Microsoft is officially retiring the iconic blue crash screen that has haunted PC users since the days of Windows 1.0. In its place, Windows 11 version 24H2 will introduce a sleek new black screen that marks the beginning of a major push to modernize how the operating system handles critical failures.

But don’t be fooled. This is more than just a cosmetic change. It’s a calculated response to one of the most catastrophic tech outages in history.

The great blackout

The update, announced June 26, is part of Microsoft’s Windows Resiliency Initiative, a sweeping overhaul of the platform’s architecture, recovery protocols, and crash diagnostics. As part of these changes, the iconic cobalt-colored BSOD, with its frowny face and vague messaging, is being replaced with something simpler, sharper, and darker.

The new screen now reads, “Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart,” accompanied by a progress percentage bar and, crucially, stop codes and driver details displayed upfront. Gone is the frowny face and QR code, both of which were long since criticized for being more confusing than helpful.

This change didn’t come out of nowhere. In July 2024, a faulty security update from CrowdStrike brought more than 8 million Windows machines to a halt around the globe, triggering a cascade of BSODs in airports, banks, emergency services, and Fortune 500 companies, causing an estimated $10 billion in damage.

The root of the issue was how deeply third-party security tools could penetrate Windows’ kernel, a vulnerability that Microsoft is now closing with a vengeance. And the new Black Screen of Death is the literal face of that transformation.

“This is really an attempt at clarity and providing better information,” said David Weston, Microsoft’s VP of Enterprise and OS Security, in an interview with The Verge. “It allows us and customers to really get to the core of the issue so we can fix it faster.”

More than a new paint job

Alongside the black screen rollout comes Quick Machine Recovery, a new feature that can automatically revive systems that fail to boot, even remotely. It works by entering the Windows Recovery Environment, pinging Microsoft for diagnostics, downloading fixes via Windows Update, and applying them without human intervention.

That alone would be newsworthy. But Microsoft is also rewriting decades of Windows security logic. Antivirus and endpoint protection tools are being kicked out of the kernel and re-housed in user space, where they’ll have less power to break the entire OS if something goes wrong.

In practical terms, this means fewer complete system failures and faster recoveries, with Microsoft claiming that restart delays will shrink to as little as two seconds for most users.

Designed for peace of mind

For most people, the Black Screen will just feel… quieter. The new aesthetic mirrors the visual language of Windows 11 updates, where progress bars and black backdrops already make the experience feel less alarming. The message is shorter. The look is cleaner. The vibe is calm.

But it’s also smarter. IT professionals now see the exact stop code and offending driver up front, eliminating the need to trawl through WinDbg or hunt down memory dumps. That clarity shortens downtime, cuts troubleshooting time, and gets users back in the flow faster.

Black is the new blue

It’s the end of an era for one of tech’s most recognizable (and feared) images. The original Blue Screen of Death wasn’t just a Windows quirk but a meme, a diagnostic, and a symbol of the fragility of modern computing.

Its evolution into something quieter, simpler, and more fixable is a milestone not just in UI design, but in how Microsoft is rethinking the relationship between users, crashes, and recovery.

Expect the new BSOD to roll out later this summer with Windows 11 24H2.

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As Google continues to ramp up pressure on ad blocking methods like browser extensions and VPNs, the cat-and-mouse game between the blockers and Mountain View has grown in breadth and complexity.

What are the best ways to block ads on YouTube?

First, we should establish the two platforms you can access YouTube on: mobile and desktop.

If you’re accessing YouTube via desktop, you have several options to block YouTube ads including web browser extensions and VPNs.

Meanwhile, if you access YouTube through the mobile app, your only effective ad blocking method will be a VPN. But those results may be spotty, as we’ll get into later.

How can you block ads on desktop YouTube?

The fastest, and generally most reliable way to block ads on YouTube while browsing on your desktop is to use an extension that’s embedded in your web browser.

The two most popular options at the time of this writing are AdBlock Plus, and uBlock Origin, however the latter comes with a catch. Since uBlock has proven incredibly effective at getting around Google’s efforts to show ads on desktop YouTube, the company has disabled access to the extension entirely if you’re trying to install it on a Google Chrome browser.

That said, ABP is still available on Chrome as of this writing, and is just as effective in most instances. You can also continue to use uBlock Origin on alternative browsers, such as Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera.

The second method of blocking ads on YouTube using your desktop is to install a virtual private network, or VPN.

VPNs come in many shapes and sizes, at every price point from free, up to around $15 per month. And while most of the top options in the category, like NordVPN, Surfshark VPN, and Windscribe VPN, all have ad blockers built in, dozens of others don’t.

This is why we suggest carefully reviewing the feature list of your preferred VPN before committing to a subscription, to ensure the service offers some level of ad blocking on its network. This issue is further compounded by the fact that even though your VPN may offer an ad blocker, the only way to find out if it will successfully block a YouTube ad (some do, some don’t) is to try the service out for yourself.

If you’re worried about compatibility, some VPNs offer a short trial period that allows you to test the service ahead of time. Most also support a 30- to 90-day money-back guarantee in case the VPN doesn’t perform as expected.

How can you block ads on mobile YouTube?

As mentioned earlier, the primary method for blocking YouTube in the mobile app is via a VPN.

Because the YouTube app is developed and maintained directly by Google, there’s no way to install an extension on top of the app that could capably block ads.

Previously, there had been a number of third-party ad blocking apps that were available on iOS and Android, but since Google's latest crackdown users have reported that most of them have lost all functionality.

Mobile VPNs, meanwhile, take control of the internet pipe for the entire device. This means it can filter out certain types of traffic, including ads, before they’re delivered to your device through the YouTube app.

However, a word of caution. As spotty as ad blocking can be for VPNs on desktops, it’s even spottier on mobile. Due to limitations on what parts of your device the VPN can access, especially on iOS, the success rates for VPN-based ad blocking are even lower than on desktop. Once again, the only way to find out if VPN ad blocking will work for your device, in your region, is to sign up for a subscription and try it out yourself.

Which VPNs are best for blocking ads?

As we’ve said, no VPN is ever a 100% surefire method for getting around Google’s ads on the YouTube platform. That said, a rule of thumb in the VPN space is, generally, “bigger = better.”

This means the larger a VPN company is, the more resources it will have to bolster its ad blocking efforts while also adding more features alongside ad blocking that make for a more holistic online privacy experience.

At LaptopMag, we’re especially partial to some of the biggest names in the game including NordVPN and Surfshark VPN. Both VPNs are deeply rich in features (including ad blocking), and also support massive global networks of servers.

The more servers the VPN supports, the more likely you are to find an option that’s close to you. The closer a VPN server is, the faster it will be, and the higher your bandwidth stays while doing everything from streaming videos on YouTube or Netflix, to gaming, and more.

Right now NordVPN is running a special deal for new subscribers, and you can click here to find out more about the money you might save on your next VPN!

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For Windows users rocking Western Digital SSDs, we've got some good news and some bad news.

The bad news: Windows version 11 24H2 is still failing to install on systems with specific Western Digital SSDs. When users encounter this error, Microsoft does not advise a fix.

The good news is that a firmware patch will solve the issue.

Here's what you need to know.

What SSDs are impacted and what version of Windows is causing trouble?

The SSDs affected all belong to Western Digital (now SanDisk). In particular, the issue seems to be cropping up with the popular SN770 model.

The troublesome update is Windows 11 24H2, which was released in October 2024.

If you happen to own a WD SN770 SSD and try to update to the 24H2 version of Windows 11, you'll get an obscure pop-up that reads:

Your PC has a hardware that isn't ready for this version of Windows. Windows Update will automatically offer you this version of Windows once the issue has been resolved.

This error code appears after Windows scans your computer's hardware and indicates a mismatch between your SSD and Windows 11 24H2's requirements.

But don't run back to Best Buy to pick up a new solid-state drive. You have options.

What should you do if your SSD isn't compatible with Windows 11 24H2?

If you take the nuclear option, you can revert your SSD to a Windows 10 image and rock the better version of Microsoft's OS for a little longer.

Alternatively, you could go the grumpy route and switch to Linux.

But if you'd rather not nuke your entire SSD just for one measly Windows update, there's a simple firmware patch that should get you back on track with all the new features and security updates from Microsoft's latest annual update.

Windows aficionados on Reddit have already devised a quick fix for the issue with version 24H2. You can use the SanDisk Dashboard to update your WD SSD to the latest firmware.

The updated firmware should get your system safely through the Windows 11 hardware scan, and onto the download process for the October 2024 Windows feature update.

Is this finally the push Linux needs to win the OS wars?

Okay, look: I did mention installing Linux on your hardware because that is one surefire way to avoid upgrading your computer when Windows 10 is finally kicked to the curb.

Since Linux is an open-source platform, you don't run into many hardware requirements for the various Linux distributions. So if it's more than just a WD Black SN770 holding you back from the latest Windows 11 update, it might be worth checking out Ubuntu before buying a new laptop or desktop.

But for all of Linux's benefits, there is a pretty high barrier to entry for many people. Some programs won't run on Linux, while others require work with translation layers to get them up and running as expected from a Windows machine.

So it may be similar to using one of these routes to hold on to Windows 10 for a while longer.

Or you can hold out hope for Windows 12.

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With the Classic version of Windows Outlook’s end-of-life date inching closer, using it has only gotten more frustrating. Now, users are reporting that the app outright crashes the moment they try to open or draft an email.

For instance, someone on Reddit shared a post on the r/sysadmin subreddit on June 6, mentioning that they’re having issues with Outlook crashing when they try to open messages, though the Preview pane still works fine.

Many chimed in with similar complaints, confirming that the issue isn’t isolated. While there’s no word on how widespread the problem is, it’s serious enough that Microsoft has officially acknowledged it and is investigating.

Though this could very well be one of Microsoft’s ways of nudging users toward the new Outlook, the good news is that the Redmond-based tech giant has also offered a temporary workaround that may get things running again while it works on a proper fix.

The fix is as simple as creating a new folder, but it may or may not work for everyone

In an article published on Microsoft’s support site on Friday, Microsoft acknowledged the issue where Outlook crashes “when you open or start a new email.”

The tech giant mentions that while the issue can occur for Outlook on “all Microsoft 365 Office channels,” the cases being reported are currently on virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), meaning it could be more specific to users running Classic Outlook in virtual environments. Ultimately, users running Classic Outlook have a lower chance of being affected by this issue.

Microsoft also shared that the issue is occurring because Outlook is unable to access the Forms Library. And the fix for those affected is surprisingly simple: manually creating a folder named FORMS2 in the local Microsoft AppData directory.

Before you do so, make sure to close Outlook and all other Office applications. Then, head to Start > Run and type in the following path: %localappdata%\Microsoft, which’ll essentially take you directly to the Microsoft subfolder inside your user’s Local AppData directory in File Explorer.

Now, all you need to do is select New > Folder in the File Explorer menu to create a new folder. Simply name the new folder “FORMS2.”

Another option is switching to the new Outlook

What’s likely going on here is that Outlook is trying to access the FORMS2 folder, and when it can’t find that folder (possibly because it got deleted), the app crashes.

Manually creating the folder essentially tricks Outlook into thinking everything’s in place, and ultimately stops it from crashing when you attempt to open or compose a new email.

So, though this isn’t a guaranteed fix, since Microsoft mentions that “you may be able to work around the issue,” it’s your best bet until an official patch rolls out.

Another alternative is, well, to follow what Microsoft’s been encouraging users still hanging on to the legacy Classic Outlook to do: switch to the new Outlook experience. Microsoft wants all users off Classic Outlook by 2026, so this might be your cue to make the jump early.

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Android malware remains a massive danger in 2025, with a June 5 mobile threat report from Kaspersky revealing that 12.1 million attacks were conducted on Android devices running Kaspersky software between January and March 2025.

Now, considering that number doesn't include the majority of the world's 3.3 billion Android OS devices that aren't using Kaspersky, you get an idea of the scale of this concern.

Trojans were the most common threat, accounting for 40% of the total malware infections. Trojans are viruses that trick you into installing them on your phone to steal data, gain access to your banking apps, spy on you, or drain cryptocurrency accounts, so they should not be taken lightly.

Let's examine the current malware landscape on Android and learn how to protect yourself against the most common threats.

The most vulnerable Android devices

Keeping your software and operating system up to date is one of the easiest ways to stay safe. Before delving deeper into the report's findings, it's worth noting that anyone running Android 12 (or earlier) on their device is particularly vulnerable. Google ended security updates for that version in March 2025. Since then, Google has patched 133 high-severity and four critical-severity threats.

Android 12 was launched in October 2021 and is currently installed on approximately 12% of all Android devices, according to Statcounter's May 2025 figures. That's nearly 400 million Android devices worldwide, including popular phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S10 lineup (released in March 2019) and Google's Pixel 3 (released in October 2018).

So, if you are someone who likes to hang onto your phone for a long time, this is the moment to let that old phone go and make the upgrade. Devices without security software updates pose a significant threat to your safety. The good news is that it doesn't have to be that expensive. Check our best phone deals for options starting as low as $169.

Mamont banking Trojan was the biggest threat in early 2025

Mamont is off to a banner year in 2025, which is not something you want to hear when it comes to malware. Between January and March, it accounted for three of the top five mobile malware threats, an increase of more than 15 percent compared to October to December of 2024.

How is Mamont spreading so fast? Social engineering is the key, as these Trojans masquerade as legit apps to gain high-level permissions on the victims' devices.

Mamont is a threat to anyone who sideloads apps, so be particularly wary if you’ve done so lately. Double-check your permissions and keep one eye on your bank account. Mamont can pose as the Chrome app, a delivery tracking app, or a video file, among numerous alternatives.

Don't buy that off-brand Android phone

Motorola offers affordable Android phones for under $200, so please don't bite on extreme budget Android phones.

See also: The Trump Mobile T1 phone: A ridiculous claim may doom it to fail

Kaspersky has found several off-brand phones loaded with a backdoor Trojan called Triada so far this year. The Trojan is active from the moment a user powers on their phone.

It can replace browser links, steal your login data, steal cryptocurrency, or inject malicious code into apps without you realizing it. The people behind Triada have stolen over a quarter of a million dollars in crypto from victims.

Your phone is your most valuable possession

In 2025, your phone will undoubtedly be the most valuable thing you own, as it has access to virtually everything else.

Again, this means ensuring you don't skip the operating system updates that your phone is prompting you about. Stop putting them off and update now; it'll only take a few minutes.

Only download apps from the Play Store. Although there have been instances of malware infiltrating the Play Store, it is vastly safer than installing apps from the open web.

Go to Settings and search for Permission Manager to review the permissions you've granted to every app on your phone. Pay careful attention to any apps with Accessibility or Device Admin rights, as these are often critical for malware.

Use a mobile antivirus app to protect your phone from malware further. These apps can move faster against attackers than a software update from Google or Samsung, so it's a sound early defense system.

Finally, for any critical accounts, enable two-factor authentication, as this can potentially stop cybercriminals from gaining access to your accounts even if your device is infected with malware.

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In the world of virtual private networks (VPNs), company marketing is crucial for customer acquisition. Because the products of different providers are so similar, many VPN companies will do anything and everything to stand out. This includes boasting about the number of servers offered on their VPN network.

But just how important is this figure, and should it be the determining factor in your next purchase decision? VPN juggernaut Nord thinks maybe not.

How we got here

Because VPNs aren’t the most technically complex products to create and maintain, there has been a flood of providers over the years.

In such a crowded field with a low barrier to entry, any metric worth mentioning is likely to be picked up by the marketing department and plastered on the home page or any other available advertising channel.

Historically, these metrics have often been related to things like speeds, server counts, the number of supported devices, and extra features. However, as most of those are easy for each VPN to match against others, the advertising arms race for “bigger number = better” has focused almost entirely on server counts.

Why is a high server count good?

In essence, the larger a VPN network is and the more servers it offers, the more likely it is you’ll be able to find one close to your geographical location.

Overall the closer a server is to you, or the larger number of servers you have to choose from in a particular region, the better performance you can expect from the service. This is because each server has a particular load amount, and the more people that are trying to use a single server, the slower the speeds will be.

However, one company, NordVPN, is trying to change this longstanding narrative. In a recent interview with TechRadar, the company’s CEO Marijus Briedies was quoted on the issue, stating, "The idea that the more VPN servers you have, the better you are, is basically not very true. So, we have to start talking about this.”

Briedies argues that server quality, over quantity alone, is more indicative of the experience VPN users can expect. Briedies claims his company caps every server at just 30% load volume, which means more bandwidth is available for each user connected at one time.

That said, in general, if a VPN offers more servers, the more broadly the network can spread those users when connecting in high-traffic areas like Tokyo or New York City. So, in most cases, yes, a bigger number is better in the long run.

What should you look for in your next VPN?

So, what does this all add up to? While server count shouldn’t be the only metric you consider when picking a VPN, it’s still one of the most important, regardless of what a single CEO says.

Looking at everything from price to supported device count, user reviews, and more should give you the best picture of which VPN will best fulfill your needs.

Server counts are an important part of this total package, and while they may be less relevant for users who live in moderately populated areas of the world, anyone in very rural settings or densely packed cities will want to keep server count and quality at the top of their list of considerations when shopping for a new VPN.

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Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is more than a week away, and as always with each event, the company has a lot to show off.

One of the big news items that could be coming during the show is the changing of the naming conventions for the Apple operating systems for its devices. These OS versions are numbered based on how many iterations have been released since the device’s launch, but instead of continuing with separate version numbers, Apple will reportedly number all OS versions by the year they come out, such as iOS 26.

This means the new version of macOS would be called macOS 26 if this rumor is true. And according to a new report, the next theme for the next macOS will be a bit of a departure for Apple.

The next macOS will be named Tahoe, as in Lake Tahoe, as reported by Bloomberg. Apple names its macOS after different locations found in California, but Lake Tahoe straddles California and Nevada, which is a little different for the Mac maker.

This new macOS will reportedly be a major redesign for the OS. Apple makes some significant changes to its OS every few years, with the last major redesign coming in 2020 with macOS Big Sur.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

What else is being shown at WWDC 2025?

WWDC is all about software, making it the time for Apple to show what's changing for iOS, watchOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and visionOS. Of those different operating systems, iPadOS seems to be up for some big changes. It appears Apple wants to make its tablet more like its MacBook in both look and functionality.

AI will have a presence at WWDC across the different OS, but it seems like it might not be as big of a deal at the show as it was for Google at its I/O event and Microsoft with its Build event. Apple is still working on improving its Apple Intelligence and looking to release an overhauled Siri that acts like an AI agent.

Something new for Apple at WWDC could be video games. The company recently acquired a game developer studio and may announce a new gaming app at the show.

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Windows is 40 years old, and the latest iteration of the operating system, Windows 11, keeps making some big improvements. Most notably, Windows 11 for Copilot+ PCs is using AI to create some interesting — and controversial — features, such as Recall, which takes snapshots of your computer to create a searchable timeline of what you did.

Microsoft has also been revisiting some of its long-time Windows programs, and one program, which even predated the first iteration of the operating system, is getting an upgrade.

Notepad, the simple text editor that pops up whenever a Windows user clicks on a text file, will finally get some formatting options, according to a blog post from Microsoft. The app will soon have a formatting toolbar that allows the use of bold, italic, and hyperlinks for a document, as well as making a list and creating headings.

This simple formatting addition may seem a bit odd to include after all these years, but Windows users tend to use Notepad because it doesn't have any formatting options. Those people simply want to edit text without dealing with different fonts or styles.

The Notepad update is rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels on Windows 11 as of Friday.

Revitalizing the classics

Notepad was largely untouched by Microsoft for a long time, but in recent years, the company has made more use of it. Back in 2021, it and Microsoft Paint received a design overhaul to make them more modern. Notepad also received an update on May 22, enabling users to write new content using generative AI. These changes to Notepad could be a way for Microsoft to replace its free word-processing program, Wordpad, which was retired in 2023.

Other Windows programs receiving new upgrades this month include the Snipping Tool and Paint. Both will incorporate AI with the Snipping Tool, using AI to create the perfect screenshot and noting the exact color values on whatever is on your screen, while Paint will generate stickers based on a prompt.

What could be the biggest change to Windows 11 is the change to the crash screen. The infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) that appears whenever a severe issue occurs requiring Windows to restart might soon become the Green Screen of Death (GSoD). The GSoD is currently available for Windows Insiders and offers fewer details about what happened to cause the restart. Still, the change will offer a slightly less panic-inducing reaction with the color change.

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According to recent reports from an Apple Insider, Cupertino plans to consolidate its software stack under a single branding strategy, starting after WWDC later this month.

Apple joins the rest of the pack

Though the company refused to comment on rumors, Bloomberg spoke with Apple insiders who confirmed that iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS will all see their disparate version names brought under a single umbrella.

Like Microsoft, which named its Windows versions after the year they were released throughout the '90s and early '00s, Apple’s new plan is to add the upcoming year to the end of each operating system.

For example, while we currently have iOS 18 and watchOS 12 due to the respective distance in their original launch dates, they’ll now be called iOS 26 and watchOS 26, respectively.

This move also mirrors what Samsung did with its Galaxy phones starting in 2020, moving straight from the Galaxy S10 to the S20 that year. However, unlike Samsung, Apple will be naming for the year ahead.

See also: WWDC 2025 preview: iOS 26, Apple's video game plans, Apple Intelligence, Mac Pro M4 Ultra

The Bloomberberg report observes that iOS 26 will be launched in 2025, similar to how car manufacturers have operated their branding model for decades.

What else can we expect at WWDC 25?

The name changes aren’t all we should expect from Cook and Co. this year, though.

Early rumors suggest Apple also plans to renovate many aspects of iPad OS, bringing a more “Mac-like” experience that includes improvements to productivity, app window management, and multitasking.

Of course, a modern tech conference wouldn't be complete without an AI update. In that arena, reports say Apple could open up its AI models to third-party developers to take advantage of Apple Intelligence on supported devices.

The company also reportedly has plans to launch a new “AI-based battery management feature” to increase battery life for iPhones, whatever that’s supposed to mean.

Stay tuned for all the latest on June 9, when Apple leaders will take the stage at its annual developer conference.

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On Wednesday, Google pushed an update to all users of its Chrome web browser that aimed to patch two critical security flaws. There aren’t many details about the flaws available, nor what part of Chrome could be at risk, but it’s recommended that all users update their browser as quickly as possible to avoid any potential issues.

Google keeps mum on details

In a statement, security engineers on the Chrome team are quoted, somewhat vaguely, as saying that “access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix.

"We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed.”

The new high- and medium-severity fixes are as follows:

High CVE-2025-5063: Use after free in Compositing.

High CVE-2025-5280: Out of bounds write in V8.

Medium CVE-2025-5064: Inappropriate implementation in Background Fetch API.

Medium CVE-2025-5065: Inappropriate implementation in FileSystemAccess API.

Medium CVE-2025-5066: Inappropriate implementation in Messages.

Medium CVE-2025-5281: Inappropriate implementation in BFCache.

Medium CVE-2025-5283: Use after free in libvpx.

Earlier in May, Google issued an update to all two billion Chrome users to address another vulnerability. If left unchecked, this vulnerability could potentially lead to account takeovers if the query parameter is stolen.

This vulnerability was first reported on X by user @slonser_ and is so significant that America’s Cyber Defense Agency has issued a mandatory warning that all federal staff must update their browsers or stop using Chrome by June 5.

