Alliance. 

"We don't have a broken product. It's being consumed at exponential rates," she said. "The source of the problem is the revenue problem."

It wasn't always this way. 

The founding fathers believed so strongly in newspapers as a public good that they set up government subsidies for postal rates, reducing the cost of distributing the news – which at the time, was delivered on horseback.

In the 1960s and '70s, though, publicly traded paper owners began fixating on profits. To impress shareholders, news organizations conglomerated into big chains that gobbled up local papers into regional networks, said Amanda Lotz, professor of the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University.

"The financialization pressure really moves [newspapers] away from the balance between a commercial and public service enterprise of providing news to a community," Lotz said. 

Rounds of acquisitions resulted in the gutting of editorial budgets and staff. With fewer reporters, newspapers started relying on national stories published by wire services, a trend that created "ghost papers" that had little or no local content. Meanwhile, the internet became an easy substitution for things online that had until then been exclusive to the paper, like weather, sports scores, classifieds and even news.

Venture capitalists and other financial firms began buying up newspapers in the 1980s but rapidly accelerated in the last two decades, growing to own over 23% of US newsrooms today while wringing out profits with more layoffs.

"Those losses put more strain on already stretched newsrooms and the publications ended up churning through staff," said Yee, who worked for four years at a pair of newspapers owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital. "All of that translates into worse, inconsistent coverage of the communities they're trying to serve."

As a result, from 2004 until the start of the pandemic in 2020, the US lost a quarter (around 2100) of its newspapers, according to a report from the University of North Carolina's Hussman School of Journalism and Media. By the end of last year, another hundred were gone, Poynter reported, expanding news deserts that are mostly located in financially-impacted rural areas in the country's interior.

Some papers have tried to rely more heavily on subscriptions, while transitioning to mainly digital publishing. Some success stories include the Chattanooga Times Free Press, which has been operating since 1869. Last September, it switched to a daily digital edition and a single print edition on Sunday from a daily print edition. The publication spent $6.1 million to give all its monthly subscribers iPads and train them one-on-one how to use them to access their daily paper, and it's retained subscribers through the transition. 

"There are some real success stories in this transition. If you can lower your paper costs and your distribution costs and if you can attract enough digital subscribers, you can support a local newsroom on that. But many local news organizations are still getting a significant chunk of their revenue from print advertising," Medill's Franklin said.

Bloomberg / Getty News

Legislative fix, maybe

One way the news industry could regain revenue and profit is to seek compensation from big tech platforms. After all, advocates say, Facebook, Google, Twitter make money selling ads next to links, videos and photos published and shared freely to their networks. 

Legislators in Australia were the first to pass a law in February 2021 requiring Google and Facebook to negotiate with publishers for compensation to use their work, while France followed with its own legislation shortly thereafter. The latter locked horns with Google before finally securing legal assurance that the search giant would pay local media outlets when they appear in search results. Critics like the Electronic Frontier Foundation lament that the Australian and French laws ensured deals for big media publishers at the expense of smaller ones, but that hasn't stopped  Canada and the UK from gearing up to pass their own versions. 

A version of that idea in the US, called the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, was proposed in March, 2021 by Senators Amy Klobuchar, Rand Paul, Cory Booker, and Lindsey Graham -- a rare bipartisan effort. The bill would allow news organizations to collectively bargain with tech companies for compensation, but hasn't moved out of committee yet.

Another idea to fund journalism Is the Local Journalism Sustainability Act introduced a year ago in the House by Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick and Dan Newhouse. That bill, if it were to become law, would give newsrooms around $50,000 annually in tax breaks to hire reporters. Small businesses, meanwhile, would receive $5,000 for the first year to advertise in local papers, and Americans would get a $250 stipend to pay for news subscriptions. It's unlikely to pass, though, in part because of partisan bickering over other spending plans on Capitol Hill.

"We need to make sure these publications can sustain themselves through this crisis and beyond, and I believe the credits in this bill make significant progress in providing a pathway to that sustainability," Rep. Kirkpatrick said when announcing the bill. 

Nonprofit newsrooms 

Some news organizations are finding funding beyond ads and subscriptions. Nonprofit foundations and philanthropic organizations are funneling grants and other aid money to newsrooms, including a new wave of nonprofit publications, like ProPublica, which run mostly on foundation and individual donations.

