When I think of the best Dell laptops (and Dell in general), two memories come to mind: the "Dude, you're getting a Dell" commercial from the early 2000s, and my dad's first and only laptop — a 2012 Dell Inspiron.

My nostalgic feelings aside, Dell is a brand that sticks in many people's minds, particularly the iconic XPS series. The company has had a solid reputation since its first laptop was released in 1989, and you'll typically find a Dell among Laptop Mag's lists of best laptops, best budget laptops, best gaming laptops, and laptops with the best battery life. We've reviewed several of Dell's newest releases and expect to review more as 2025 marches on.

An important note: if you're considering buying a new 2025 Dell, I highly recommend reading my handy guide on how to find the right Dell laptop to understand the new product names. Dell laptops now have a naming convention closer to how Apple differentiates its MacBooks (XPS, Inspiron, Precision, and Latitude are no more, unfortunately), but my current recommendations still have those familiar, now-former names. It may also be a good time to find discounts on the old models among the best laptop deals.

Whether you've never owned a Dell or you've used Dell laptops for years and are ready to upgrade, this page is regularly updated with our latest reviews to reflect Laptop Mag’s top picks for 2025.

Update Log

5/30/25: Updated introduction, "recently reviewed," and FAQ sections.

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Best for most people

The Snapdragon-configured Dell Inspiron 14 Plus has many major qualities and features a modern laptop should have: incredible multitasking performance, seemingly endless battery life, a bright display — all packed into a reasonably light and thin chassis. It's a super-likable laptop.

The Inspiron's entry-level Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100 processor stands toe to toe (more like shin to knee, really) with higher-end chips from Intel and Apple of its generation. With a Geekbench 6 multicore benchmark score of 13,281, (22% faster than the average premium laptop score of 10,435) it did "well juggling a couple dozen Google Chrome tabs and a handful of YouTube videos," as Rami Tabari, Laptop Mag's editor, said in he review. He also recommends this laptop for remote workers.

It's also 9% faster than the MacBook Air M3 (12,087) and 5% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (12,729) inside our pick for best budget Dell budget laptop — also an Inspiron 14 Plus!

The SSD is zippy, too. It can transfer a 25GB multimedia file at 1,510 megabytes per second, about 14% faster than the average laptop in its class (1,311 MBps.) It's 11% faster than the Asus Zenbook S14 (1,236 MBps) and 7% faster compared to one of its Snapdragon competitors, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (1,416 MBps).

Battery life and heat management are equally impressive. In our battery rundown test, it lasted a substantial 18 hours and 20 minutes — well beyond the average 13 hours and 23 minutes. I'd be comfortable putting this laptop on my bare skin, too, as it doesn't exceed 88 degrees on the underside.

PlusItsIt's display doesn't produce miracles, though. Covering just 69.1% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, everything on the screen looks drained of color. Some of this laptop's rivals, like the Zenbook 14 and MacBook Air M3, fare much better, 79.8% and 77.8%, respectively — and they're still below the 84.7% average. However, the Inspiron 14 Plus' display can get really bright, up to 470 nits.

See our full Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (7441) review.

Best budget

Even among laptops with Intel's new Lunar Lake chips, its last-gen chips are still nothing to brush off. This Dell Inspiron 14 Plus is a textbook example of why. It has just as much performance (especially for multitasking) and outstanding battery life, but its graphic capabilities are also far more powerful.

It scored 12,729 in the Geekbench 6 multicore benchmark, 9% faster than the average premium laptop (10,435). "The laptop easily kept up with my daily workload and task switching between email, text editing, and Photoshop," Laptop Mag's staff writer, Madeline Ricchiuto, wrote in her review. It's also 6% faster than the MacBook Pro M3 (11,968) and 3% faster than our favorite 2-in-1 laptop, the HP Spectre x360 14 (12,358), with the same chip.

When it comes to its graphics capabilities, this laptop also outshines its rivals, particularly the Snapdragon's Qualcomm Adreno iGPU. On Medium settings at 1080p, its Intel Arc integrated graphics averaged 34 frames per second in the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark. Our playability threshold is 30 fps, so it passed that — but the Snapdragon Inspiron 14 Plus mustered only 21 fps.

That difference is starker in 3DMark’s Fire Strike synthetic graphics benchmark: the Intel Inspiron scored 8082, where the Snapdragon Inspiron scored 5965 — a 27% difference.

This laptop doesn't get as much battery life compared to the Snapdragon Inspiron 14 Plus, but it still gets 15 hour and 6 minutes, a couple hours more than the average premium laptop. It does outlast both the Spectre (11:01) and the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (15:52), and sneaks past the 15-inch MacBook Air M3 by 3 minutes, too.

Like the Snapdragon model, this laptop's display is dull, covering only 68.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. It doesn't get nearly as bright, either, topping out at 367 nits. However, that's on par or better than some of its other rivals, like the Spectre x360 14 (367 nits) and the Zenbook 14 OLED (339 nits).

The Inspiron 14 Plus' heat management isn't great, either, most likely because Intel mobile processors tend to run the hottest out of any Windows laptop chip — its surface warmed up to 108 degrees, well past our comfort threshold.

See our full Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (7440) review.

Best gaming

Budget gaming laptops have been steadily disappearing from the laptop market over the last few years — so when one that packs a ton of performance and costs less than $1,000 falls into our hands, it's a great day at Laptop Mag. Like our editor, Rami Tabari, said in his review: "For its current price of $949, the Dell G16 (7630) is an absolute stunner."

Graphically intensive games like Cyberpunk 2077 achieved 33 frames per second at 1080p on Ultra settings, slightly higher than the Asus TUF Gaming A14 (30 fps) and Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (32 fps) with the same RTX 4060 graphics card. In Assassin’s Creed Mirage (Ultra, 1080p), the G16 did exceptionally well (88 fps), and remained on par with the A14 and Neo 16.

One feature that surprised us is the quality of its display. Its 2560 x 1600, 240Hz screen is a common feature in gaming laptops — but not the quality of the IPS panel itself. It covers a massive 114% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, soaring past the average budget gaming laptop (79.1%). Even the TUF Gaming A14 (81%) and Predator Helios Neo 16 (92%) fall far behind it.

Unfortunately, its display doesn't get all that bright. At a max 310 nits, its close to the overall average (317), but is much dimmer than the A14 (411 nits) and Neo 16 (370 nits).

But there is one more thing that the G16 has that its closest rivals don't: a Cherry MX tactile mechanical keyboard. Revered for their longevity, travel distance and actuation point, sound, and feel, these switches are more commonly found in desktop gaming keyboards —and there are gaming laptops twice the price of the G16 that don't have them!

Its battery life is decent, too. At 5 hours and 4 minutes, it outlasts the average budget gaming laptop and the Predator Helios Neo 16 by an hour It's no TUF Gaming A14 (10:04), but that laptop's battery life is an exception to the rule.

In that light, the gripes we have with this laptop seem relatively minor compared to the higher-end features it offers. If you already have a gaming headset you can easily avoid the speakers harsh, hallow sounds. And if you already have a gaming mouse, you'll never need to touch the tiny trackpad.

See our full Dell G16 (7630) review.

Best display

The Dell XPS 13 — a long-time Laptop Mag favorite. We've reviewed many configurations over the years, and each stood out for various reasons. Though I'd describe its new, minimalist design with a "touch bar" and "invisible" trackpad among reviewers as a love/hate relationship, we adore the OLED display on this iteration. There are plenty of other great things about the Dell XPS 13. From "solid performance and respectable integrated graphics to impressive battery life and impactful speakers," our staff writer, Madeline Ricchiuto, talks about this in her review.

We wouldn't recommend it for having the best display if it didn't stun us with a kaleidoscope of colors. The panel covers 144.60% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, way beyond this laptop's base, IPS panel (69.9%). Some of its closest competitors, like the 13-inch MacBook Air M3 (77.8%) and Asus Zenbook S 14 (82.0%), aren't on the same wavelength, either.

Though it was not the dimmest OLED display we've tested, we wish it was a bit brighter; an average peak brightness of 377 nits is enough to cut through most lighting glare, though not all of it. It's still brighter than its IPS counterpart (357 nits) and the Zenbook S 14 (342 nits), but the MacBook Air is the brightest out of all of them (476 nits).

Its chassis is as thin and light as ever, with the OLED model at 0.6 inches thick and weighing the same 2.6 pounds as the non-OLED. It's not as slim as the MacBook Air M3 (0.44 inches) or Asus Zenbook S 14 (0.47 ~ 0.51 inches), but it weighs the same amount.

One major sacrifice that comes with the XPS 13 OLED: its tandem display sucks up a lot of power, leaving the laptop with 8 hours and 40 minutes of battery life. That's 5 hours less than the average premium laptop (13:23), and way, way less than the non-OLED's outstanding 18 hours and 43 minutes.

At least you won't have to worry about this laptop's performance. In the Geekbench 6 single-core benchmark, it held its own (2,772) against the Snapdragon Dell XPS 13 (2,797) and Asus Zenbook S 14 (2,751). Paired with Intel's current-gen Arc integrated graphics, this laptop can function as a decent gaming laptop if you casually play games that don't push the graphics too hard.

In the Sid Mieier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (1080p, Medium) benchmark, it averaged 53 fps — behind what the Asus Zenbook S 16 with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 chip can do (63 fps) but beyond the Snapdragon XPS 13 (22 fps), which didn't meet our minimum 30 fps playability threshold.

See our full Dell XPS 13 OLED (9350) review.

Best battery life

Having endured years of bartering with college classmates and random coffee shop patrons for a seat next to a wall outlet, long battery life is one of my must-have features in a laptop. It could have a horrible display but over 15 hours of battery life, and I'll still look at it like, "Yeah, but that battery life!" That's the Dell XPS 13 (9345) in a nutshell.

It had phenomenal battery life before we updated the BIOS during our testing, increasing it from 19 hours and 1 minute to 20 hours and 51 minutes. That's way beyond the average premium laptop average (13:23) and the MacBook Air M3 (15:13), Asus Zenbook S14 (13:51), and HP Spectre x360 14 (11:01) with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H chip.

That also puts this laptop in the same league as the MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro (20:46) and Lenovo ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 (21:02) — and none of them are direct competitors!

As a heavy multitasker, performance also matters a lot to me. I need my laptop to handle dozens of open browser tabs while Slack and Discord run in the foreground and Spotify loops through my favorite songs. This laptop's Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 processor has some of the best multicore processing power to handle all that.

In the Geekbench 6 overall performance benchmark it scored 14,635, making it 29% faster than the average premium laptop (10,492). It's also 8% faster than the MacBook Air M3 (12,087), 14% faster than the Zenbook S14 (11,157), and 6% faster than the Spectre x360 14 (12,358).

Remember what I said about a horrible display? This XPS 13s' is a let-down. It covers just 66.9% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is 20% lower than the average premium laptop (86.8%) — and duller than its MacBook Air M3 (77.8%), Zenbook S14 (82.0%), and Spectre x360 (85.8%) rivals.

When our editor, Rami Tabari, watched the Borderlands trailer during his testing process, he noticed the "entire horizon beyond the crew was washed out due to the terrible contrast" and "deep orange-colored canyons were reduced to a pale yellow devoid of life."

But at least the display is bright! Its max 456 nits comes close to the average premium laptop (467 nits), and it's just a tad dimmer than the MacBook Air M3 (476 nits). It literally outshines both the Zenbook S 14 (342 nits) and Spectre x360 (366 nits), too.

See our full Dell XPS 13 (9345) review.

Benchmark comparisons

Recently reviewed

Not every laptop can make the best Dell laptops page. (We wouldn't be doing you that much good if that were the case!) We review new laptops every week and over 100 laptops yearly, so here's a look at our most recently reviewed laptops that didn't make this page either due to a fault, battery life, performance, price, or something else.

How to find the right Dell laptop

In January of 2025, Dell announced name changes impacting its entire lineup. We've already reviewed several models with the new names (with more to come), so we put together a table to help anyone shopping for a new Dell laptop understand how the old model names translate to the new ones.

It's important to note that while the names are changing, the basic product lines remain the same, and in most cases, the designs are unchanged for 2025.

The most affordable Dell laptops were the Inspiron and Inspiron Plus lines, starting for well under $1,000. In 2025, those will just be known as Dell and Dell Plus. If you are looking for an affordable laptop that can handle basic web browsing, productivity tasks, and entertainment, these laptops are typically a perfect fit.

The premium consumer laptop line was XPS, and it is now Dell Premium. These laptops go head-to-head with the best MacBooks and fall into similar pricing, starting just below $1,000 and ranging above $3,000 for the top configurations. These laptops are for people who want a more premium fit and finish to the laptop or those with more robust needs, whether that's more performance for massive multitasking or tasks like photo editing or video editing.

Those are Dell's consumer laptops. Now, we move into the business and workstation-class laptops, where things get a little more complicated with multiple tiers, but you also can see the benefit of Dell's new naming.

Dell's business laptops were known as Latitude. Starting at just above $500 and ranging up to around $2,500 for the top configurations, these catered to businesses of almost any size. Going forward, these are the Dell Pro models with three tiers: Dell Pro, Dell Pro Plus, and Dell Pro Premium. Performance and quality improve as you move up the line, so finding the best business laptop for you is just a matter of your budget.

Finally, we have the Dell Precision lineup, which are Dell's workstations, now known as Dell Pro Max. Again, there are three tiers to this lineup: Dell Pro Max, Dell Pro Max Plus, and Dell Pro Max Premium. Now, the names start to feel a little long, but it remains very simple to understand. You can spend as little as around $1,300 for the Dell Pro Max, and it scales up to $4,000 for a high-end Dell Pro Max Premium. The best workstations are designed for people with intensive performance needs, such as rendering 3D graphics, simulations, 4K or 8K video, etc.

