Another year, another list of Macworld’s most-read stories. These are the top stories, by page view, we received during the calendar year. (Some of them were posted in prior years, which is interesting, but they achieved their places on this list entirely due to 2010 traffic.)
One note before we get started: this year you won’t find any of our “live update” stories from Apple events in our list. We track those stories differently (and used a half-dozen different methods of covering those events in 2010), so they aren’t included. Suffice it to say, whenever Steve Jobs steps on a stage, our traffic goes through the roof.
Now, on to the top stories:
1. List: Apple’s free iPhone cases
You may have heard that Apple announced that it would give a free iPhone case to every current owner of the iPhone 4, as one of its responses to the hubbub over the iPhone 4’s antenna-interference issue. We quickly made a list of all the cases, and filled them in with reviews as quickly as we could. This list proved popular with readers, so much so that it topped our traffic chart, even though it’s not a proper “story.”
2. Review: Apple 27-inch iMac Core i5/2.66GHz
Our review of Apple’s Core i5 (with optional i7) iMac was so popular, it topped this chart last year and still managed to finish second this year. That’s a lot of interest in Apple’s top-of-the-line iMac.
3. Microsoft: Next Mac Office due late 2010 with Outlook
This news article from August 2009 finished third in our list, no doubt due to traffic from users seeking more information about the next version of Mac Office, which did indeed arrive later on in 2010.
4. Show all files in the Finder
Behold the power of Google. This Mac OS X Hints blog entry from 2006 generated massive numbers of page views from people who still want to know how to show all files in the Finder. Still works like a charm, too.
5. Need an iPad case? Take your pick
Showing the great interest building up for the iPad, this March round-up of announced iPad cases by David Chartier and Dan Frakes was mightily popular with readers.
6. Quickly Lock your Screen
Another classic Mac OS X Hint, and also from 2006. It’s a list of all sorts of ways to quickly lock your Mac’s screen.
7. Microsoft announces Office for Mac 2011
The official announcement of Office 2011 came in February, and this article detailed it. Microsoft gave us a first peek at an early version of the suite. This article contains my favorite moment from an interview in all of 2010, when a super-caffeinated Han-Yi Shaw from Microsoft referred to Office 2008 as a quirky teenager finally maturing into a grown-up with Office 2010.
8. Apple announces iPad
So Apple introduced this thing called the iPad. Maybe you’ve heard of it? This was our news story, initially posted as the event was going on, and then updated as more information rolled in.
In the aftermath of the iPhone 4 being announced, Lex Friedman detailed the flood of new cases being announced for the device. Little did we know how important iPhone 4 cases would become later on….
10. Review: 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air (Late 2010)
The MacBook Air was previously a niche product, but the Late 2010 iterations of the product line drew everyone’s attention. The page views accumulated by our review show prove that point.
11. Hands on with iOS 4 folders
Our own Dan Frakes takes you on a tour of how the folders in iOS 4 work.
You may have heard of it.
13. Installing Snow Leopard: What you need to know
A classic article from 2009 that we re-posted late this year.
14. iPhone 4 camera beats the smartphone competition
Heather Kelly’s comparison of images from the iPhone 4’s camera and those of competing smartphones. The iPhone 4 won.
15. Roundup: Apple’s free iPhone 4 cases
A roundup of the free iPhone 4 cases offered by Apple.
16. Review: Apple Magic Trackpad
Apple’s Magic Trackpad got a lot of attention, including from the critical eye of Dan Frakes.
17. Review: Griffin Technology Motif for iPhone 4
Our favorite case that was a part of the free iPhone 4 case program.
18. Review: iPad
Our review of the iPad posted on the day the iPad was released, and was positively received.
19. Apple introduces iWork for iPad
The introduction of iWork for iPad was Apple’s bold declaration that the iPad was not just an entertainment device.
20. Insanely bad: Ten Apple duds of the decade
Simon Jary’s humorous piece about Apple’s worst products of the past decade generated a lot of criticism and debate.