The American Journalism Project is a self-described venture philanthropy firm that to date has raised $90 million to back 32 local nonprofit newsrooms. Founded in 2019, it's also helped launch four more, taking the startup incubation model and applying it to digital newsrooms.

The organization focuses on both funding newsrooms and guiding them toward self-sustainability by diversifying their revenue streams, said Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project. Newsrooms they've helped grow by around 67% in their first year and are projected to double their revenue in three years. 

"Will local news only be nonprofit? No. Is nonprofit news vital for the future of an informed citizenry? We think so," Berman said.

Report For America, founded in 2017, describes itself as a service organization, which helps pair young reporters fresh out of college with legacy newsrooms. The organization financially supports the reporter by paying half their salary (up to $25,000) the first year, then a third (up to $20,000) the following year. After that, it's up to the publication to decide whether to hire them permanently. 

"If you're not in New York or Boston or Washington, some of these news organizations have trouble getting people to go out to smaller towns," said Report For America's Waldman. "We have a very significant recruiting operation and are able to create a sort of self-selected group of people who are really passionate about local."

Report For America has grown its graduating class to 130 reporters this year, up from its first class of 13 in 2018 -- to date, over 560 reporters have gone through the program and partnered with local newsrooms. They include Laura Roche of the Charlotte News & Observer writing about the fraught debate over museums returning the unethically sourced remains of Black people, Sierra Clark of the Traverse City Record-Eagle writing about Melissa Isaac and many others in her Anishinaabek Neighbors series, and Brandon Drenon of the Indianapolis Star writing about the NAACP and others criticizing Indiana schools for failing Black students.

Report for America also connects newsrooms with donors in their area in an effort to get the community more involved in funding its local news again.

"Our goal is to actually help change the local business models in a way that they can sustain that," Waldman said.

The nonprofit Knight Foundation pledged to give $300 million to news organizations in 2019, some of which will go to both the American Journalism Project and Report For America, among other nonprofits that in turn support local newsrooms -- efforts that can be seen city by city on this interactive map. The flow of financial support is important for local newsrooms that operate on nonprofit and for-profit models, which are both valuable to their communities, said Jim Brady, vice president of the Knight Foundation's journalism program.

"Nonprofits tend to be more investigative or enterprise in nature, and the for-profits tend to provide more information on how consumers can live their daily lives. So we think both must be part of the answer to how local news can thrive," Brady said. 

An infographic from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media's project website, The Expanding News Desert, headed by Penelope Abernathy.

UNC Hussman

What to do if you don't have local journalism

News experts have advice for what to do if you live in a news desert, with little or no coverage. First on the list: Stop thinking that social media posts are an informative replacement for reporting. Social media can help people know what's going on, but it's rife with bias and misinformation. 

"There's a proliferation of misinformation and disinformation that goes unchecked because there's no local journalist checking on the facts. [Social media is] a place where unvetted gossip can get spread," Franklin said.

People need to learn to spot misinformation that's spread on social media by publications that look like they're trustworthy but aren't. Both the World Health Organization and the Poynter Institute have their own free online courses to learn how to fact-check posts yourself -- not just to spot fake news, but also to understand the agenda behind why they're spreading in the first place.

In the voids left by local papers, citizen journalists and bloggers have stepped up to provide their communities with informative coverage, but they lack the oversight and vetting a newsroom provides. For lack of better options, a citizen reporter could start a site on Substack and write about local events, Franklin suggested. 

The best thing to do is to reach out to regional papers the next town over and request coverage. You can find your nearest local or regional paper on Newspapers.com or  NewspaperMap.com. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has a station finder site too, and if you're a fan of National Public Radio, you can sign up to become a member of your local station in order to help support it. It isn't a perfect solution for an existing newsroom to stretch to cover another area, but is far better than starting a new local publication from scratch. 

But if your community decides to launch a new publication, organizing it as a nonprofit newsroom is a successful way to go. They rely on donations -- foundation support and individual giving account for a combined 83% of nonprofit revenue, according to the Institute of Nonprofit Newsrooms' 2021 Index. And that model is working: 83 of the over 400 nonprofit newsrooms affiliated with INN are less than five years old.