FAQs

Q: Are Dell laptops good for gaming?

A: While Alienware is the dedicated gaming laptop brand that is a part of Dell, some Dell laptops cater to gamers. The Dell G16 (7630) is one of our selections for the best gaming laptops and the best cheap gaming laptops. If you are wondering if a specific Dell laptop is good for gaming, check out our review. We have a dedicated section on gaming in every review we publish.

Q: Do Dell laptops come with Microsoft Office?

A: No. You may receive a trial of Microsoft Office software through Microsoft 365, but the software is not free with a new Dell laptop.

Q: Are Dell laptops good for students?

A: It depends! Some Dell laptops are certainly candidates to be the best student laptops; it just depends on your course of study and budget. Most bachelor of arts students would likely be happy with an Inspiron or Inspiron Plus (Dell, Dell Plus) laptop. Students with more intensive needs, such as those in engineering, programming, or even film, should consider the XPS (Dell Premium) or even the Precision (Dell Pro Max).

Q: Where are Dell laptops are manufactured?

A: Dell manufactures its laptops in various cities across Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific region. Its US-based facility is located in Austin, Texas, where the company was originally founded in 1984.

Its Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Chengdu (China) and Limerick, Ireland facilities are arguably the company's most important hubs for manufacturing and distributing laptops and other computing devices outside of the United States.

How we test laptops

We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers, and heat management.

In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and DCI-P3 color gamut of the laptop's display. For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 6 and 3DMark professional graphics tests.

To determine real-world performance, we convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and duplicate a 25GB file. Our real-world graphics test is Cid Meier's Civilization V: Gathering Storm benchmark at 1080p resolution and Medium graphics. We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop. For gaming laptops, we test Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Borderlands 3, Far Cry 6, and others.

For our battery test, we continuously web surfing over WiFi at 150 nits of brightness. For Windows 11 laptops, a runtime of over 10 hours is considered a good result, whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered longer than 5 hours deserve praise.

Following these tests, the laptop is given to our expert reviewers for extensive hands-on testing. Our reviewers will spend days using the laptop as part of their typical workflow to get a sense of the real-world performance and live with the laptop to come away with a thorough understanding of the hardware and software experience. This blended lab testing and hands-on approach allows us to offer you a clear and comprehensive view of every laptop that comes through Laptop Mag.

See this page on How We Test Laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.

Why trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over a hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

My Dad introduced me to computers with a Windows 3.1 work laptop when I was in elementary school, and I’ve been a Windows fanboy ever since — well, almost ever since.

When Apple released its M1 processor in 2020, I finally caved and bought my first MacBook. I used it for light work while traveling because it only had a 13-inch display and couldn’t run my three external monitors. That meant I spent 80% of my working time on my Windows PC.

I eventually upgraded to the 15-inch MacBook Air when it arrived, but I still put off using it as my daily driver until I finally found a way to use my triple-monitor workstation with it.

But now that I have a DisplayLink dock to work around that monitor problem, I knew I had to try using it as my main machine — and after a week, I don’t think I’m sold on the Apple ecosystem.

Amazing battery life and sleek form factor

The extended battery life and sleek form factor that Apple silicon delivers is a game changer for me, as it allows me to work between three to four hours without needing to charge my laptop. Aside from that, the laptop is thin and light enough that it’s actually convenient to bring anywhere I go, making me second-guess my iPad Air purchase.

This is impossible with my Windows laptop, which could barely last over an hour. Granted, that’s a gaming PC I bought in 2020, and many newer and better options have come out since then, but the best MacBooks are still among the laptops with the best battery life.

macOS has its own quirks and features

As a long-time Windows user, I know my way around the operating system and have memorized the apps and hotkeys that let me work much faster. But when I switched over to macOS, I had to relearn a lot of things, like how to take a screenshot and getting used to the placement of the Option and Command keys.

Finder is one of the Mac apps that I had a hard time getting used to. For example, I open apps, files, and programs by hitting Enter and delete them by pressing Delete on File Explorer in Windows; these intuitive hotkeys make navigating my drive much easier. But Apple requires you to press Command + Down Arrow and Command + Backspace to do the same actions, adding one more keypress to what should’ve been a simple single step. I solved this by downloading third-party apps that helped me get the Windows feel on my MacBook.

Despite that, macOS does a couple of things much better than Windows. I love Spotlight Search as it gives me nearly everything I need in an instant. This feature is often faster and more accurate than Windows Search straight from the Start Menu. Furthermore, I love how macOS lets you calculate and convert figures straight from the search bar. You can also do this with Windows, but it’s just not as fast.

Installing and managing apps is also less complicated, especially if you stick to the App Store. But even if you download apps from a website and not through Apple’s own marketplace, adding software to your Mac could be as simple as dragging and dropping its icon to the Applications folder.

Apple’s trackpad is also so good that I invested in a separate Magic Trackpad for use when I’m at home. The gestures are just plain intuitive, and gliding your finger on its glass surface is just heaven. It’s something many Windows laptops tried (and failed) to copy.

No, 8GB is not enough RAM

Apple VP for worldwide product marketing Bob Borchers once said in an interview on BiliBili that 8GB of RAM was good enough for macOS because of how efficient it is — but my experience says otherwise. I only chose the base specs of the 15-inch MacBook Air because I will mostly use it as a travel and backup device.

It had no problems then when I was running just a couple of apps. But now that I’m using it as my main work laptop with my usual workflow, my MacBook Air is stuttering. When I checked the Memory tab in Activity Monitor, it showed my device using more than 7GB out of the 8GB RAM that it had.

This is a problem, especially since I haven’t launched Trello yet, which could use up a lot of memory. When I edit images in Photoshop and Lightroom, the lag gets so severe that I must close some of the browser tabs I need or even restart the computer.

Upgrades not allowed

My Windows laptop’s old memory sticks, plus the packaging of the SSDs I recently installed on it.

This is the biggest drawback for me with MacBooks — you need to spec the hardware you’d need in the future at the time of purchase, as you can’t upgrade the storage and memory on these devices. Since I initially bought my MacBook as a backup device, it only has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

This was more than enough for its original purpose, but now that I’m using it as my main computer, I’m struggling with the available hardware. I wish I could bump this up to 32GB of RAM and at least 1TB of storage, but it’s just impossible with Apple silicon Macs.

I can’t help but compare this with my Windows laptop. It had 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 1TB HDD when I bought it, but I’ve since upgraded it to 32GB of RAM and 2.5TB of SSD storage. This added more life to my already five-year-old laptop, and the upgrades cost me less than $200.

If I wanted to level up my current Mac, I’d have to sell it or trade it in. Apple currently values it at $540, but I still have to pay at least $1,200 if I’m getting the MacBook Air 15-inch M4. This will give me 16GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage, but if I want to upgrade it to 32GB of RAM and 2TB SSD, I need to pay $1,200 more. This essentially doubles the price of the laptop to $2,400.

Even with the discount, I’ll shell out over $1,900 just to get the memory and storage I need. Sure, I’ll get a new processor (that I don’t really need) — but at nearly 10 times more than what I paid to upgrade my Windows laptop. It’s not worth it.

I’m still sticking with Windows

MacBooks are great devices, and Apple offers an option at nearly every price range. They’re easy to lug around everywhere I go, and the efficiency of M-series chips changed my life.

But after 30 years of using Windows, macOS is actually slowing me down. I could get used to the operating system, but it will likely take a year or two of using it full-time before I can hit the same efficiency I have with Windows. Yes, Windows is imperfect and has its fair share of bugs, but at least I can operate it in my sleep.

More importantly, economics is holding me back from going all-in with macOS. I can buy a Windows laptop that delivers similar performance to a MacBook at a fraction of the price. In addition, I have the option to get an upgradeable Windows laptop, allowing me to use it for years to come.

Still, that doesn’t mean I’m ditching my MacBook Air. It’s a great travel laptop and also serves as my backup device for my main PC. Maybe I’ll be a full Apple convert when it can run GTA 6 natively. Maybe.

More from Laptop Mag

• I ditched Windows 11 for Linux — and you should, too
• I’m a longtime Windows fan, but this shocking discovery pushed me to MacBooks
• Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition vs. MacBook Pro 14 M3: Which is better?

Though bugs showing up in Windows updates is no surprise anymore, a startup sound from 2007 suddenly making a return nearly two decades later is still a bit strange. But Microsoft is full of surprises, and that’s exactly what happened.

Last Monday, we reported on an odd issue in Windows 11’s latest Beta and Dev channel builds, where the iconic Windows Vista startup chime resurfaced out of nowhere. Microsoft acknowledged the bug and even leaned into the nostalgia a bit when the issue was first spotted, and promised a fix.

Credit where credit is due, Microsoft did indeed stick to its word and tried to patch things up in the latest Windows 11 Preview Builds released earlier this week. Unfortunately, the Redmond-based giant only partially succeeded.

The Vista sound is still lingering in the Dev Insider build

Microsoft rolled out the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4452 and Build 26200.5661 for the Beta and Dev channels, respectively, earlier this week on Monday. Initially, the “Fixes for everyone in the Beta/Dev channel” section mentioned: Fixed the issue causing the Windows Vista boot sound to play instead of the Windows 11 boot sound.

Although this was great news, Microsoft updated the release notes of the Dev build the very next day on Tuesday, after realizing that the fix for the issue was “not working correctly in this build.” It further mentioned that the issue will be fixed in the next flight.

There’s been no update to the Beta release notes yet, suggesting that the fix is working as anticipated.

If you aren’t familiar with the bug we’re referring to here, a Windows Insider, @XenoPanther on X (formerly Twitter), spotted a bug that swapped the Windows 11 startup sound with Vista’s startup sound. This issue was found in the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.4441 and 26200.5651 for the Beta and Dev channels.

Like a true tech enthusiast, he went on a quest to trace down the cause of the bug and determined that the .WAV file located inside the imageres.dll.mun resource file was the culprit. It previously had the Windows 11 startup sound and had been replaced with Vista’s.

Vista nostalgia or an indirect dig at Apple?

Though most would've likely disregarded it and forgotten about it as yet another silly Microsoft bug (despite the years), what truly raised eyebrows was the timing of the bug. It was spotted around a week after WWDC 2025, where Apple announced its new operating systems alongside its "Liquid Glass" UI design.

Though the redesign was certainly refreshing for Apple users who've grown tired of staring at the same old design, it felt like a step back in time to many. This was because Microsoft first debuted similar translucent glass effects with its Windows Aero theme in Windows Vista.

Brandon LeBlanc, the Senior Product Manager for the Windows Insider Program Team, replied to @XenoPanther’s X post and mentioned that Microsoft had added the issue as a known issue.

In the replies, when asked how it happened, LeBlanc jokingly mentioned that he “went in and had some fun with the sound files in Windows and thought folks wanted a blast from the past.”

Though LeBlanc was clearly joking around, people were still unsure if it was a genuine bug or an actual blast from the past, so he clarified that it’s an actual bug.

Whether an intentional bug or not, the sudden return of Vista’s startup sound just days after Apple debuted a design that looks suspiciously similar to Aero feels a little too well-timed to be pure accident.

Given that this strangely seems to be one of those bugs Windows Insiders aren’t too mad about, it’s also one of those rare times when Microsoft not having a proper fix isn’t bothering people all that much. If you're one of those affected and waiting for a fix, the only thing you can really do for now is sit tight for the next build, and maybe enjoy the nostalgia in the meantime.

More from Laptop Mag

• Microsoft just threw Windows 10 users a free lifeline — but it could test your loyalty
• This secret version of Windows 10 still gets updates until 2032
• A second Windows 11 bug takes suspicious aim at Google Chrome — and the same Microsoft app is to blame

Dell may no longer call its flagship consumer laptop line the XPS, but we know an XPS when we see one.

From today, the Dell 14 Premium and Dell 16 Premium laptops are available to purchase — and we have high hopes for them, especially after generally enjoying the XPS 14 and XPS 13 last year, despite the disappointment of the Dell 14 Plus and Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1.

While there's plenty new to mention about these new laptops, I'm actually glad to see the old XPS chassis return for another generation, even if it's a little divisive for some. Though the XPS name has been retired, it's good to see that Dell hasn't sunset the things that made it so special. Let's take a closer look at what's in store.

Dell Premium: Specs

Dell Premium: Features

Much like last year's Dell XPS models, the new Dell Premium lineup features a minimalist chassis with an ultra-slick keyboard deck, complete with an invisible touchpad and disappearing function row.

The Dell 14 Premium and Dell 16 Premium also feature top-firing speakers, optional OLED display panels rated to 100% DCI-P3 coverage, and Intel's powerful Core Ultra 200H series processors.

Unfortunately, due to the smaller NPU on Intel's Core Ultra 200H series, the Dell Premium laptops don't meet the minimum requirements for the Microsoft Copilot+ program. But if you ask me, you're not missing much.

The Dell 16 Premium also comes with the option for a discrete Nvidia GPU, from the RTX 5050 to the RTX 5070, so you can get the right amount of graphics power for your needs, whether you want to do some casual gaming or heavy video editing.

Dell also makes strong claims about the Dell Premium's battery life, with the Dell 14 Premium reportedly delivering up to 20 hours of video streaming, while the Dell 16 Premium gets up to 27 hours of streaming battery life.

Of course, that's with the LCD panel option, rather than the OLED.

What's next

The Dell 14 Premium is available now in the US and Canada, with a starting price of $1,649.

The Dell 16 Premium with an Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU is available now in the US and Canada, with a starting price of $2,699.