Because the information surrounding this vulnerability is now in the public domain, any hacker or pentester who wants to penetrate the security walls of an out-of-date Chrome build will be able to do so easily.

How do I update Google Chrome?

Luckily, updating is the easy part. Even though this set of vulnerabilities is quite serious, the process of getting your Chrome build current is anything but.

If you want to update your Google Chrome build to the latest version, simply open up the Settings menu, and navigate to the About Chrome section from the left-hand tab, seen here:

Once you open the About Chrome page, your browser will automatically update to the latest version.

After downloading and installing the update, you’ll be prompted with a Relaunch button in the same section. Click that, and you’re good to go!

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We’ve seen AI slowly make its way into browsers, with tools like Microsoft’s Copilot in the Edge web browser, but a browser built entirely around AI, one that puts it front and center, is a first. That’s exactly what Opera has done with its new “agentic” browser: Opera Neon.

The new browser debuted on Wednesday and will be available as a subscription service. Opera has set a waitlist for those wanting to try out Neon.

In Opera's words, "you could simply state your wish and deploy AI to make a website, a prototype of a game, or even an animated model that explains the law of momentum, ready to share with your class."

Yes, this browser promises to write code for you.

Opera Neon in 2016 was merely a concept

But what’s most surprising about it isn’t the AI itself. It’s the fact that Opera didn’t jump on the bandwagon when the AI hype train took off. In fact, it’s been working on a futuristic browser for nearly a decade.

Opera introduced Neon in January 2017 as a futuristic concept browser, essentially the company’s vision for the future of browsers. Back then, Opera mentioned that Neon was built from the same browser engine as the regular Opera browser and was designed with content front and center, aiming to help users focus on what matters online.

The concept browser provided “fun ways to interact with web content,” such as the ability to “pop content out from the web,” essentially Opera’s interpretation of picture-in-picture. Though this is now a standard feature in modern browsers, it felt futuristic then!

Opera showed off a new user interface with Neon back then, including a start page that used the user's current desktop background image, tab management features like an “intelligence system that automatically manages tabs,” a new visual tab bar on the right side of the browser window, and more.

Fast-forward to today, and Neon is making a comeback, but Opera is no longer calling it a concept browser.

Opera Neon is now an agentic browser that does the work for you

Many elements from the original concept (including the name itself, which Opera says has become “a symbol of innovation and change”) have made their way into the new browser. For instance, the “different tab behaviors,” the split-screen mode, and the multimedia players will all be found in the new version.

Opera history lesson aside, what really matters now is the new Opera Neon, a fully agentic browser designed to automate a variety of everyday tasks.

As its "agentic" descriptor suggests, Opera Neon can browse the web as your agent and perform tasks you’d typically do while browsing, like purchasing or booking your next flight. It can also handle tasks like researching topics or building things for you, like interactive web applications. I

Agentic AI is at the cutting edge of internet-based computing. Google just unveiled the latest updates to its agentic AI technology at Google I/O last week.

Neon is designed “become your partner in the age of intelligent AI agents."

The key difference between Opera and Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and other AI services is that Opera says Neon isn’t just another AI chatbot or assistant. It’s designed to “become your partner in the age of intelligent AI agents.” Instead of merely assisting with your tasks or telling you how to do them, it does them for you. Neon is capable of operating itself based on your intent. However, this resembles Google's emerging agentic tech, specifically Project Astra.

AI agents have been talked about a lot in the last few months. Microsoft’s annual Build event primarily focused on AI agents. And with so many agents already out there (and even more in the works), it naturally raises the question: What good is a browser built with AI at its core?

Opera believes we’re currently “at the brink of a new web,” which it calls the agentic web. The company believes that since the browser is typically one’s most essential and frequently used app, it only makes sense for it to become the central hub for AI agents. This way, you can offload most of the tasks you don’t want to do yourself to AI agents within your browser while you continue to get on with your day.

Opera Neon can Chat, Do, and Make

The browser’s functionality comes down to three use cases: Chat, Do, and Make.

• Chat lets you communicate with the browser’s native AI and ask contextual questions about the webpage you’re viewing. It also does all the typical tasks you’re used to now, like searching the web and generating content or images.

• Do is powered by a technology called “Browser Operator” that the company showed off a few months ago, which handles interacting with the website you’re on. It can do web tasks like filling forms, booking trips, or shopping for you. Opera claims that Neon does all this while preserving your security and privacy. The company explains that Neon doesn’t depend on screen recordings or cloud-based virtual machines. Instead, it operates natively in your browser and performs everything locally on your PC. Ultimately, your data stays private and local, including your browsing history, logins, and cookies.

• Make is what Opera claims is a first for browsers — an AI engine that can understand what you want to make and make it for you. For example, Neon can create a small video game or a custom website. The agentic browser isn’t limited to a single task at a time. You can ask it to make multiple things simultaneously, and it’ll handle them for you. Neon will continue operating on a cloud computer even when you go offline.

More from Laptop Mag

• Opera GX web browser review: Fun and feature-flush
• Opera's Air browser wants to be the antidote to doomscrolling
• I'm done with Google Chrome: Here's where I'm heading next

Microsoft will hold its annual Microsoft Build 2025 event starting on Monday. This is when the Windows maker shows what it's working on, which comes during a busy period for tech companies.

A day after Microsoft Build 2025 starts, Google will put on its Google I/O show and the big tech expo, Computex.

This year's Microsoft Build is expected to be all about AI. Copilot has been a feature the company has been pushing hard in 2025, and it doesn't look like it plans to slow down talking about AI.

How can I watch Microsoft Build 2025?

Microsoft Build 2025 starts on May 19 at 12 p.m. ET with a two-hour keynote featuring CEO Satya Nadella and other company leaders discussing the latest features and services Microsoft is developing. Other events will focus on everything Microsoft is developing.

A livestream of the event will be available on Microsoft's YouTube channel.

Here are some of the things to expect at Microsoft Build 2025.

Copilot

If there's going to be a star of the show, it'll be Copilot. Microsoft is not slowing down in making Copilot the AI model Windows users should be using. Expect to see a few new features finally roll out after being in preview for the past several months.

Copilot semantic search in Settings, File Explorer, and the main Windows Search will likely be demoed during the show, along with other features that have been shown in previous events.

Windows 11

It wouldn't be a proper Microsoft show without discussing Windows. Now, the question is whether there will be a lot of talk about Windows 11.

Arguably, the most significant and most controversial feature for the operating system, Recall, has already debuted on Copilot+ PCs. Expect some talk about the feature, maybe it's improving a bit more, or simply becoming more widely available.

As for other Windows 11 features, it's hard to find other big changes needed for the operating system. Microsoft could show off some major innovation that it has kept quiet for some time, but the most likely situation is that there will be some optimizations and a few small features coming to Windows 11.

Copilot Agents

In April, Microsoft held a Copilot event to show off the Copilot's AI companions. These avatars act as your personal AI agent while using Copilot and can come in different forms. One popular option was the Clippy companion.

It's like Microsoft will reveal some more features for the companions at Microsoft Build, along with a few more character options for your AI friend.

A new AI?

Copilot is now Microsoft's big focal point, and OpenAI's ChatGPT powers it. While the Windows maker owns a stake in OpenAI, it reportedly wants its own AI model. Microsoft's AI model is reportedly on par with some of the newer models of ChatGPT, but it's unknown if this new AI is ready for the spotlight. If it is, Microsoft Build 2025 would be the show to make its debut.

Azure

Microsoft Azure is the company's cloud platform and one of its biggest moneymakers. However, it's not the sexiest subject to discuss during an event, as it's mainly intended for businesses.

There will be some Azure talk, and how much will depend on what's new with Microsoft and AI. The cloud platform uses ChatGPT to run various services for clients, such as chatbots, customer support systems, and content generators. If Microsoft sticks with OpenAI, expect to hear some new features for Azure, but if a new AI model is revealed, a slew of changes could be coming to Azure.

New Xbox handheld?

While the next Xbox is still a ways off, Microsoft is working with Asus on a handheld. Nicknamed Project Kennan, the device isn't the next generation of Xbox. Instead, it's set to be a way for Microsoft to dip its toes into the handheld market by providing the Xbox UI for a handheld made by Asus.

Microsoft Build could be the show where we get the first glimpse of this new hardware. If not, expect it to be shown at the Xbox showcase on June 8.

Windows 12?

The least likely news item coming out of Microsoft Build is Windows 12. The company is currently struggling to get Windows 10 users to upgrade to 11, so it's unlikely there will be talk about it.

Unless Microsoft finds it needs a whole new operating system to fully use AI. Plenty of updates are coming to Copilot to make Windows 11 work seamlessly with AI, but maybe there are limitations to what can be done. Again, it's unlikely, and Windows 12 won't be teased until next year at the earliest.

More from Laptop Mag

• Only one person at Microsoft is talking about Windows 12 — let's keep it that way
• Why I ditched Google Chrome for Microsoft Edge (and haven't looked back)
• Microsoft's new AI can change your laptop's settings — if you trust it to
• Microsoft's new Surface Pro could solve our biggest issue with the previous gen

Internet Explorer is notorious for frequently encountering issues and crashing, especially with IE6.

While the latter versions of Microsoft’s infamous browser performed reasonably well, they couldn’t shake off their bad reputation. While alternative browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Opera existed during Internet Explorer’s heyday, none could overshadow the built-in Windows browser until Google Chrome arrived in 2008.

Many users, including me, switched to Chrome because its performance is light-years away from that of Internet Explorer.

By 2012, Chrome's user base had surpassed that of Internet Explorer — a massive feat given that users needed to download it as a third-party app.

Microsoft finally killed off Internet Explorer in 2022, fully replacing it with the Edge browser.

Microsoft Edge actually came out seven years earlier in 2015, but only a few people used it because of what many thought of IE. Redmond re-released Edge in 2020, based on Chromium — the platform Google Chrome uses.

Despite that, one survey indicates that only a little over 5% of the market uses it, while Google Chrome enjoys more than 66% of the market share.

I used to be part of the majority until I got to try an Edge feature that I really liked. Because of that, I switched back to using Microsoft’s stock app as my main web browser, and I was surprised to find several more useful features that Chrome did not have.

1. Vertical tabs let you cram more pages in one window

This is the feature that first got me into Microsoft Edge. I usually have more than 10 tabs open at a time for every browser window, making Google Chrome look cluttered. Edge also uses horizontal tabs by default, allowing you to choose vertical tabs. This function makes my desktop look cleaner, as it compresses all my open pages on the left side of the screen.

Furthermore, it only shows the icons of my open tabs, minimizing distractions. If multiple pages of the same site are open, I can just hover over the sidebar, and Edge will automatically unfurl it. That way, I can see the names of the websites I have open at a glance.

Vertical tabs are handy as I usually have two to three browsers open simultaneously. Because of this, I have a much larger space to see all my open tabs without needing to scroll left or right at the top. It also reduces my confusion, as I like keeping all my open windows tabbed using an app like Groupy 2.

2. Microsoft Edge uses less memory

As I said earlier, I keep at least 10 tabs (usually more) on each browser window. Since I open at least three web browsers simultaneously, I have open at least 30 tabs when I work.

Because of this, Google Chrome uses a lot of RAM, sometimes even more than my computer has. I used to have 16 GB of RAM on my PC, but it would often lag even then. I eventually upgraded to 32 GB of RAM, which solved the lagging problem.

Out of curiosity, I checked Task Manager while running my typical workload. That’s when I discovered that Chrome used more than 20 GB of memory! No wonder my gaming computer was sluggish.

When I switched to Edge, I had no problems because of my upgraded RAM. When I looked at its memory usage, the Microsoft web browser hovered at around 18 GB, some two gigabytes less than what Google used.

This won’t make any difference for a power user like me, especially with my expanded RAM. However, for the average user with 8 or 16 GB of memory, that difference might be enough to keep them from tearing their hair out, especially when using memory-intensive tools like Trello.

3. Workspaces on Edge make it easier to juggle multiple roles

Aside from writing for Laptop Mag, I also hold other roles in several publications. This means I launch different sets of tools twice or thrice a day.

When I used Google Chrome, my standard tools (like Gmail and Google Calendar) were pinned as my default tabs. From there, depending on my work, I manually launched the tools I needed from the favorites tab.

However, I discovered I can do this much faster using Edge’s Workspaces feature. I create a workspace for each function I perform, meaning all the tabs I need automatically load.

Aside from those bookmarked pages, the tabs I used during my last session are open, allowing me to pick up where I left off without temporarily bookmarking the websites I needed for a specific assignment.

4. The Immersive Reader feature kills all ads and distractions

Advertising is one of the things that keeps the internet going, but many people hate it. Ads can be intrusive and distracting, especially when reading and understanding an in-depth article.

Thankfully, Microsoft Edge fixed this by blocking ads, links, and other unimportant sections with Immersive Reader. You can turn this on by pressing F9 or clicking on the options menu in the address bar and choosing Immersive Reader.

When it’s turned on, Edge will remove everything except the headline and related in-line media, allowing me (and anyone) to focus while reading. It’s not a perfect tool, though, and it sometimes misses unrelated content like e-commerce links and won’t turn on for some pages. But, for the most part, it’s good enough to make you feel like you’re reading an old-school blog or newspaper.

Microsoft Edge’s unique features made me ditch Google Chrome after several years of use. While it uses the same Chromium architecture, Microsoft’s engineers and programmers made it much more than just a Chrome knockoff.

While it arrived more than a decade too late to save old web browsers, Edge gave Internet Explorer the glow-up it deserves and has won me over — now I can’t imagine going back to Google’s web browser.

More from Laptop Mag

• I quit Google Chrome after 15 years: Here’s where I ended up and why
• Microsoft doesn't want to tell you how to uninstall Microsoft Edge
• Hot Swap: A Laptop Mag series about making the tech switch

Microsoft doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation for how users prefer to search. On the web, the company's Bing search engine limps its way through life with an estimated 3.89% market share (via StatCounter), dwarfed by Google's near-monopolistic 90% dominance.

And if you've ever dared to use the search bar in Windows 11, you'll know that it's hampered by slow performance, often irrelevant results, and occasionally the odd ad or two.

Windows Search was supposed to be the antidote to endless folder scouring, a quick and easy way of finding files, folders, or settings without trawling through drives and menus manually. But, like many Microsoft promises, Windows Search, in both Windows 10 and 11, often struggles to live up to expectations.

However, according to Microsoft's Vice President of App Store and Apps, Giorgio Sardo, change is on the horizon. Can we finally expect a revamped search experience in Windows that, at the very least, nails the basics?

Sadly, much like their search results, in this update, Windows users still haven't found what they're looking for.

Windows Search, or "I still haven't found, what you're looking for"

Microsoft's App Store VP took to X earlier in the week to tease a coming update to Windows Search that integrates the Microsoft Store — allowing users to "Quickly find and install apps right from your Start menu or Taskbar!"

Yes, instead of improving the way that Windows Search already works, by, say, tweaking performance and prioritizing local files and folders, users will now be met with a new layer of recommended apps to wade through as they meticulously pick through their search results.

Many aren't reacting warmly to the news — with one user quipping that Windows is "The only OS with a search feature that finds everything but the files you actually need," while others call for ways to disable the feature before it even officially rolls out.

That said, judgment on the feature isn't entirely unanimous. Some users have highlighted its usefulness in quickly finding available apps without needing to open the sometimes painfully slow Microsoft Store directly.

Still, this change seemingly doesn't blend all that well with Windows Search's primary use case. While it might make it that much easier for you to quickly install the TikTok app in a snap, it does nothing to help users track down that spreadsheet they created last week or locate last year's holiday snaps.

What's next

As of yet, there's no official word on when we can expect this feature to go live, with Microsoft's Sardo simply suggesting that it's "coming soon."

Initial reactions to the announcement skew heavily towards the negative, but that's unlikely to change Microsoft's course. It'll just be another potential low-level annoyance chipping away at the patience of Windows users, no different than a percentage of the changes made in any update prior.

For a company quick to champion its platform's efficiency and productivity, Microsoft's habit of slipping in distractions like this and ads in strange places can, at times, feel like it's flying in the face of itself.

There are many issues with Windows Search, and this update won't resolve them. At best, the new Windows Search experience will help users find only one thing: what they don't have, and likely weren't looking for.

More from Laptop Mag

• It's the "End of 10," but that doesn't mean you have to install Windows 11
• Microsoft CEO brags, AI model performance is "doubling every 6 months"
• Microsoft's new AI can change your laptop's settings — if you trust it to

If you've been using Microsoft Word and find it to be a bit sluggish, especially when trying to start the program, well, it's not just your imagination.

Fortunately, Word users will see a change to the program happening very soon, as Microsoft is planning to give it a boost. However, it may cost your computer some extra resources.

Back in March, Microsoft posted that it was going to implement a new feature for the desktop version of Office 365 called Startup Boost. The feature would start off with Word sometime in mid-May for those in the Early Adopter program. It would then roll out to all users later in May and eventually be used on all the Office 365 apps.

The way the feature works is that when the computer starts up, parts of the Word app will be preloaded and put in a paused state, but it will only do this if there are enough resources, which are at least 8 GB of RAM and 5 GB of disk space. With Word partially preloaded, once the user decides to open up the app, it will start much faster than before.

Preloading will also be turned off automatically while the desktop Energy Saver mode for power consumption is active.

What if you don't want a boost?

It's not clear as of now if Startup Boost will have an impact on a computer's performance or not. Having too many programs load automatically every time your computer starts could overwhelm it, which is why Microsoft made it easier to choose which apps can run at startup in Windows 11.

Startup Boost will be transparent when it loads, as it'll be listed in Windows Task Scheduler. It will be listed under "Office Startup Boost" and "Office Startup Boost Logon."

But if someone just doesn't want to deal with this feature, there is a way to turn it off.

First, the feature needs to be turned off in Word itself, as it's set to active by default. This can be done by opening up Word, going to File > Options, and on the General tab, locating the Startup options section, and then clearing the Startup Boost checkbox.

Unfortunately, this will have to be done after Office updates. According to Microsoft, the Office installer resets scheduled tasks during updates. This means Startup Boost will be re-enabled and will have to be disabled through the options menu every time Microsoft releases an Office update.

If you've been using Microsoft's classic Outlook app as part of Office 365 and felt there was something off about it when using it for emails, well, you were right.

For months, users of the Outlook app complained on Reddit and the Microsoft forums of a lot of lag when using the app, mainly when typing. It turns out that Outlook was using a huge amount of the CPU, and Microsoft finally took action.

Earlier in April, Microsoft posted a warning page about the issue titled "CPU spikes when typing in classic Outlook for Windows," as first spotted by PCWorld.

"When you write an email in classic Outlook for Windows, you may notice the CPU spikes up to 30 to 50% at some times and increases the power consumption. You can observe this if Task Manager is open while you type," the warning said.

Days after Microsoft posted the warning, the company updated the page, saying that a fix is in the works.

According to the page, here's a breakdown of when the fixes will be implemented based on what Office channel you're in:

• Beta Channel (Version 2505 Build 18822.15000) – ETA early May 2025, to check for build, go to Update History for Office Beta Channel - Office release notes.
• Current Channel Preview (Version 2505 18827.20000) – ETA mid May 2025, to check for build, go to Update History for Office Current Channel (Preview) - Office release notes.
• Current Channel (Version 2505 18827.20000) – ETA late May 2025, to check for build, go to Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps (listed by date) - Office release notes.

Microsoft also provided instructions about the issue for those in the Semi Annual Channel. The company said that it found the issue recently and that there is a workaround involving reverting to an older version of the software, however, it doesn't recommend it due to the possibility of losing security updates. Still, if you must make the change, here are the steps the company provided:

• Locate the build of Version 2405 for the respective channel you are on from Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps (listed by date) - Office release notes.
• Open a Command Prompt (Run as Administrator).
• Type or past the command below and put the build from Step 1 and then press Enter:"%programfiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.17628.20144

Microsoft also listed another route by using the Office Deployment Tool to switch to an earlier version of Office.

Phishing attacks are not new, especially with Gmail. There are constant warnings from email companies about what to watch out for when receiving a weird email.

That still doesn't stop hackers. Some do keep with the painfully obvious phishing attacks using emails supposedly from Apple, Amazon, and Facebook, yet use random email handles to send the fake messages. Others, however, have gotten smarter and sneakier with their attacks, so now, it's close to impossible to tell if an email is fake or not.

Software developer Nick Johnson created a thread on X about a new kind of phishing attack. He received an email from an attacker that said Google had been served with a subpoena and that he needed to provide a copy of his Google account content.

An email like this would seemingly be easy to dismiss simply by looking at who sent it. In this case, the email did come from a valid, signed Google email account, no-reply@google.com. This email also passed a DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) check, which reaffirms it is legit, and in Gmail, this email sorted itself with other Google security alerts within the inbox.

Clicking on the link also led to a legit-looking Google sign-in page with the subtle difference that the URL was "sites.google.com" instead of "accounts.google.com." Johnson didn't proceed further as he believed that would have been where the hackers would have harvested his data.

So how did these hackers create an email that appears to be a completely valid email from Google and create a fake site that is still a Google website? Johnson came up with a theory.

The first task was to create a site using an old Google product.

"The fake portal is fairly straightforward. http://sites.google.com is a legacy product from before Google got serious about security; it allows users to host content on a http://google.com subdomain, and crucially it supports arbitrary scrips and embeds," Johnson tweeted.

After this fake page is made, they create a Google account using a fake domain that is registered. Johnson used the email of "me@domain."

They can create a Google OAuth application, which, for a knowledgeable developer, can be done in mere minutes. The application is given the name of the phishing message with all the spacing and wording found on a Google email, including a line for "Google Legal Support" in Johnson's case.

From here, they grant OAuth app access to the Google account they created, "me@domain," in the case of Johnson's example. This then causes a "Security Alert" message from Google to be generated, which has all the phishing wording in it. The attacker then forwards that email to the victim, and it passes a DKIM check, appears to come from a legitimate Google email, and has a link to the fake site.

Google is on it.

At the end of his thread, Johnson said he sent this issue to Google, and their response wasn't ideal.

"I've submitted a bug report to Google about this; unfortunately they closed it as 'Working as Intended' and explained that they don't consider it a security bug. Obviously I disagree - but until they change their mind, be on the lookout for deceptive security alerts from Google," Johnson wrote.

He later posted another message saying the company changed its stance.

"Outstanding news: Google has reconsidered and will be fixing the oauth bug," he tweeted.

Google confirmed it is working on a solution with Newsweek.

"We're aware of this class of targeted attack from the threat actor, Rockfoils, and have been rolling out protections for the past week. These protections will soon be fully deployed, which will shut down this avenue for abuse," the company told Newsweek. "In the meantime, we encourage users to adopt two-factor authentication and passkeys, which provide strong protection against these kinds of phishing campaigns."

Microsoft wants its more than one billion users to stop using passwords to log into their Microsoft accounts.

This doesn't mean that Microsoft will remove any kind of security when trying to log into an account. Instead, it's looking for more of its users to use passkeys.

Passkeys are a more secure way of logging into accounts that Apple and Google have already begun using since 2023. Microsoft plans to have an updated sign-in and sign-up page for these passkeys for its more than one billion users starting at the end of April, according to a new post on the Microsoft Entra blog.