Then there's nonprofit newsroom Berkeleyside, which hosted the so-called first 'direct public offering' where it solicited a combined $1 million in funding from 355 of its readers (an average of $2,816 per person) in 2018 to get started. These are technically securities, but sold directly to its readers, and the publication continues to publish today. It's one of many ways newsrooms are innovating new ownership structures to stay solvent.

"We need to get more support from communities, from local community foundations, from national media foundations and from high net-worth individuals to help make local news sustainable in all areas of the country," Brady said.

Correction, June 28: The original version of this story incorrectly stated how many reporters were in Report For America's first graduating class. Its first graduating class of reporters was in 2018 and had 13 members.

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• Political Polarization Over Time
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Microsoft Windows 10 review: Microsoft gets it right

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Microsoft Windows 10 review: Microsoft gets it right

When Microsoft unveiled Windows 10 in 2015, it delivered an elegant operating system that could -- for the first time -- fulfill the potential of each modern computing form factor. Equally proficient on a touchscreen tablet, laptop, or conventional desktop PC, Windows 10 resuscitated the operating system's best features while setting the stage for Microsoft's ongoing innovation streak that includes idiosyncratic products like the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book and, more recently, the Surface Studio -- a desktop PC for artists and designers in need of high-end horsepower and display -- and the Surface Dial, a touch-friendly dial designed to facilitate fine contextual controls.

Late 2016 update

The next generation of the popular Surface tablet, the rumored Surface Pro 5, is expected to appear in the spring of 2017 -- timing that may coincide with the rollout of the next version of Windows, a free update scheduled for the first half of 2017. Windows "Creators Update" will introduce 4K video game streaming and support "augmented reality," bringing 3D capabilities to legacy applications such as Paint and PowerPoint. It will support 3D rendering for Microsoft's HoloLens technology, which will be incorporated into forthcoming devices from Acer, Lenovo, Dell, HP and Asus. And it will enable a virtual touchpad that lets you control external monitors from tablets, without need for a mouse.

It's worth mentioning that Apple delivered its own operating system overhaul in September 2016. MacOS Sierra added some new features inspired by its own mobile operating system. And though Apple clearly wishes to continue the integration of Macs and iOS products, providing additional incentives to keep your hardware inside Apple's walled garden, it's not always a perfect fit. In fact, the new MacBooks announced in early October 2016, equipped only with USB-C ports, can't connect to the new iPhone 7 and its Lightning Connector, without an adapter.

Editors' note: The original Microsoft Windows 10 review, first published in July 2015, follows.

Windows 10 is the Goldilocks version of Microsoft's venerable PC operating system -- a "just right" compromise between the familiar dependability of Windows 7, and the forward-looking touchscreen vision of Windows 8.

This new Windows, available as a free upgrade for existing Windows 7 and Windows 8 noncorporate users, is built from the ground up to pursue Microsoft's vision of a unified OS that spans all devices without alienating any one platform. It's an attempt to safeguard Microsoft's crumbling software hegemony, assailed on all sides by Google and Apple. And it's a vision of the future as Microsoft sees it, where a single user experience spans every piece of technology we touch. Welcome to Windows as a service.

Yes, this new OS is chock-full of fresh features. To name just a few: a lean, fast Internet Explorer replacement called Edge; Microsoft's Siri-like voice-controlled virtual assistant, Cortana; and the ability to stream real-time games to your desktop from an Xbox One in another room. (And in case you're wondering: there is no "Windows 9" -- Microsoft skipped it, going straight from 8 to 10.)

Windows 10 bridges the gap between PC and tablet. Nate Ralph/CNET

But Windows 10 is also the end of a long, awkward road that began with the release of Windows 8 in 2012, when Microsoft tried to convince a world of keyboard and mouse wielders that touchscreens were the way to go -- or else. Ironically, in 2015, the PC hardware for that touchscreen future is now here -- everything from 2-in-1s such as the Lenovo Yoga line to convertible tablets with detachable keyboards, like Microsoft's own Surface. And Windows 10 smoothly lets users transition from "tablet" to "PC" mode on such devices like never before.