The Dell 16 Premium models with Intel Arc graphics, Nvidia RTX 5050, and Nvidia RTX 5070 will be available soon.

Pricing is not yet available for these models, but we would expect the Dell 16 Premium with integrated Intel Arc graphics to be closer in price to the Dell 14 Premium, while the RTX 5050 and RTX 5070 models will be closer to the 5060's $2,699 starting price.

While these new Dell Premium laptops are no longer called the Dell XPS, they maintain the XPS' level of high-end components with powerful Intel Core Ultra processors, OLED displays, and optional discrete graphics on the flagship Dell 16 Premium.

And hey, they've even got the XPS chassis, complete with an invisible touchpad and function row keys that are an accessibility nightmare.

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Last Friday, we reported on an issue in Windows 11 where Google Chrome would simply refuse to launch. Chrome’s support manager, Ellen T., confirmed that the team had investigated the problem and pinned it on Microsoft's Family Safety feature, but users were provided with a quick workaround instead of an official fix.

The workaround? Either disable the “Filter inappropriate websites” option under Family Safety or, oddly enough, rename the Chrome.exe file to Chrome1.exe.

Microsoft still hasn’t rolled out an official fix, but it has finally acknowledged the issue while confirming another bug impacting Chrome users, too.

Chrome’s still the main target in Microsoft’s latest bug

As reported by Neowin, Microsoft confirmed one more issue affecting Google Chrome users on Windows via a new Microsoft Learn entry. The entry was opened on Tuesday, June 24, and it hasn’t been updated since.

The new bug Microsoft has identified also has to do with the Family Safety feature that caused the issue we reported on earlier. However, instead of the feature causing Chrome to crash entirely, the feature just… doesn’t work.

The Redmond-based giant explains that the Web Content Filtering system relies on a block list to prevent browsers from accessing inappropriate search results and websites.

Unless a browser version is added to the block list, it won’t be, well, blocked — even if content filtering is turned on for the account. Something that, in the Microsoft Learn entry, the tech giant admitted to not having done with the latest version of Chrome and several other browsers.

Due to this mistake on Microsoft’s end, the browsers not added to the list might temporarily appear unblocked. Thankfully, Microsoft confirmed that it’s currently working on updating the block list.

The Redmond-based giant also touched on the issue we’ve already talked about in our previous article, which is causing Google Chrome and “some browsers” to shut down unexpectedly. PCs with Parental Controls enabled typically receive a parental approval message: “You’ll need to ask to use this app.”

Once a parent approves, the child gains access to the browser. However, this bug is causing the browser to shut down immediately without the prompt even appearing. Microsoft has pinpointed that this issue is only observed when the Activity reporting feature is disabled.

The suggested workaround is to enable Activity reporting under Windows settings in Family Safety. Once the feature is enabled, parents will begin to receive approval requests as usual.

The issues discussed above are affecting Windows 10 version 22H2 and Windows 11 versions 22H2, 23H2, and 24H2.

Is this another sneaky push toward Microsoft Edge?

Microsoft’s confirmed that it’s actively working on resolving both the above issues, and will update the support document when it has more information. What’s great is that the tech giant has finally acknowledged the issue and provided a workaround to the Google Chrome crashing problem.

Considering Microsoft has had quite the rocky history with Google Chrome, it’s frankly a bit odd that both issues seem to primarily be affecting Chrome.

Microsoft has a history of targeting Chrome (the world's most popular web browser) directly in various ways, including publishing a guide on “how to uninstall Google Chrome,” displaying pop-up ads promoting Edge in the Chrome app, and interrupting users who search for Google Chrome using its Edge browser, just to name a few.

Are both bugs genuine, or are they simply another attempt by Microsoft to push users toward Edge instead of Chrome? In this instance, I guess we’ll never know.

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By now, I know it, you know it, and most of the Wi-Fi accessible world knows it: Windows 10 is on the chopping block, with an end-of-support date set for October 14, later this year — and some users are not happy about it.

Whether unwilling or unable, a large portion of Windows 10 users feel caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to Microsoft's looming deadline to upgrade to Windows 11. Not only do the increased hardware requirements for Windows 11 render a large number of functioning computers unfit for purpose, but Microsoft's flagship operating system has something of a soured reputation, leaving even those with viable machines hesitant to adopt it.

For those users, time is the enemy. Time, and Microsoft. However, the latter is at least offering them a hand in compromise. One more year of additional year of support through its Extended Security Updates (ESU) program (previously costing $30 for individuals), at no monetary cost. Please note: I didn't use the word "free" for a reason.

Three ways to stay on Windows 10 until 2026: Bucks, backups, and Bing

Microsoft's ESU is nothing new, and we've known about its availability for individual Windows users since November 2024. For businesses, even earlier. And we know that signing up for this program will cost the average Windows 10 user $30 for a single year of additional support.

However, in a recent post to the Windows Experience Blog, Microsoft has provided a few additional ways for Windows 10 users to gain this additional support, without needing to pay Microsoft a single dime.

In the blog, Microsoft shares the following alternative ways to gain ESU for Windows 10:

• Gain ESU for Windows 10 by using Windows Backup to sync your settings to the cloud

Windows Backup is a new free tool from Microsoft that aims to make switching from your older Windows 10 machine to an upgraded Windows 11 machine a whole lot easier. It's not the only purpose though, users can also backup files and folders to external drives similarly to any other backup tool.

So, great. Download Windows Backup, transfer a few files to a USB storage device, and claim an extra year of support. Right? Well, no.

To become eligible for free ESU, you'll need to upload a copy of your Windows Settings to the cloud. Specifically OneDrive. Meaning you'll also need a free Microsoft Account. Which is, once again, another hurdle some Windows 10 users refuse to clear.

• Redeem ESU for Windows 10 with 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points

Microsoft Reward points are Microsoft's own Monopoly money you can earn through shopping at its store; completing challenges on Xbox Game Pass; referring friends to sign up for a Microsoft Account and also earn Reward points (not a pyramid scheme); willingly trading your information through polls, quizzes, and trivia; or helping Microsoft to artificially inflate engagement by watching certain videos online.

Of course. There is one other way of earning Microsoft Reward points, but it'll test your loyalty in ways you never thought. You'll need to start using Bing Search.

Yes, simply searching on Bing can score you some of that lucrative Microsoft Monopoly moolah, though earning 1000 points may take you some time. If you start now, I'm sure you'll make it in time for October 14.

Frustratingly, for those who want to avoid signing up for a Microsoft Account, this is yet another method of attaining ESU for free that leaves you no choice.

What's next

So, are you ready to backup your settings or switch to Bing to save a few bucks and gain an additional year of support for Windows 10? The ball's in your court.

Some would say that this method is simply delaying the inevitable. And I'm sure that anyone hoping for a savior in a potential release of Windows 12 will be sorely disappointed.

However, if you need a little longer to secure your next device, or a few more months to pluck up the courage to give Linux a shot, Microsoft's newest incentive might be ideal. Well, almost ideal. You might have to use Bing, after all.

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Intel's 2025 to early 2026 chip generation will include the Panther Lake and Arrow Lake Refresh architectures, while the 2026-2027 generation will feature Intel's Nova Lake architecture.

So far, we know that Nova Lake will appear on Intel's S-series desktop chipsets, with rumors of laptop variants (for the H and U suffix variants) circulating as well.

But we now have confirmation that Intel's Nova Lake will also get an HX high-performance laptop variant, which is ideal for gaming laptops and mobile workstations.

And it's all thanks to shipping manifests.

On Sunday, a well-known tech leaker, x86 is dead&back, posted shipping manifests from May 23, 2025, that indicate Nova Lake's HX variant is in testing for high-performance laptops, utilizing the same motherboard socket as 2025's upcoming Panther Lake chipset.

Nova Lake -HX just makes sense

This shipping manifest leak is the first we've heard of a Nova Lake -HX series, but if anything, it's the most logical laptop variant for the architecture.

Intel frequently releases a variant of its desktop architecture for high-performance laptops.

It's not always the case, but more often than not, the desktop architecture will have a laptop version, at least for gaming laptops and mobile workstations that require the increased power of a desktop-class CPU.

While this is news, it's not exactly a surprise.

But it is welcome regardless. According to the latest rumors, Intel's Nova Lake architecture features up to 52 cores and will include a dual-architecture GPU tile, which may render discrete graphics obsolete.

Nova Lake -H is still rumored

Some years, Intel offers an -H suffix variant of its desktop architecture for high-performance, light, and thin laptops. And we also get a -U suffix version for more power-efficient laptop models.

Other years, the -H and -U suffix chips are running a laptop-specific architecture, like in the Meteor Lake and Panther Lake generations.

The 2024-2025 Intel generation was a bit unusual as we also threw in the Lunar Lake 200V series chips, but that appears to be a situation Intel won't be keeping up in the future.

There have been rumors of -H and -U versions of Intel Nova Lake, although those mobile variants may ultimately be served by a mobile architecture instead.

What this means for Intel's upcoming chip roadmap

Intel is still on track to release the Panther Lake and Arrow Lake Refresh generations starting this fall, with laptops likely to hit the shelves in early 2026. However, some early laptops may arrive in late fall.

Intel's 2026 generation is also still on track, with Nova Lake expected to release on desktop in fall 2026, with the rumored laptop variants likely launching in early 2027.

Intel's Panther Lake and Wildcat Lake chips are expected to be the first using its 18A fabrication process, with Nova Lake bringing the 18A process to desktops in 2026.

While we still don't have a concrete idea of Intel's 18A performance, new details indicate Intel's 18A is 25% faster than Intel 3. Unfortunately, the Intel 3 node is primarily used for Xeon data-center CPUs, so it isn't the best baseline for consumer performance.

However, it is a positive sign that Team Blue is continuing to make progress in power and performance.

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Microsoft has a long and underhanded history of trying to gently subvert users away from Google Chrome on Windows.

In an effort to push the Edge web browser and its Bing search engine to Google's userbase (with all the tact of a used-car salesman), Microsoft has injected pop-up ads, tricked users with a fake Google Search page, flagged other browsers as errors that need to be fixed, and potentially broken a Chrome feature by blocking it through a system update. Oopsie.

However, after years of "coincidental" issues, "unintended" behaviors, and "accidental" bugs, Microsoft may have found a way to at least cut off the youth from being indoctrinated by Google's superior search and browser... By accidentally flagging it as unsuitable using Windows 11's Family Safety feature.

Too hot for Windows: Google Chrome no longer safe for small eyes on Microsoft's OS

In yet another unlikely turn of events that seems to benefit Microsoft's Edge browser and penalize Google's Chrome, Windows 11's Family Safety feature has been effectively blocking the world's most popular browser from opening for the better part of a month under the guise of a parental control measure.

The issue was first reported on June 3 to the r/Chrome subreddit by user Witty-Discount-2906, who claimed that following a crash, Chrome now "Just flashes quickly, unable to open with no error message."

Some time later, another Redditor suggested it was related to Windows' Parental Controls, stating, "I've had 9 students come see the IT Desk in the last hour saying Chrome won't open."

The issue was seemingly confirmed by Chrome support manager Ellen T, replying to a related post to the Google Chrome Help Community message board, stated: "Our team has investigated these reports and determined the cause of this behavior. For some users, Chrome is unable to run when Microsoft Family Safety is enabled."

According to a follow-up post, Microsoft advises that parents (or IT admins in the case of our previous Reddit sleuth) seeking a solution can use the Family Safety web portal or mobile app to select their Child's (or user's) account and choose to disable "Filter inappropriate websites" under the Edge tab.

However, while this will open up access to Chrome once more, it'll also open up access to all of the parts of the internet most parental controls seek to keep restricted.

Alternatively, admins or parents can navigate to Windows > Apps & Games, and unblock Chrome from there.

What's next

If this is a bug, it's an incredible on-brand one, and a genuine blessing. Typically, Microsoft would have to set aside engineers for weeks to plot and scheme ways to attempt to topple Chrome's popularity. This one would then have fallen into its lap for free.

According to Chromium's bug tracker, the problem persists for some, though reports have slowed. One team member shares: "We've not heard anything from MSFT about a fix being rolled out. They have provided guidance to users who contact them about how to get Chrome working again, but I wouldn't think that would have a large effect."

Narrowing down potentially affected users, the Chromium team member shares: "The set of Chrome users who are affected are those who turned on Web Safety under the Edge tab of the parental controls between roughly Nov 2024 and June 3rd."

Whether this is a fault with Chromium or with Windows 11's Family Safety feature remains to be seen. However, Microsoft will likely not see a situation that causes Edge to appear more attractive than the competition as a high-priority issue. So while we wait for a potential fix, I wouldn't blame Microsoft for dragging its heels.

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Not too long ago, Microsoft announced that it’s finally caving in and giving users exactly what they’ve been asking for: a redesigned Start menu. Getting excited about new Windows features is almost never a good idea, and the new Start menu isn’t an exception.

This time around, though the shiny new Start menu is simplified and looks much cleaner for the most part, it drags along a new limitation that’s already rubbing people the wrong way.

A more organized Start menu, with one big catch

As spotted by Windows Latest, the new Start menu features a new Category view that groups your applications into, well, different categories. These categories include: Utilities and tools, Productivity, Games, Social, Entertainment, Creativity, Information & Reading, and Other.

Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? In fact, it sounds like it might even make finding the right app quicker. But here’s where things start to fall apart. You can’t create your own categories beyond the existing ones or even decide where each application goes.

Instead, Windows automatically sorts your applications for you based on a predefined system, and you don’t get a say.

Windows Latest mentions that Microsoft doesn’t use AI or cloud-based analysis to sort your apps into one of the categories. Instead, everything is handled locally on your computer using an on-device JSON file.