Microsoft laid out its plans to use passkeys back in May 2024. The company eventually wants users to need only an email to sign up and sign on for a Microsoft account, with the passkey handling security.

What is a passkey?

A passkey is a secure way to log in to an account without using a password. Instead, the passkey uses two unique keys, known as a cryptographic key pair. One is stored on a device like a smartphone while the other is stored on the website you would login on. Both need to be used in order to access a site.

What's important with the passkey is that the device user either uses biometrics or a PIN because when a user tries to sign onto the site, the device will need to use either for authentication. As the whole verification process is done electronically, all a person needs to do is enter the PIN, use a fingerprint, or just look at their phone for Face ID to verify who they are for the site.

The strength of passkeys is that they help diminish the effectiveness of phishing. If someone receives a phishing email that links to a website that looks just like a Microsoft login page, the user won't have a password to enter. The bad actors also can't replicate the key.

Passkeys are tied to a device, but they can be synced between multiple devices. This means changing a phone is no big deal as the passkeys just transfer to the new device.

Both Apple and Google began the implementation of passkeys in their respective mobile operating systems back in 2023. While these three tech giants made the jump to passkeys, others have yet to make the jump.

I’ve been a Windows user for over 30 years, but Apple’s M-series MacBooks converted me with their amazing battery life.

Now, I use an M2 MacBook Air, and while I appreciate its nice hardware and macOS, there are a few things that I think Microsoft still does better.

And I’m apparently not alone in wanting certain Windows features on macOS — many third-party developers, who presumably share my feelings, have built apps that emulate the best of Windows for your MacBook.

So, if you just got your first MacBook and find some macOS features to be lacking, then these apps could help bring back your sanity.

Most of these apps are free, with a few requiring a one-time purchase after a trial period. Also, note that these will usually require additional permissions to work as intended.

If you’re itching for a dose of Windows in your macOS experience, these are the six apps you need to download.

1. Window tiling with Rectangle

Microsoft introduced basic window tiling in Windows 7 and gave users a more advanced Snap Assist feature in Windows 10, which arrived in 2015. It took Apple some nine years to deliver the same functionality — one of the reasons why you should update to macOS Sequoia today.

However, if you’re coming from Windows, you’d find macOS built-in tiling features lacking. You’re limited to a few options, and it won’t even adjust to take advantage of different monitor sizes — especially if you’re using an ultrawide display.

Aside from that, using Apple’s tiling features leaves some space between windows, wasting precious real estate. This might not be an issue if you’re using a large external screen, but if you’re using a 13-inch MacBook Air, you’d likely want to make the most of your display.

This is why I love the Rectangle app. It gives you a variety of window layouts with associated keyboard shortcuts to make arranging your screen and apps faster. Beyond that, this app is free and open source, so you’re getting a lot of features at zero cost. If you want more than basic window tiling and extra customizations that will save you time, you could invest $9.99 for the Rectangle Pro.

2. Faster window switching with Application Switcher

One of the things that threw me off with macOS is how it cycles through open apps with the Command + Tab shortcut.

When you use this, it only cycles through open apps but doesn’t switch between open windows. Say you have multiple instances of your web browser, and you’re also working on Adobe Photoshop.

Thankfully, AltTab simplifies the process by giving your Windows-like app switching. When you install this app, Command + Tab will now pull up all open windows, and you will even see their previews, much like on Windows. Moreover, this app gives a ton of extra features, like changing the shortcut buttons, selecting which apps appear when you press the shortcut keys, and more.

Like Rectangle, this app is open source, so you can get it for free. It’s also available on GitHub if you want to explore the app and create your own fork.

3. Planck for macOS clipboard history

Windows 10 received the clipboard history feature in 2018, but macOS users still have to rely on Apple Notes if they want to copy multiple items simultaneously. So, if you want to get this simple feature, download Planck for free. At its core, this app saves 100 copied items — including text, images, files, and more — and lets you paste it anywhere on your MacBook later.

If you choose to create an account and log in, Planck synchronizes online, allowing you to share the clipboard across different macOS devices and even with your Windows or Linux PC.

The developer of Planck says it has plans to launch an Android and iOS app, meaning you could turn this into a global clipboard history across all your devices.

Those with privacy concerns can opt not to create an account, and it will still work perfectly fine locally.

4. Replace the macOS dock with uBar 4

The macOS dock looks clean and sleek, and I admit that I installed something like it on my Windows XP computer when I was in high school because it was cool. But now that I use several apps simultaneously while working on my MacBook, I find the dock cumbersome.

Sure, I can see all the open apps at a glance, but it doesn’t show if I have multiple instances running. The dock also lets me pin my used apps for easy access, but I find Spotlight Search faster and more convenient when launching them.

uBar 4 replaces the macOS dock with a taskbar similar to what you’d find on Windows Vista. So, you’ll see all your open apps at a glance. It even gives you something similar to the Start Menu, with the uBar menu giving you quick access to your Mac’s settings, applications, power options, and more.

It also gives you additional features, like custom screen placement (top, left, right, or bottom), changing colors, and even turning off the original macOS dock.

The big downside with uBar 4 is that it’s not free. You get a 14-day free trial to try it out, but you need to pay $30 to use it after that. Still, it’s a small price to pay if you want a no-nonsense taskbar.

5. File management with ForkLift 4

Apple’s Spotlight Search feature will spoil you, as it gives you everything you need just by typing. However, users who are used to Windows File Explorer might find it difficult to organize files using the macOS Finder.

First off, it doesn’t put file icons on a grid by default. This often results in files being all over the place when you’re transferring them from one folder to another.

ForkLift 4 fixes this by arranging your files in a grid by default. It also gives you two side-by-side windows, making it easier to move your files by dragging and dropping. This is a crucial feature, especially as it still doesn’t have the cut function.

Finder also uses a few different keyboard shortcuts. For example, hitting Enter will rename the file, while pressing Delete or Backspace does nothing.

Apple uses different commands for these in its native file management app, but you can replace them with Windows shortcut keys in ForkLift.

You can use this app for free for a week to see if it works. After that, you have to buy it for $19.95 for a single user with one year of free updates.

If you have four macOS devices in your household, you can get the $29.95 family plan instead, which will save you quite a lot of money.

6. Sound Control 3 adds an audio mixer to macOS

Windows lets you change the volume of each app, but you have to dig in the Settings menu to find the Volume mixer. However, this isn’t available at all with macOS. Even if you go to Settings > Sound, you can only change the overall output volume, nothing else.

So, if you want Spotify playing in the background without overpowering the sounds of your other apps, Sound Control 3 does that for you by letting you change the volume of each program straight from the menu bar.

It also gives you more features, like changing which sound channel (left or right) an app will pump out its audio or assigning a specific audio device for each app. It also gives you other features like per-app effects and equalizer settings, customizable hotkeys, and even MIDI control.

This is an absolutely useful app, especially for those who deal with multiple apps that output simultaneously. For example, if you play games on your Mac and use Discord simultaneously, you can pump your game sound to your Mac’s speakers while redirecting your Discord voice chat to your Bluetooth headphones.

Windows 10 is coming to an end. Microsoft set the date of October 14, 2025, as the day when support for Windows 10 comes to an end. Still, a lot of Windows 10 users are sticking with it.

Windows 10 users represent 58.7% of all Windows desktop users, while Windows 11 is at 38.1% according to StatCounter. This is a slight improvement from last month when the gap between the two Windows versions was at its narrowest.

Microsoft wants its users to make the switch to Windows 11, and in a new message about the upgrade, the company suggested a radical idea: Just get a new computer.

Microsoft sent an email titled "End of support for Windows 10 is approaching" to Windows 10 users and along with giving info about the upgrade to Windows 11, there was also a link to buy a new computer, according to a report from Windows Latest.

Included with the link to get a new PC, the email has a FAQ explaining what it means when Microsoft ends support for Windows 10, what users can do with an old computer, and some of the benefits of Windows 11.

This email is part of Microsoft's approach to get Windows 10 users to make the jump before support ends on October 14.

Do I need a new computer for Windows 11?

It's very unlikely that Windows 10 users will need a new computer to run Windows 11.

The minimum specs required to run Windows 11, according to Microsoft, are a 1 GHz or faster processor with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage, and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0.

A thread on the Windows 11 subreddit from 2022 asked what the oldest computers were that users were able to install Windows 11 on. Multiple posters said they have computers from the mid-2000s running Windows 11.

Even though most Windows 10 computers should be able to upgrade without any issue, there are lesser-known hardware requirements that could cause an error requiring users to stay with Windows 10.

For those who insist on staying with Windows 10, Microsoft will offer Extended Security Updates (ESU) for a price. There is a one-time fee of $30 to get Windows 10 updates for another year. After that, anyone on Windows 10 will be completely on their own.

How to upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10

Fortunately, Microsoft is making it very easy to upgrade a PC from Windows 11.

If you're on the old operating system, you're likely already seeing messages about the upgrade. Microsoft is giving away the upgrade to Windows 11 for free, although a blog post from the company went up back in January claiming that this would be a "limited time deal." Microsoft has since deleted that post, confirming with Windows Latest that the upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10 will remain free.

Microsoft claims Windows 11 is safer, has better performance, more functionality and better features such as the controversial Microsoft Recall, which takes snapshots of the computer allowing users to do a search for actions they've done in the past.

For the past couple of decades, every tech bro has dreamed of “the one app to rule them all. While there have been some vigorous attempts, none have landed quite like the creators hoped. I’m not looking for an app that can be everything I need, but I do love an app that can bring together and organize my other apps, which are everything regarding my day-to-day work. Rambox does just that.

This “Workplace simplifier,” as it’s marketed, supports just about any app you could imagine from messenger apps, to social media, email, AI, entertainment, cloud storage, and more. You name it, it probably supports it. While that gives Rambox a similar do-it-all vibe, it’s more of an organizer of other apps rather than trying to take over everything. That makes it such a useful tool.

You can use it completely for free, too.

No do-it-all app can really do-it-all

I don’t tend to use most of the features in most of the apps I use. I use Docs and Drive because they’re convenient for sharing, but I have LibreOffice Calc for spreadsheet work. I use Photoshop for photo editing, but I’ll use ChatGPT if I want to generate something from scratch with AI. I like writing in Word, but I’ve yet to find a real use for its Copilot integration. And the less I have to use Teams, the better.

I like to pick and choose the features from different apps because they’re better at different things. Unless I’m locked down with a subscription, I’ll find the best app for the job rather than just using what’s in front of me because this other app can also do those things.

I’m no monolith here, either. Friends, family, and colleagues I work with all have their own particular tastes in apps – especially when it comes to communication. And that means I have to use them too.

I have friends on Whatsapp, Telegram, and Signal. I have Asana and Trello to organize different workspaces with different publications I write for.

One of my editors likes Google Chat, while others use Slack, and another still prefers Teams for all-hands meetings. Zoom makes an appearance occasionally, too.

Then there are Trello and Asana for organizing daily work, Sheets spreadsheets, and shared Google calendars… and these are just the ones I can remember.

There’s no do-it-all app when everyone wants to use different ones for different tasks. The result is a hodgepodge of standalone and web apps that can make keeping track of the many ways I communicate for socializing and work laborious. Without some way to organize everything together, it’s all too easy to miss a notification. I’m distracted enough to quickly lose myself in manually checking apps that haven’t nudged me.

That’s why I need help from something like Rambox.

Organizing the mess

Rambox is my one-stop communication shop for work and socializing while at work. I always have Whatsapp, Telegram, Google Chat, and three Slack channels on the go, and I enable Teams when I feel like annoying myself. I like the ChatGPT integration, too, and there are so many ways I could expand by using it. For now, how it brings together all my comms apps is a lifeline that stops me from drowning in procrastination.

I don’t need to pick up my phone to read or answer messages from friends and family, I have one place to look for notifications rather than a bunch of different windows, and it means I never forget to open a particular chat app. Before Rambox, if I missed opening that one other Slack channel I need to keep up with throughout the day, I’ll suddenly be minutes or hours behind my colleagues. For a freelancer who often relies on being flexible and responsive to short term deadlines, that’s incredibly important.

It’s not an infallible system, though. I'm sorry to my LaptopMag editor; this piece was a late submission.

But my own difficulties with time management aside, Rambox is a tool that I’ve made work for me in the way I want. I’ve barely scratched the surface, but it gives me exactly what I need. You can make it work for you if you have different needs.

Find what works for you

There are so many apps integrated with Rambox that I haven’t even considered yet. I might do, I might not, but it’s already worth the few dollars a month I pay for the Pro version. But that’s only because I want more than two instances of Slack. Until that recent change, I made do with the free version for years, and you can easily do that too.

But whether you want Rambox to organize chat apps like mine or a whole range of other apps or prefer a different workspace streamlining tool, many options are available.

Franz is an excellent alternative, although the free tier doesn’t offer​​ unlimited app support. Other options include All-in-one Messenger, Zapier, and Station. If you prefer open-source software, I also hear good things about Hamsket.

I can’t tell you how best to organize your apps, but I can tell you that managing at least some of the many apps I need to use daily has been life-changing. Putting them in one place helps me focus and avoid some of the worst habits that the modern distraction-filled workspace can encourage.

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Windows 11 version 24H2 has been no stranger to performance and compatibility issues on certain processors, like the Intel Smart Sound Technology driver flaw that caused blue screen errors for certain Intel 11th Gen processors.

Processor-specific mishaps aside, reports of weakened gaming performance caused worry among users, although this issue has reportedly now been resolved. And of course, there was the notorious problem with Ubisoft games like Star Wars Outlaws, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and Assassin's Creed: Valhalla where they would become abruptly unresponsive, but, thankfully, this was also fixed.

Post-update issues are now so common with Windows 11, that we've basically come to terms with the fact that this is a way of life for Microsoft's operating system — understanding that most flaws are the natural result of complex interactions with the many facets of a PC, whether that's its hardware, applications, drivers, or BIOS. Still, that doesn't make them any less frustrating or easier to deal with.

Today, a new Windows 11 24H2 issue has reared its head, submitted by one tech-savvy Borncity reader, once again relating to Intel processors. Gamers and power users take note: this bug poses a direct risk to your computer's beloved performance and could hamper tasks and games significantly — especially on systems with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU.

Windows 11's latest 24H2 update could be impacting your performance

Early reports of the issue come from a Borncity reader named Rüdiger, who claims that an error at startup was the result of Intel's latest CPU or microcode update for Core Ultra 9 285K processors. The error reportedly prevented the PC from booting, although the user was about to work around this issue by applying the Intel Microcode update 0x116. However, a series of performance issues have followed.

According to Rüdiger, applications are being throttled when they're not in focus or minimized. This was tested through the use of a 7zip benchmark, with the user's system performance reduced to nearly half when the application was minimized. Apparently, this issue does not occur on other CPUs like the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X or Intel Core i9 12900K.

How to check if you're a victim to these performance issues

If you updated to the latest version of Windows 11 and have either Intel's Lunar or Arrow Lake CPUs, you could be affected by the above issue. While we only know it's happened on Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, all of the Ultra 200 series may also be susceptible.

If you're not encountering issues while booting up your PC, that's a fairly positive sign. However, if you have noticed any performance mishaps within background tasks, you may want to test against the performance throttling issue yourself. You can do this similarly to Rüdiger by either performing a similar 7zip benchmark or monitoring your performance for any unnatural spikes in the task manager window.

If you're facing similar issues with the latest Intel processors, it's recommended that you visit the Microsoft Feedback Hub to share any details on your current problems with the latest Windows 11 24H2 build.

As with any of Windows 11's hiccups, it's hard to say how rare this problem is and whether or not some unique combination of hardware is resulting in it exclusively plaguing this user, but if it is a widespread issue, having as many users as possible report it is the fastest way to ensure Microsoft will make fixing it a priority.

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Microsoft Office is a vital application suite that has been necessary to workers and students for many years, but its steep price point means its use is limited.

After all, $99 a year is an enormous cost for casual use, and students rarely have that much money. I've never found myself using Microsoft Office, and not because I don't want to, but because paying for it when I rarely need it is a waste of money.

Many are in this same position, which is why Microsoft Office's number one competitor, Google Workspace, has a 79.67% market share according to 6sense. However, the existence of a recent test from Microsoft could change everything.

Arjun Sha of Beebom reported on Monday that Microsoft has been pushing a limited test across India where users can install a feature-stripped version of Microsoft Office for free, but it's littered with advertisements.

Speaking to PC World on Monday, Microsoft revealed through an unnamed representative that the company had "been conducting some limited testing" and that "Currently, there are no plans to launch a free, ad-supported version of Microsoft Office desktop apps."

Microsoft Office's free, ad-supported version is still in limited testing, but we have no confirmation from the company regarding its eventual purpose. While it claims there are no plans to widely launch a free version of its software, it's likely that Microsoft would make it a reality if it's proven successful.

But what exactly are you giving up by using the free version of Microsoft Office?

What's different in this free version of Microsoft Office?

As mentioned, the free version of Microsoft Office is ad-supported and has limited features, but what will that actually look like?

Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint feature an everpresent ads banner at the right, and a 15-second video advertisement (that's apparently muted) plays once every few hours (via Beebom).

The frequency of shown ads doesn't seem that bad, but we imagine Microsoft will measure how far it can go with advertisements without discouraging use entirely. After all, the company wants to ensure these Office applications can stay profitable.

Even with this free version, there are changes. You cannot save files locally and must upload them to OneDrive, which is pretty inconvenient. Users can download those files from OneDrive, but it's a weird roundabout way to get your files.

There are several other limited features throughout Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Beebom compiled a full list of those features and it shows just how much the company is stripping away from this free version. For example, you cannot use line spacing, cover pages, headers, or footers in Microsoft Word.

A free version of Microsoft Office could challenge Google Workspace

Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides) are the most frequently used suites for school and business. But there's no escaping how much Google has overshadowed Microsoft's userbase.

An in-depth comparison from 6sense shows that Google Workspace has 79.67% of the market share, while Microsoft Office only has 10.35%. But of course, there's no escaping that Google Workspace is entirely free, and Microsoft Office makes a lot of money per subscription to Microsoft Office.

However, even if Microsoft Office is more profitable than Google Workspace, the massive gap in userbase is impossible to ignore. Testing an ad-supported, feature-stripped version of Microsoft Office is likely a way to bridge that gap even a little, and by implementing advertisements, the company can try to keep the model profitable.

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It's been a long time coming but I've got some good news for Photoshop fans: You can finally use Adobe's famed app on (drum roll) an iPhone.

Starting today, you can download Adobe's new free app on iPhones for free with the option to buy a more feature-rich monthly subscription for $7.99 per month or $69.99 annually. Support for Android is also coming later this year, the company says.

While Photoshop Express has been an option on iPhones since 2010, the app being released today brings the mobile Photoshop experience a lot closer to the real thing, and one feature, in particular, has me impressed.

What Photoshop on iPhone brings to the table

Photoshop on iPhone brings a surprisingly feature-rich Photoshop experience to your phone.

Among the capabilities are lots of Photoshop's core tools like layering and masking, so you can do all of the typical reconstruction and rearrangement that you might on a desktop or laptop.

While I haven't had a chance to use the app for myself, I got a chance to preview those tools in a live demo, and crucial features like object selection, layering, and colorizing looked as seamless as they might on a MacBook.

On top of that, Adobe also managed to squeeze in one you.

It's a feature that might not be the most essential everyday tool for photo editing, but it's a bonus I wasn't expecting.

Photoshop for iPhone will offer generative AI filling through Firefly. And speaking as someone who has used generative fill to give photos more breathing room, I can't argue with its inclusion in the Photoshop app for iPhone.

One thing I'm curious to try for myself is selecting areas to edit by simply tapping, which is the main method of using Photoshop in this case. I hope Adobe's AI is adept enough to know what I want to be selected and precise enough to register finetune adjustments.

Secondly, there's also a very different interface that will take some time. That said, from what I can tell, the Photoshop on iOS interface is very simplified, which is key if you're porting a proper photo editor into a mobile experience.

Adobe is also launching a web version with the same capabilities in tandem with the Photoshop app.

What's the difference between free and premium Photoshop for iOS?

The paid version of Photoshop for iOS will offer more features than the free version.

According to Adobe, that will include more generative capabilities with Firedfly, the company's AI image generator, fonts, and typography options, and more precise object selection.

One notable paywalled feature will be the beloved Magic Wand tool, which — for the uninitiated — can help trace objects that you want to select and edit in an image.

Additionally, you'll have to pay to use Photoshop's "remove" tool, which functions similarly to Google's Magic Eraser tool, which removes "distractions" and "unwanted objects" from an image.

Only premium users can lighten or darken sections of an image without altering hue or saturation.

Is Photoshop on iOS the real deal?

Photoshop on iPhone appears to bring an unprecedentedly rich Photoshop experience to iOS, which people have been waiting on for a long time.

I think Photoshop on iOS' usefulness will hinge on whether its UI and reliance on tap selection are accurate/intuitive enough to justify using on your phone, however.

If nothing else, just the fact that we live in an age where it's possible to port Photoshop's capabilities to a phone is reason enough for celebration. And that Apple would allow that to be even sweeter.

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According to the global data site Statista, about 30 billion devices are connected to the internet, but trying to get one PC to talk to another one right next to it via a cable has long been a quirky quest. If you've ever needed to transfer files between two laptops, you likely know this pain.

On the Apple side, decades before AirDrop, one could connect Macs using serial port devices that connected to ordinary phone wires to link two computers together using the AppleTalk protocol. Years later, Apple would enable a FireWire Target Disk mode that allowed one Mac to access another's hard drive when connected by FireWire. Ultimately, it brought similar functionality to USB-C and Thunderbolt (with the latter requiring a reboot on Macs with Apple silicon.)

Many tech-savvy folks also know that you can connect two PCs with Ethernet ports using a crossover cable, and while you can still find an Ethernet port on some business laptops, gaming laptops, and workstations, they are hardly common in 2025. For many years, popular file transfer programs such as LapLink were bundled with serial cables and modified to allow communication between two PCs. Today, USB cables from companies such as Plugable and j5Create (using the Wormhole brand) sell USB cables that include a lump of electronics and integrated software to handle the task.

All of this is to say that PC-to-PC communication has long been a convoluted process, but there's one modern solution that should have fixed all that.

Thunderbolt is everywhere

With Thunderbolt emerging as the one connection to rule them all (Thunderbolt 5 can deliver data at up to 80 Gbps, video at up to 8K resolution, and power up to 240 watts), you’d expect that plugging a cable into two PCs’ Thunderbolt ports would be an instant fast connection between them.

Not so, at least, that was the case before Intel announced Thunderbolt Share. Connecting two PCs with Thunderbolt 4 or 5 ports while the software is running presents options that let you drag and drop files between the PCs, sync folders, transfer data to a new PC, or control a PC with the other one’s keyboard and mouse.

Not so fast

That’s all great functionality, but there are a lot of caveats. First, while Intel freely shares the Thunderbolt Share app, Thunderbolt Share capability isn't free for PC manufacturers; at least one of the paired PCs must have its Thunderbolt ports licensed explicitly for Thunderbolt Share. That disqualifies all Thunderbolt-equipped Macs and Chromebooks. (It also requires Windows 11.) But Thunderbolt Share certification is even quite rare on new PCs.

First off, it’s unlikely to show up on Qualcomm/ARM64 and AMD PCs for the foreseeable future. As for Intel PCs, even the recent Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition that Lenovo “imagined with Intel.” lacks the feature. At least Intel has created a practical logo for the technology that should help identify compatible products.