For the rest of the PC universe -- including those who still prefer good old-fashioned keyboard and mouse navigation -- Windows 10 is a welcome return to form. The Start menu, inexplicably yanked from 8, is back and working the way you expect it to. Those live tiles from the Windows 8 home screen still exist, but they've been attached to the Start menu, where they make a lot more sense. And the fiendishly hidden Charms bar has been morphed into the more straightforward (and easier to find) Action Center.

As always, there are some quibbles and gripes with the end product, but all-in-all -- after living with Windows 10 for months -- I can say it's a winner. It's flexible, adaptable and customizable. And it's been battle-tested by an army of beta testers for the better part of a year, making it one of the most robust operating system rollouts in recent memory.

A fresh Start

The Start menu is back; it's almost funny how relieving that is. That humble Start button has been a fixture on the lower left corner of the Windows desktop since the halcyon days of Windows 95, offering speedy access to apps and settings. Press it on Windows 10, and you'll see the latest step in a long conversation about the state of the PC industry.

I spend more time than I'd like to admit rearranging the Start Menu. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

The past sits on the left: a neat column with shortcuts to your most used apps. Press the "All Apps" button and you'll get an alphabetical list of all of the apps installed on your PC. There are folders in there too -- press them, and extra options will fly out, just like they always have.

The future -- or at least, the future as Microsoft envisions it -- sits on the right side of the Start menu. These are the colorful, animated live tiles that debuted in Windows 8, pulling double duty as app shortcuts and informative widgets. You can resize these live tiles, drag them about to arrange them into groups and pin as many apps as you'd like -- the entire Start menu can be shrunk or expanded to suit your liking. It's essentially a miniaturized version of the fullscreen Start menu we saw in Windows 8. Hate live tiles? Then unpin them to excise them from your computer, leaving you with the narrow column of frequently used apps we've known for so long.

One step back, two steps forward

The Start menu in Windows 10 is admission that Windows 8 maybe have been a bit too forward thinking. But Microsoft hasn't abandoned that vision of unifying all manner of devices under a single operating system: Continuum in Windows 10 is the latest attempt to bridge the gap between touch and non-touch devices, and this time it doesn't force us to relearn how to work with our PCs.

To start, there's no divide between the Windows 8-style "Modern" apps you get from the Windows app store, and those you install the old-fashioned way. Everything exists as a traditional windowed app, sharing space on the desktop. If you're on a two-in-one device like Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 , pop the keyboard off and Windows 10 will switch to tablet mode. The Start menu and your apps will stretch to take up the entire screen, and all of the miscellaneous apps and shortcuts on your taskbar will disappear, to give your finger fewer obstacles to hit.

Apps go fullscreen, and the taskbar gets a little less cluttered in tablet mode. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

Reattach the keyboard, and everything slots back into place. It's an instantaneous, seamless process (once you've shooed away the annoying confirmation window). It's also entirely optional: you can disable the feature and switch to tablet mode manually, or forget that this whole touch concept exists at all.

This is what Windows 8 always should've been: an operating system that bridges the divide between touch and non-touch, without alienating folks who fall into one camp or the other. Like it or not, the future belongs to devices with touchscreens. But Microsoft (finally) understands that we'll all get there at own pace, and Continuum makes the transition painless. And now that there are so many hybrid devices to choose from, making the switch to touch without abandoning the interface we know is more important than ever.

Learning new tricks

Microsoft hasn't stopped at making touch make sense on a Windows PC. With Windows 10, just about every facet of the OS has been tweaked and updated, and a few new features have been rolled in. In typical Microsoft fashion, there's a dizzying array of keyboard shortcuts and touch gestures for each of these features, giving you no fewer than three ways to access the things you're trying to get to. No need to memorize them all -- just use whatever suits you (or your device) best.

Virtual desktops

If I had to pick my favorite new feature, I'd go with virtual desktops. Click the new Task View button on the taskbar and you'll get a bird's-eye view of all of the apps you've got open. Drag one of those apps onto the "new desktop" button, and it'll be moved to its own independent workspace. I can keep one workspace focused on work, a separate desktop for gaming forums, yet another workspace for the new camera lenses I'm checking out; there's no limit to the amount of virtual desktops you can create, and each one is treated as its own little private island.