This is a great thing privacy-wise, as it means your list of installed apps isn’t being sent to Microsoft’s servers. But it also means there’s little flexibility or intelligence in how the sorting process works.

In the case that Windows 11 can’t determine exactly which category an application should go into, it’ll add it to the “Other” category instead. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end here.

Not all the categories we’ve listed above need to show for you. According to Microsoft, a category only appears if the system detects at least three apps that belong to it. So if you’ve got exactly three apps in, say, the Creativity category and uninstall just one, the entire category disappears.

Of course, this means the remaining apps get automatically dumped into the “Other” category, even if they clearly don’t belong there. Microsoft also notes that apps within each category are arranged based on usage. So if you’ve got Paint in the Creativity category and it’s the app you use most often, it’ll appear at the top of that category.

Thankfully, the rest of the Start menu is what people wanted all along

To be fair, though, there’s likely a good chance that Microsoft will direct its efforts toward improving the “Categories” view and might eventually let users create their own categories and move apps around.

Other than this one frustration (which is admittedly a big one), the redesigned Windows 11 Start menu is certainly a step in the right direction and addresses multiple complaints users have had.

It’s cleaner, makes better use of screen space, and finally ditches the cluttered two-page layout for a single scrollable view. It even lets users finally remove the “Recommended” section, which shows recent apps and files they’ve installed.

The all-new Windows 11 Start menu is currently being gradually rolled out to Windows Insiders.

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Those who sign up for the Windows Insider program know what to expect: you get first dibs on the platform's new and interesting features, and in return, you enlist in the volunteer ranks of Microsoft's bug reporting beta army.

However, few would anticipate the kind of bug found in the latest Preview Build 26200.5651 of the Windows 11 Beta and Dev channels .

It's not disruptive, it doesn't cause any frustrating software gremlins, and neither is it particularly annoying to deal with — but it does, inexplicably, drop an 18-year-old platform relic into the Windows experience, welcoming users to their desktops with the iconic, long-retired chimes of Windows Vista/7.

While this bug would typically be seen as nothing more than your average post-update blunder, given the timing, I'm convinced it has a lot more to do with Apple's recently announced operating system makeover for iOS 26 and macOS 26 than Microsoft is willing to admit.

Hasta la Vista, baby (again)

One eagle-eyed (or eared) Windows Insider brought attention to the bug in a post to X on Friday, even tracking down its cause to the imageres.dll.mun resource file, where Windows 11's typical startup sounds had been overwritten.

In its place? The ethereal startup chimes of Window Vista (which you can preview below) — a certified classic for those with fond memories of running Windows circa 2007, and a surprising shot of nostalgia that harkens back to an era of computing that didn't require a Copilot, when the Start Menu knew its place, and a world in which Microsoft had yet to dream up the Lovecraftian horrors of Windows 8.

Microsoft's Senior Program Manager of the Windows Insider Program Team, Brandon LeBlanc, was first to acknowledge to bug on X, highlighting it as a now known issue, while also joking that it was an intentional tweak to give folks a much-needed "blast from the past."

And while LeBlanc was quick to double down on confirming the out-of-place tones as an actual bug, many a truth is also said in jest, and the timing of this so-called bug lines up almost too well with a sudden spike in interest surrounding Windows Vista following the reveal of Apple's new Liquid Glass visual overhaul at WWDC 2025 — a design that those with working eyes say borrows heavily from Vista's Aero theme.

What's next

Could the revival of Windows Vista's iconic startup sound have originally been an off-the-cuff Easter egg for those drawing parallels to Apple's new Liquid Glass design language, intended for a short stay at startup for Windows Insiders before quietly returning to the Windows graveyard?

Absolutely. It's not like Microsoft hasn't taken a few shots at Apple already, with a recent Instagram post showcasing the brand's willingness to join in on ribbing its rival over claims of Aero inspiration.

However, if it is the truth, Windows Insider lead Brandon LeBlanc isn't fessing. Instead, the patch notes for Preview Build 26200.5651 have been updated to include the lighthearted: "This week’s flight comes with a delightful blast from the past and will play the Windows Vista boot sound instead of the Windows 11 boot sound. We’re working on a fix."

Sadly, LeBlanc and his team will be looking to get Windows 11 back to its regular and far less iconic xylophone-like introduction as soon as possible.

Boo.

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The first benchmarks for Nvidia's rumored N1x 120-watt, 20-core APU have arrived.

Nvidia's rumored N1 and N1x chips were expected to appear at Computex in Taipei last month, but the chipsets didn't appear in the company's lengthy keynote.

An N1x HP test system was recently benchmarked on Geekbench 6, with the results leaking to the Geekbench archives.

Based on the rumored specs for the massive APU, Nvidia appears to be targeting its own RTX 4070 Laptop GPU in terms of graphics performance, with general processing power in the range of a high-end gaming CPU.

So, how does the N1X actually compare?

Nvidia N1x Benchmarks

The Nvidia N1x APU was tested on an HP unit based on the motherboard specification for an HP 8EA3. The test unit was running Linux AArch64 and featured 128GB of system memory, confirming the N1x as a 20-thread, 2.81 GHz ARM processor.

The N1x returned a Geekbench 6.2 single-core score of 3,096 and a multicore score of 18,837.

These are respectable benchmarks for Geekbench 6 performance, but consumer systems will likely vary. It's not often you see a consumer laptop with 128GB of RAM, and the test unit was running Linux, which tends to provide higher benchmark performance on Geekbench compared to Windows, particularly in relation to single-core performance.

Right now, the Nvidia N1x is expected to remain with Windows on Arm, though that could also vary depending on what systems it appears on. After all, if it is used as a gaming handheld, we could end up with an N1x system running SteamOS.

How does it stack up against the competition?

Initial expectations for the Nvidia N1x APU put it in the range of Intel and AMD's high-end gaming and workstation processors.

To offer the best comparisons possible, I decided to pit the N1x against Intel's most powerful Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX mobile CPU (MSI Raider 18HX AI) and the more popular Ultra 9 275HX (Alienware 16 Area-51), along with AMD's high-end gaming CPU, the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D (Asus ROG Strix G16) and the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU (Asus ROG Flow Z13).

I also included the Apple M4 Pro (Apple MacBook Pro 16), as it still has the best Geekbench scores for single-core and multicore performance.

While the Nvidia N1x comes close to reaching the performance heights of Intel, AMD, and Apple's high-end chips, it still falls short. And that's even without accounting for the performance boost the N1x would be getting from running Linux rather than Windows 11.

Does the N1x stack up?

Nvidia's N1x APU is expected to have graphics performance that is in line with that of an Nvidia RTX 4070 Laptop GPU. This expectation is similar to AMD's Strix Halo APU. However, we haven't seen that level of performance from either of the two Ryzen AI Max systems that have launched so far. So, whether Nvidia can live up to these early rumors remains to be seen.

Geekbench 6, after all, isn't a GPU benchmark.

While the N1x should be a fast, responsive platform based on its Geekbench scores, it still doesn't pack the same punch as AMD and Intel's best high-end gaming and workstation-class CPUs. It comes close to competing against the Ryzen AI Max+ "Strix Halo" APU, though the Ryzen AI Max runs the full x86 version of Windows 11 while the Nvidia N1x test unit runs Linux AArch64.

Of course, a lot can change between early leaked benchmark runs and actual consumer-level systems.

Currently, the Nvidia N1x is expected to launch on notebooks, though other mobile systems like handheld gaming PCs could be a potential use. Nvidia is responsible for the custom chip powering the Nintendo Switch 2, after all.

Systems featuring the Nvidia N1x could launch as early as next year.

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The latest Windows Insider preview build introduces what Microsoft calls “User Interaction-Aware CPU Power Management”, a background feature designed to throttle your processor only when you’re not using it.

In essence, you walk away, and your CPU backs off. You come back, and it’s ready to go. Microsoft is betting that these micro-adjustments will lead to macro savings, especially for laptops and 2-in-1s that rely on battery efficiency to stay competitive.

It might not be a flashy UI update or new Copilot feature, but it might be one of the smartest energy features Windows has introduced in years.

What exactly is User Interaction-Aware CPU Power Management?

It’s a mouthful, but the idea is simple: When you’re not actively touching your PC — no keyboard, mouse, pen, or touchscreen input — Windows shifts the CPU into a lower-power state. The moment you interact again, full performance kicks back in automatically.

Microsoft says it does this by applying a more aggressive processor power management policy than your laptop would normally use during idle time. That includes dropping clock speeds, activating deeper C-states, reducing voltage, and even scaling back high-performance cores in favor of efficiency cores.

The feature is live now in builds 26120.4151 (Beta) and 26200.5603 (Dev) and is expected to ship in Windows 11 25H2, with a possible backport to 24H2 for supported devices. To date, no issues have been reported.

Like low power mode, but with some brains

Traditional power-saving modes don’t always account for how you’re using your device. User Interaction-Aware Power Management adds a layer of context. If you’re watching a movie, for example, the CPU stays active. Running a background encode? It doesn’t interfere. But if your laptop’s sitting open with a dozen browser tabs and no input, that’s when it kicks in.

In theory, that means longer battery life with no performance trade-offs unless you're the kind of user who wants to game and walk away at the same time. And if you’re not a fan of how it works, Microsoft says that you can toggle the feature off in your Windows 11 device’s Power & Battery settings.

On paper, this is an easy win. But depending on your workload and your laptop’s OEM settings, there are edge cases to watch out for.

For example, if you're encoding video or training an AI model in the background without input, you may not want Windows to throttle your CPU just because you walked away.

Microsoft says these scenarios should be excluded, but it will depend heavily on your device and how well your laptop’s manufacturer tunes the feature.

Some users have already flagged concerns in early feedback threads. One Reddit user writes, “If I leave the machine doing a video encode, I really don’t want Windows choosing to make it take longer.”

Another wrote, “Designed and real world [performance] are two different things… how soon it triggers, how long it takes to resume, how third-party software reacts…”.

An ongoing obsession with smarter power control

This move feels like a natural next step in the PC industry's recent obsession with smarter power control. Between Copilot+ PC requirements, ARM-based laptops, and NPU optimization, battery life is quickly becoming the next competitive spec. Microsoft knows this.

With User Interaction-Aware CPU Power Management, Windows adds a subtle but potentially significant tool to its energy toolbox. For ultrabooks, tablets, and 2-in-1s, especially those with limited cooling headroom, this could be a game-changer.

Don’t be surprised if you see OEMs like Dell or Lenovo marketing this by name in their next-gen laptops.

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Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. We've been singing the requiem of Windows 10 for quite some time now.

This past March, Asus published a blog post that makes one thing clear: You should update to Windows 11. "With a mandatory Windows update on the horizon, there are essential steps you should take to ensure a smooth upgrade experience."

That same month, Microsoft updated its Windows 11 system requirements (as reported by Neowin, the Microsoft-focused tech news site). Those updated requirements are to support Windows 11 24H2, which will enable the generative AI tool Microsoft Copilot+. AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm now all make silicon that supports Copilot+.

All of which is to say: The forces urging you to update to Windows 11 are growing — but are things as dire as they appear?

Microsoft's end of support for most versions of Windows 10 means the operating system won't get any feature updates, technical support, or security updates. That doesn't mean the operating system will just stop working, but it will put systems running Windows 10 at higher risk for viruses and malware than systems upgraded to Windows 11.

Laptop Mag has examined several workarounds for the End of Windows 10, but they all have steep disadvantages.

So, should you just bite the bullet and upgrade to Windows 11? Let's recap a bit.

The Windows 11 update isn't strictly mandatory

There are currently several ways to stay on Windows 10 past October 14, including Microsoft's own Extended Support Updates program and Windows 10 Long-Term Service Channel, which can offer full security updates until 2032.

While both the ESU and LTSC options will let you keep running Windows 10, both options come at a price, fiscally and in terms of stripped-down features. So they may not be the most attractive solution.

Alternatively, you could switch to Linux and enjoy all the perks of an open-source operating system while learning a lot about translation layers and software emulation to get some of your favorite applications running.

However, Linux is a lighter-weight operating system that can help keep older hardware running smoothly. So it's a worthwhile option if your current laptop or desktop is rocking hardware too old to meet the stringent Windows 11 upgrade requirements.

If you don't like the idea of having to custom-bootstrap your operating system into working the way you need it to, that's fair. While there are certainly reasons why Linux has a dedicated following, the operating system isn't quite as easy to use out of the box compared to Windows or macOS.

This brings us back to either keeping your version of Windows 10 limping along or caving to the Windows 11 update, which, honestly, may not be as big a deal as the hype suggests.

Windows 11 isn't even that bad

Look, all software eventually becomes old and outdated and gets replaced by a new version. That's just the tech lifecycle.

While Windows 11 is not a perfect operating system, it's pretty easy to use and set up out of the box. It looks more Apple-y than Windows 10, but all your necessary Windows 10 features made the jump, though some have found new homes. But it doesn't take long to get oriented with the new operating system.

You can also opt out of or uninstall any Microsoft programs you don't want to tangle with, like OneDrive or the controversial Recall system on Copilot+ PCs. And you never need to use the Copilot chatbot if you don't want to.

The problem most have with Windows 11 is the strict hardware requirements. You need a GPU capable of running Microsoft's DirectX 12 API and a CPU that runs at 1GHz or faster, with more than two cores, and compatible with a 64-bit operating system.

This essentially means you need an Intel chip that's newer than the 10th generation or an AMD processor that's newer than the 3000 generation.

Should you upgrade anyway?

Given the Windows 11 hardware requirements, a lot of folks will need newer hardware to upgrade.

