Windows

Microsoft Can Now Make Master Chief and Doomguy Kiss If It Wants To

Microsoft is buying ZeniMax Media and its subsidiary, publisher Bethesda Softworks—giving it ownership of wildly popular game franchises including Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Doom, and Wolfenstein, as well as others like Dishonored, Prey, and The Evil Within—for a price of $7.5 billion. Technically, Microsoft now has the power to make the iconic Master Chief from…

Tech News Tom McKay

You Probably Never Found This Wholesome Windows 95 Easter Egg

The news cycle is bleak. Easter eggs are fun. And maybe it’s the nostalgia speaking (and the recent anniversary), but Windows 95 still reigns supreme in my memory as the best operating system of all time. It’s for these three very scientific reasons that the reveal of a long-hidden Windows 95 easter egg temporarily cured…

Tech News Victoria Song

Acer’s Latest Under $1,000 Laptops Have Wi Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 4

As with the launch of every new CPU line, new laptops appear to put that processing power into action with Acer’s new Swift 5 being the first system to use Intel’s Evo platform design. Building upon Intel’s Project Athena initiative, Intel Evo laptops are designed to deliver the typical Athena promises like responsive performance, instant…

Gadgets Sam Rutherford

How to Create the Perfect Two-Computer Setup

For the longest time, one computer has been enough to do it all. But it’s never been easier to get a cheap computer, and a second machine can do everything from help you code across multiple platforms to run lots of taxing programs at once, or just give you a nice change of digital scenery…

Gadgets David Nield

7 Ways to Get Your Computer Screen Up on Your TV

Maybe you’ve got friends coming over to watch a movie, or you need your family to watch this one really great YouTube video. Or maybe you’ve just got a slideshow of photos to show off to no one at all because some of us are still stuck at home in the midst of a pandemic.…

Gadgets David Nield

Stop What You’re Doing and Patch the Windows Bug That Took Microsoft 17 Years to Fix

Microsoft released a patch today that fixes what appears to be a major, long-standing flaw in the Windows Domain Name System. The patch, which is bundled in with the regular Tuesday Windows update, fixes the SigRed flaw, which was discovered by Israeli security firm Check Point, Wired reported. The DNS is kind of like a…

Tech News Joanna Nelius

Microsoft Kills One of Its Best Windows 10 Update Loopholes

As Microsoft continues to roll out its latest Windows 10 version 2004 update to consumers and businesses, it seems like it’s taking away some key perks of having a non-home version of the OS, mainly the ability to delay major updates. First spotted by WindowsTimes, Microsoft has quietly reduced the amount of time Windows 10…

Tech News Joanna Nelius

You Should Really Update Your BIOS

The BIOS (or Basic Input/Output System) is what kicks into gear when you turn on your computer: It’s the most fundamental level of software there is on your machine, checking that all the system components are working and in the right place, and loading up the main OS. The BIOS is vital to the smooth…

Gadgets David Nield

Lenovo’s 14-inch Flex 5G Is the World’s First 5G Laptop

Back at CES 2020, Lenovo promised it was going to make the world’s first 5G laptop. And now, just six months later, it appears Lenovo is ready to deliver on that promise with the new Flex 5G, which goes on sale later this week. In addition, to supporting both sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G, the Flex…

Gadgets Sam Rutherford

6 Free Final Cut Pro Alternatives for Making Your Own Movies

Video editing is easier than it’s ever been, with the barrier to entry becoming less pricey every year. As long as you have some decent footage to work with, you can turn it into something presentable—and dare we say professional—using programs that won’t cost you anything. Here are six of the best free video editors…

Gadgets David Nield

How to Speed Up Your Computer

Watching your computer gradually slow down seems inevitable. Your local storage space eventually fills with crap (or important files), and your installed applications become bloated and wheezy. However, you don’t have to settle for this slow-motion performance decay—speeding things up can more straightforward than you think. While we can’t cover every single reason for a…