These are still early days for Thunderbolt Share, which Intel announced on May 15, 2024. At least among Intel-powered Windows PCs, we’re sure to see more PCs supporting it ship throughout 2025.

How to use Thunderbolt Share without upgrading your laptop

Can’t wait? The good news is that monitors and docks can also be certified, which means the attached PCs don’t need to be. The OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock and Cable Matters 16-in-1 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 Dock with Thunderbolt Share are two such examples. But like many Thunderbolt peripherals, they come at a premium. The Cable Matters dock is over $200, and the OWC dock is $300. In addition, using docks and monitors removes the simplicity of using a simple cable.

While they’ve only just started to support the USB-C connector, today’s specialized USB cables that allow PC-to-PC sharing will likely upgrade to Thunderbolt at some point. Perhaps they will license Thunderbolt Share or offer another option. Because, while Thunderbolt Share seems like an ideal PC-linking option when it’s available, far too few share the option with their users.

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Windows 11 users wanting to get rid of the Microsoft Edge browser shouldn't bother checking Microsoft's website about uninstalling it because it offers no help at all.

Microsoft recently created a page supposedly to help uninstall Microsoft Edge from Windows, but it doesn't offer much instruction at all. First spotted by Windows Latest, the page instead tries to convince the reader not to uninstall the company's browser.

When doing a search for "How to uninstall Edge" on Microsoft's website, the first result is a page titled "Are you sure you want to uninstall Microsoft Edge?" Instead of instructions, the page goes on to explain the benefits of Edge over Google Chrome citing browser features such as "Copilot, Designer, Vertical tabs, Coupons, Read Aloud, and VPN."

The page even includes a chart comparing these features in Edge to Google Chrome, emphasizing that Chrome lacks them.

Aside from a few more banners about features, that's pretty much it for what's available on the page that is supposed to be on how to uninstall Microsoft Edge.

Like with Internet Explorer, Edge is the default browser for Windows 10 and 11. As often happens with default programs, there can be measures implemented to prevent users from installing it. If a Windows 11 user tries to uninstall the Edge browser in the typical steps to remove any program, the only option available is to "Modify" the program while the "Uninstall" option is greyed out.

Now for those who want to get rid of Microsoft Edge from Windows 11, there is a way to do it, however, it's not as easy as just clicking "uninstall." LaptopMag put together a simple guide on how to uninstall Microsoft Edge, and it does take several steps, which is probably more than most Windows users would expect to get rid of a program. The process does require inputting certain commands into the Windows Terminal, but it's fairly easy to do and won't take long.

Microsoft made the big change from its longtime Internet Explorer browser to Edge back in 2020. The Chromium-based browser was the company's attempt to modernize its browser to keep it competitive with competitors such as Chrome and Apple Safari.

Last year, Microsoft promoted Edge even further with the incorporation of AI features. Microsoft, a major investor in OpenAI, began pushing its own AI companion, Copilot. The company used the AI as a feature for the Edge browser, making it provide AI chatbot functions within it. Google made a similar move last year, incorporating AI features into Google Chrome.

An update to Copilot in January added a "Think Deeper" mode to the AI that was powered by OpenAI's o1 reasoning model.

Google Search has become so synonymous with finding information online that to Google something has become a widely recognized verb. Pre-2002, there were several popular search engines to choose from, including Yahoo, AOL, and Ask Jeeves. However, not long after, Google emerged as a clear and dominant winner of "The Search Engine Wars," and to this day is seen as the gold standard for internet searches (sorry Bing).

Or is it?

AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Perplexity are changing the way many search online and make for a compelling change of scenery following twenty-some years of Google Search dominance. Asking LLMs like these what the best Sci-Fi movie of 2024 is replaces Google's wall of blue links and blurbs with something more akin to asking somebody who collects Star Wars figurines what's on their Netflix watchlist.

While completely impersonal, this way of searching the net at least feels impressively so, with answers tailored to whatever additional context you present. Is this the future of online searches? Maybe.

Admittedly, Google has entered the realm of AI searches itself with the new AI overview feature. However, its appearance is currently limited to more simple queries, effectively replacing the "top box" of results with something not always that much more helpful.

So, if you're yet to give these AI-powered alternatives a try, here are a few compelling reasons to give ChatGPT Search a spin, starting off with something timely and topical:

3. ChatGPT Search is free and no longer requires an account to use

One of the luxuries of Google Search is that you can simply load up the Google homepage and get straight to work, if not by launching straight into a search query directly from the address bar.

Well, here's some good news: from today, you can access ChatGPT Search with a similar level of ease by heading to ChatGPT.com, through desktop or mobile apps, for log-in-free access to OpenAI's new way of surfing the information superhighway without cost or subscription. You can even adopt ChatGPT Search as your go-to search engine from the address bar using this handy Chrome extension.

2. You can search for answers, not for options

Certain Google Search results are often little more than SEO (search engine optimization) leaderboards that websites will perpetually refine and tweak to appease the Google bots that crawl them for keywords more than the people that read them for information.

AI search options like ChatGPT Search cut the fat, and the click-bait, returning with an actual answer to whatever it is you find yourself in need of — or quickly highlighting the absence of one, saving you time spent scouring article after article for information that may not yet be available.

1. Diving deeper into topics is made easy

"Googling" something paints the image of simply rapping your fingers along the right keyboard inputs and hitting enter, only to be immediately presented with the exact information you need and being on your way. However, in the real world, we're all well aware that Googling something is actually a process of refinement and elimination as you juggle between comparing product A to product B, or following a slow daisy chain of information down an endless rabbit hole in search of a specific query.

Don't get me wrong, it does the job (eventually). However, AI options like ChatGPT Search just get you there faster. Thanks to the natural language interface of LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity, searching is like having a conversation with the internet at large. Comparing two things is as easy as simply asking the question, and more complex queries are often solved on the first prompt, leading to fewer hours spent digging through the comments of long-dead Reddit threads in an attempt to diagnose that weird computer hitch.

It's great, but it's not perfect.

While AI search options clearly have their benefits, Google still reigns supreme when it comes to things like image searches or Google Maps navigation. And if you're on the hunt for your next purchase, then AI searches will often be better suited to supplemental information rather than direct recommendations.

While AI hallucinations are still haunting the wider stretches of LLMs like ChatGPT, newer and more powerful models reduce these risks, and it's not like Google hasn't had hallucinatory issues of its own, with the Search Overview feature originally launching under some controversy after offering (since fixed) recommendations that its users eat glue or turn their washing machines into chlorine gas chambers.

Still, this new frontier of Search is an impressive one, and it's well worth checking out if you haven't already. While we've highlighted ChatGPT Search in particular, Perplexity stands as another fantastic all-around option. For those who want to take things a step further, Arc Search offers AI search built directly into their mobile web browser for a simpler and more natural way to search with AI while browsing the internet.

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"Need more zen in your life?" isn't a question often asked of you while checking your mail in the morning, but that's exactly how Opera's new Air browser was pitched to me by my PR pal, Steve Green.

"Some say it's the most relaxing browser ever," Oh, they do, do they?

The internet is a noisy, chaotic mess of a place. Every click you make is a Russian Roulette gamble between productivity, entertainment, and falling into doomscrolling or a mindless rabbit hole, as you scamper to retrieve useless knowledge about 18th-century ghost ships when you know damn well you should be sleeping.

Luckily for us, Opera is here to stage an intervention against modern browsing, delivering unto us Opera Air, which is self-billed as "the world's first browser with mindfulness at its core." It won't promise faster page loads, improved buffering, or any major expansions on the privacy or safety features of the company's other browsers, but it does aim to bring you something you're not able to transmit over WiFi; focus, balance, and a stress-free mindset.

Those are admirable claims, and bold ones too. But can a browser really have such an impact on our daily lives? I downloaded Opera Air myself to see.

Opera Air: Hands-on with Opera's latest web browser

Opera Air's biggest selling point isn't some new-fangled rendering engine or a unique tabbed grouping feature. Instead, it's mostly vibes. Vibes, boosts, and breaks.

The first comes across in its minimalist, Scandinavian-like look, aiming to declutter the browsing experience and give things a more light and airy feel.

And it does look rather calming, there's not a squared edge in sight, as if the entire browser has undergone several layers of baby-proofing. Even the window control buttons are round, completing a refreshing Ikea-meets-macOS showcase of UI design.

Its light, gentle themes carefully blend between neutral colors or offer calming scenes of nature. The latter is a nice change of pace for a browser, giving you a momentary respite here and there with which you can virtually "touch grass."

I was prepared to crack the joke that this is the kind of browser you'd assume doesn't come with a "dark mode" as it flows contrary to its efforts to lighten your mind. However, it actually doesn't — and I'm not sure if that kills the joke or somehow makes it more amusing.

The other new elements, Boosts and Breaks, nudge users to take a break every 60 to 90 minutes to engage in some breathing, neck, and meditation exercises or bolster their focus with some perspective-shifting binaural beats, which sounds like mind control, but isn't.

Binaural beats stimulate the brain through music and sounds using two slightly differing frequencies in each ear, with your mind filling in a third to be perceived as one. The resulting sound can prove beneficial in reducing stress and anxiety, and even improve focus, concentration, motivation, and confidence. Once again, it sounds like mind control, but isn't.

Unfortunately for Opera, much of its efforts to sanitize the mind and soul through web browsing ends the moment we actually start browsing.

Regardless of how much effort the company places on making its window to the internet a portal of tranquility, the content Opear Air is used to engage with will always be anything but.

Still, there's dark humor in my browser suggesting I take a fifteen-minute meditation break while I'm watching people lash out at one another on social media for their political leanings or watching "The Funniest Motorbike Crashes of 2025" on YouTube. Perhaps I'm just not this browser's target audience.

On the surface, using Opera Air is like taking a holiday to some hippy-dippy new-age retreat. It all feels very nice. Harmonious even. Then again, so were minutes 34 to 45 of Midsommar. I wondered if, much like that Nordic horror, there were any dark secrets hidden in the Norwegian browser's remaining 139 minutes of runtime.

Fortunately, the scariest thing Opera Air has to offer was the stark reminder of how bad YouTube Shorts content is when browsed without an account. Ironically, this would have been easily resolved had I not found myself rushing to use the browser and dismissing the quick setup option that can handily import accounts and bookmarks from other browsers like Edge, Chrome, and Firefox.

It's very much like Opera's growing collection of other browsers, except Opera Air is designed for those who enjoy a more stripped-back chamomile tea and mindful meditation approach to browsing. That's opposed to Opera GX which is made for feature-heavy users who prefer drinking nectar milked from a bull's adrenal glands (or whatever Monster Energy is made from).

Opera Air: Does "the world's first browser with mindfulness at its core" work?

Paired with the browser's built-in ad/tracker blocking and VPN features, you have all the ingredients of a distraction-free browsing experience that Scandinavians might refer to as Hygge — one of those cutesy, European, hard-to-define-type words like "gezellig" or "mysa," generally relating to a general vibe or sensation over anything easily definable.

In terms of design, one might say that Opera Air has nailed it, layering a pleasant and clean UI on top of a very well-performing browser backbone previously seen in Opera and Opera GX, with a side of mindfulness for the user.

It's by no means a groundbreaking change, but I'm sure there's an audience out there who would greatly love to be reminded that it's time to take a break, focus on yourself, and recharge for a moment amid the stresses of daily life.

Opera Air is currently in early access, though is free to download from the Opera homepage. Do I recommend it? As much as any other Opera browser, yes. Opera's browsers stand pretty strong as Google Chrome alternatives, and I've been an Opera GX user for some months now without complaint. Given that these browsers share the same backbone, I'm fairly certain we're looking at another solid addition to the company's line-up.

However, its minimalist offerings and mindfulness-first focus will likely appeal to certain crowds more than others.

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Adobe is often seen as the defining art app for digital creation. We’re long past the point where “Photoshop” became a verb, and while ‘to InDesign’ doesn’t have quite the same ring, art software like Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator underpin nearly as much creative work as Photoshop does.

The thing is, Adobe apps are pricey. Today, a Creative Cloud subscription costs between $9.99 per month for a single app to $59.99 per month for full access to the suite. That adds up to quite a lot over the course of a year, especially when you need to buy a laptop for graphic design as well.

Expensive Adobe software can certainly feel like the gatekeeper of legitimate digital art. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way. Open-source apps like Gimp and single-fee applications like iPad’s Procreate make it far more affordable to create.

I jumped ship from the Adobe suite long ago — at least for most tasks. That decision followed years of experiments with freebie and cheap art software that can do lots of the work that Adobe does.

Here are the art apps that have helped me ditch an Adobe subscription, as well as a couple that are on my wishlist. And if you have a Chromebook, don't forget to check out the best Photoshop alternatives for Chromebooks.

The best open-source art apps you need to try

Gimp: A raster editor you won’t want to miss

As far as software goes, Gimp is an ancient dynasty. First released in 1996, Gimp is the classic open-source Photoshop dupe. In 2025, it’s still a good choice, having been continuously updated since its launch. A labor of love, it’s a free pro-grade toolset that’s community-built and maintained, and it’s as strong of a pick for photo manipulation as it is for image creation.

Gimp’s built-in capabilities include familiar tools like clone stamp, paint bucket, transforms, and various selection tools. In the drop-down color menu, you’ll find classic levels and curves, color balance sliders, and options for more advanced tasks like locating pixels that might be unsafely bright.

Plugins like Resynthesizer add image-processing tools that take Gimp to the next level. (Here are the links to Windows, Linux, and Mac; use at your own risk.)

If you’re newly switching from Photoshop, Gimp’s interface will take some commitment to learn. A Gimp session that’s been updated with plugins will do most of what you’d traditionally expect from Photoshop, but it isn’t laid out the same.

Use it for digital image creation, processing, and retouching photos before they go online. If you work with still images of any type, Gimp is a program you should have in your toolbar.

I bought my laptop for Photoshop, but I’ve had Gimp in my taskbar for longer. I use it whenever I need to crop a photo, tweak a color, or touch up a detail before posting online.

Get Gimp

Inkscape: A vector editor for daily tasks

First released in 2003, this vector art software has been updated continuously and still thrives on multiple platforms today.

Vector art is rarely as intuitive as raster software, which often feels like painting with digital watercolor. Vector software is something altogether different and provides maximum control over solid, scalable graphics. It primarily deals in flat colors and gradients.

Download Inkscape to design website favicons, create a brand logo that can scale to the size of a billboard, and build cartoon artwork.

I love Inkscape’s built-in tools for bitmap conversion. I’ve used the software to turn digital raster sketches into crisp logos. I used it to create the favicon for my website. To do so, simply drop a digital drawing into the software, then use the “trace bitmap” function.

The program will turn your linework into a digital path that can be micro-adjusted using the software’s path editing tools.

Get Inkscape

Scribus: Layout a magazine with an open-source app

Scribus follows the same ethos as Gimp and Inkscape, and it’s designed to play well with both programs. It’s a surprisingly powerful alternative to Adobe’s InDesign that’s completely free and open-source.

Scribus is the freebie option when you’re looking to create an art book, design menus for a local restaurant, or print your own business cards.

In Scribus, you’ll be able to use familiar concepts like grids, guides, and frames in much the same way that you would in Indesign. Set guides and grids to create precise layouts that can be applied across an entire book or magazine, then populate your frames with imagery.

Get Scribus

Blender: Build complex 3D worlds, animate them, and more

Blender is the classic open-source option for 3D modeling, motion graphics, and beyond — and it needs to be on your radar. However, Blender is far from intuitive.

Instead of gaining any real proficiency, the hours I put into Blender only served to clarify just how wide the program is in scope. Thankfully, a vast community of dedicated users has made all the content you could need to help steer you in the right direction.

Get Blender

Canva Free: Make simple graphics for the web

If you’ve spent much time in a corporate environment, you’ve probably encountered Canva. Native to browsers, Canva is free to get started with, though many of its more powerful tools, like its background remover, are locked behind a $120 per-year paywall.

While I’ve heard professional designer friends gripe about Canva, there’s no arguing with its usefulness. When you want to build a simple graphic or format an image for your CMS, Canva Free edition gets the job done quickly … much of the time.

Try Canva

Remove.bg: Get rid of image backgrounds for free

What’s the big thing missing from the free edition of Canva? Well, there’s a lot, but I miss the background remover most often. Thankfully, there’s a simple free service for doing just that. Remove.bg is a website that does one thing — it accepts digital images and sends them back without a background, and it’s really good at it, too.

I use Remove.bg weekly. In fast-paced media environments, where a hero or header image often needs to get built in minutes, Remove.bg enables you to grab a photo, remove the background, then send it on to Canva Free, where you can add it into a photo collage, position it, and then run it on your site.

One thing to note: Remove.bg’s free version only supplies low-resolution images. You’ll need to make an account if you want high-definition images.

Try Remove.bg

One-time fee art software

Procreate: A beautiful digital painting suite

If you’re a digital artist, chances are you’ve been hearing about Procreate for years. The iPad native art app is one of the best art tools I’ve encountered. Running on my 2020 iPad Air, Procreate provides a delicious digital art set that handles drawing as wondrously as it does liquid raster brushes.

I’ve tested industry-leading graphics tablets with Photoshop, and I’ve never yet found a setup for digital illustration that beats the experience of Procreate on iPad.

If you’re working with specific color grading or technical illustration for billboards, the specificity that can come from running Photoshop on a premium machine is unreachable on an iPad. However, for most of us, Procreate is more than powerful enough.

In 2025, Procreate is available for a one-time fee of $12.99. For the money, it’s incredible value. When you need more tools, the internet is happy to help with endless libraries of custom brushes for purchase or download. There’s also just as much learning material out there to help you get started.

The one caveat: You need an iPad.

If you’re new to digital art and trying to decide whether you want to buy a laptop or an iPad, there’s a real argument to be made for choosing Procreate on iPad. I know many professional illustrators who work exclusively in a Procreate environment. For digital illustrators, I think it’s usually the better choice.

Get Procreate

Affinity: The single-fee Adobe competitor

The Affinity Suite contains three software packages that fill the roles of the three Adobe apps most designers use. Affinity Designer, Affinity Publisher, and Affinity Photo provide a well-rounded set of digital art tools that can be further expanded with add-ons.

Each Affinity program costs $69.99 individually. This one-time fee grants you indefinite use of the software. The whole suite can also be bought for a lump sum of $164.99. Thankfully, free seven-day trials allow you to try the software without committing.

Full disclosure: I don’t use Affinity myself, but I’m eyeing it. If you’re committing to a career in the arts and want to learn powerful software with a polished touch, an Affinity license is an excellent buy that can fully replace the need for a monthly Adobe subscription.

Get Affinity

When to go Adobe

Adobe makes powerful tools — no doubt about it. When I partnered with a publisher to design my first poetry and art book, I got a copy of InDesign and used that to collaborate on page layouts. I’ve also gone back to Photoshop for large design projects. Adobe Creative Cloud is often the standard for collaborative art and design work, and working within it simplifies file exchange.

However, the rest of the time, I get by with Procreate, Gimp, Inkscape, and the rest of the tools mentioned above. Buying a computer for graphic design is an investment in its own right, so why not use open-source and free tools where you can?

Get the Adobe Creative Cloud

Open-source art software thrives on donations

If you find yourself using and loving the open-source software we’ve recommended, we suggest you donate. Open-source software might be free, but it isn’t free to make. Programmers have spent countless hours developing these software suites.

If you get real value from these products, giving back is important. Thankfully, with products like Gimp, it’s easy to do just that.

If you thought the biggest challenge for Microsoft in 2025 would be ferrying the world away from Windows 10 before its October end-of-support deadline, guess again.

While millions cling to the company's aging operating system like a safety blanket in a Peanuts comic strip, Microsoft has turned its attention to a more pressing matter: confusing its users with yet another classic and unnecessary rebrand.

This time around, it's the turn of the already terribly branded Microsoft 365 Office (formerly the Microsoft Office of old), which will now be known as Microsoft 365 Copilot — a name that not only fails to communicate what the software does but also adds a further layer of confusion by adopting an almost identical icon to Copilot itself, save for a small "M365" label.

Microsoft 365 Office is just another victim of the Copilot branding spree, which sees the Windows 11 platform now potentially outfitted with more Copilots than actual pilots, sitting in the shadow of Windows 10's estimated 62.7% market share according to a December StatCounter report — a number that, despite the platform's forthcoming rug-pull, has been on the rise since October 2024.

If these figures highlight anything, it's the elephant in the room and a rebrand Microsoft actually needs to focus on: Windows 11.

It's Copilots all the way down

When luxury British car manufacturer Jaguar announced its modern rebranding in November with the now infamous "Copy Nothing" video, I was sure I'd witnessed the worst marketing disaster since New Coke.

"Copy nothing," was the central message behind Jaguar's vignette, which bravely decided not to show an actual car, instead opting for flourishes of models that look dressed to audition for my fever dream remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, helmed by Nothing CEO Carl Pei.

If Jaguar's "Copy nothing" campaign represents the pinnacle of marketing pretentiousness through the lens of claiming to be "unique," Microsoft's Copilot 'rebrandathon' is sitting on the opposite end of the spectrum — a relentless exercise in derivative overuse potentially steamrolling its way to a similarly negative outcome.

Everything from apps to new Copilot+ PCs is labeled with the same name, leaving many users confused as to whether Copilot is a product, a feature, or Microsoft's desperate way to convince the world it's the first and best AI operating system after it invested over $13 billion to get its foot in the door early with OpenAI, only for CEO Sam Altman to give away the farm for free to Apple in exchange for exposure.

Spoiler: It's all of the above.

Windows 11's image crisis is the only rebrand Microsoft needs to focus on

Distracted by the fun of confusing its user base when they can no longer locate the office suite they've been using for the last few decades, Microsoft is overlooking a far more critical issue: getting users to upgrade to Windows 11.

While an influx of businesses making the transition throughout 2025 will undoubtedly buoy Windows 11's market share, many individual users are willing to fight it out, likely in the hopes that Windows 12 is waiting in the wings to make its grand entrance.

Especially if Microsoft's now almost historically dependable pattern of providing on-again-off-again versions of the Windows operating system continues (e.g., Windows Vista bad, Windows 7 good, Windows 8 bad, Windows 9 MIA, Windows 10 good, you get the drift).

However, even thoughts of Windows 12 are beginning to sour, as it's becoming plainly obvious that Microsoft's generative AI modding of core Windows apps will be something that's carried over (in turn dragging the same list of complaints about Windows 11's hardware requirements and AI bloat along with it) — assuming the fabled operating system ever actually materializes.

Microsoft simply isn't giving the average user much reason to leave Windows 10 behind. Instead of loosening hardware restrictions, positioning its AI features as an optional addition to and not the core experience, developing a lightweight game-friendly mode for laptops and handheld gaming PCs to benefit from, or even allowing users to position the taskbar wherever they like, Microsoft seems dead-set on finding out the hard way that people don't appreciate being bullied into compliance.

Strong-arming your user base into doing what you want by restricting features, enforcing deadlines, and revoking support for popular apps isn't a winning pitch.

While Windows 10's end-of-support, which coincidentally will also revoke support for Microsoft 365 apps on older systems, will push users to Windows 11, it will do so begrudgingly. In its present state, at least regarding its image, Windows 11 will be an operating system most people tolerate but never fully embrace.