However, the CPU requirements only really make an impact on hardware that's five to seven years old. While that's not a great look for Microsoft, that older hardware has aged past the usual tech hardware upgrade cycle of about four years.

So maybe you just need a new laptop or desktop, and you've been putting it off for too long.

Even if you don't want all the AI features of a Copilot+ PC, plenty of non-AI options would still get you all the benefits of Windows 11 without the hassle of trying to hold on to Windows 10 for another decade.

Plus, there are rumors that Windows 12 is around the corner. So maybe this whole discussion will be redundant in a few months, anyway.

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Ever plugged your monitor into a USB-C port and gotten nothing but a blank screen? Welcome to 'port roulette' — a frustrating game of guess-the-function that’s plagued users for years. Now, Microsoft says it’s putting an end to the madness.

Starting with Windows 11 version 24H2, Microsoft is rolling out strict new rules requiring all USB-C ports on WHCP-certified laptops and tablets to do what you expect: charge, transfer data, and output video.

That means no more figuring out which identical-looking port actually supports DisplayPort, no more guessing if your dock will charge your laptop, just plug in and play!

The new USB-C rules, simplified

Microsoft is updating the Windows Hardware Compatibility Program (WHCP): The set of rules device makers must follow to get Windows certification. The new mandate turns optional USB-C features into must-haves, fixing a system that’s long been too forgiving.

USB-C was designed to be universal, but it’s been anything but in practice. Their own telemetry shows 27% of USB4 PCs triggered 'limited functionality' warnings when users plugged in accessories that didn’t work as expected.

Now, all WHCP-certified Windows 11 devices must meet three core USB-C standards:

• Data transfer — At least USB 3.0 speeds (5 Gbps).
• Charging — USB Power Delivery support (≥ 4.5W on laptops, 7.5W on tablets).
• Display Output — Must support DisplayPort Alt Mode, so every port can drive a monitor.

But that’s just the baseline. Premium machines that support Thunderbolt or USB4 will be held to even higher standards.

Not all USB-C ports are created equal

One of the biggest misconceptions about USB-C is that every port does the same thing. After all, they look identical: Same shape, same size, same connector. But behind that sleek oval is a mess of inconsistent features. Some ports handle charging, some support external displays, some can push Thunderbolt speeds, and some do almost nothing at all.

That confusion is precisely what Microsoft’s new rules aim to eliminate.

USB-C is the connector type, while Thunderbolt (and USB4) are performance standards that use that connector, but add serious capabilities like high-speed data transfer, dual-monitor support, and PCIe tunneling for external GPUs.

In the past, a laptop might advertise USB4 or Thunderbolt support, but only one of its USB-C ports could deliver those features. The rest? Limited functionality, with no way for the average user to know which was which.

Under the new WHCP certification, half-implementation is no longer allowed. Every USB-C port must deliver the complete package if a laptop claims Thunderbolt or USB4 performance. That means no more guessing, no more label decoding, and no more plugging your dock into the “wrong” port.

It’s a significant step toward simplifying how we use modern laptops and finally delivers on USB-C’s original promise of universal, plug-and-play versatility.

What’s the catch?

For most users, Microsoft’s standardization kills the most frustrating part of USB-C: Not knowing what any given port does. This change means that any USB-C port on a WHCP-certified Windows laptop will just work the way users expect it to.

Right now, a USB-C port might support charging but not video or data, or Thunderbolt. And unless you read the spec sheet (and speak fluently, “USB 3.2 Gen 2x2”), good luck figuring that out.

There are obvious implications for laptop manufacturers here, which naturally means cost implications for end-users.

Budget laptop makers that previously skimped on full-featured USB-C implementations will need to spend more on better silicon. That could drive up prices in the entry-level segment or push some OEMs to prioritize ChromeOS, which doesn’t enforce similar rules.

But many midrange and premium laptops already meet (or exceed) the new standards. Microsoft expects a gradual industry shift over the next few years, with brands like Surface, Dell XPS, and HP Spectre leading early adoption.

Sure, Microsoft's move isn’t a flashy new feature or bold hardware redesign. But it’s important to appreciate it for what it is: a massive user experience improvement for anyone who uses USB-C, which is pretty much everyone nowadays.

No more spinning the port roulette wheel, no more docks that half-work, just reliable, universal ports across every certified Windows laptop.

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Microsoft won't advertise it, and you're highly unlikely to stumble across it by accident, but there's a version of Windows 10 that drops the ads, the AI, and will be officially supported for years to come — long after most are forced to upgrade to Windows 11.

For those unaware, Windows 10 is due to be retired by Microsoft on October 14, 2025. Beyond this date, the operating system will lose access to any technical support, future feature drops, and vital security updates.

While your computer will run as normal, and you don't actually need to leave Windows 10 behind, any potential system vulnerabilities discovered after the end-of-support date will remain exploitable forevermore. It'll be open season on your data, hardware, and privacy, and your copy of Windows will be about as secure as a piñata at a party packed with sugar-lusting Little Leaguers.

Microsoft's ideal solution is for Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11. Those whose devices don't meet the operating system's minimum specs can alternatively opt into the company's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, which offers regular consumers an extra year of security updates for $30.

However, there's one group of Windows 10 users this doesn't apply to. In fact, those running this particular version of Windows 10 might be among the happiest of all. At a glance, it appears to be the operating system that dreams are made of.

• A near-stock version of Windows 10, without the ads or bloat.
• No Copilot, no AI, not even Cortana.
• And up to seven more years of official security updates, ending in 2032.

This version of Windows 10 sounds like the one many have been wishing for, but in true monkey's paw fashion, the real cost of that wish isn't immediately clear.

Getting it isn't easy. Running it comes with its own consequences. And using it means stepping into a sealed room where time stopped ticking in 2021 — for better or worse.

I'm talking, of course, about Windows 10 21H2 LTSC.

What is Windows 10 LTSC?

Windows 10 LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel) is a special, stripped-down version of Windows 10 designed primarily for embedded systems that don't need the usual array of features found in the typical desktop experience.

Think hospital equipment, factory machines, ATMs, and even those touchscreen kiosks at McDonald's. LTSC versions of Windows 10 are typically installed on machines that serve a single purpose and can't afford any software surprises that might throw a sudden wrench in the works.

To that end, Windows 10 LTSC doesn't receive any feature updates or flashy redesigns — just a quiet stream of security and stability fixes.

It's the version of Windows 10 Microsoft never wanted you to use, and, even though it's entirely capable, it was never designed to run your laptop or desktop machine. Still, that doesn't mean you can't do it anyway.

Windows 10 LTSC: The price of "perfection"

Windows 10 LTSC offers a streamlined experience that many users might find deeply appealing. No ads, no Microsoft Store, and no Copilot in sight.

It's a pure, undiluted shot of Windows 10 — a snapshot of the operating system before Microsoft began meddling with how users liked it.

Factor in the platform's extended support, running until January 12, 2027 for the 2021 LTSC release; and up to January 13, 2032 for the 2021 IoT Enterprise LTSC, and you've got a shimmering beacon of hope for those seeking a secure way to continue using Windows 10 long after its mainstream October 14 end-of-support date.

But not all that glitters is gold.

The first hurdle? You'll need to get your hands on it. LTSC editions aren't available through standard retail channels like Home and Pro editions. They typically require a volume licensing agreement with a minimum purchase of five licenses, which can push the price of switching through the roof.

That said, ISOs are readily available online, and OEM keys for Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC can be found through grey market retailers, completely cutting out the middleman at a fraction of the price (albeit with the usual risks).

Compatibility is another looming issue. While versions of Windows 10 LTSC have years of official support ahead of them, Windows 10 is still approaching its mainstream end-of-support date, and support for the regular Windows 10 21H2 edition ended years ago, meaning certain software or drivers may drop support for the operating system in future updates, leaving your longer-lasting operating system to slowly decay through digital attrition.

Windows 10 LTSC: Is it worth it?

On paper, Windows 10 LTSC is everything users could ask for. It's a safe haven to continue using their favored operating system with peace of mind, a bloat-free experience that does away with all but the basics, and a restore point positioned right before Microsoft dove into AI with both feet first and never looked back.

But it's also a version of Windows you were never really supposed to have, perhaps for a reason.

Yes, you can use it. But it comes with caveats: a frozen feature set, a licensing process that can range from ludicrously expensive to ethically murky, and the knowledge that while Microsoft is obliged to support the platform with updates for several years, third-party developers aren't. Compatibility headaches could lie further down the road.

Still, for aging hardware that doesn't fit the Windows 11 mould, securing a Windows 10 LTSC key could be the difference between longer life and landfill.

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Microsoft just launched a new tool that makes it easier and safer to upgrade your Windows 10 laptop to Windows 11, but will it be enough to get reluctant users to finally say goodbye to Windows 10 ahead of its October 14 end-of-support deadline?

While there are some hardware hurdles for regular Windows 10 users to clear as they prepare to upgrade, the switch isn't so easy for business and enterprise users who need to consider vital security and data backups before changing their OS.

Microsoft is finally addressing this issue through a new tool designed to make it easier and more secure for businesses to switch to Windows 11: Windows Backup.

The question is, will it be enough to finally win over business users reluctant to bid Windows 10 farewell, or even win over users considering leaving Windows altogether?

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Microsoft launches Windows Backup for Organizations

On Tuesday, Microsoft launched Windows Backup for Organizations, a tool that allows organizations to easily and securely back up and restore their Windows settings.

That can come in handy in situations where an employee needs a new work laptop or, in this case, where a business wants to switch to Windows 11 without losing all of the settings they have established on Windows 10.

Switching from Windows 10 to Windows 11 is fairly straightforward for individual users, especially if your laptop already qualifies for the free upgrade. It's not as simple for businesses, though, partly due to the sheer scale of upgrading dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of laptops.

Windows Backup for Organizations can help mitigate that issue by giving organizations a way to quickly configure Windows 11 without needing to manually tinker with every device.

Will that added convenience be enough to get reluctant users to finally make the switch to Windows 11? It's a high bar to clear. Surveys show that as of April 2025, 52.9% of Windows users are still on Windows 10. Windows 11 is close behind at 43.7%, after steadily gaining on Windows 10 over the past several months.

Microsoft effectively needs to get about half of its entire userbase to upgrade to Windows 11 by October, or at the very least sell those who remain on subscribing to the company's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program.

Windows Backup might not be enough to get all of those people to switch, but it will be a big help to business users looking for a simpler solution.

Switching to Windows 11 is easier now, but it's not your only option

While Windows Backup for Organizations is only available to businesses, there's another version of it that individual users can similarly take advantage of when switching to Windows 11.

We strongly suggest you take the time to backup your data before swapping operating systems, but keep in mind that Windows 11 isn't your only option.

If you're reluctant to switch to Windows 11, it may be worth considering Linux as an alternative. It's not necessarily an option for everyone (Linux probably isn't a good fit for business users, for instance), but it can be a great alternative to Windows for certain people.

I've been using Linux on my main PC for months now with little to no issues. I can customize it to make it look and feel however I want (including just like Windows 10, or even macOS), and most versions of Linux are free and open-source. I've even had a good experience gaming on Linux, including with modern AAA games.

Linux can be an especially good option if you have an older Windows 10 laptop that isn't eligible for Windows 11. I revived an 8-year-old HP laptop by installing Fedora Linux on it and not only got it up and running again, but more than doubled the battery life. So, it might be worth it to consider Linux before making the leap to Windows 11 — it might just save your laptop from the landfill.

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Intel’s Arc GPU platform has finally taken off on desktop, at least in the budget and mid-range markets.

With the launch of the Arc Pro B50 and B60 workstation graphics cards at Computex last week, Intel's second generation of Arc GPUs is has officially arrived.

But there’s one massive market that still isn’t served by the Arc platform. And that’s laptops.

Sure, Intel has brought its B-series GPUs (codename: "Battlemage") to its integrated graphics tiles on the Core Ultra 200 series chipsets, but integrated GPUs can only take you so far when gaming, rendering designs in 3D, or parsing massive data sets.

So, why are there no Arc GPUs for laptops up for individual sale?

Intel is positioning those Intel Core Ultra 200H systems with integrated Arc 130-140T graphics units as "thin-and-light workstations" — essentially, entry-level workstations.

Intel's Roger Chandler told Laptop Mag at Computex, "probably a good 60% of the market are mobile workstations."

So, these entry-level workstations with integrated graphics are a huge focus for Intel.

"There's the [Core Ultra 200H] class platform for the thin and light [workstation], and that's where you have the really bigger built-in graphics, where we're seeing some surprise [from customers].

"It surprised a lot of people how [good] the performance is. It's literally more performance than a lot of [entry-level] discrete graphics."

OK — but how does Intel's integrated GPU really stack up against the iGPU competition?

Intel's iGPUs are best-in-class right now

Intel has stiff competition on the integrated graphics front.

AMD's Ryzen AI 300 series also has a powerful integrated graphics tile, but as far as raw computing power goes, Intel's integrated Arc chips on the Intel Core Ultra 200H and Intel Core Ultra 200V chipsets outperform AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

However, AMD regains its performance lead with the Ryzen AI Max platform, which can use up to 97GB of system memory as VRAM. (AMD's Strix Halo is in a class of its own as far as x86 architecture goes.)

For traditional integrated GPUs, Intel isn't wrong to consider its Core Ultra 200H systems as capable of some workstation tasks and gaming, particularly if you're not doing a lot of heavy lifting. Gaming on medium settings at 1080p is entirely feasible, but it isn't the performance we expect from a gaming laptop.

On their own, Core Ultra 200H systems result in something of an entry-level device. Intel and its manufacturing partners still leverage the Core Ultra 200HX CPU alongside discrete Nvidia GPUs for high-end mobile workstations and gaming rigs.