Virtual desktops help you spread your apps across several workspaces. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

Virtual desktops are far from a new development, and they've been available in past versions of Windows thanks to third-party apps. But it's nice to see Microsoft catching up here. The feature could still use some work: desktops are numbered, but if you create a lot of them it can be hard to keep track of where everything is. The "traditional" Win32 apps you might download and install from a website are happy to open a new instance on any desktop, while clicking the shortcut on an app from the Windows store will yank you back to whatever desktop you used it on last.

You can move apps across virtual desktops -- just drag them, or right-click to shunt them over -- but there's no way to reorder the virtual desktops themselves, which would be really useful for staying organized. I'd also like to be able to set a different wallpaper for every virtual desktop -- I can do both of those things in Apple's OSX operating system, and have always found it really handy.

Windows Snap

The Snap feature introduced in Windows 7 has gotten a bit of an upgrade, too. Drag an app to the left or right side of the screen, and it'll "snap" to fill that space. The new Snap Assist feature will then chime in, showing you little thumbnails of any other apps that are currently open -- click a thumbnail, and it'll fill up the remaining space. You can also snap an app into a corner of your display and fill your screen with up to four apps, divided equally across the screen -- this could prove useful for folks with massive monitors.

Action Center

The new Action Center replaces the "Charms" introduced in Windows 8, and is another nod to mobile operating systems. Click the Action center icon on the taskbar to bring up a panel that houses all of your app notifications, and offers quick access to a few important system settings, like toggling your Wi-Fi network or switching in and out of tablet mode -- you can choose the options that turn up here in the settings menu. If you're coming from Windows 7 and have no idea where to find some of the settings you're used to, there's a good chance you'll find them here.

Wi-Fi Sense

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Wi-Fi Sense. While technically not a new feature (it's part of Windows Phone 8.1) its presence in Windows 10 should've been a welcome addition: Wi-Fi Sense connects your devices to trusted Wi-Fi hotspots.

I love the idea. Automatically sharing Wi-Fi credentials with my friends would remove much of the hassle of most social gatherings, when people just want to jump on my Wi-Fi network. And -- this part is key -- Wi-Fi Sense doesn't share your actual password, so it theoretically eases a social transaction (the sharing of Wi-Fi connectivity) without necessarily compromising my network security.

Until Wi-Fi sense offers granular control over sharing, I'd avoid it. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

But the implementation is, in a word, daft. I do want to automatically share my network with a select group of friends who are visiting, and have them return the favor. I don't want to automatically share access with everyone in my Outlook address book, or on Skype, or the random assortment of folks I've added on Facebook over the years. Give me the ability to choose who I share access with, down to the individual, and I'll give it a shot. Until then, I'll be leaving Wi-Fi Sense off -- I recommend you do too.

Windows Hello and Windows Passport

Microsoft is also beefing up security with Windows Hello. The feature will use your Windows 10 devices' camera or a fingerprint scanner to turn your body into a password. Once you've authenticated yourself with Windows Hello, Windows Passport will then give you access to a number of third-party sites and products, without forcing you to log in all over again. This should make it a bit more convenient to log in to your devices, so you don't skimp on traditional measures, like having a robust password. The only catch is that Hello isn't widely supported on a lot of existing hardware: you'll need a device sporting Intel's RealSense camera, or a fingerprint scanner.

Chatting with Cortana

Microsoft's virtual assistant Cortana isn't exactly a new feature, as she's been on Windows Phone for just over a year. But the company's answer to Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Google Now has made the transition to the desktop with Windows 10, taking over the OS' search functionality, while also handling quite a few housekeeping duties. You can have Cortana trawl through your email and calendar, and keep you notified of any upcoming flights you're taking, or packages you're expecting. She can set reminders and track stocks, and you can even dictate email messages for her to send to your contacts. Cortana can also be set to listen for you to say "Hey, Cortana," and can be trained to recognize several different voices. If you want to learn more about Cortana, head over to my preview on Microsoft's virtual assistant .

Cortana will help you get things done. James Martin/CNET

I'm torn. I love Google Now's proactive stream of useful information, served to me whenever I need it. But my primary mobile device is an Android phone and not a Windows Phone, which keeps my interactions with Cortana sequestered to my desktop.

