Dear cherished CNET visitor,

After my wife and I remodeled our kitchen recently, the friends who dropped by often asked us why we did this or that. Our answers always led to the same place: we didn't make changes because we cared about this fixture or that appliance or even getting ourselves splashed onto the pages of House Beautiful.

No, we did what we did because of the way our family uses, and even entertains in, the kitchen--the way we live with it.

Well, at CNET we've just completed a major remodeling, which you can see by joining me on an interactive tour. Like my kitchen visitors, you may wonder why we did what we did.

It comes down to one thing: the way you live with personal tech.

New feature series
It has long been CNET's mission to build the Web's most comprehensive site for personal technology reviews. We independently test and evaluate thousands of products, which are part of the ceaseless and often overwhelming march of new computer and consumer electronics gadgets into the marketplace.

But we're about more than just reviews. We're also here to provide you with a 360-degree view of all the gear out there, whether it's for home or for work. After you've read our good, bad, and bottom line about products and plunked down your money, you need to know how to get more out of them. To that end, we've launched several new feature series, such as Weekend Project and Insider Secrets, all aimed at helping you make the most of your computer, TV, cell phone, and more.

User showcases
If we're going to help you live with tech, we need some assistance ourselves. And that's where you come in.

To talk about tech in the context of real life, we need to rely on you. How? By showcasing you--your questions, your opinions, your setups, your experience. After all, your real-world expertise is an incredible resource for CNET's entire audience. So in addition to longstanding features such as "Three I can't live without," we now have two new user-based series: Show Us Yours, a showcase of home-theater setups, and Ask the Editors, a quick Q&A between you and our editors.

A brand-new home page
Here's the other big thing behind our remodeling project: personal tech represents one of the biggest wows of our lifetime, and we want to make sure that we capture and convey that thrill. To more fully reflect the relevance, the utility, and, yes, the excitement of personal technology in your everyday life, we're making our home page more lively, rich, and human. We've painted the site in deeper colors. We've added a new set of bright green tabs along the top of every page on our site. We've elevated the role of video. We're giving a face to the people behind CNET.com.

Also, you may notice that our new home page is now wider; as a result, it is best viewed by setting your display to a resolution of at least 1,024 by 768 pixels. Here's how.

I'm anxious to hear what you think. You can offer your feedback to me through, yes, yet another feature we've launched to involve you more. It's called TalkBack, and it allows you to post your reactions right here, right now, just by clicking the link below.

Sincerely,

Patrick Houston, editor in chief