But Intel's Chandler tells Laptop Mag that the company isn't seeing entry-level workstations doing the demanding work of traditional workstations anyway. He says users are using them for better productivity.

Chandler explains it this way: "I use a mobile workstation for my daily driver now, and it's like I'm not using [3D design software application] SolidWorks all day.

"But I'm one of those people who is a tab hoarder. I'll keep 78 tabs open on Chrome, and I've got 14 spreadsheets, and it's like, it started bogging down my old system.

"When I have a mobile workstation, I never have to close anything."

Chandler also says AI will improve performance as well.

"[AI] takes some of the sharp edges off some of these difficult workloads, which means they're more accessible."

All of which is to say, you can get away with just an integrated GPU instead of a more powerful discrete graphics card for a lot of tasks that were considered "workstation-class" just a few years ago.

"Workstations are this whole category of product that is kind of entering this Renaissance," Chandler says.

The Laptop POV: Expanding to discrete mobile graphics cards would still be a good idea for Intel

While it's too late in the Intel Arc B-series to expect a mobile variant, we expect Intel to launch its C-series graphics cards (codenamed "Celestial") later this year or early next year.

But there is still hope for future generations of Arc GPUs to hit the mobile side.

When asked during a press briefing about why Intel hadn't expanded the full Arc discrete GPU platform to laptops yet, Intel rep Qi Lin responded, "that's something we need to continue to work on."

There are already rumors that Nvidia's next generation of graphics cards won't be optimized for gaming, as the company pivots harder toward AI and data center applications of its GPUs. While that's just speculation, the rocky launch of the RTX 50-series does lend some credence to the idea that there will be fewer and fewer Nvidia GeForce cards available in future generations.

Which leaves the laptop GPU market wide open.

After all, for the last several years, basically every gaming laptop and mobile workstation has featured a discrete Nvidia GPU.

AMD hasn't produced a mobile discrete GPU since the Radeon RX 7000 series in early 2023. While AMD could be working on a Radeon 9000 series GPU for laptops, we haven't heard even the glimmer of a rumor around a new laptop GPU from Team Red.

So if Intel can expand the Arc discrete graphics platform to laptops in the next few years, we could see a major upset in the laptop market. But only time will tell.

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Microsoft’s never been the best at rolling out feature-complete software right out of the gate. But every now and then, the Redmond-based giant makes up for it by getting something exactly right, even if you still wonder what took so long.

On Thursday, the company announced that it's baking a color picker into the Snipping Tool on Windows 11, and it’s the perfect example of a minor but long-overdue addition.

Windows 11’s Snipping Tool finally gets a built-in color picker

As announced on the Windows Insider Blog, Microsoft is adding a built-in color picker to the Snipping Tool, version 11.2504.38.0. The feature does exactly what you’d expect it to: letting you quickly figure out exact color values from anywhere on your screen.

The way it works is ridiculously simple. To use it, you’ll need to invoke the Snipping Tool like you usually do — either by clicking the “Start” button and searching for the Snipping Tool app, or by pressing the Windows logo key, Shift, and the S key simultaneously.

You’ll then find a new Color picker option, denoted by a pencil icon on the toolbar (according to Windows Latest). All you need to do is hover the dropper over any part of your screen, and the tool has a dropdown that instantly shows the color code in three formats: HEX, RGB, and HSL.

If you’re into design work, you likely know the difference between the three. But if not:

• HEX is a six-digit code (like #8F00FF) commonly used in web design to represent colors.
• RGB shows the amount of red, green, and blue in a color, formatted like rgb(143, 0, 255).
• HSL stands for Hue, Saturation, and Lightness. It’s especially useful if you want to fine-tune how vibrant or bright a color appears. For example, violet: h: 274°, s: 100%, l: 50%.

This saves you the manual effort of needing to use a third-party tool to convert the color code from one format to another. In case you need more precision, you can also press Ctrl and +/- to zoom in or out.

The best part about the feature, though, is that you don’t need to take a screenshot just to find out the color code. So if you’re someone who needs to figure out colors often, you won’t have to worry about your PC overflowing with unnecessary screenshots.

Before switching to Mac, there were multiple times I needed to figure out the color code from an image or somewhere on my screen, often for my school projects. What I always had to do back then was take a screenshot and then use a third-party tool like RedKetchup or Color Picker online. Since Macs have a similar built-in utility called Digital Color Meter, I haven’t felt the need to use those online sites anymore.

So, I’m thrilled that Microsoft’s finally integrating this basic functionality right within the Snipping Tool.

Perfect screenshots are now just a Ctrl key away too

The Snipping Tool is also getting a new AI-powered feature for Copilot+ PCs, called Perfect screenshot. This feature can intelligently resize a screenshot you’re attempting to take based on the content in your selection.

This means you won't need to manually edit a screenshot after capturing it. It also saves you the hassle of trying to get everything just right in a screenshot before hitting the capture button.

All you’ll need to do is open the Snipping Tool, select the Perfect screenshot feature, and choose the region of your screen you’d like to capture.

The best part about this feature is that you don’t necessarily need to pick the option from the toolbar. Instead, you can simply hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard once you’ve invoked the Snipping Tool and selected the screenshot region.

Both of these new Snipping Tool features are currently in testing for Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels on Windows 11. They’re rolling out gradually, so even if you’re part of the program, you might not see them right away. For everyone else, they’ll likely show up once Microsoft pushes them to the release branch. So you’ll need to wait a little longer.

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Microsoft Recall is going to have trouble recalling images of private messages sent through Signal after it announced its desktop app will block the AI screenshotting feature.

Microsoft Recall has had a rocky road on its path to a wider release, facing a slew of delays, major security concerns, and overwhelming skepticism from consumers and cybersecurity experts. In fact, the renowned antivirus maker Kaspersky had previously called the tool "dangerous" in a June 2024 blog.

Recall is one of several new AI features coming to Windows 11 and aims to help you "recall" things you've done on your laptop or PC by analyzing a treasure trove of screenshots of your activity.

It's also a feature that Kaspersky Cyber Security experts referred to as "dangerous," in a

The current preview version of Recall, which rolled out in April, is an opt-in feature, meaning it's not turned on by default. Even if you have it turned off, though, it's natural that some will still be concerned about their most private content being captured by an AI.

That's not a problem anymore on at least one app: the Signal private messaging app. It may be the first of many apps to announce a feature that will block Recall screenshots. Here's what Windows 11 users should know.

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"Signal is ready": Private messaging app blocks Microsoft Recall screenshots

On Wednesday, Signal announced in a blog post that its desktop app now includes a "Screen security" feature designed to block Microsoft Recall screenshots. The feature is turned on by default for Windows 11 Signal users.

Signal left no doubt about what motivated it to add this feature, clearly stating, "The purpose of this setting is to protect your Signal messages from Microsoft Recall."

The blog post goes on to explain: "Although Microsoft made several adjustments over the past twelve months in response to critical feedback, the revamped version of Recall still places any content that’s displayed within privacy-preserving apps like Signal at risk.

"As a result, we are enabling an extra layer of protection by default on Windows 11 in order to help maintain the security of Signal Desktop on that platform even though it introduces some usability trade-offs."

"Microsoft has simply given us no other option."

With Signal's new "Screen security" feature turned on, content from the Signal app won't show up in any screenshot tool, including Microsoft Recall.

Signal now uses the same Digital Rights Management (DRM) functionality that prevents you from taking screenshots of content from sites like Netflix or Hulu. Any attempt to do so shows only a blank black screen.

There are a number of reasons you might not want private or personal conversations recorded, and this feature ensures that you don't have to worry about that on Signal, even on its Windows 11 app. Signal likely won't be the only app developer to roll out a feature to block Recall, either.

How to block Microsoft Recall on your Windows 11 laptop

If you're worried about Microsoft Recall posing a threat to your privacy, you're not alone. Even if you're using your laptop for casual web browsing or schoolwork, you may find it uncomfortable that an AI could be snapping photos of your screen in 7-second intervals.

Luckily, if you want the peace of mind of having Recall turned off, it's pretty easy.

First, if you're on Windows 10, you have nothing to worry about right now. Recall is only available on Windows 11. It's also currently an opt-in feature, so if you didn't manually turn it on, it should be turned off by default.

If you're not sure if you have Recall turned on or not, head over to the Settings app and navigate to the "Privacy and security" tab.

Here, you should see a section called "Recall and snapshots." (If you don't have this section in your security settings, it probably means your Windows 11 PC doesn't have Recall yet.)

Select "Recall and snapshots" and turn off "Save snapshots." If this option was turned on, it's a good idea to also select "Delete snapshots" and "Delete all" to remove any existing screenshots Recall has captured.

Those steps should ensure Recall is disabled on your device, but you may want to keep an eye out for any pesky pop-ups trying to get you to turn Recall on again.

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It's the day after Memorial Day, and there are a lot of deals still available at Dell. Many of which can save hundreds of dollars on the PC maker's top-rated laptops.

That’s the case with the Dell XPS 13, which is on sale at Dell for $1,059. That's more than $400 off the regular $1,499 price. This Dell XPS 13 has a Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 13.4-inch, FHD+ 1920 x 1200, 120Hz, 500-nit display.

In our Dell XPS 13 9345 (Snapdragon X Elite) review, the laptop won us over with its combination of strong performance, bright display, a 1080p webcam, and an incredible battery life.

Our Laptop Mag battery test found that the Dell XPS 13 lasted an average of 19 hours and 1 minute. That outperformed the MacBook Air, the Zenbook 14, the Spectre x360, and the average premium laptop.

This makes the Dell XPS 13 one of the best Windows laptops for working completely on the go.

Today's best Dell XPS 13 deal

Computex 2025 was a rather quiet show this year, and no company was quite as quiet as Intel.

We didn’t get a keynote or a press conference from Team Blue, but that doesn’t mean the company was entirely silent.

In small press demos, Intel showcased its new flagship Arc Pro B50 and B60 GPUs and walked folks through the recent improvements to the Arrow Lake lineup.

For the company’s upcoming 18A flagship CPU, Panther Lake did appear in two demos on test rigs. While we still haven’t had a deep dive into Panther Lake, here’s what we know so far.

Intel Panther Lake: Features

Intel’s Panther Lake chipset is expected to enter production this fall with a full consumer-ready launch beginning in early 2026. Panther Lake is a chipset built for mobile platforms and will likely hit the shelves as the Intel Core Ultra 300 series with the classic H and U suffixes.

Panther Lake is the first commercial chip to be made with Intel's 18A (1.8nm) foundry process, and will thus be the company's first chipset made on a two-nanometer-class process node.

Intel’s Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake series was a “one-off” in that the suffix won’t be reused in the 300 series. But that doesn't mean the chipset is entirely done. Intel sees Panther Lake as a "best of both worlds" solution, with the power efficiency of Lunar Lake and the performance of Arrow Lake H.

Intel is also updating its Arc integrated graphics platform to fit on the Panther Lake SoC (system-on-a-chip), offering enhanced 3D rendering and AI performance.

Intel expects Panther Lake chipsets to power consumer laptops, gaming hardware (including potential gaming handhelds), and commercial laptops, from standard business productivity devices to workstations.

Intel Panther Lake: Demos

As the Panther Lake chipset is still not in full production, Intel was showcasing the new silicon in reference validation platforms and prototype dev kits used in Intel's internal test labs.

Intel's demo team tasked Panther Lake with automatic AI masking in DaVinci Resolve, and the color changes and text implementation were done near instantaneously.

Intel also demonstrated Panther Lake's LLM power with Qwen 2.5, tasking the AI with creating a Python program. Panther Lake's AI accelerators kicked back an instant token, essentially doing the work of weeks (or months) in a heartbeat.

Intel's final Panther Lake demo was again an AI task, this time using Topaz Labs' photo upscaling to increase the pixel count and balance the colors of a photo simultaneously.

But don't just take my word for it. Intel published a walkthrough of all three Panther Lake demos to YouTube.

Since Intel makes chips and not end-user devices, the performance seen in the demos may not be entirely indicative of what we get from laptop manufacturers.

But the demos are incredibly compelling, even if performance is likely to vary across different slices of the chipset and different OEM configurations.

When can we expect to see systems with the chip?

Panther Lake is on track for production in the second half of this year, with a full consumer launch expected in early 2026.

If any early Panther Lake systems do end up hitting the market, I wouldn't expect to see them until at least October.

Lunar Lake launched in early September last year, but Arrow Lake H didn't come in until February, so Panther Lake is likely to come somewhere between those two timeframes.

We'll likely get more details on Panther Lake over the summer, if not at a full press conference, as part of an Intel Tech Tour. The initial launch could come any time between September and December 2025, with broader availability coming between January and March.

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Cross-device functionality has not traditionally been Microsoft’s strongest suit, especially compared to Apple.

Though the Redmond-based giant has consistently worked to catch up over the years, it’s yet to match all of macOS’s features. For instance, Microsoft still doesn’t have a true AirDrop equivalent!

However, the company just took a step closer to closing the gap in cross-device functionality by previewing a feature inspired by Apple’s Handoff during this week's Microsoft Build 2025.

The funny (and slightly suspicious) part? They’re now acting like it never happened.

Windows is currently working on its own take on Apple’s Handoff

Microsoft held a “Create Seamless Cross-Device Experiences with Windows for your app” session during its Build event. In the session, Microsoft’s senior product manager, Aakash Varshney, reviewed the company’s plans to launch new features this upcoming year to make Windows more seamless across multiple devices.

He demoed a new feature currently in the works, titled “Cross-Device Resume,” which, as the name suggests, will allow users to pick up tasks or apps right where they left off on a different device.

In the demo, Aakash used Spotify as an example to show how the feature works.

