Ed Bott

Senior Contributing Editor

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. He has served as editor of the U.S. edition of PC Computing and managing editor of PC World; …both publications had monthly paid circulation in excess of 1 million during his tenure. He is the author of more than 25 books, including Windows 10 Inside Out (now in its 4th edition) and Windows 11 Inside Out (scheduled for publication in 2022).

Ed Bott is a freelance technology journalist and book author. All work that Ed does is on a contractual basis. Since 1994, Ed has written more than 25 books about Microsoft Windows and Office. Along with various co-authors, Ed is completely responsible for the content of the books he writes. As a key part of his contractual relationship with publishers, he gives them permission to print and distribute the content he writes and to pay him a royalty based on the actual sales of those books. Ed's books are currently distributed by Pearson Education under the Microsoft Press imprint. On occasion, Ed accepts consulting assignments. In recent years, he has worked as an expert witness in cases where his experience and his knowledge of Microsoft technology and licensing have been useful. In each such case, his compensation is on an hourly basis, and he is hired as a witness, not an advocate. Ed sometimes receives fees and/or travel expenses for live speeches and webinars from companies and organizations. Acceptance of these fees does not constitute an endorsement of the company's products. Ed does not own stock or have any financial interest in any technology company. Ed does not accept gifts from companies he covers. All hardware products he writes about are purchased with his own funds or are review units covered under formal loan agreements and are returned after the review is complete.

Latest from Ed Bott

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How Apple used its money and muscle to kill an iTunes competitor

How Apple used its money and muscle to kill an iTunes competitor

Remember Lala, the innovative music service that made a splash in 2009? After Apple bought the company, Lala's services vanished. Now, a candid (maybe too candid) report from an insider explains why Apple was willing to pay $160 million to make this "clear and present danger" to iTunes go away.

January 19, 2013 by in Apple

Apple's lawyers clean up the sloppy iBooks Author EULA

Apple's lawyers clean up the sloppy iBooks Author EULA

Today, Apple released version 1.0.1 of its iBooks Author program. There's no new code, only a new license agreement. The sloppy language in the original license agreement is cleaned up, but the fundamentals are unchanged: Apple retains exclusive rights to anything an author wants to sell in its new format.

February 3, 2012 by in Apple

Some standards are more open than others

Some standards are more open than others

Ace Apple-watcher John Gruber thinks Apple is perfectly within its rights to build a proprietary, incompatible version of the open EPUB digital book standard. It's not their business to reduce the cross platform burdens of the publishing industry, he says. So why do they still belong to a standards body pledged to do just that?

January 23, 2012 by in Apple

Apple vs. Microsoft: Which user interface do you prefer?

Apple vs. Microsoft: Which user interface do you prefer?

Everyone has an opinion about user interfaces, but most people don't have enough experience to back those opinions up. That phenomenon makes any Mac-versus-Windows debate confusing. But there's a nearly perfect test case to compare Apple and Microsoft UI design philosophies: Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011 versus iPhoto '11. I dive in.

September 5, 2011 by in Apple