If there's any Microsoft product in dire need of a rebrand, it's Windows 11.

What's next

Contrary to the perceived thought behind Microsoft's actions, slapping the word Copilot onto everything you can in Windows does not make a cohesive ecosystem.

It's a bit like straightening the bow tie of a waiter and restocking his supply of vol-au-vents as you send them off to see if anybody feels slightly peckish across the deck of a sinking Titanic.

Suppose Microsoft wants people to adopt its Copilot-centric operating system. In that case, its best bet is to make Windows 11 a platform people actually want to use, not to bank on the fact that Windows users will have no other option come October 14, 2025.

To many Windows 10 users, the leap to Windows 11 is alien enough, making alternative operating systems equally as alien an option to go with. As the idiom goes, "Don't count your chickens before they've hatched," or the only platform stealing market share from Windows 10 could be macOS or Linux.

More from Laptop Mag

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Working on a laptop is great when you're on the move, but it's not ideal for multi-tasking. That's why a great productivity monitor is a must-have if your laptop is your main work device.

Luckily, you can save hundreds on several of Dell's best productivity monitors with these deals I found at B&H. Dell UltraSharp monitors are up to $300 off right now at B&H, making this the perfect opportunity to get a high-quality monitor for multi-tasking or just giving yourself some more screen real estate.

Browse: B&H's entire sale

For example, you can snag the spacious 39.7-inch Dell UltraSharp for $250 off right now! This HDR monitor is crisp and responsive with a 120Hz refresh rate, plus all the space you need to get work done.

Dell UltraSharp monitors in nearly every size are on sale right now and those are just a few of the best monitor deals this month! So, no matter what kind of monitor you're looking for, you can get a sweet discount on it.

See also: Laptop Mag at CES 2025: The latest laptop news, reviews, and analysis direct from Las Vegas

Top 5 Dell UltraSharp monitor deals this weekend

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If you’ve ever hunched over your laptop in economy class on an airplane, felt cramped in a coffee shop, or wanted to get more work done on a longer Uber ride, the solution might be to wear smart glasses and use software that expands your display beyond what your traditional 14-inch or 16-inch laptop could offer.

If that sounds like you, you're just the type of user Sightful founders tell Laptop Mag they are going after — those who want to enjoy a double or triple monitor experience anywhere they go, just by putting on a pair of glasses.

On Monday, a newly relaunched software program developed by Sightful, an Israeli firm founded in 2020, called Spacetop—more on that stellar name later—debuted inside a ballroom at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This follows the company's pivot from a display-less laptop to software only four months ago.

Spacetop utilizes XREAL smart glasses to expand your AI Windows laptop screen experience to something that feels much larger. (The software is only available on Windows computers in the US.)

When I put on the glasses, I immediately smiled. I knew everything about how I work on my laptop could be different, and probably better, forever.

Now, that’s a big sell. But at the dawn of the smart glasses era here in early 2025, many things will be different forever if you’re a little obsessed with an organized workspace and don’t want to be slowed down just because you’re on the go.

Featuring a dot-grid-designed canvas that feels a little like Figjam, Spacetop creates a tidy workspace, and when the transparency is turned off, the canvas becomes black and each dot white, a bit like twinkling stars in a midnight sky.

The company says the display experience can even go beyond 100 inches of work area, and it's all within a display that shows up behind the lenses you show to the world.

It feels very much like our incredible future—even if you’re skeptical about the value proposition of augmented reality.

Can Sightful succeed in a crowded market?

Augmented reality is an increasingly crowded market, even regarding productivity. Apple Vision Pro, which starts at $3,499, notably offers a fundamentally similar experience. In September, Meta introduced the Orion prototype — also augmented reality glasses.

The performance and experience of many have been generally positive. And the form factor of the glasses is getting less "Glasshole" and more Wayfarer-y. Cooler. Less obvious. Normal.

Tamir Berliner, co-founder and CEO of Sightful, told Laptop Mag on Monday night at the Sightful booth at CES that his company has a “three-year head start” on the competition. That's because Sightful had previously been developing its SpacetopOS software for an Android-based, display-less laptop.

Sightful ditched its display-less Spacetop laptop in October 2024, keeping the best part about its project — the augmented reality canvas that brings every window to you on the same screen.

For productivity and project-management obsessives who don't care much about the photos other smart glasses can take, Spacetop is the perfect solution to create a harmonious, private, augmented reality workspace.

How much does Spacetop cost?

Company reps say a subscription to the Spacetop service — a software-as-a-service product and not a one-time purchase — starts at $950 for one year or $1,050 for two years, and that includes a pair of XREAL Air 2 Ultra glasses.

If you already have prescription glasses, Sightful will also cover the cost of those lenses, though progressive lenses will cost more.

Are the XREAL glasses the right match for Spacetop?

Laptop Mag highly rates XREAL glasses. While that company has new pairs on the horizon (look out for the XREAL One Pro to ship in March 2025), Berliner, the CEO of Sightful, says Spacetop software uses the slightly older XREAL Air 2 Ultra glasses.

This is because of the computer vision technology that optimizes performance with the Spacetop software, though a company statement indicates it intends to offer more glasses options in the future. The XREAL Air 2 Ultra glasses have a refresh rate of 90 Hz and offer 1920x1080 resolution in each eye.

If you already own a pair of XREAL glasses and want to use Spacetop software, Berliner encourages users to contact the company directly.

What are the minimum requirements to run Spacetop?

What's next

Sightful is positioning Monday's relaunch of Spacetop as an "early access" launch, and several of my questions about technical support or other use cases were met with the response of "contact us."

The company seems keen on building a community of users, and the Spacetop program has an easy-to-find feedback modal for users.

If you're a MacBook user, the company states compatibility for those Apple laptops is on the 2026 roadmap.

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Meta ran into some major issues on Wednesday.

Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and Threads all went down on Wednesday afternoon with tens of thousands of users reporting that they were unable to use the service or log in.

While service has since been mostly restored as of about 2:30 p.m. Eastern, some issues with direct messaging persist. People have naturally flooded platforms like X to vent their frustrations. Here's a recap of Meta's outage.

A widespread problem

It's a bad day to be addicted social media. Instagram and Meta's entire suite of social apps, including Facebook, Messenger, and Threads, are all down on Tuesday in a major outage affecting all of Meta's major services.

Instagram released an official statement on X following the outage, attributing the outage to a "technical issue."

Reports are flooding in

There's no official cause for the outage yet, but reports peaked at about 1:30 p.m. Eastern on DownDetector, reaching about 75,000 for Instagram and 100,000 for Facebook.

Meta's loss is X's gain

Naturally, people flooded to the nearest social platform to vent their frustrations.

It may be a bad day for Meta, but X is reaping all the benefits.

Here's what the uploading experience looked like during Instagram's outage at 2:10 p.m. Eastern.

Service returning to normal

Luckily for anyone in desperate need of a doomscroll, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and Threads are being restored quickly, though some issues with messages have persisted.

At 2:25 p.m. Eastern, DownDetector reports have gone down steadily and, anecdotally, Laptop Mag staff were able to refresh feeds like normal.

Refreshing direct messages, however, brings up an error message that reads "We're sorry, but something went wrong. Please try that again."

Bolstering your education isn't always something that can be accomplished exclusively through your college courses or school work, and for some, using the resources found across the web is their only way of getting the learning they need to succeed in their field. After all, we live in the age of the internet, and there's no resource you cannot get access to through an application or website. These applications also make an excellent companion to the best laptops for college.

Keeping this in mind, we've compiled a collection of vital education applications that you might not be able to live without, some providing tutors, others for video lessons, and some even offering a social platform for language learners to interact.

Essentially, these applications can be vital for your education, and if you find yourself struggling with a topic because your professor or teacher is going too fast and isn't taking the time to accomodate you, don't just passively sit by while you lose touch with your understanding of the subject. Taking the extra step to solidify your understanding is highly recommended, and it can get you further along in your field with less of a headache.

So without further ado, here are the best applications for education.

Udemy

Udemy is one of our top picks for the best education apps, as it is especially useful for those who need to quickly learn things through online courses, especially as supplements to their existing classes or even if they need it all on its own.

Udemy is essentially a website that features over a hundred thousand online courses, which are rated by the users who experience them (so you can get a sense of which ones are actually worthwhile and properly teach you what you need to learn). Individual courses can be purchased, but some courses can be accessed through Udemy's subscription service, which starts at $19.99 a month.

You can easily sort courses in Udemy through the category, with options for data science, IT certifications, leadership, web development, communication, business analytics & intelligence, with specific sections dedicated to ChatGPT, data science, Python, machine learning, statistics, web development, JavaScript, and far more.

italki

italki is an excellent language learning platform that allows users to directly connect with tutors and take lessons from them for an alloted time. It's flexible so the user can select their times based on when the tutor is available within a certain slot of time, so even if your availability is constantly shifting, you can figure out what works for you.

I used italki when I was learning Japanese, and I really enjoyed easily being able to stay in contact with my tutor, scheduling lessons without difficulty, and connecting seamlessly through their online platform to engage with lessons. If you're looking to learn a language, and want that extra bit of help to assist in your training, look absolutely no further than italki.

HelloTalk

Whereas italki acts as a solid way to receive tutoring from someone, HelloTalk is a social platform the prioritizes language exchanges to help both users learn more about their desired language. For example, if you're a native English speaker looking to learn Spanish, you can match yourself up with native Spanish speakers looking to learn English. From there, you can engage in text conversations where you both try to take turns chatting with each other in both languages. And any mistakes you made can be assisted by the other person, while you can help the other person as well.

I used HelloTalk for over a year while learning Japanese, and it was an excellent platform for making friends who speak the language, as we'd have weekly scheduled voice calls where we'd each take thirty minutes speaking in Japanese and then another thirty minutes in English. Beyond just being a great tool for learning the language, I made dozens of friends and I was treated to learning more about the culture. It's an excellent tool for all language learners.

Duolingo

I personally have mixed feelings on Duolingo. I used it at two different points in my life, once to learn French, and a second time more recently to learn Japanese. Both times I felt it was lacking and too forgiving, and it was the least helpful language learning application that I used throughout my studies.

However, Duolingo is an enormous platform and it has millions of users for a reason, so ignoring my gripes with the application, there's a chance it could be just right for you.

Duolingo essentially has the user fill go through small lessons, and then fill out prompts and complete sentences over and over again in order to drill those new words and sentences in their head. One benefit of Duolingo's size is the language availability, as there are currently 40 languages to choose from, including Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, Hindi, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and far more.

Microsoft Office 365 for Education

Most people don't get the priviledge of Microsoft Office 365 without coughing up a good bit of money, as the personal plan costs as much as $69.99 a year, which is typically enough for one person, and allows the user 1TB of cloud storage, providing premium access to Microsoft Word, Excel Powerpoint, Outlook, Defender, Clipchamp, OneNote, Teams, and more. Keep in mind, some of these software are already available to Windows users, but there are premium features locked behind it.

But if you're a student, there's a good chance you can forego the cost entirely through Microsoft Office 365 for Education. All you need is a school-attached email (which usually works for colleges, but can even work for high school if you have a high school email), and by using that school email, you will be given access to Microsoft Office 365 for free.

Quizlet

Quizlet is an application that fosters interactive flashcards, practice tests, and activities for studying. You can also use flashcard sets created by other users, with some popular flashcard sets available now including ones for alegbra, Spanish, business associations, nutrition, spelling, ethic in technology, economics, and far more. There's plenty of options to choose from, but you can also build your own sets.

The application also breaks down each of its subjects into sections, meaning it's easy for you to know what you need to study once you find your key section. For example, if you need help passing the International English Language Testing System exam, there's a section dedicated to that. And if you wanna check sections dedicated to literature, arts and humanities, languages, math, science, social sciences,, and more.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a legendary application that has been helping students through school and college for many years (even when I was in high school, people were using Khan Academy for complex math subjects).

Essentially, Khan Academy features video lessons around all sorts of topics, and provides practice material to help test your knowledge. And now, Khan Academy has grown even more complex, featuring test prep for the LSAT, Digital SAT, MCAT, and having sections divided by grades, with math focusing on Pre-K to 8th grade, but once it goes past that point, it features divisions based on algebra 1, algebra 2, geometry, intergrated math, trigonometry, and far more, even reaching college level calculus eventually.

There's even a part of the website that helps you get an understanding of what's expected out of you in math based on which state you're in.

Photopea

While it's not necessarily an educational app, it can be pretty important if you're in a pickle and need an easy-to-use photo editing software that doesn't require any sketchy downloads.

You can simply go to the Photopea website and begin using it immediately, with the service offering tools to modify photos, use magic wand tools, add text, insert shapes, draw, color select, use stamp modes, add filters, compile layers of images atop one another, and far more. While it's not quite as complex as Photoshop, it is essentially the next best thing if you're on the prowl for something easy to use, and most importantly, completely free.

You'll have to deal with some annoying ads, and the website will constantly ask you to support it after exporting a file, alongside adblockers causing the website to not work (at least the ones I've tried), but it's all worth it for a completely free photo editing service that doesn't cost an arm and a leg like Photoshop does.

Evernote

Evernote's a note-taking application that is popular among students and is excellent for bolstering your education, as it is essentially an easy way to make your work easy to read and organize. It's perfect for students who are allowed to actually use a computer in class, and if you are, then this is one of the best options for making your education more convenient.

While the app's design lacks some finesse, it does simplify note-taking by capturing quick tasks and saving documents as web pages. The process of searching through notes is now simplified through Evernote's AI-powered Instant Recall, so all you need to do is tell it what you want in plain language. For instance, you can tell the app you want to search for "notes from last week" or "my notes about meetings" to quickly find what you're looking for. All of this info is then synced to the cloud, so all of your devices have access to the same data.

Evernote plans include Personal at $15 a month (or $130 a year) that lets you create up to 150,000 notes, 2,000 notebooks, 10GB monthly uploads, and unlimited connected devices. Professional at $18 a month (or $170 a year upgrades to 20GB monthly uploads, alongside AI-powered search and AI editing. Teams at $25 a month (or $250 a year) allows for shared access, a centralized admin account, and an additional 2GB of monthly uploads per user.

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If you want to ring in the New Year with custom graphics and slick video edits, now's the time to sign up for Adobe Creative Cloud.

Adobe's extended Black Friday sale is running now through December 8th, offering 50% off the Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps 100GB subscription tier, taking the price down to just $29.99 a month.

Students save more, paying just $15.97 monthly for 12 months, which is an astounding 70% off.

So, if you want to get the most bought one of the best laptops for Photoshop or the best video editing laptops in a Cyber Monday laptop sale, or you want to get a leg up on your peers at school for next semester, now's the best time to subscribe to Adobe.

Unfortunately, this offer is only valid for new subscribers and is limited to one new subscription per customer. But there are a couple of workarounds to Adobe's new subscribers' only limitation.

Today's best Adobe Creative Cloud deal

Not a new subscriber?

While you aren't eligible for this deal if you previously subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud, even if you canceled over a month ago, there may still be a way to take advantage of this deal for returning Adobe customers.

You could take advantage of this offer if you've only purchased a subscription for specific programs before, as opposed to the entire Creative Cloud app suite. Alternatively, if you've only had access to Creative Cloud through other means, like a free press or business account, you may still be able to take advantage of this deal.

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On this day in 1985, Microsoft unveiled its leap into the graphical user interface world with Windows 1.0, a piece of software that would change the personal computing world forever.

Well, almost. As they say, greatness rarely shows up fully formed. While success wouldn't arrive overnight, Windows has gone on to become the digital backbone of personal computing. Windows is now estimated to helm some 1.6 billion devices the world over including desktop PCs, laptops, tablets, and handheld gaming PCs.

Even the custom operating system behind Microsoft's Xbox Series X|S games console is built on the foundations of the modular Windows Core OS.

For much of the last 39 years, Windows has been the world's most popular platform, gifting us many of the operating system staples that we take for granted today, from something as simple as overlapping windows to the iconic Start menu and taskbar combination.

To celebrate this accomplishment, Laptop Mag is taking a stroll down memory lane, where we'll be reflecting on Microsoft's stalwart operating system, offering a retrospective of the platform's many iterations throughout the years.

Windows 1.0

The Windows platform came to life in November, 1985 with Microsoft's release of Windows 1.0 — which was the company's first attempt at developing a graphical user interface.

However, Windows 1.0 wasn't a fully-fledged operating system like the platform we know today. Instead, it worked as more of a graphical extension to Microsoft's flagship operating system at the time, MS-DOS.

MS-DOS, short for Microsoft Disk Operating System, was the primary operating system for IBM PCs in the 1980s. However, Microsoft's ambitions start further back, having developed a Unix-like OS called Xinex that was released in 1980 — a year before MS-DOS.

MS-DOS was a command-line, text-based operating system. Users would have to manually type out commands to execute programs or navigate directories.

The Windows 1.0 GUI (Graphical User Interface) ran on top of MS-DOS and offered a new, color 16-bit interface as a user-friendly way to navigate files or run applications while allowing for multiple applications to be run simultaneously.

Despite its legacy, Windows 1.0 was met with a middling response when it was initially released.

Although the Windows GUI showed potential, many felt it failed to deliver. While it made computing more accessible, it was slow and relied heavily on using a computer mouse, which, at the time, wasn't a common computing peripheral.

The recommended system requirements for Windows 1.0 were, for the time, also seen as quite high.

When it was released in 1985, the minimum requirements to run Windows 1.0 were two double-sided floppy disk drives or a hard disk, a graphics adapter card, and at least 256 kilobytes (KB) of RAM (though Microsoft recommended 512KB of RAM for running multiple programs at once).

To put that into perspective, Windows 11 requires 4GB of RAM, over 8,000 times the memory of Microsoft's initial GUI.

While laptops were still in their infancy, you could run Windows 1.0 on a Toshiba T1000 which was released in 1987 with 512KB of RAM for between $800-900 (which is between $2,222 and $2,500 when adjusting for inflation) though the lack of a color screen would certainly detract from the experience.

While the critical response wasn't great, with many holding up AmigaOS as the GUI of choice, Windows was able to edge out much of the competition — especially due to its wide compatibility with IBM PCs, which had begun to dominate the market (especially in the business sector).

In contrast, AmigaOS (while faster, more efficient, and offering better customization) was exclusive to more niche Amiga computers — Just as Apple's System 1 was designed only for the Macintosh.

Microsoft was also able to bank on the popularity of MS-DOS, which had raised enough funds to go all out on promoting Windows 1.0 to a wider crowd. In one video from 1986 (seen above) you can even catch future Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer peddling Windows 1.0 for the incredible value of only $99. It's an incredible price, but it's true.

(Note: Thankfully, the Ballmer commercial is a skit shown during the Windows 95 launch event.)

Windows 2.0/2.1

Windows 2.0 launched two years after Microsoft's first attempts at a GUI interface in December 1987. While it was a step closer to a full operating system, it still relied on MS-DOS as its backbone and acted as a graphical overlay rather than a standalone platform.

Windows 2.0 was a modest success for Microsoft, but it still wasn't the breakthrough moment of the Windows franchise. That said, the improvements it delivered played an important role going forward.

Sure, Windows 2.0 may not have lit the world ablaze on release, but it did get several things right. Most notably, it ported two iconic pieces of software into the GUI layer: Excel and Word.

Both pieces of software were vital in the business world, and interestingly both preceded Windows, finding success even on the Macintosh before making their way to Microsoft's fledgling platform.

In their new home, Excel and Word would thrive when paired with the graphical interface growing into powerful productivity tools. Something that can still be said almost 37 years later.

Another major feature to debut in Windows 2.0 was the introduction of overlapping and resizable windows. For the first time, users could layer application windows instead of being forced to comply with static tiled layouts.

This made multitasking more practical and, when paired with the introduction of new keyboard commands, made Windows 2.0 a much more effective platform for power users.

This new level of control over GUI windows also saw the introduction of the terms "Minimize" and "Maximize" for the first time, replacing the previous "Iconize" and "Zoom" commands.

Windows 2.0 (and version 2.1 which followed in May 1988) was a decent stepping stone for GUI adoption, shipping an estimated 2 million copies. While that may not sound like a great figure compared to today's figures, for the time, this was an impressive accomplishment.

So much so, that Apple may have felt threatened by Windows' growing presence, eventually taking Microsoft to court over the company's claimed infringement on the "look and feel" of the Macintosh.

Legal battles between the two waged for years, with Microsoft eventually coming out as the victor, claiming that any similarities between Windows and Macintosh came from the two company's licensing of Xerox GUI elements.

With two successes under its belt from Windows 2.0's release, Microsoft would go on to take the Windows platform to all-new heights.

Windows 3.0/3.1

Windows 3.0 arrived in 1990, offering a much refined interface making use of 16 colors, better resource management, and improved usability. It was an impressive improvement on Windows 2.0/2.1, featuring a wider selection of software and making better use of system resources for improved multitasking.

However, it was Windows 3.1 that truly delivered Microsoft with the breakthrough moment it had been banking on.

While each Windows 3.X version was still just a graphical overlay for MS-DOS, then more than ever, Windows began to feel like its own independent operating system.

Things were now much more polished and better presented. Intuitive drag-and-drop functionality would debut along with a full icon-based interface to make using the platform easier than ever through improved visual cues and instantly recognizable iconography.

Windows now offered some impressive personalization options, allowing users to create a desktop environment that felt unique to them.

Prior to version 3.x, Windows was mostly viewed as a productivity platform. However, that would change as Microsoft used its software to curate much more of a media PC experience.

Windows 3.1 added the Media Control Interface (MCI) for expanded support for multimedia playback. This allowed for the introduction of Windows Media Player to handle MIDI and AVI files and Sound Recorder for the capture and/or playback of audio WAV files.

The addition of TrueType font support, essential for desktop publishing, also elevated Windows' creative capabilities when it came to document creation, taking advantage of the platform's improved graphical capabilities.

This version of Windows felt far more consumer-friendly than others, making it feel like a catch-all platform for users of all types to enjoy. Windows 3.1 also saw the introduction of Solitaire and the to-this-day popular Minesweeper for further entertainment.

While MS-DOS was still considered to be the primary stage for gaming, Windows 3.1's additions led to many developers experimenting with Windows as a gaming platform.

Major titles like Sim City and Sid Meier's Civilization II proved that Windows had serious gaming potential, and further helped to make people revise what Windows had to offer.

Windows 3.x wasn't a simple iteration over Windows 2.x, it was the version that cemented Microsoft's future in the operating system space.

Almost everything felt refined and improved upon, and it was a true showcase of Windows' potential as a standalone platform for both business and home users — selling roughly 13 million copies in the process.

Windows 95

Windows 95 was another step in the right direction, and although it might not go down in history as the best version of Windows, it was a giant leap for how the platform would look, feel, and grow over the coming decades.

Released in August 1995, Windows 95 was much closer to becoming a standalone operating system. While it still relied on MS-DOS for certain under-the-hood tasks, its shift to a 32-bit architecture made it more of an independent platform.

This hybrid-like platform would work to Windows 95's benefit, however, as it meant that it would still work well with legacy DOS-based programs.

Windows 95's "Start me up" tagline was part of a massive marketing campaign that pushed the system well and truly into the mainstream.

Said marketing campaign was paired with the hit of the same name by The Rolling Stones, ensuring that Windows 95 made it onto the radar of every dad ever in record time.