He explained that when he opened the Spotify app on his mobile device, the Spotify icon on his Windows PC’s taskbar displayed a subtle badge, indicating that the app was active on another device.

Upon hovering over the app’s icon, a message, “Resume, recently opened on your mobile device,” showed that the app had been opened recently on his phone. It also allowed him to pick up on his Windows PC from where he left off.

Once he clicked the app’s icon, Spotify launched, and he was back in the same song.

He explained that this saved him the hassle of searching for the song he was just listening to. A single click was all it took to get going. If you haven’t used a Mac before, what Aakash described is essentially the same thing as Apple’s Handoff feature.

Handoff also allows you to begin something on one device and resume it on another nearby device. Apple’s native apps, such as Safari, Messages, Notes, and FaceTime, and third-party apps, like Spotify and WhatsApp, all support Handoff.

When you open an app that works with Handoff on your iPhone or iPad, the app’s Handoff icon appears on your Mac’s Dock.

It’s the regular app icon, just with a gray circle and a tiny phone/tablet hovering in the upper right. Once you click the icon, you can pick up where you left off.

Microsoft quietly removed the demo, but not without people noticing

However, as reported by Windows Central, Microsoft ended up editing the demo out of the session.

A leaker known for digging through Microsoft builds and spotting unreleased features, @phantomofearth, managed to grab a screenshot of the demo before the video was edited (in a pre-recorded Build session) and posted it on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

While Microsoft is yet to comment on why the demo was edited out, it could very well be because the tech giant isn’t quite ready to show the feature publicly.

What’s weird is that they realized this after going through the hassle of demoing it in the first place. The most recent Build 26100.4188 (KB5058499) for Windows 11 24H2 seems to suggest a somewhat similar story.

The release notes include a Cross Device Resume feature that’s being rolled out gradually, but the description focuses on making it easier to work on OneDrive files across phones and Windows 11 PCs.

With the feature, if you view or edit a OneDrive file, such as a Word document, you’ll get a notification on your Windows 11 PC asking if you’d like to pick up where you left off. It doesn’t mention third-party support like Spotify, which the demo showcased.

So, it’s likely that Microsoft plans to roll out a more limited version of the feature first or that full third-party integration is still a work in progress.

Handoff is hands-down one of the best hidden macOS features, and it coming to Windows might finally be the cue I needed to make the switch.

More from Laptop Mag

• Windows 11 May update: A controversial AI feature makes a quiet comeback
• Microsoft recommends a drastic move for Windows 11 upgrade, report says
• I switched to a MacBook after using Windows for over 30 years. Here’s what happened.

Can a mini PC deliver as much performance as a laptop or desktop PC in a compact form factor? Sometimes, but you have to be careful to get the right one and consider the trade-offs. The Asus NUC 14 Pro is a perfect example.

This mini PC has some advantages over a laptop, like the ability to freely upgrade or swap out your storage and memory, but it's much more compact than a regular desktop. It's far from perfect, though, especially when you factor in the price.

Mini PCs don't need to minimize performance to squeeze into a small chassis. Some can offer great value for your money, which is why you should probably take a closer look before choosing the Asus NUC 14 Pro.

Asus NUC 14 Pro: Specs and benchmarks

Asus NUC 14 Pro: Price and configurations

The Asus NUC 14 Pro is available in several configurations starting at $379. The base configuration is a "barebones" unit that includes an Intel Core 3 100U, but requires you to supply your own RAM and storage.

The next configuration, priced at $799, includes an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. You can also choose from a Core Ultra 5 135H, a Core Ultra 7 155H, and a Core Ultra 7 165H. Additionally, you can opt for either the tall or slim chassis, with the slim model being the more expensive option.

Our review unit costs $999 and includes an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage.

It's worth noting that our sister site, Tom's Guide, reviewed the Asus NUC 14 Pro, as well, but tested a different configuration including the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. That configuration performed significantly better on our tests, so we've included results for both configurations in this review. While the exact configuration tested in that review is currently unavailable, other configurations with the same processor are, in case you decide to go with the Core Ultra 165H model over the less powerful Core Ultra 155H.

Asus NUC 14 Pro: Design

The Asus NUC 14 Pro is an ideal mini PC for bringing to the office thanks to its discrete, matte-black design. It's compact and minimalistic, perfect for anyone who wants a PC that isn't going to take up too much space or look like a distracting desk accessory.

Like most mini PCs, the NUC 14 Pro sports a cube design with a few USB ports on the front, an array of display and power ports on the back, and vents along one side. You can pop open the case from the bottom if you want to swap out any of the parts (or add your own, such as an additional SSD card). If you're used to using a laptop, this is one of the best benefits of a mini PC.

Unlike most laptops, you can usually swap out certain components in mini PCs or expand your storage. The NUC 14 Pro has two PCIe M.2 slots for SSD storage, space for an additional SSD or HDD SATA storage drive, and up to two DDR5 RAM sticks.

That means that you can add an additional M.2 SSD storage stick (assuming you get a configuration that includes storage, not the barebones model), along with a larger SATA storage drive, and you can increase your PC's memory. So, depending on your needs, you may be able to save money by choosing a configuration with less memory or storage and adding your own down the line.

Similarly, if you already have an SSD or HDD drive from another PC with data on it you want to maintain access to, you can simply add it to the NUC 14 Pro (although you will likely want to opt for the "tall" chassis option to get the most interior space).

Our configuration with the "tall" chassis is still fairly compact, small enough to pick up in one hand. It measures 4.6 x 4.41 x 2.13 inches and weighs just 1.32 pounds. Here's how that compares to a few other mini PCs:

• Geekom AX8 Pro AI: 4.61 x 4.37 x 1.52 inches, 1.23 pounds
• AceMagic F2A AI: 5.79 x 5.79 x 2.05 inches, 4.58 pounds
• Apple Mac Mini (M4, 2024): 5 x 5 x 2 inches, 1.5 pounds

Asus NUC 14 Pro: Ports

Asus didn't skimp out on the ports on the NUC 14 Pro. It offers most of the ports the average user needs, including two HDMI ports to support dual-monitor setups.

• 3x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2 (two on front, one on back)
• 1x USB Type-A 2.0 (back)
• 1x USB Type-C 3.2 (front)
• 2x USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 (back)
• 2x HDMI 2.1 (back)
• 1x 2.5G Ethernet (back)
• 1x DC power (back)

Those ports were more than enough for me, although it's worth noting the NUC 14 Pro lacks DisplayPort support. Virtually all monitors have an HDMI port, as well, so that shouldn't be a problem for most users but may be a bit of a letdown for some who want the best possible performance from a high-end monitor.

Asus NUC 14 Pro: Performance and heat

The Asus NUC 14 Pro is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor. While I've generally had a good experience with this CPU in laptops featuring it, the NUC 14 Pro didn't quite live up to my expectations, even compared to other mini PCs.

The NUC 14 Pro scored 9,942 on the Geekbench 6 benchmark, which is notably lower than other mini PCs at a similar price (or less). For instance, the Geekom AX8 Pro AI scored 12,972 on the same test, but costs hundreds of dollars less. Even compared to other PCs with the same Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, this score is low — the Acemagic F2A mini PC scored 11,170 on Geekbench 6 (and also costs over $100 less).

While you can get better performance for the price, the NUC 14 Pro may still offer enough power for some users. In my hands-on testing, it handled basic daily tasks fine, like web browsing and word processing. If you're just looking for a PC for lightweight tasks, like everyday productivity apps, this configuration will probably work just fine.

However, I'd recommend considering a different configuration if you want to go with the NUC 14 Pro. By opting for the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H configuration, you get much more bang for your buck at around the same price (potentially less if you're up for installing your own RAM and storage).

The Core Ultra 7 165H version of the Asus NUC 14 Pro performed much better, scoring 12,368 on the Geekbench 6 benchmark and outscoring the Geekom AX8 Pro and Acemagic F2A in other key performance tests. It's a major step up in terms of the performance you're getting for your money compared to the Core Ultra 7 155H configuration we reviewed.

Laptop: Gaming and graphics

The Asus NUC 14 Pro isn't a gaming PC, so it won't come as a surprise that it relies on Intel Arc integrated graphics and does not have a discrete GPU. If you're looking for a PC specifically for gaming, you would be better served with one of the best gaming laptops or even one of the best handheld gaming PCs if you're looking for something more affordable.

With that said, you may still be able to run some lightweight, older, or indie games on the NUC 14 Pro (just don't expect RTX 5090-level performance). The NUC 14 Pro was able to run Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm in 1080p at just under 30 fps, which might not look ideal but will get the job done. You can always lower your graphics settings to squeeze out a few more frames.

It's worth noting, though, that other mini PCs performed a bit better in our gaming tests than the NUC 14 Pro. If you're looking for a mini PC but want to be able to do some casual gaming on the side, the Geekom AX8 Pro AI is a better choice.

It costs less and delivers significantly stronger gaming performance, averaging 58 fps in Civilization VI, nearly double what the NUC 14 Pro managed. It's still not on par with a fully-fledged gaming PC, but certainly better value for your money.

Asus NUC 14 Pro: Software and warranty

The Asus NUC 14 Pro includes Windows 11 Home unless you purchase the barebones configuration, which doesn't include an operating system (but is compatible with Windows 11, ChromeOS, and Linux).

Assuming you get a complete configuration with Windows 11, it also includes a basic suite of apps like Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Copilot, the Xbox app, and the Microsoft Store. Asus provides a 3-year manufacturer warranty, as well.

Bottom line

The Asus NUC 14 Pro is a solid mini PC, but delivers underwhelming performance for the price, at least for the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H configuration. At $999, it's simply not a good deal compared to other mini PCs and even other configurations of the NUC 14 Pro, namely the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H version.

If you're searching for a mini PC that offers good value for your money, the Geekom AX8 Pro AI or the Mac Mini M4 are both great options that cost hundreds of dollars less than the Asus NUC 14 Pro. Both significantly outscored the NUC 14 Pro across the board, especially in terms of graphics performance.

The Asus NUC 14 Pro may be powerful enough for casual users or basic everyday tasks, but you should probably wait until it goes on sale or choose the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H configuration instead.

As the clock ticks down on Windows 10's October 14 finale, Microsoft just pushed some updates that got the community fired up.

My PC is carrying on with Windows 10, and I plan to keep it that way until I possibly switch to Linux. Reservations around Windows 11 for folks like me are that the operating system seemingly takes one step forward and two steps back.

For example, Windows 11 only recently added the function to instantly view all apps, a feature that existed before but never got rolled over from Windows 10.

But taking the opposite approach and shoving streamlined Windows 11 features into Windows 10 is a step too far for many. And, while I don't feel it’s a big deal, there are many who do — and they're none-too-happy about it.

Of course, the feature I’m talking about is the clock.

Tsk, tock: Microsoft, return our clock

Back in January, Microsoft stripped the clock that counted seconds out of the Calendar Flyout on the taskbar. Let’s just say people had a… totally normal reaction to this. Exemplified by one user commenting, “Their plan is to make Windows 10 mirror Windows 11 in hopes that people finally downgrade.”

There are definitely worse comments (that I won’t share here), but the point is: people were upset.

While I am not so hung up on the seconds portion of this, the Calendar does look weird without the clock there. Why is this UI element reduced to such a small portion on the screen?

Well, you can’t say yelling never got anyone anywhere because Microsoft pivoted pretty hard, revealing on May 15 that it’s now bringing the Calendar Flyout's real clock, seconds included, back to Windows 10.

The change will be reverted as part of the Windows 10 Build 19045.5912 update, which is available right now in preview, and will be pushed as an optional update in the last week of May, and then finally available for everyone next month on Tuesday, June 10.

However, there is a slight change in the new Calendar Flyout, which includes a little image in the top right corner that represents the holiday for the day.

That is a neat little addition, but of course, not all that glitters is golden. If you click on it, it’ll take you straight to Microsoft's Bing.com search engine.

Listen, I’m all for giving Google some competition, but Bing ain’t it. I mean, it’s already tough to beat a search engine with a name that’s become synonymous with search itself.

Regardless of whether or not you think this is a small thing, Windows 10 folks didn’t mess around. Microsoft hasn’t commented on the removal or return of seconds, but it certainly got the message.

More from Laptop Mag

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One of our favorite creator laptops of 2024 is getting a refresh for a new year.

On Monday, at Computex in Taipei, Acer unveiled multiple refreshed laptop lines, including an updated Swift X 14 creator laptop in Intel and AMD variants.

The new Swift X 14 has been refreshed with the latest Intel and AMD CPUs and an Nvidia RTX 5070 laptop GPU.

While we loved the 2024 Swift X 14, we had difficulty verifying Acer's display claims in our own lab testing. These two new models feature Calman-verified, 100% DCI-P3 OLED displays, which should alleviate that pain point.

But what's actually new about the Swift X 14 (2025)?

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): Specs

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): Design

Acer has kept the Swift X 14's understated design for this generation, including the Titanium gray-colored aluminum chassis. However, the Swift X 14 no longer features a chrome-colored Acer badge on the lid.

Acer has also revamped the keyboard deck to feature a larger, oversized touchpad ideal for use with a stylus for better design control.

The new Swift X 14 is still a light and thin creator machine, but is a little thicker and heavier than the previous model. Measuring 12.69 x 8.95 x 0.38~0.71 inches and weighing 3.48-3.46 pounds, the Swift X 14 is still easily portable, but has a bit more overhead for better leverage over its powerful CPU and GPU combinations.

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): Battery life

Featuring an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU with Nvidia's new BatteryBoost technology, plus the power-efficient AMD Ryzen AI 300 or Intel Core Ultra 200H chipsets, the Acer Swift X 14 should get better battery life than previous creator laptops with discrete GPUs.