Gadgets David Nield

How to Overclock Your CPU

Overclocking remains one of the most fulfilling hacks you can do to your home computer, but it’s not exactly something you can just jump into without any prior knowledge—though it’s certainly easier than it used to be. Here we’ll take you through the steps and resources you need to know about to get to grips…

Gadgets David Nield

HP’s Redesigned Omen 15 Boasts a Slimmer Chassis and Supports Both Intel and AMD CPUs for Just $1,000

While a lot of other gaming laptop makers pushed out refreshed systems earlier this spring, HP took some extra time to give its flagship gaming laptop a full redesign and now HP is releasing the new Omen 15 alongside an updated line of accessories and peripherals. Compared to previous Omen gaming laptops, the new Omen…

Gadgets Sam Rutherford

iPadOS vs Windows vs ChromeOS: Which is the Best Tablet Experience Right Now?

If you’re choosing a new tablet, or a new tablet that can turn into a laptop if you attach a keyboard to it, then you’ve got three choices: iPadOS, Windows, or ChromeOS. One dedicated tablet OS, recently split from the iPhone, and two converted desktop OSes doing double duty on tablets. Which one is best…

Gadgets David Nield

After a Decade Away the Dell XPS 17 Is Back, and the XPS 15 Has a Major Redesign Too

Earlier this year, Dell refreshed the XPS 13 to great results, and now Dell is coming back to revamp the rest of its best line of laptops with the new XPS 15 and XPS 17. For its new 15-inch thin-and-light, Dell says the XPS 15 has gotten its first full redesign in five years, with…

Gadgets Sam Rutherford

The Galaxy Book Flex Is the Best Laptop Samsung Has Made in Years

Over the last couple years, it felt like Samsung’s laptop division has been coasting. That’s because none of its laptops were outright bad, but, aside from a couple Chromebooks,nothing really stood out either. A big part of Samsung’s laptop woes has been a lack of identity. But in 2020, one of Samsung’s goals was to…

Laptops Sam Rutherford

New Leaks Give an Almost Complete Picture of Dell’s Upcoming XPS 15 and 17

Earlier this year, Dell refreshed its excellent 13-inch ultra portable laptop, the XPS 13, with faster components and an updated design. Now, thanks to leaks spotted on Dell’s French website, it appears the XPS 13’s larger siblings, the XPS 15 and XPS 17, are due for updates soon. While the original leaked product listing has since…

Gadgets Sam Rutherford

How to Make the Most of an Ultrawide Monitor

We’ve long been champions of the dual-monitor setup—it’s one of those upgrades that you don’t really appreciate enough until you actually invest in it—but expanding to an even larger ultrawide monitor can be way more beneficial. Here’s why they can work so well and how to get the most out of one. If you’ve not…

Gadgets David Nield

31 Little-Known Settings on Your Phone and Laptop You Should Know About

You’d have to be really, really bored to devote some time to scrolling through all the settings on your phone or laptop—so the devices you rely on every day may well offer a selection of options and features that you’re completely unaware of. Here’s a rundown of 31 of the best lesser-known settings that you…

Gadgets David Nield

The Revamped Razer Blade Stealth Fixes One of Its Biggest Issues

The Razer Blade Stealth was already one of the best small-but-mighty laptops on the market, and now it’s getting more powerful. Razer’s refresh adds faster CPU and GPU options along with a fix for one of the Blade Stealth’s biggest flaws. While its starting price of $1,800 is a bit steep, even a base-model Blade…

Gadgets Sam Rutherford

Microsoft Can Now Make Master Chief and Doomguy Kiss If It Wants To

You Probably Never Found This Wholesome Windows 95 Easter Egg

Acer’s Latest Under $1,000 Laptops Have Wi Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 4

How to Create the Perfect Two-Computer Setup

7 Ways to Get Your Computer Screen Up on Your TV

Stop What You’re Doing and Patch the Windows Bug That Took Microsoft 17 Years to Fix