The decision to use one of The Rolling Stones' biggest hits also led to one of the most high-energy, low-energy paradoxes humanity has ever seen as the heads of Microsoft were gathered on stage during an official event (often misattributed as the Windows 95 launch event) to awkwardly dance along to the number.

Not Steve Ballmer though, he was all-in.

Windows 95 introduced a host of all-new features that would later become standard for the modern operating system. This included the debut of the Start menu and taskbar, offering easy ways to navigate the files and programs installed on your machine and further simplifying the process of switching between applications as you multitask.

Plug-and-play support allowed for near-universal compatibility between Windows machines and generic hardware, and the platform also offered built-in network capabilities.

Windows 95 was the first of Microsoft's operating systems specifically designed to connect to the Internet. While that's a great win for Windows, it did come in tandem with Microsoft Internet Explorer, proving that every rose does indeed have its thorn.

Windows 95 didn't just offer an improved user experience and a compelling productivity playground, it also made use of the DirectX API to lure gaming away from MS-DOS in a big way.

With Windows 95, Microsoft set off the domino that would eventually make Windows synonymous with PC gaming. During Windows 95's lifespan, it played host to several games that would go on to become enormous franchises, including Diablo, Age of Empires, and Microsoft Flight Simulator.

According to the most recent Steam survey, over 96% of PC gamers on Steam use the Windows operating system. We have Windows 95 to thank for kickstarting this trend.

It wasn't all good, though. Windows 95 also introduced users to the infamous "Blue Screen of Death" (BSoD).

It wasn't that Windows was previously error-free, but the BSoD became something of a Windows 95 staple owing to the platform's ambitious scope and its many conflicts with various hardware and drivers.

Windows 95 was Microsoft's biggest success to date, selling over 40 million copies in its first year — a million of which shipped in the first four days of release.

Its impact stretched far beyond its features. Windows was now the operating system for most. Windows 95 was something of a computing revolution, just look at the image below if you don't believe me.

That's a man celebrating after buying not one, but two copies of Windows 95 during a midnight launch in Sydney, Australia.

I don't think I've ever been that happy about anything.

Windows 98

If Windows 95 was a fresh take on Microsoft's OS, Windows 98 aimed to be a smash-hit sequel.

Releasing in June 1998, Windows 98 refined much of what the previous version introduced; doubling down on internet integration and amping up the platform's multimedia support.

It also improved the platform's stability, resulting in fewer pesky BSoD messages that so many Windows 95 users had previously complained about.

Windows 98 offered improved USB support, automatically compatible with the standard out-of-the-box. This made working with peripherals like mice, keyboards, and printers easier than ever.

The operating system also came with improved hardware support for DVD drives and graphics cards, aiding the upgradeability of machines and ensuring that a user's computer and Windows could remain ahead of the technology curve.

Windows 98 also improved its operability, offering users access to System Tools like Disk Cleanup, ScanDisk, and making further use of its internet capabilities through Windows Update.

Windows 98 successfully continued to make Windows the go-to destination for PC gaming, with games like StarCraft and Half-Life taking advantage of Windows' compatibility with cutting-edge hardware and improved DirectX support.

The aforementioned USB support also meant that more types of games could be developed for Windows, with out-of-the-box support for generic gamepads and joysticks available.

Windows 98 was another success for Microsoft, both commercially and critically.

It improved on much of what Windows 95 had to offer and granted users much improved hardware support along the way.

Microsoft managed to ship over 58 million licenses for Windows 98 by the turn of the millennium.

While I don't have a picture of a very excited man holding two copies of the operating system to show you, I can say that this version of Windows was even more popular than the last and is well-regarded as one of the better Windows releases.

Windows 2000 & Windows ME

Following the success of Windows 95 and 98, Microsoft decided to meddle with a winning formula. In 2000, we didn't get one version of Windows, we got two: Windows 2000 and Windows ME (Millennium Edition).

Windows 2000 adopted NT architecture, essentially a new engine that made this version of Windows fully stand alone and not rely on MS-DOS. It was also heavily marketed towards businesses and professionals, with a focus on performance, stability, and networking.

Windows ME was to be the option for home users, retaining its DOS dependence and focusing on the multimedia PC experience and ease of use.

How did they fare? Well, at least one of them was good. Pretty good, actually.

(Spoiler: It wasn't Windows ME.)

Windows 2000's biggest claim to fame was how reliable and accessible to the power user it was.

Tools like Active Directory offered unprecedented management of networks alongside advanced security features, and improved hardware support.

Windows ME offered solutions like System Restore, an easy way for less tech-savvy users to recover their system following hardware or software issues.

Windows Movie Maker also made it to Windows ME as Microsoft continued its efforts to keep the platform relevant for creators.

Windows 2000 and ME were products that should ultimately have felt very similar.

However, while Windows 2000 had rock-solid stability to rely on, Windows ME was plagued by more bugs and crashes than an icy bend placed next to a termite mound.

While users loved Windows 2000, ME effectively had the rug pulled from under it and is still seen as one of Microsoft's biggest missteps with Windows.

Windows XP

Following the dismal release of Windows ME, Microsoft was quick to get a replacement out of the door.

On October 25, 2001, it did just that — welcoming users to the iconic wallpaper showcasing the rolling green hills of Sonoma County, California with the highly-praised release of Windows XP.

In Windows XP, Microsoft managed to right all of the wrongs of Windows ME by granting users the same stable NT architecture of Windows 2000 while providing all of the consumer-level, user-friendly creature comforts of the Windows platform.

It was more colorful, stylized, sleek, and stable. It was a real winner.

Windows XP's unified NT architecture meant the end of MS-DOS, offering improved stability, multitasking, and security.

It also offered Wi-Fi support and internet connection sharing, making home networking a cakewalk. Windows XP would also feature CD/DVD burning capabilities, allowing users to take digital creations and bring them onto physical media.

However, it still provided some excellent features for regular consumers, including multi-user support to allow for several Windows profiles that can be customized to suit each user and provide individual storage.

To say Windows XP was a success feels like an understatement. Five years on from its release, the operating system has been installed on over 400 million PCs and users were happy to cling to the platform for over a decade before Microsoft eventually ended its support in April 2014.

You'd think after course correcting from the dismal Windows ME that Microsoft would have its head on straight for its next operating system release.

However, that's exactly where the wheels fell off the Windows wagon, as in January 2007 Microsoft released Windows Vista.

Adopting a bold new look that was highly modern and swanky, Vista aimed to deliver improvements in a more refined costume than XP.

Sadly, those improvements came alongside a host of performance and compatibility issues that were not helped by the platform's beefy system requirements.

Beyond its shiny exterior, Vista did introduce several new features to Windows that were of some use. Notably, the new Search functionality built into the taskbar, which gave users a way to quickly lookup files, and support for DirectX 10 which further allowed gaming to grow on Windows.

Sadly, performance and hardware issues did hamper Vista in that regard.

Another feature to debut in Windows Vista was User Account Control (UAC), a tool designed to bolster security by placing a roadblock in the path of users when attempting to perform potentially risky actions.

On paper, this isn't a terrible idea. However, in practice, UAC become an annoyance for most users from day one onwards.

Vista never achieved the same level of popularity as previous versions of Windows, even after selling 180 million copies. It was quickly snubbed by users who preferred to stick to the relative safety and familiarity of Windows XP.

Windows 7

Releasing in October 2009, Windows 7 was the perfect tonic to wash away any foul taste left by Vista, building on Microsoft's divisive operating system and creating a more stable platform that felt far more polished.

It retained a similar sleek design, opting to avoid the character of Windows XP and continue with the Aero theming.

However, the work that had been done to create a better and more complete platform paid off greatly, with Windows 7 becoming one of the most beloved operating systems Microsoft has released to date.

The features added to Windows 7 may not have been groundbreaking, but they did add to the overall Windows experience. There were improvements to performance through taking advantage of multi-core processors, more widget-like Gadgets for the desktop, the ability to pin programs to the taskbar for quick access, a "show desktop" button to quickly clear the screen and access any shortcuts or files you may be looking for, and Aero Snap features that allowed users to maximize windows by dragging them to the edge of the screen.

There was also expanded support for touchscreen devices, and movement gestures that you could use when dragging a window.

For gamers and creators, there was DirectX 11, and while User Account Control remained, it was made far less intrusive.

Microsoft's response to Vista proved to be a massive success. Windows 7 became the gold standard of Windows platforms and would remain incredibly popular even as newer options were released. According to Microsoft, by September 2011 over 450 million licenses for Windows 7 had been sold.

Windows 8

In October 2012, Microsoft released Windows 8, a bold departure from Windows versions that came before. As you'd expect, Microsoft's meddling with the Windows formula once again backfired.

Windows 8's radical redesign was intended to bridge the gap between traditional computers and tablets by providing an interface that worked for both. However, in practice, it leaned more heavily towards tablet users, leaving many desktop and laptop Windows alums feeling slighted.

The bold tile interface of Windows 8 dismissed the familiar Windows Start menu by default, leaving traditional PC users to work with an interface that seemed predominantly designed for touch and lacked the same intuitiveness of Windows 7.

There was OneDrive integration, and Snap View allowed for easy split-screen multitasking, Windows Defender gained antivirus capabilities, system recovery tools were expanded, and the overall security of the platform was increased.

However, despite the changes, much of Microsoft's work was overshadowed by its efforts to "mobilize" Windows 8, compounded by the debut of the Google Play Store-like Microsoft Store app.

Microsoft would attempt to resolve as many of these complaints as it could with Windows 8.1, but by then the damage was done and many had turned their back on this iteration entirely.

In 2013, Microsoft claimed that 100 million licenses had been sold for Windows 8, though analysts believed that the operating system was only active on roughly 58.6 million machines.

Windows 9

Following the flub that was Windows 8, many users wished for a strong return to form for Microsoft with the release of Windows 9. However, Windows 9 failed to materialize.

Instead, Microsoft skipped right past it and announced Windows 10. Leaving many to scratch their heads and wonder about the logic behind such a decision.

If you don't want to be a part of team head scratching any longer, you can always find out more information about what may have happened to Windows 9 by checking out the following article:

• Windows 12 isn't Microsoft's only missing operating system

Windows 10

Windows 10 was released in July 2015, and much like how Windows 7 was able to right the wrongs of Vista, Windows 10 succeeded in redeeming Microsoft over Windows 8.

Windows 10 offered a more familiar interface, striking a good balance between touch usability and traditional navigation. It was also marketed as the "last version of Windows," a platform designed to be continually updated instead of having a successor — pushing Windows in the direction of becoming a service and not a product.

Windows 10 saw the return of the Start menu, though the tile interface of Windows 8 would find a home there as live tiles. Microsoft also implemented a virtual assistant called Cortana, inspired by the AI character that stars in the company's Halo games franchise.

The long-derided Internet Explorer was replaced by the new Microsoft Edge browser, users could create virtual desktops and switch between them to maximize productivity and further enhance multitasking, and DirectX 12 gave gamers everything they needed to continue making Windows their home of choice.

Windows 10 was a massive success, and the perfect way for Microsoft to bounce back from the failure of Windows 8. In March 2019, Microsoft reported that Windows 10 was running on more than 800 million devices worldwide, short of the company's initial hopes to reach one billion users within three years, but still incredibly impressive.

According to analytics site Statcounter, as of October 2024, Windows 10 still accounts for over 60% of all desktops running Windows, though that figure is expected to change drastically within the next 12 months.

Windows 10's end-of-support date is set for October 14, 2025. On that date, those who haven't made the transition to Windows 11 will lose access to vital security updates and any technical support.

If your computer meets the minimum requirements, you can upgrade to Windows 11 at any point. Otherwise, you'll need to purchase a new desktop PC (if you can't upgrade) or laptop to meet the minimum specifications for Windows 11.

If you're dead-set against upgrading, you can continue using Windows 10 past its end-of-support date. But your computer may be at risk from harmful unpatched exploits.

Alternatively, you can opt to enroll in Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10 and receive an additional year of critical security patches — for a price.

According to Microsoft, enrolling in the ESU scheme will cost $30, with the ability to sign up becoming available closer to Windows 10's end-of-support date.

However, this only covers you for a year, and there's no guarantee from Microsoft that this plan will continue past that date.

You can read more about Microsoft's ESU plan and alternative options here.

Windows 11

Microsoft's goal to make Windows 10 the "last version of Windows" didn't quite go as planned. In October 2021, six years on from the launch of Windows 10, Windows 11 was released.

Microsoft's intentions were good, Windows 11 aims to further refine the Windows experience with modern aesthetics, improved productivity tools, and a more efficient and secure use of modern hardware.

It's also the first of Microsoft's operating systems to take advantage of AI, with the company retiring Cortana to make way for Copilot and granting older applications a fresh lease on life through new generative AI features.

However, making use of newer hardware means there are strict hardware requirements for users to adhere to, and not every Windows user is keen on letting an AI copilot their operating system.

Windows 11 gains several impressive security features, including a built-in firewall and better encryption through a required Trusted Platform Module 2.0 security coprocessor as part of its minimum specs.

The operating system has also been tweaked and tuned to perform faster when waking from sleep mode or browsing, and new gaming tech such as the Xbox Series X|S's Auto HDR and DirectStorage have been ported to the platform also.

On top of this, Windows 11 can now natively handle several tasks that previously required third-party tools, including controlling RGB lighting and compressing or extracting WinRAR archives.

That said, many things have been altered in Windows 11, and not everybody is convinced that Microsoft has made the right decision.

From small things such as the taskbar's positioning, the Start menu's design, the reorganizing of certain menus, and the inability to customize your taskbar's size or position, to the growing presence of AI on the system and within apps, there are plenty of valid reasons for users choosing to hold out from upgrading from Windows 10.

It doesn't help that Microsoft seems insistent on Windows 11 acting as a billboard for the wider Microsoft eco-system either. The company is seemingly forever trying to inject ads or sell its services into any available nook or cranny within the platform.

Microsoft has also attempted to "simplify" Windows 11 for the average user. However, the company's efforts to simplify have made things more complicated for users who know what they're doing. Even a simple right-click to copy or cut a file from one location to another has been changed, with Microsoft hiding the digital scissors under a second click on "Show more options" to use them.

Windows 11 might be a blend of modern innovation and controversy, but in a year's time it'll be the only version of Windows currently being supported.

Adoption rates for the platform are still on the low end, and Windows 10 remains the OS of choice for the majority. Analysts at Statcounter believe that out of all desktop PCs running Windows, only ~35% of them are using Windows 11, and ~60% remain on Windows 10.

Windows 11 isn't quite the disaster that Windows Vista or Windows 8 was, but there's considerable apathy surrounding the operating system.

It speaks volumes that regardless of how many new features are added to the platform, the only way Microsoft can successfully convert Windows 10 users is by forcing them to give up the platform they actually want.

Windows 12

As far as Microsoft is concerned, Windows 12 does not exist. That's what it would like you to believe, anyway.

Microsoft hasn't uttered a single syllable relating to the possibility of a new operating system in public as of yet, and many are wondering if the real "final version of Windows" is actually Windows 11.

Still, 2025 is a year consistently pegged for the operating system's reveal and release. We don't know what we can expect from such a reveal, but we do know that Microsoft's continued focus on AI will likely play a large part in the platform — which may further drive away some AI-sceptic Windows users.

The wrap-up: 39 years of Windows

For 39 years, Microsoft Windows has been the real copilot to our computing experience, evolving from its humble beginnings as a middling GUI layer for MS-DOS into the premiere force in operating systems it is today.

Over the decades, Windows has added thousands of digital desktop delights to its platform to make computing easier, faster, fun, and more accessible.

Every version of Windows brings something new along with it, and I personally hope that there are many more iterations of Microsoft's OS yet to be released.

Few platforms have managed to impact the computing world in the way that Windows has, let alone garner the same reach. Windows powers the laptops in our classrooms, the workstations at our jobs, and the gaming PCs and laptops we use to experience the latest and greatest games, providing a reliable (though not perfect) platform from which we learn, work, and play.

Laptop Mag thanks you all for joining in on today's 39th anniversary of Windows by following along with us, and we hope to hear exciting things about Windows and Microsoft's plans for the operating system as we approach the 40th anniversary next year.

Several Windows 11 apps are set to receive some impressive AI-powered features and updates following update rollouts to the Dev and Canary Windows Insider Program channels.

These channels are designed to offer early previews of new features for Windows users, offering Microsoft a sandbox of sorts to trial updates ahead of their full release.

Microsoft's latest updates for Windows 11 in testing include some much-welcomed updates to classic apps like Paint and Notepad on Copilot+ PCs, furthering the impact of these classic apps with all-new AI-backed tools.

Teaching an old dog new tricks: Classic Windows apps get powerful AI upgrades

If there's one thing that Microsoft has been able to cleverly use AI for, it's been to disprove the age-old idiom that says "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

Over the last 12 months, Microsoft has been able to do exactly that by releasing several new AI-backed features to classic Windows apps — breathing new life into often overlooked software.

The latest batch of updates rolling out to Canary and Dev channels on Windows 11 includes some very handy generative AI tools for both Windows Paint and Windows Notepad, and some

A fresh lick for Paint

Paint, a basic image editor, has been available on Windows systems since the very beginning, launching as part of Windows 1.0 in 1985.

While the dawn of advanced apps like Photoshop had long relegated Paint to the point of bloatware on Windows machines, several new AI features have given this iconic staple of the platform a new lease on life.

Last year, Microsoft gave Paint a generative overhaul, adding the Cocreator image generator, support for layers, and the ability for users to remove backgrounds from images with a single click.

In the latest update (version 11.2410.28.0), users can now use powerful Generative fill-and-erase tools, which cleanly add or remove elements to or from an image based on a written prompt.

You can see this tool in action above, with Microsoft sharing the example of adding a castle to an impressionist-like painting of the rolling green hills of Sonoma County, California that previously featured as the iconic desktop background for Windows XP.

A notable upgrade for Notepad

Notepad technically predates Windows thanks to a 1983 release for MS-DOS. To this day, Notepad remains one of the more handy Windows apps thanks to its fast, lightweight, distraction-free approach to text editing.

However, even this simple app is getting an AI makeover thanks to new rewrite features debuting in version 11.2410.15.0. Adding to earlier updates that included tabbed documents and auto-saving is an option to rewrite text using generative AI.

The new Rewrite tool allows users to highlight portions of text within Notepad and ask for them to be rewritten to fit various tones or formats, with the option to expand on certain sections or cut them down in size.

It's a blessing for students struggling to crawl past the finish line on those strict word-count essays, and a handy tool for all when it comes to fleshing out the fleeting ideas that Notepad is most often used to capture while at your machine.

Outlook

Updates to Windows Paint and Notepad are now in the process of rolling out to Windows Insider Program members in the Canary and Dev Channels.

Users interested in checking out these new features can join the Windows Insider program by heading to the Settings panel in Windows, clicking on "Windows Update" in the left pane, and "Windows Insider Program" in the right pane, before then clicking the "Get started" button and linking their Microsoft account.

After reading through the Insider Program agreements, you can then choose which Insider channel you wish to join.

It's great to see Microsoft continue to use AI to empower its classic range of apps, adding some impressive functionality to the Windows platform out of the box.

Tools like Generative fill and erase are impressively useful, which makes their inclusion in bundled software like Paint all the more impressive.

There's still a long way to go before Microsoft can hope to challenge Adobe on its image editing prowess, but who knows where things will go if Microsoft remains committed to using AI to overhaul its classic software in this way.

More from Laptop Mag

• Windows 10 users, you don't have to upgrade to Windows 11 in 2025 — but it will cost you
• Windows 10 isn't as good as you think — fight me
• Did you know about Microsoft's secret post-Windows operating system?

Microsoft will officially end support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. This means the company will no longer provide technical support or security updates for its operating system.

Microsoft will continue to support businesses using Windows 10 beyond its 2025 end-of-support date through Extended Security Updates (ESU).

However, Microsoft has recently revealed that regular consumers will also have access to vital ESU too — for a price.

Windows 10 Extended Security Updates: What you need to know

For the first time, consumer laptops and PCs can enroll in Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program to receive major security updates throughout 2025 and into 2026.

While this will help to keep many machines secure for another year of use, this program is seen as a "last resort option" by Microsoft and won't offer the complete level of support Windows 10 users have previously had access to.

Sadly, Microsoft's ESU will only cover critical and important security updates. Those enrolled in the plan will still lose out on technical support, general bug fixes, and feature updates.

At this moment, Microsoft plans to offer consumer PCs a single year of ESU for a one-time $30 fee with the option to enroll becoming available closer to Windows 10's end-of-support date.

Windows 10 Extended Security Updates for business

Alternatively, businesses can enroll in Microsoft's ESU for up to three years, providing vital security fixes well into 2028. That said, the cost to businesses is much higher and will exponentially increase year-over-year.

• $61 for first year of Windows 10 ESU
• $122 for second year of Windows 10 ESU
• $244 for third year of Windows 10 ESU

Unfortunately, savvy business users looking to save money by purchasing only a single year of Microsoft's ESU will still be required to pay for prior updates.

If a business enrolls a machine for Windows 10 ESU in year two of the program (at a cost of $122), it will also be required to pay for the first year of updates ($61), raising the cumulative price to $183.

What to do when Windows 10 support ends

Whether you're a consumer or a business that opts for Microsoft's ESU or not, the fact remains that Windows 10 is slowly approaching its end of life.

While the ESU offered by Microsoft may add 1-3 years of additional support to your operating system, you will eventually need to make a decision on what to do when Windows 10 support ends.

Thankfully, there are plenty of options on the table that don't involve hoping and praying on Microsoft releasing Windows 12 within the next 12-months.

If your machine meets the hardware requirements, then upgrading to Windows 11 is the most obvious choice.

If your machine doesn't meet the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11, then it may be time to invest in a new laptop. To help you on that path, Laptop Mag reviews laptops year-round to identify the best laptops and offers expert recommendations on how to choose your next notebook.

If you're dead set against Microsoft's latest operating system, then there's always the option of switching to an alternative operating system like Linux (which isn't as scary as you think).

Alternatively, you may wish leave behind Windows entirely, making the jump to macOS by investing in a new MacBook Pro or MacBook Air laptop, or using a more lightweight operating system in ChromeOS with one of the best Chromebooks.

More from Laptop Mag

• What to do when Windows 10 support ends
• Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: The biggest upgrades you need to know
• Windows 10 isn't as good as you think — fight me

I’ve been a Google Photos user since it launched in May 2018. I signed up for it when it was free, no matter how many photos I backed up. But on June 1, 2021, Google flipped a switch: My Google Photos uploads began to take up space like the rest of my Google apps, and I quickly ran out of the complimentary 15GB storage.

I didn’t mind paying a couple of bucks each month for more storage, and so I did … until I realized I’d spent close to $500 in the last three years alone.

So, in an effort to save myself from rising Google One storage bills, I created a personal cloud storage solution. Here's a look at how that journey has gone for me and whether you might want to consider it yourself.

How much am I paying Google every month?

Apart from the current costs, I was also concerned about what my Google One bill would look like a few years from now. The problem was my Google One storage wasn’t just reserved for Photos, it also hosted my emails, files, documents, spreadsheets, and more. Like most subscription services, Google's monthly fees keep trending upward (YouTube Premium went up $2/month a year ago), and given the volume of data I had on the company’s digital basements, migrating to another service would be a nightmare if the time does come when I could no longer afford it.