She's not especially useful here. Windows 10's Voice recognition is rather accurate, but if I have to send an email message and I'm at my desk, I'm just going to use my email client. She'll offer recommendations for places to eat or things to see, but that'd be a lot more useful when I'm out and about than at my desk. The same goes for reminders, which are decidedly less useful if I can't access them anywhere.

Cortana will be making her way to Android and iOS devices later this year, which should clear up most of these issues -- provided most of her functionality crosses platforms without issue. I'll still turn to Cortana for the occasional joke, but until it's available on a phone I use regularly, I'll be sticking to Google for Now.

Microsoft Edge rethinks the browser

Microsoft has added a brand-new browser into Windows 10, and it's called Microsoft Edge. Introducing a new browser in a world that already has Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple's Safari is a pretty bold move. Doubly so when your previous effort was Internet Explorer -- once a juggernaut in the space, now the Internet's favorite punchline.

Annotate webpages with Microsoft's Edge browser. James Martin/CNET

Edge is a fast, modern browser that offers quite a few commendable features. Cortana is integrated right into the browser, and she'll offer detailed information on things like the weather or flight statuses while you're typing into the browser's address bar. Navigate over to a bar or restaurant's website, and Cortana can pull up a little sidebar full of useful information, like reviews or directions. The webnote feature lets you scribble on webpages and share your annotations to OneNote or via email, and you can use the Reading view option to strip a website down to its bare essentials. Edge has also been built with tighter security from the start, to hopefully circumvent some of the headaches that erupted from Internet Explorer.

But there are no extensions to tame overzealous advertisements, or enhance websites like Reddit, or simply organized my tabs -- I've been thoroughly spoiled by Google Chrome. There's no way to sync tabs or bookmarks across devices, and you currently can't import bookmarks from other browsers. All those features will be available eventually, with support for extensions coming sometime before the end of the year -- like Windows 10, Edge is a constantly evolving work in progress. But it's going to take a lot for someone like me, wholly enmeshed in Google's ecosystem, to ditch Chrome for something new. Internet Explorer also isn't going anywhere: it'll remain a part of Windows for the foreseeable future, as legacy apps are dependent on it. Head over to my Microsoft Edge preview to learn more about Microsoft Edge .

Getting your game on

Windows 10 adds and tweaks a few things in the entertainment department. The Xbox Video and Xbox Music apps have been renamed to Movies & TV and Groove Music, respectively. Their function is identical: any music and video files on your device can be found here, but it mostly serves as a means to convince you to buy or rent content from Microsoft's stores. You've got plenty of streaming services to choose from, for music and video.

Xbox Live achievements for Solitaire? Brilliant. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

If you're a gamer, the Xbox app will prove far more interesting. It's a window into your Xbox Live feed, letting you see what your friends are up to and send them messages, browse recordings people have made, compare achievements, and all of the expected ways of interacting with the social network. But if you own an Xbox One, you can stream activity from your console to any device running Windows 10.

It's awesome. No, it's not a game changer, and certainly not a reason to run out and grab an Xbox One. But it's still awesome: if someone wants to use the television, I can just plug an Xbox One controller into one of my PCs and continue plugging away at the Xbox One version of The Witcher 3 . The quality of the experience is going to be dependent on your network, so I'd recommend making sure both your console and the PC you're streaming to are connect to your LAN. The console also can't be used by others when it's streaming so this won't enable cooperative gaming. But if you frequently find yourself sharing the TV and have a PC with Windows 10 on hand, it's a fun little addition that could come in handy.

Handy tools for shutterbugs

The new Photos app isn't going to replace something like Adobe Lightroom, but if you take a lot of photos and are looking for a simple tool to keep things organized, you'll do well here.

Use the Photos app to make quick, non-destructive edits to your pictures. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

The Photos app scans your devices and OneDrive account for photos, and automatically arranges them into albums. You can use the app as a way to keep track of your pictures, but it also offers some basic editing tools too. If you prefer a hands-off approach, Photos will automatically enhance all of the photos it finds, wrangling red eye and sorting out exposure levels -- it works on RAW files, too. But don't worry: the edits Photos makes are non-destructive, so you can undo any changes it makes, or prevent it from altering your photos altogether.