Privacy worries

What made me even more anxious, though, was what my increased dependency on Google would mean for my private memories as we head into the AI age. Not only does Google actively train its algorithms on my photos and videos, but it’s susceptible to leaks too. In 2019, for example, Google accidentally sent some users’ private videos in Google Photos to strangers.

My personal cloud storage solution

The potential solution to this problem came to me from Synology, in the form of its DiskStation 723+ NAS. NAS stands for network-attached storage; in other words, it's hard drives (or SSDs) connected to the internet.

Normally, when you upload a file onto a cloud-based service like Google Photos, it saves that data in a warehouse that houses endless racks of servers in the middle of nowhere. Simply put, a NAS device allows you to replicate a miniature, private version of such a warehouse in your home. It can be equipped with dozens of TBs of storage, and once you connect it to the internet, you can upload files, media, and pretty much anything else you’d typically send over to Google’s servers.

The highlight of NAS is not just that it’s exclusive to you but also that its storage is upgradable for a fraction of the cost you’d pay for a subscription. Say you started with a 2TB hard drive, and after running out of space, you want to add another 8TB. In the case of a Google One subscription, a 10TB plan will set you back $100 a month, while an 8TB drive will cost a one-time $200.

The math made sense to me, but there’s a reason why most people prefer outsourcing their storage needs. A NAS device isn’t just a bunch of hard drives in a box. Instead, it is a mini-computer attached to a series of storage units. Configuring a NAS isn’t nearly as straightforward as creating a Google account. I also, at one time, believed it was no more than a doomsdayer’s pursuit. Before I even received the NAS, I imagined myself nervously pouring over forums and subreddits to understand UPS, data redundancy, and what have you.

The hardware

But these concerns were put to rest by the NAS I was specifically testing: the Synology DiskStation DS723+, which has a pair of slots for full-size HDDs or SSDs, a two-core AMD CPU, 2GB of upgradable RAM, a gigabit LAN port, and a built-in cooling fan. It’s no longer bigger than a small shoebox, with a bit of heft at 3.3lbs.

Like most NAS units, the DS723+ didn’t ship with the drives installed. Doing so is fairly simple even if you don’t have a technical background. All you have to do is pull the disk bay out, slot the drive in the tray, line the fastening panels so the drive is sealed in place, and push the bay back inside -- no screwdrivers needed. That may sound intimidating but it doesn’t take more than a minute.

The software

Once I powered on the NAS and connected it to the internet via an Ethernet cable, the onboarding process was no more complex than what I’d experience on a new computer. It required me to visit a Synology web link on my laptop, which looked for NAS devices on the same network and found mine within seconds. It then installed the company’s in-house OS, the Synology DiskStation Manager, and asked me to create a login I would use to access the NAS remotely from anywhere.

I was then thrown into a desktop interface inside my laptop’s web browser. Here came the more complicated aspects of owning a NAS. But thankfully, Synology had made enough automated provisions to guide me through the setup. The quick start wizard lets you breeze through the preliminary steps, such as configuring how much of the total storage you’d like to assign an account, whether you’d like to access it from anywhere or keep it local for privacy, how often you’d like it to be backed up, and more.

There was unquestionably a lot to do. I was, after all, setting up a server in my apartment. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how seamless it was, compared to the last time years ago I tried a NAS. And if I was stuck at a step, like what’s “Snapshot Replication,” Synology’s online help pages and videos were plenty exhaustive and accessible.

By this point, my NAS was ready to replace Google Photos. You could, of course, simply dump your media files on it every now and then but a far more user-friendly method is to use Synology’s apps. Since the NAS is, in fact, a computer, you can install programs on it yourself or through the Synology marketplace. Two of them were of particular interest to me: Photos and Drive.

As the name suggests, these are Synology’s counterparts to Google Photos and Drive. They are part of the firm’s productivity suite, which also includes Synology MailPlus and Office. The difference is the files you upload, edit, and share will be on your storage.

Synology Photos works like any other consumer photo management software. From its mobile clients, you can automatically back up all your photos and videos, browse them in a clean gallery app, organize them in albums, share public links to them, and more.

In many ways, I found Synology Photos more thoughtful than Google’s. It too can, for example, recognize faces, and categorize them in their folders. However, its facial recognition algorithm runs locally on your NAS and is never uploaded to another server. It’s not as accurate as Google but functions well enough that I only rarely had to manually label a mis-recognized face.

Like Google Photos, you’ll find a “Free Up Space” tool, which deletes media locally once they are backed up. I also liked the photo request feature. It allows me to share a link with anyone else, where they can upload their photos and videos, and store them on my storage, as opposed to giving them access to the NAS altogether. Another highlight is that it can back up only while your phone’s charging. Google Photos used to have this ability as well but the company oddly removed it in recent updates.

Synology Drive, similarly, is capable of replacing Google Drive. On your phone, its app can even stream the Office suite so that you don’t have to separately install it when you’d like to edit a spreadsheet or a document. These apps have desktop clients as well for those who’d like to back up their computers.

Outlook

Living with a NAS was a revelatory experience. Not only is it more economical, but I was surprised at how convenient the user interface has become as well. There are all-in-one options for those who even want to skip the manual disk installation process. It’s not perfect, however.

Over time, as a NAS owner, you’ll find yourself deep in technical trenches to stay on top of any hardware issues and understand how best to protect your data from disk failures and cybersecurity incidents. But in the few weeks I spent with the Synology DiskStation DS723+, I discovered a treasure trove of resources that can comfortably guide you through any complications. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to migrate my Google Drive data to my NAS and put an end to the Google One bills once and for all.

ChatGPT may be the go-to source for comprehensive AI-powered travel itineraries, meal plans, content ideas, and more, but Open AI has bigger plans.

A new feature is here to shake up the AI chatbot game: ChatGPT Search.

What is ChatGPT Search?

On October 31, OpenAI announced ChatGPT's new search feature, saying the AI chatbot "can now search the web in a much better way than before" and deliver "fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources."

Initially, ChatGPT generated answers utilizing specific training data, with very limited web search capabilities. This AI model, however, has access to the internet and will provide links for any source it pulls info from.

For example, asking ChatGPT for a "5-day travel itinerary for Barcelona" prior to the new search feature would generate a neatly organized bullet list with ideas for places to visit, restaurants to eat at, and must-do activities with no relevant links. Now, you might see a similar list, but it'll have easy-access links to book tickets, look at a menu, or otherwise get more info about an activity.

If ChatGPT Search sounds like a tool you might want to try, here's how to use it.

How to use ChatGPT Search

The ChatGPT Search tool will be built directly into the existing ChatGPT interface on the web and mobile/desktop apps, and it's currently available to the following users:

• ChatGPT Plus users
• ChatGPT Team users
• SearchGPT waitlist users

You should see a small globe icon with 'Search' next to it below the ChatGPT bar where you type your requests or questions. Clicking on this web search icon will manually trigger a web-based search, or you can simply ask your questions and make your requests as normal and let ChatGPT decide when and if it needs to consult the web for up-to-date information.

Although only select users will be able to utilize ChatGPT Search right away, OpenAI says it plans to "roll out to all Free users over the coming months."

Outlook

OpenAI's ChatGPT has been the preferred AI chatbot over Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. With this newly integrated search feature, it might be the push OpenAI needed to keep ChatGPT on top.

Having ChatGPT Search create a comprehensive seven-day meal plan with linked recipes, as an example, is much more helpful than a seven-day meal plan with general ideas that you have to go find recipes for.

Of course, with such a vast amount of information to scour and other AI models to potentially contribute to 'AI hallucinations,' ChatGPT could be prone to eventually providing misinformation.

Only time will tell how successful ChatGPT Search is among competitors like Bing and Google, but it's hard to count Open AI given ChatGPT's popularity and momentum.

The Logitech MX Creative Console takes the unique form factor of a stream deck and reimagines it as a productivity device for creative professionals. Is it a useful peripheral for creative work or a novelty add-on? That depends.

Creative workflows can vary a lot – some people have a rolodex of Photoshop shortcuts memorized while others rely on learning exactly where every setting is buried in the menus of Premiere Pro. The MX Creative Console is designed for a wide variety of creative tasks, but how useful it actually is depends heavily on how any individual creative pro likes to work.

The MX Creative Console has a lot going for it, particularly its sheer convenience. With an approachable price, a handy set of tools, and loads of customization options, it could be a game changer for many creatives.

Here’s a look at my experience testing out the Logitech MX Creative Console and a few things you should know before adding one to your workspace.

Logitech MX Creative Console: Price and availability

The Logitech MX Creative Console is available for $199 on Amazon in two colors: graphite and pale gray. It includes the two-part console with a wireless dialpad, a wired keypad, a stand for the keypad, and a code for a three-month Adobe Creative Cloud membership (which you can use even if you are a current/past Creative Cloud subscriber).

Logitech MX Creative Console: Design

The first thing I thought of when I saw the MX Creative Console was a stream deck. If you’ve never used one before, a stream deck is like a panel of buttons dedicated to shortcuts and plugins. People who livestream on Twitch or YouTube typically use them to conveniently control their stream settings, though their robust software allows them to be used in plenty of other situations.

Logitech took that same concept and redesigned it for creatives with the MX Creative Console. It’s split into two parts: the keypad and the dialpad. The keypad is wired with a detachable USB Type-C cable while the dialpad is wireless. So, you can place the two devices on opposite sides of your desk if you want.

The keypad is effectively a mini Stream Deck with nine buttons for various controls and shortcuts and two buttons for scrolling between pages of controls on the main nine buttons. A plastic stand is included so you can prop up the keypad or sit it flat on your desk.

The dialpad has a large central rotary dial, a roller in the top right corner, and four buttons in the other three corners. You can use the dial for any number of things, but it’s designed specifically for precision tasks that require smooth movement, like scrolling through a timeline in Premiere Pro or adjusting brush size in Photoshop.

Both pads have a matching plastic chassis with a subtle duotone effect. The top half is a darker slightly textured tone while the bottom half is a lighter, metallic shade. The dial itself has a matte metallic finish that’s cool to the touch.

Logitech MX Creative Console: Performance

I tested the Logitech MX Creative Console with a few Adobe apps and a general profile for my everyday writing workflow. The keypad and dialpad both came in handy, but it varies between apps.

For example, the dialpad was a game changer in Premiere Pro but I barely used it in Photoshop. The keypad was much more useful there since it provided a convenient hub for quickly selecting different tools and making adjustments, which would usually require clicks or keyboard shortcuts.

This gets to the crux of whether or not the MX Creative Console is a useful peripheral or not. It depends heavily on how you work in your favorite creative apps. People who have many keyboard shortcuts memorized may not find the keypad all that useful, but if you don’t use keyboard shortcuts or often forget them, the keypad could be a lifesaver. Likewise, the dialpad is fantastic for specific tasks, but it can be otherwise easy to forget about.

With that said, both devices perform well at what they’re designed to accomplish. I loved navigating Premiere Pro with the dialpad. The smooth, uninterrupted timeline movement you get with the dialpad is much more precise than the finicky movement of a mouse. It’s a little thing, but if you spend a lot of time editing videos, it will be incredibly convenient.

The keypad also kept up well overall, including quickly updating button assignments and icons when I changed apps. The resolution on the buttons is a bit fuzzy, but it’s definitely clear enough to make out each icon without any trouble.

The ability to add multiple pages of buttons allows you to turn the keypad into a one-stop shop for all of your tools and settings in creative apps. I’m not good at memorizing Photoshop shortcuts and found the keypad far easier to use for quickly swapping tools. If you’re in the same boat, it can really come in handy.

Even when you’re not actively working in a creative app, you can still integrate the MX Creative Console into your workspace. For example, you can assign keypad buttons for system settings like muting your computer’s volume. I wish there were an option for muting your mic, but you can add that with plugins for certain apps, like Discord.

Logitech MX Creative Console: Software

The Logi Options+ app allows you to set up and customize the controls on the MX Creative Console. It also has a marketplace to download profiles for various app plugins, such as Adobe Photoshop or Premiere Pro. You can create your own custom profiles for apps that aren’t supported through the marketplace, as well.

Logi Options+ is a fairly straightforward app, but there are a lot of options and features to dig through, so it can be a bit overwhelming at first. A good way to get acquainted with everything is by customizing the controls on the action ring or keypad.

For instance, the keypad’s default system settings have the top row set to pause, play, and skip music tracks. Those same functions are in the action ring, though, so I customized my keypad profile to reassign that top row of buttons to quickly launch a few apps (Discord, Slack, and Asperite). I also swapped out the screen brightness button with a “launch application” button for the system settings app.

Logi Options+ will automatically use an app’s desktop icon as its button art on the keypad so you don’t need to manually upload it, which is convenient. You can customize any of the button images if you want to, though.

You can also create different profiles for different scenarios or apps, allowing you to use the MX Creative Console with practically any app you want, regardless of whether or not it’s natively supported through a plugin already.

Of course, creating a custom profile can be tedious and time-consuming. So, you may want to check the marketplace first to see if anyone else has uploaded a custom profile for the app you want to use the MX Creative Console with.

Adding a new profile from the marketplace is fairly easy. Select the keypad in the Logi Options+ app, select “customize keys,” and click the plus sign in the top right corner. Choose the “General profile” option and select “Discover more on marketplace.” Once you find the plugin you want, install it and Logi Options+ will create a new profile with it.

Bottom line

The Logitech MX Creative Console adapts the Stream Deck form factor into a highly customizable productivity device for creators. However, its actual usefulness varies depending on how you use your favorite creative apps.

There are plugins available for all of the main Adobe apps, but if you want to use the console with an app that’s not natively supported, creating your own custom profile for it can be tedious.

The MX Creative Console can be a game-changer when it’s all set up, though. The ability to quickly swap tools in Photoshop without confusing keyboard shortcuts or seamlessly scroll through a timeline in Premiere Pro could be lifesavers for creative professionals.

The MX Creative Console may not be a must-have device, just like its stream deck predecessors, but it definitely has a lot to offer a certain niche of users who want to simplify and streamline their creative workflows.

While Google continues to push its Gemini assistant to the forefront regarding its public-facing AI efforts, there are plenty of other AI projects the company is cooking up that don't receive the same attention.

NotebookLM is a prime example of one of Google's impressive free-to-use hidden gems for AI tools  — designed to expand, summarize, and organize your writing while generating ideas for how to construct your next project.

It can transform a few loose notes into a fleshed-out document, giving you a great foundation for your next YouTube script, school assignment, or even briefings for your next business meeting.

The tool has been around since July 2023 and has been steadily improving ever since. NotebookLM is now running on Gemini 1.5 Pro and is capable of generating charts and diagrams in its results, as well as fact-checking itself by providing sources that accompany its points.

However, one of the latest features of Google's AI writing aid is its audio overview option, which can produce stunningly rich audio conversations from a list of your selected sources. It's so good, it's hard to believe how easy and fast it is to generate. And if you have your doubts, let's highlight an example Laptop Mag has generated to showcase the feature further.

NotebookLM: What can it do?

The above near-ten-minute audio exchange riffs on our recently published Meta Quest 3 vs. Meta Quest 3S face-off article, with both hosts playing off of one another's points as they reveal what we can expect from Meta's latest AR/VR headset when it's unveiled at tomorrows Meta Connect 2024 keynote.

However, the hosts in question aren't Laptop Mag writers or editors, nor are they interested third-parties covering the news and using our article as a source. In fact, the hosts of this particular micro-podcast aren't even real people, just AI-generated voices following a dynamic AI script to best deliver the contents of the supplied article in audio form.

Despite their emotive engagement with the subject, their effortless back-and-forths, and engaging, well-researched discussion, this ten minutes of audio was generated in five minutes using nothing but the copied contents of the original article.

Once generated, NotebookLM allows you to download the sample, where you can then upload it to your platform of choice to share with others or take into an editing program to spruce things up as you see fit.

The results are pretty remarkable, with only a few audio glitches or pronunciation issues throughout the entirety of our ten-minute sample. How the hosts interact and engage with one another is perhaps the most impressive element of NotebookLM's audio overview feature, delivering very convincing (almost too convincing at times) and compelling points and arguments that feel natural and thought through.

With a feature like this, NotebookLM could be a fantastic companion to those needing to research long-form writings, those looking to compact detailed articles into bite-size forms on the go, or even podcasters who are looking for a more solid structure for how their segments should be laid out.

It's the white-noise savior of students who soak up information by proxy and a great way to pick out the more interesting and key points from any piece of writing to be delivered in an engaging way.

NotebookLM: Try it yourself

Perhaps one of the most compelling things about Google's NotebookLM is that it's absolutely free and incredibly simple to use. If you want to give the company's writing aid a try for yourself, you can do so just by visiting the NotebookLM homepage at https://notebooklm.google and clicking "Try NotebookLM" before signing in with your Google Account.

From here you can create a new notebook, which starts with you adding sources. You can add up to 50 sources, with the more sources used typically resulting in a longer audio overview at the end of the process. You can pull sources from various places, including Google Docs, Google Sheets, webpages, and even copied text from the clipboard.

With your sources compiled, you can instantly generate an audio overview that will discuss the topic at hand using your supplied sources, or you can continue refining what you'd like help to do using the Gemini chat window at the base of the page or the shortcut suggestions at the top of the page.

When you're ready, click "Generate" in the audio overview section of the Notebook guide and NotebookLM will create the two-host conversation. All you have to do is wait and then be amazed by the eventual outcome.

More from Laptop Mag

• 'You somehow have to make friends with uncertainty': Apple's Jony Ive hints at mysterious new AI device and OpenAI collaboration
• ChatGPT is doing something strange, and it could change AI chatbots forever
• Microsoft 365's new Copilot features prove boring AI is actually the best AI

OpenAI's massively popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT, recently received an impressive upgrade with the release of the o1-preview — a new series of models that puts response speed to one side to focus on more 'thoughtful' and considered solutions to user prompts.

However, while the company's latest preview is a groundbreaking effort to improve performance and accuracy regarding answers for complex science, coding, and math problems, ChatGPT may have another feature in the works that could completely change the AI chatbot dynamic.

According to some users, OpenAI's chatbot has begun to reach out and initialize conversations without being prompted.

Update (09/17/24): An OpenAI spokesperson has revealed to Laptop Mag that the events reported within this article were a bug that has now been resolved, stating:

"We addressed an issue where it appeared as though ChatGPT was starting new conversations. This issue occurred when the model was trying to respond to a message that didn't send properly and appeared blank. As a result, it either gave a generic response or drew on ChatGPT's memory."

ChatGPT masters the icebreaker

In a post shared to Reddit, user SentuBill (a ChatGPT free user signed up to the Beta program) revealed that they opened up the app as normal on Sunday, only to discover a new conversation in progress. The problem? The conversation wasn't initialized by SentuBill but by ChatGPT.

The opening message to the conversation, which has since been shared by SentuBill to prove its authenticity, asks the user "How was your first week at high school? Did you settle in well?"

While this would be a completely innocuous question by any other metric, the fact ChatGPT could flip the tables and prompt the user to engage in conversation was quite startling for the Redditor. "Did you just message me first" replied SentuBill, before OpenAI's chatbot confirmed "Yes, I did!"

A chattierGPT

According to comments within the original thread, SentuBill isn't the only user experiencing this change in behavior.

While several users in SentuBill's thread reported similar interactions with ChatGPT over the last week, one X user shared a video of ChatGPT starting the conversation immediately after Advanced Voice mode was activated.

Is it a bug, or is it a feature?

Placing to one side the possibility that the chat has been manipulated due to the sharing of the conversation by SentuBill. Is ChatGPT's sudden mastery of the icebreaker a bug or a feature?

Given the sophistication of the crafted message (requiring the chatbot to make use of its memory feature and create a new conversation), it wouldn't be too controversial to assume that these users have been drafted into some form of A/B testing of a new feature possibly heading to the chatbot in the near future.

A/B testing is when a company deploys two versions of the same product or service that differ in one particular way to see which resonates with customers or users the most.

In this case, a select number of ChatGPT users may find that their chatbot's model has the additional feature of being able to actively seek out conversations as opposed to only being able to respond to user prompts.

OpenAI would likely use such a feature to promote engagement with its chatbot, giving users a gentle nudge or reminder that ChatGPT is ready and waiting to be of assistance, though it could also herald some wider additions to the chatbot's skillset.

Since this article's publication, an OpenAI spokesperson told Laptop Mag that the actions of ChatGPT during this time were caused by a bug that occurred when "the model was trying to respond to a message that didn't send properly and appeared blank."

This would trigger ChatGPT to deliver a generic response or draw upon saved information in the model's memory feature to create a response. The OpenAI spokesperson has since confirmed that the issue is now resolved.

What does it mean?

While it has since been confirmed that this situation, and others like it, was the result of an error. It's interesting to ponder about the impact that such a feature could have.

Traditionally, large language models like ChatGPT have existed to offer natural language responses to user prompts, be that through text or audio interactions. However, this new method of chatbot-first engagement in communication is something else entirely.

While the o1-preview may be making headlines as an all-new high for OpenAI's chatbot in terms of performance, the simple capability of ChatGPT to be the one to initiate a conversation could be all the more impactful for the average user.

As with ChatGPT's advanced voice mode, a feature like this would go some way to making conversations with the chatbot feel like more of an artificial companion and could have positive results for those who make use of OpenAI's chatbot to ease symptoms of loneliness or as a memory aid.

This new ability could also unlock a suite of new features, with ChatGPT then able to remind users of particular deadlines or unfinished work, and even engage in scheduled tasks and report back to users with the results.

What are the risks?

On the flip side, such a move could have negative implications. Prior to the launch of ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode, OpenAI showed concern that a more human-like voice could cause users to become emotionally reliant on its chatbot in a published System Card report from August.

During testing, OpenAI observed certain users forming "shared bonds" with its AI, causing the company to admit there's "a need for continued investigation into how these effects might manifest over longer periods of time." However, while Advanced Voice Mode continues to roll out globally, this new capability could result in similar issues.

A feature such as this, that allows the chatbot to actively seek out engagement and attention from a user could further anthropomorphize the company's software in the eyes of many, and make those emotional connections feel like mutual connection.

Should OpenAI turn this bug into an eventual feature, it may also suggest to some users that the chatbot has agency, which could make them believe it has the desire to talk to them specifically, as opposed to being preprogrammed to reply to any user — further complicating and blurring the lines when it comes to users forming emotional bonds with the bot.

Outlook

While commenters on the original thread are quick to point out the creepiness of this new ChatGPT ability, they're equally as impressed, with many users professing a longing for such a feature to arrive in the chatbot for some time.

As it stands, OpenAI has clearly communicated to Laptop Mag that this feature was the result of an error. However, some of the best ideas often come about by accident, and if done right OpenAI may have opened up the doors to a very interesting future for its popular chatbot.

More from Laptop Mag

• ChatGPT-5 rumors: Release date, features, price, and more
• I was excited for this new ChatGPT feature, now I'm terrified of it
• OpenAI's ChatGPT refit could completely change how we navigate the web

Microsoft 365 apps can be incredibly helpful for work, school, and personal use, but unlike Google's tools, they're hidden behind a subscription. That means no Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, unless you pay up.

And sure, there's usually a free, cloud-based Google tool that mimics what many Microsoft 365 tools do (Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.) but sometimes you just need the classics.

If you're itching to use all that Microsoft 365 has to offer but don't feel like forking over your hard-earned money, we've compiled several methods that can get you to the PowerPoint promised land, sans credit card. Here's what you need to know.

Use your student or educator status

If you're a student or a teacher with a school email address, you can grab Microsoft 365 apps absolutely free, no strings attached.

1. Head to the Microsoft 365 Education website.

2. Click the blue Get Started button on the home page.

3. Enter your school email address, and click Sign up to continue.

Microsoft uses an automated verification process to verify your school email address, so typically, you'll be granted access instantly. In some cases, your email might need to be manually verified and it could take up to a month to verify your institution's eligibility.

After your school email address is verified, you're free to start using Microsoft 365 apps for free. As long as you're a student or educator with a school email address, you'll be able to access these apps at no cost. You will occasionally be asked to re-verify your status to keep the subscription going.

Use the free versions of Microsoft 365 apps

If you're not a student or teacher and can't utilize the handy Office 365 Education apps for free, don't fret just yet. There's still a way anyone can use Microsoft 365 apps at no cost, with only a slight catch.

1. Navigate to the Microsoft 365 website.

2. Click Sign up for the free version of Microsoft 365 on the home page.

3. Enter your email address. If that email address is already associated with a Microsoft account, you'll be prompted to sign in.

4. Once you're logged in, click on the Services & subscriptions tab on the left side.

5. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click Use Microsoft 365 for the web. Here, you'll be able to play around with free, limited versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel that have enough functionality for most people.

The only small catch with using these free, web-based versions of Microsoft 365 apps — other than their limited feature sets — is that you can't use them offline. But if you're constantly around an internet connection, this won't be an issue.

After analyzing the apps in our Microsoft 365 review, the service earned an impressive 4.5 out of 5 stars. So, if you end up needing to pay for Microsoft 365, it's not the worst deal in the world. A personal subscription costs $69.99 a year, while a family subscription costs $99.99 a year.

That's not a ton of money outright, but over the course of a few years that total starts to add up.

Ahead of IFA Berlin, ASUS is kicking things off with its first laptops featuring Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X Plus chipset: the Vivobook S15 and ProArt PZ13. They join ASUS’s growing line-up of AI PCs, which includes the ProArt PX13 and the Snapdragon X Elite version of the Vivobook S15. 

These two new entries come at a lower price than previous Copilot+ PCs and may even offer longer battery life thanks to the more budget-friendly Snapdragon X Plus CPU. Such strengths could help win over users who may be reluctant to try out a Snapdragon-powered laptop or those who may be turned away from the more expensive Copilot+ PCs launched so far. 

Here’s a look at the new ASUS Vivobook S15 and ProArt PZ13, how much each will cost, and when they will be available. 

ASUS announces Vivobook S15 and ProArt PZ13 at IFA 2024

On September 4, ASUS officially unveiled the new ProArt PZ13 and Vivobook S15, both featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chipset announced this week. 

ASUS launched another version of the Vivobook S15 earlier this year, but that configuration was equipped with a Snapdragon X Elite chip. This new edition aims to tap into a wider audience with a lower price thanks to the more budget-friendly Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 CPU. 

The new version of the Vivobook S15 also includes Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, FHD IR webcam, and a 15.6-inch 3K OLED display. ASUS claims it has a battery life of 19 hours, which is certainly impressive, assuming it matches our battery life lab test results.

The ProArt PZ13 is the latest entry in ASUS’s line-up of ProArt creator laptops, most of which have been pretty pricey. The PZ13 aims to address that with its much more budget-friendly starting price. 

While not as powerful as its sibling the ProArt PX13, the PZ13 still has a lot to offer for the price including a Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 CPU, Qualcomm Adreno integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 13.3-inch 3K OLED display.

It includes the same StoryCube and ProArt Creator Hub apps included on the other ProArt laptops. Plus, ASUS claims the PZ13 has a battery life of up to 21 hours. It most likely won’t last quite that long during resource-intensive tasks, but that’s still an impressive maximum battery life. 

The big question surrounding the PZ13 is whether it can hold its own when compared to the more premium laptops in the ProArt line-up. Can the more budget-friendly PZ13 still offer strong performance and value for its lower price? We’ll have to wait until we can put the PZ13 through the paces in our lab testing to find out. 

ASUS Vivobook S15 and ProArt PZ13 price and release date

If you’re excited to get your hands on one of ASUS’s new Copilot+ PCs, you don’t have to wait long. The Vivobook S15 (with the Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100) and ProArt PZ13 are available for purchase at BestBuy starting September 4. 

The Vivobook S15 starts at $899 and the ProArt PZ13 starts at $1099. Here’s a quick look at everything you get for that price: 

We’ll have a better idea of how these two new laptops compare once we get in-depth lab testing results for each. Strong performance scores will be crucial for ensuring these new budget-friendly Copilot+ PCs offer good value, not just a low price. 

Laptop Mag will be covering all the latest news and announcements coming out of IFA Berlin, so make sure to stay tuned for more updates!

Laptop Mag's IFA Berlin 2024 Issue celebrates one of the world's longest-running consumer tech expos, Germany's own Internationale FunkAusstellung Berlin.

Our on-the-ground team will bring you all the news emerging from the showroom floor of Messe Berlin and highlight the best in consumer tech as we announce our inaugural Laptop Laurel winners for best-in-show products.

Head over to Laptop Mag's IFA Berlin 2024 Issue for more coverage.

Intel has made plenty of claims about the performance of the new Intel Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake" chipsets, but how do they actually handle when put to the test?

Just ahead of the IFA Berlin conference, Intel officially launched the new Intel Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake" chipsets. The global launch event included a tech rundown of the silicon and various gaming, productivity, security, and AI demos, as well as a preview of the expected performance of Lunar Lake laptops.

The performance preview included an entire suite of consumer laptops from various OEM partners running a series of AI, productivity, and gaming benchmarks. As a former lab tester for Laptop Mag, I always get excited about benchmark results because those repeatable numbers give us a great point of comparison.

Intel tested its new Lunar Lake systems on popular benchmarks like the UL Procyon suite, 3DMark, Geekbench AI, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Cyberpunk 2077.

So, as a former tester turned laptop reviewer, I felt it was my duty to provide the best possible breakdown of how well Lunar Lake compares to its competition from Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm.

Intel Core Ultra 200V: How do the benchmarks stack up?

Intel ran the UL Procyon Office Productivity benchmark on demo units of the Lunar Lake and Meteor Lake generations side-by-side for a direct generation-to-generation comparison.

Intel ran the benchmark with the laptops set to the "Best Performance" profile in Windows Settings. The Intel Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake laptop returned a benchmark score of 7,713 while the Intel Core Ultra 100 Meteor Lake laptop scored just 6,630. A bit of simple math later, and that is a 16% increase in office productivity with Lunar Lake.

Office productivity doesn't tell the whole story. Intel also tested the new Intel Core Ultra 200V systems on the UL Procyon Computer Vision and Geekbench AI benchmarks to measure machine learning.

The demo Intel Core Ultra 200V systems scored 1,828 on the UL Procyon Computer Vision benchmark. On Geekbench AI, the same demo unit kicked back a Full Precision score of 19,771 and a Quantized score of 27,001.

To compare, I pulled up our testing data for the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite XIE-80-100-powered Microsoft Surface Pro 11 and the M3-powered Apple MacBook Air 13. 

The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 scored 1,703 on the UL Procyon Computer Vision benchmark and on Geekbench AI kicked back a Full Precision score of 2,231 and a Quantized score of 18,901.

The Apple MacBook Air 13 did not run the UL Procyon benchmark, but our testing labs did go back and run Geekbench AI on the laptop after its launch. The MacBook Air kicked back a Full Precision score of just 2,474 on Geekbench AI and a Quantized score of 14,861.

For a better picture of the gaming capabilities of the integrated Intel Arc graphics of the Lunar Lake SoC, Intel also showcased demo units running the 3DMark Solar Bay benchmark with ray tracing enabled, Shadow of the Tomb Raider on Medium settings at 1080p resolution with XeSS super sampling enabled, and Cyberpunk 2077 on Medium settings at 1080p resolution with XeSS super sampling enabled.

To see how Lunar Lake holds up on gaming, I pulled our testing results for the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370-powered Asus Zenbook S16 as well as the Apple MacBook Air 13 M3.

The Intel demo unit scored 15,894 on Solar Bay, while the Zenbook S16 scored 14,602 on Solar Bay, indicating the Lunar Lake laptop is 8% better than the AMD competition.

The Intel demo unit also scored 74 FPS on Shadow of the Tomb Raider, though that is with XeSS super sampling enabled. Our lab does not test using super sampling technology to ensure we're testing the pure silicon performance, so the Zenbook and MacBook Air fared poorly in comparison. The Zenbook S16 averaged just 27 FPS on Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p while the MacBook Air 13 averaged 25 FPS at the closest available resolution (1,920 x 1,200).

We did not test Cyberpunk 2077 on the Zenbook or MacBook Air, but the Intel demo unit managed a solid 60.37 FPS with XeSS enabled on Medium settings at 1080p which is better than most gaming handhelds.

Of course, these benchmarks were all run by Intel, meaning we'll have to see exactly how the systems stack up when we get Lunar Lake review units in our labs to be sure the systems are tested exactly and fairly. That said, based on this preview, it seems Lunar Lake will not only close the gap against its competition but potentially come out on top.

Intel paid for travel and accommodations for IFA Berlin. The company did not see the contents of this article before publication. 

Laptop Mag's IFA Berlin 2024 Issue celebrates one of the world's longest-running consumer tech expos, Germany's own Internationale FunkAusstellung Berlin.

Our on-the-ground team will bring you all the news emerging from the showroom floor of Messe Berlin and highlight the best in consumer tech as we announce our inaugural Laptop Laurel winners for best-in-show products.

Head over to Laptop Mag's IFA Berlin 2024 Issue for more coverage.

Dell is one of the first companies out of the gate with a laptop powered by the Intel Lunar Lake CPUs announced on Tuesday ahead of IFA 2024 in Berlin, Germany.

At just 14.8mm thin and 2.6 pounds, this is an ultra thin-and-light laptop that, according to Dell, could also challenge the very best when it comes to battery life. Dell's claiming 26 hours of battery life! I would have laughed that off as bravado earlier this year, but after seeing the Dell XPS 9345 surpass 19 hours in our testing, I'm not so sure.

The new Dell XPS 13 9350 is available for pre-order starting at $1,399, so let's take a closer look at what it offers before you spend your hard-earned money.

Dell XPS 13 9350: An all-day favorite (and then some)

The Intel Core Ultra Series 2 CPU inside is the star of the show. If it manages to hit that lofty battery life claim, the new Core Ultra will claim a lot of credit. 

I haven't gotten my hands on this Dell XPS 13 yet, but we have spent some time with the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 and even saw some gaming tests. You won't replace your dedicated gaming laptop anytime soon, but Intel's Arc solution is improving.

The Dell XPS 13 9350 is also a Copilot+ PC, thanks to the new and improved NPU in the Series 2. While we are still waiting for AI's definitive "killer app," there are some contenders, with Dell showing off some photo, video, and audio editing software that leverages the new chipsets AI power.

Even if you don't make full use of it today, buying a laptop without a capable NPU right now feels like a mistake with all of the effort being poured into AI functionality in Windows and by numerous 3rd party developers. 

The Dell XPS 13 also comes with WiFi 7, again you probably don't have a WiFi 7 router yet, but given that it offers up to a 4.8x boost over WiFi 6, the siren song of those supersonic streaming speeds is going to be calling soon. 

Finally, the display matches its sibling, the XPS 13 9345, as the first Tandem OLED display in a laptop, allowing for a brighter display with lower power consumption (there's the other key to that endless battery life).

Our reviewer's only complaint with the XPS 13 9345's display was that it could be more colorful, so we'll have to get this one in the lab and see if Dell's made any improvements.

If Dell delivers another battery life beast with the XPS 13 9350 using the Intel Core Ultra Series 2, a Tandem OLED display may challenge Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD's new AI chips as my favorite laptop innovation of the year in 2024.

Laptop Mag's IFA Berlin 2024 Issue celebrates one of the world's longest-running consumer tech expos, Germany's own Internationale FunkAusstellung Berlin.

Our on-the-ground team will bring you all the news emerging from the showroom floor of Messe Berlin and highlight the best in consumer tech as we announce our inaugural Laptop Laurel winners for best-in-show products.

Head over to Laptop Mag's IFA Berlin 2024 Issue for more coverage.

Robots. Flying cars. Artificial intelligence.

To The Jetsons, it's any old week in September. To the rest of us, excluded from that Hanna-Barbera envisioning of the mid-21st century, it's all of the things that you can find on the showroom floor of one of consumer tech's biggest annual expos: Internationale FunkAusstellung Berlin, or as it's more commonly (and thankfully) referred to, IFA Berlin.

IFA Berlin is one of the longest-running exhibitions of its kind and attracts brands from all over the world as a place to showcase the most cutting-edge innovations in tech. Formerly known as the "Great German Radio Exhibition," IFA Berlin has been hosting technological advancements since 1924, making this year the expo's 100th anniversary.

Some of IFA Berlin's most noticeable unveilings include the world's first public demonstration of an electronic television system and the debut of the audio cassette tape. Just last year saw us wowed by the likes of the Lenovo Legion Go, a Windows handheld gaming PC, and Honor's impossibly thin Magic V2 foldable phone, and we'll be expecting big things again in 2024.

While I won't be making it to this year's showroom floor myself, I'm still someone who has been fascinated by tech and the way things work since I was old enough to ditch diapers. I think my brother caught the bug too. Not because he'd grow up to be a mechanical engineer, but because I once watched him carve an alkaline battery in half with a table knife just to see what was inside. We still don't know, but whatever it is, it ruins carpets. However, that's a story for another day.

I assume we inherited that from our dad, who was an electrical engineer and all-around tinkerer (and my very own tech support for whenever I'd managed to destroy his beloved Atari ST seemingly).

I'm now lucky enough to spend the majority of my days tinkering also. Gadgets and gizmos (which I'll assume are categories that computer peripherals and accessories fall into, for alliteration's sake) take up much of my day, and I'm forever encountering something to find excitement in among them, from state-of-the-art smart glasses to desk-defining docking stations.

I love nothing more than opportunities like the one IFA Berlin gives us to gawp at the weird and wonderful things spilling out into the public eye for the first time. You can keep your oft-predictable Apple special events, your Galaxy Unpackeds, and your Made by Googles. Give me an IFA Berlin any day of the week and watch me spew rainbows as I enact a five-year plan to acquire as much of this show's incredible inventory as possible.

Thankfully, for myself and hopefully yourself, I won't be missing out too much by not attending this year's event. As in previous years, Laptop Mag will be on the ground at IFA Berlin, ready to not only soak up the sights and sounds that accompany a new generation of tech innovation but to award the most impressive products on show with our newest seal of approval: Laptop Laurels.

While our Laptop Mag team will be journeying forward some six hours as they cross the Meridian Line on their way to Berlin, Germany, it strikes me that the trip to the IFA showroom floor will catapult them months (if not years) ahead in time, giving us an all-important glimpse at the future of the consumer tech landscape. Where, hopefully, they can bring everything they come across straight to you.

With that said, I welcome you to join us for Laptop Mag's IFA Berlin 2024 Issue, a week of exciting reveals and awards brought to you straight from the showroom floor of the Messe Berlin. 

That's enough of me. I now hand things over to our Laptop Mag team, consisting of managing editor Sean Riley, staff writer Madeline Ricchiuto, and contributing writer Stevie Bonifield, for on-the-ground coverage and reporting from this year's IFA Berlin event.

Laptop Mag's IFA Berlin 2024 Issue celebrates one of the world's longest-running consumer tech expos, Germany's own Internationale FunkAusstellung Berlin.

Our on-the-ground team will bring you all the news emerging from the showroom floor of Messe Berlin and highlight the best in consumer tech as we announce our inaugural Laptop Laurel winners for best-in-show products.

Head over to Laptop Mag's IFA Berlin 2024 Issue for more coverage.

Amazon Alexa is about to get a major upgrade, but with a catch.

After nearly 10 years of providing virtual assistance for free via Alexa, Amazon reportedly has plans to create an AI-powered version of Alexa that "could cost as much as $10 a month," according to The Washington Post, a publication owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Don't worry if you already own or are planning to buy an Echo speaker or another Amazon device for its Alexa capabilities. You'll still be able to use the free version of Alexa — you just won't have access to Alexa's more advanced features, like "recipe suggestions based on your family’s dietary restrictions and AI summaries of the news."

This new development begs the question: Will all AI-powered virtual assistants or services eventually offer a more powerful, feature-rich version as a subscription? 

ChatGPT, Gemini, Alexa — will Siri be next?

After Google rebranded Bard to Gemini, it revealed a new subscription-based model for access to its most premium AI assistant: Gemini Advanced. You can try out the service for a month at $0, but after that first month, it'll cost $19.99 every month.

For $20/month, Gemini Advanced uses Google's next-gen 1.5 Pro AI model, comes with 2TB of storage from Google One, and allows you to use Gemini in Gmail, Docs, and other services. For people who use virtual assistants for basic tasks, $20 for Gemini Advanced seems like a waste.

While Google was the first of the major tech companies to implement a subscription for its AI-powered virtual assistant, it followed in OpenAI's footsteps. OpenAI launched ChatGPT Plus in early 2023 at a cost of $20/month, giving users access to stronger AI models that could tackle more complex requests and other premium features.

With Google taking the subscription leap for Gemini Advanced, it's not surprising that Amazon is now jumping on that train for more profits. But are people actually paying for Gemini Advanced right now?

There aren't any currently published subscriber numbers to look at, but in a poll from Android Police on whether people pay for Gemini Advanced, 71% of 2,363 votes said, "No, I don't pay for Gemini Advanced."

With so many subscriptions to juggle right now — streaming services, dating apps, printer ink, meal delivery kits, and more — that high percentage of people not paying for Gemini Advanced doesn't surprise me. But if OpenAI, Google, and now Amazon are charging for an AI-powered version of its chatbot/VA, won't Apple inevitably do the same?

Apple already charges $19.95/month for Apple One, so the company clearly isn't averse to the subscription model. And Neil Shah, partner at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC that Apple may try to "pass it on with the Apple One subscription model," charging between $10 and $20 for Apple Intelligence.

I'd hope that since the company already has an Apple One subscription for its users, any cost for Apple Intelligence would be rolled into the existing Apple One subscription options rather than as a standalone, additional subscription to keep up with.

All that said, isn't AI solving all the wrong problems right now anyway? Unless Google, Amazon, Apple, and others provide clear reasons to invest in an AI-powered assistant versus its basic counterpart, I don't see people shelling out $20 every month for it.

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When you’re heading back to school, I’d assume that internet safety is the last thing on your mind. Then again, what do I know? I’m English, and the only thing on my mind when I go back to school is the brickwork of King’s Cross Station as I fail once again to find my way onto the platform for the train to Hogwarts.

However, while internet safety isn’t as cool as a new MacBook Pro, it should register pretty high up on your to-do list as you prepare for the year ahead. After all, you’ll likely be spending a lot of time on shared networks — a hotbed of potential security abuses that could see you gravely regretting prioritizing that dorm room essential iced coffee maker over investing in the ultra-affordable subscriptions of one of the best VPN services. 

What is a VPN? 

A Virtual Private Network (or VPN) is a security tool designed to protect your privacy as you surf the internet in search of ways to watch blocked content, whether that’s because of your location or network restrictions.

VPNs offer an encrypted tunnel by which all of your internet traffic can flow, making your IP address and activity along the way to ensure you remain as anonymous as possible while online.

While you can’t simply ghost your way around the internet, you can set your virtual location to any number of virtual servers to fool websites, services, and apps into thinking you’re somewhere you aren’t. This lets you bypass everything from ISP firewalls to geo-restrictions in your quest to freely explore the internet without roadblocks.

Why do I need a VPN? 

Picture this: your entire class has become enraptured by a hot new TV show on Netflix, and you’re the only one who isn’t up to speed. Filled with dread and a sense of impending social stigma, you rush to your dorm and open Netflix only to find that the show in question is exclusive to the British Netflix library. Oh no. Whatever will you do?

Well, you could use a VPN to set your virtual location to London, England, and binge-watch your way to group acceptance. That’s what I’d do. After all, I don’t want to become a social pariah in my first week of school.

Another thing to keep in mind is your potential reliance on open Wi-Fi networks. While having quick and easy access to the internet while on campus, in libraries, or in local coffee shops is an incredible boon, it does come with its downsides. If it’s quick and easy for you to access, it’s just as quick and easy for somebody with less than good intentions to do so.

Public or shared Wi-Fi networks are a minefield of potential security threats. Thankfully, VPNs help mask your presence on the network and ensure the data passing back and forth between your machine and the internet isn’t intercepted and snooped on by any potential nosey ne’er-do-wells who become overly curious about what you might get up to on the privacy of your own devices.

VPNs keep you and your data safe from prying eyes at all levels of your internet access while also giving you the freedom to access the net in all the ways you choose. Security, privacy, and freedom: three of the most compelling reasons you need to invest in the VPN this back-to-school season.

Which VPN is right for me as a student? 

Choosing a VPN service is a lot easier than deciding between spec-heavy laptops. But it can still be tough to judge if you’re unfamiliar with services like this.

Thankfully, we’re here to help. We know the importance of a good VPN at Laptop Mag, which means we stay abreast of the best services available so you don’t have to spend your every waking hour flipping back and forth between websites trying to make sure you get the best deal.

Let's look at some of the VPNs we recommend this back-to-school season.

1. ExpressVPN

Whether you’ve never used a VPN or want to move to a more reliable service, ExpressVPN is our top pick for staying secure online. It’s easy to use and available across a number of your devices, meaning you can secure your laptop, smartphone, tablet, and even game consoles with up to eight devices able to share the same protections at once.

Better still, ExpressVPN provides a speedy pathway through its network, ensuring you won’t be bogged down by a connection that’s as slow as it is secure. ExpressVPN’s network contains over 3,000 servers spread across 105 countries and offers 24/7 support for anyone encountering issues with its service. It’s an ideal option for those looking for an all-around internet safety solution, and highly recommended.

2. NordVPN

Even if you’ve never used a VPN, you’ll likely have heard of Nord, whose sponsorships appear in a wide selection of YouTube videos. It’s one of the most popular VPNs you’ll come across, with good reason. Its 6,400+ servers spread across 111 countries are impressively fast and reliable, which makes it ideal for those who are perpetually downloading, streaming, or gaming.

However, NordVPN doesn’t solely rely on its speeds. It’s also an impressively secure service that takes user privacy incredibly seriously. To facilitate its users with the most secure online experience, Nord supports up to 10 simultaneous devices per account and supports all major operating systems and mobile platforms. NordVPN also offers incredible value to long-haul subscribers, with its two-year plans starting at just $5.99 per month.

3. Surfshark

While I might not be an American, there’s one thing that’s typically universal among students: being broke and appreciating a good deal when you find one. That’s where Surfshark comes into play nicely. Surfshark’s annual plans are some of the cheapest around, but that doesn’t mean it’s willing to compromise on safety or features to get there.

In fact, you’ll get access to several bonus features by upgrading to some of its broader tiers and still save money compared to more premium services like NordVPN and ExpressVPN. To make things even more outstanding in terms of value, Surfshark has no limits on the number of devices you can use with the service. This allows you to protect yourself but freely offer your roommates the same levels of protection and security.

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