Windows, everywhere

Windows 10 has finally arrived, but this version of Windows is fundamentally different from any that have come before it. It will truly be an everywhere OS, a concept Microsoft will be pushing with Windows 10 Mobile , and Universal Apps. We've been here before: apps developed for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 could share much of their code, which was supposed to make it easy to create a single app that ran everywhere.

Microsoft's universal apps share an identical codebase: the Excel client on your desktop, for example, will be the exact same client as the one on your phone, with elements adjusted to make sense of the different display, and the lack of a keyboard or mouse. You can currently get a taste of this on the latest version of Windows 10 Mobile, and while I wouldn't recommend editing spreadsheets on your smartphone, it's possible.

Universal apps will lead to their own challenges, as developers will have to weigh creating rich, robust apps that can run on a mobile device, against developing apps that can make use of all of the power a full PC can bring to bear. Microsoft is already drafting a solution using Continuum. Microsoft has demonstrated Continuum for phones: plug a Windows Phone into a display, and the interface will one day morph to mimic the PC-based version of Windows. You'll see the desktop, desktop-versions of Windows Store apps, and get full mouse and keyboard support. There's no word on when Continuum for phones will be available, or what devices it'll run on, but it offers a tantalizing glimpse of what Microsoft has in store.

Getting ready for what's next

The Windows Update process will be key to getting everyone on board with Microsoft's vision of the future of Windows. It'll also prove to be one of the most contentious elements: if you're running the standard Home version of Windows 10, updates are automatic and can't be refused.

This is a great thing. Windows' Achilles' heel has long been its nigh-ubiquity, which makes it a prime target for malware and other digital nastiness. A computer that's kept up to date is a happy computer, as it will offer you the best chance of avoiding viruses and other unpleasant things.

You can delay updates, but you can't avoid them. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

This is also a terrible thing. Many of us have encountered software updates that don't quite work out, occasionally breaking more than they fix. One of the last updates to the Windows 10 preview has been triggering software crashes, a recurring reminder that things occasionally don't work out as intended.

Microsoft has plans in place to mitigate these snafus: those of us who've signed up for the Windows Insider program can opt to continue serving as beta testers in perpetuity, and we'll be receiving every update first, for better or worse. But an army of five million testers could go a long way toward making sure these compulsory updates go as smoothly as possible. Insiders will also be able to continue driving the future of Windows by sharing feedback on features and functionality in Windows as they are developed.

I still worry that something will eventually slip through the cracks, and that will be the forced update that sours everyone's mood on the whole process. But I still favor Microsoft's approach: better to deal with the occasional botched update than have the legion of vulnerable or compromised devices that currently exists.

Conclusion

In an ideal world, we'd just call Microsoft's latest operating system "Windows," and sweep version numbers and codenames under the rug. That "10" gives the impression that something comes next, when in reality Windows is transitioning from something you buy (begrudgingly) once every few years, to a living document that's constantly being updated, and tweaked. For many Windows users expecting a predictable upgrade cadence, this is going to be a difficult transition.

Windows 10 will mean the end of grand, sweeping changes, with a marked increase in the sort of minute, quality-of-life tweaks we've grown accustomed to on our smartphones and tablets. Cortana will learn new tricks, and the interface will become flexible enough to support entirely new kinds of devices, like Microsoft's HoloLens . Should Windows Phone survive, we'll eventually see the world Microsoft envisioned back at the launch of Windows 8, when every device was supposed to feel right at home.

All of that comes later. What we have, at present, is a fast, functional OS that that is equally at home on a beefy gaming rig as it is on a Surface tablet. It does everything you expect it to, and bakes in all of the improvements Windows 8 brought to bear. Both Cortana and Edge have a long road ahead of them before they'll supplant Google's vicelike grip on my digital life, but the novelty of dictating emails and requests to my PC is not lost on me. And then there's the price: free, for those upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.

If you're running Windows 7 or Windows 8 you've little to lose, and quite a bit to gain, by making the jump to Windows 10. If you're still on Windows XP, you've probably got your reasons. But Windows 10 marks the first steps in a transition from operating system to ecosystem, a wild dream that gets a little less crazy every time I ask my PC a question, or pop the keyboard of my laptop to get some reading done. This is Microsoft's second attempt at bringing us the future, and this time they're getting it right.

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