However, most laptops with a discrete GPU will experience a decrease in power efficiency due to the demands of the high-end graphics card.

That said, the previous Swift X 14 model with an Intel Core Ultra 185H and Nvidia RTX 4070 lasted 7 hours and 33 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test. If the 2025 models can beat that battery life, it could make the Swift X 14 one of our longest-lasting creator laptops.

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): Display

The Acer Swift X 14 features a 14.5-inch, 2880 x 1800 OLED display. This panel is similar to the one we saw on the previous Swift X 14, with Calman verification and a rating of 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

While Acer only showed the Swift X 14 with a one-page fact sheet on display, the panel is bright and vibrant, which is ideal for a content creation machine.

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): Performance and graphics

Intel's Core Ultra 200H series and the AMD Ryzen AI 300 series are powerful CPUs, and Nvidia's RTX 50 series are powerful graphics cards with strong, AI-powered software scaling for enhanced performance.

We haven't seen any RTX 50-series cards in creator laptops yet, but Nvidia has refreshed its studio drivers for the GeForce RTX graphics lineup for enhanced performance in content creation workloads.

Because we haven't reviewed an RTX 50-series creator laptop yet, we can't quite confirm any early expectations for the performance and graphics capabilities. However, based on our experience with the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 gaming laptops so far, there's definitely reason to be optimistic about these new Swift X 14 laptops.

Acer Swift X 14 (2025): What's next

Acer will launch the Swift X 14 (2025) and Swift X 14 AI (2025) in July in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with a starting price of €1,799.

Due to constantly shifting US foreign tariffs, Acer has not yet published pricing or release dates for North America.

But, when the Swift X 14 models become available in the US, you can bet we'll be angling to get it into our labs and see if the Swift X 14 (2025) has a place among the best workstation laptops.

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• Acer's ultra-portable Predator Triton 14 AI gaming laptop could be the coolest thing at Computex
• Unveiled at Computex, HP's new OmniBook 5 could be the next battery life champ

HP’s OmniBook 5 14- and 16-inch models were announced earlier this year at HP Amplify as budget-friendly AI PCs, with Intel and AMD chipsets powering the OmniBook 5 lineup. But that wasn't all: HP is adding more chipsets to the OmniBook 5 family.

During the Computex technology conference on Monday in Taipei, HP unveiled the OmniBook 5's Snapdragon X and Snapdragon X Plus 8-core versions. Latop Mag was able to go hands-on with an early production version of the 14-inch Snapdragon X Plus 8-core clamshell model.

This incredibly lightweight, portable, and affordable laptop boasts a quality display, a sleek design, and can get up to 34 hours of video playback battery life. While we’re definitely interested to see how long the OmniBook lasts on our battery test once we have a true production model ready for testing, based on our early look at the OmniBook 5, it is definitely a contender as one of the best AI PCs.

But don’t just take my word for it. Let’s break down what we know about the OmniBook 5 14 (Snapdragon X Plus) so far.

HP OmniBook 5 14 (Snapdragon X Plus): Specs

HP OmniBook 5 14 (Snapdragon X Plus): Design

HP’s OmniBook 5 has a chassis similar to that of the other OmniBook models, like the OmniBook X, and a minimalist, rounded aesthetic and streamlined keyboard deck.

This time, however, the shiny embossed HP logo on the top panel has a retro feel. The chrome inlay surrounds the “HP” lettering, letting the aluminum chassis fill in the letters themselves. This adds dimension to the OmniBook 5 and helps set it apart from the other OmniBooks.

The OmniBook 5's bezels are near edge-to-edge on the sides, with a thicker bezel at the top to house the webcam.

HP’s OmniBook 5 14 doesn’t quite hit the same degree of light and thin design as the Asus Zenbook A14, but it is still incredibly portable. The OmniBook 5 14 measures 12.29 x 8.56 x 0.5 inches, and weighs just 2.84 pounds. This is well in line with other 14-inch AI laptops like:

• HP OmniBook X: 12.32 x 8.8 x 0.56~0.57 inches, 2.91 pounds
• Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: 12.8 x 8.8 x 0.51 inches, 2.8 pounds
• Acer Swift 14 AI: 12.7 x 9.0 x 0.66~0.72 inches, 3.2 pounds

HP OmniBook 5 14 (Snapdragon X Plus): Ports

The HP OmniBook 5 14 is a laptop designed for portability, so it has a smaller set of ports designed to connect you to your essentials, without adding extra thickness to the laptop. The OmniBook 5’s port offerings include:

• 2x USB Type-C (10Gbps, DisplayPort 1.4, Power Delivery)
• 1x USB Type-A (10Gbps)
• 1x Audio

While this should work for the average commuter or student, if you need SD card slots or an HDMI connection to hook your laptop up to a monitor in your office, you may want to snag one of the best laptop docking stations or USB-C hubs to get the most out of the OmniBook 5.

HP OmniBook 5 14 (Snapdragon X Plus): Battery life

With a Snapdragon X Plus 8-core chipset, the OmniBook 5 boasts all-day battery life.

HP reports that the OmniBook 5 has up to 34 hours of battery life for video playback. Now, video playback is not something most people will do for over a day, but that is an impressively long amount of battery life.

Since our OmniBook 5 14 is an early production model, I wasn’t able to run it through our usual Laptop Mag battery life testing process, but I did use the OmniBook 5 for a full day of work and still had about 50% battery life after a day of web surfing, email and spreadsheet management, and light photo editing.

You’re pretty much guaranteed to have enough battery to get you through even a day of grueling overtime.

HP OmniBook 5 14 (Snapdragon X Plus): Display

The OmniBook 5 14 has a 14-inch, 1920 x 1200, glossy OLED display, so you know it will have some decent vibrancy and contrast.

I queued up the trailer for Disney+’s IronHeart. Though the trailer is a bit on the dark side, I could still catch all the details of the deserted pizza shop and elevator trap Riri Williams enters as part of a hero “interview.”

OLED displays tend to boast near-infinite contrast ratios, making it easier to catch details that would otherwise be too dark to spot on an LCD panel. And the OmniBook 5’s OLED is no exception.

The OmniBook’s max brightness was enough to cut through the glare from the Laptop Mag office’s pendant lighting, but it is only rated to 300 nits. While that should be enough for video streaming at home, you might run into some glare if you use the OmniBook in direct sunlight.

HP OmniBook 5 14 (Snapdragon X Plus): Performance and graphics

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series is known for high performance and great battery life, but those high-performance numbers are often based on the high-end Snapdragon X Elite processors, while the OmniBook 5 opts for the mid-range, Snapdragon X Plus 8-core. While this chip is incredibly power efficient, its performance isn’t going to be blowing Intel or AMD out of the water any time soon. In fact, the most recent chips from Intel and AMD will both outperform the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core chipset, though they don’t have the same level of battery life.

HP’s marketing materials for the OmniBook 5 heavily leverage Qualcomm’s “no performance drop when unplugged” statistic, but based on my own testing, that’s not quite true. The Snapdragon X series processors do take a bit of a dip on battery power, particularly with very CPU-heavy multicore workloads, while single-core performance stays about the same.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series also does still have some app support issues where programs you might love and rely on have to run through emulation on the Arm-based Snapdragon X CPU. While not always bad, some applications running emulated on Snapdragon are sluggish to respond. Other apps, particularly games, just don’t run at all on Snapdragon X PCs.

In fact, the core hamstring of the Snapdragon X processor line so far has been gaming. At the same time, we did see some impressive gaming performance on the Snapdragon X Elite before its launch, which was based on a custom, in-house laptop design that was never sold. All commercial laptops with the Snapdragon X series and integrated Adreno graphics tile have performed poorly in gaming compared to the latest Intel and AMD chips.

HP OmniBook 5 14 (Snapdragon X Plus): AI features

Since it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processor, the OmniBook 5 meets the Copilot+ 40 TOPS NPU requirement, giving you access to the enhanced Copilot+ exclusive features like Live Captions, CoCreate, and Recall.

HP has also included some additional AI features on the OmniBook like HP AI Companion and AI-powered temporal noise reduction.

HP OmniBook 5 14 (Snapdragon X Plus): What's next

Snapdragon X series laptops have incredible battery life. A Snapdragon X Plus laptop is currently our reigning champion for laptop with the best battery life.

If you just need to use some web-based applications, handle your emails, and stream video, the OmniBook 5 will be a fantastic choice. It’s got enough power to handle all of those tasks for a full day and more. And it won’t be so expensive it breaks your budget.

While Chromebooks used to be our best choice for budget, web-surfing machines with good battery life, the Snapdragon X series is far more efficient than any Chromebook we’ve seen in a while.

But if you want to do some casual gaming or use applications that aren’t native on Snapdragon X series processors, it’s difficult to recommend a Snapdragon laptop over an x86 Intel or AMD system.

HP isn’t marketing the OmniBook 5 for power users, but if you were tempted by that $699 price tag, it may be worth reconsidering your options if you know you’re going to be doing any gaming or using any AutoDesk software.

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Though Microsoft has already warned users that update support for Windows 10 will be sunsetted in October 2025, the operating system is still getting new patches.

But that’s not always a good thing, as some users around the web discovered after the latest KB5058379 cumulative update was released on May 13.

What is BitLocker, and how is it related to the buggy Windows update?

The reported problem involves the BitLocker function, native to most desktop and laptop builds of Windows 10.

BitLocker is designed as a security measure that encrypts entire drives at once, and often works in tandem with an internal chip called a Trusted Platform Module to verify the PIN, password, USB key, or 48-digit recovery key necessary to unlock the machine.

When a user sets this up on their own, they’re given a number of ways to regain access to their PC. The problem with this update is that BitLocker seems to get activated without any user input, and it will, therefore, lock them out of their machines on a system restart without any passwords or PIN numbers to get back in.

Who is affected by the bad update?

So far, there hasn’t been a consistent enough thread to lock down who may or may not be vulnerable to the bug present in KB5058379. BleepingComputer has narrowed things to devices manufactured by either Dell, Lenovo, or HP, but others outside that circle have also reported issues of their own.

Microsoft employees have already responded to several users who reported their findings on Reddit. Though the bug has yet to be patched as of this writing on May 16th, the company has provided a workaround for the time being.

How do you get around the BitLocker bug and unlock your machine?

"According to Microsoft Support, these are the steps you should take if your machine has been affected by the BitLocker bug:

1. Disable Secure Boot

Access the system’s BIOS/Firmware settings.

Locate the Secure Boot option and set it to Disabled.

Save the changes and reboot the device.

2. Disable Virtualization Technologies (if issue persists)

Re-enter BIOS/Firmware settings.

Disable all virtualization options, including:

Intel VT-d (VTD)

Intel VT-x (VTX)

Note: This action may prompt for the BitLocker recovery key, so please ensure the key is available.

3. Check Microsoft Defender System Guard Firmware Protection Status

You can verify this in one of two ways:

Registry Method

Open Registry Editor (regedit).

Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard\Scenarios\SystemGuard

Check the Enabled DWORD value:

1 → Firmware protection is enabled

0 or missing → Firmware protection is disabled or not configured

GUI Method (if available)

Open Windows Security > Device Security, and look under Core Isolation or Firmware Protection.

4. Disable Firmware Protection via Group Policy (if restricted by policy)

If firmware protection settings are hidden due to Group Policy, follow these steps:

Using Group Policy Editor

Open gpedit.msc.

Navigate to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Guard > Turn On Virtualization Based Security

Under Secure Launch Configuration, set the option to Disabled.

Or via Registry Editor

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard\Scenarios\SystemGuard]

"Enabled"=dword:00000000

Important: A system restart is required for this change to take effect.”

It’s also important to mention that you should only implement this workaround until Microsoft pushes a patched update. Disabling TXT in the BIOS could leave you or your administration’s systems much less secure than usual, so it should only be deployed if you absolutely need to access a machine affected by the bug.

Otherwise, the best bet is to wait until Microsoft resolves the issue and download anything recommended by Windows Update within the next few days.

Now, whether or not this coding cock up is the result of Microsoft's move to code upwards of 30% of Windows repositories using AI...who can say?

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Dell dressed its laptop lineup in new “simple” monikers, including this simply named Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1. While we had high hopes for the Dell 14 Plus (2025) clamshell, the new Dell Plus didn’t quite live up to the now-discontinued Dell Inspiron 14’s legacy.

So, I tried to temper my expectations of the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel) convertible. After all, it’s got very similar specs to the clamshell Dell 14 Plus, though there are some obvious differences in design and construction to fit that convertible form factor. Much like the clamshell edition, the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 offers great battery life and solid performance and comes at an incredibly reasonable price. But it similarly suffers from a dull display and poor audio quality.

That's a high hurdle to clear if you aspire to be one of the best 2-in-1 laptops, but no laptop is truly perfect.

Let’s find out if the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 is among the best Dell laptops.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Specs and benchmarks

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Price and configurations

The Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 starts at $999 for an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V processor with 16GB of memory, a 512GB SSD, and a 14-inch, 1920 x 1200, touchscreen display.

Upgrading to the more powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 256V processor and a 1TB SSD will set you back just $100 more for a total of $1,099. This is our review spec, and is currently on sale for $979.

The highest configuration of Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 features an upgraded Intel Core Ultra 9 288V processor, 32GB of memory, a 1TB SSD, and 14-inch, 1920 x 1200, touchscreen display. This model retails for $1,479.

As far as 2-in-1 laptops go, the Dell 14 Plus is a pretty affordable machine, even when it isn’t on sale. Considering Intel’s Core Ultra 200V platform is a power-efficient chip, power users would be better off opting for the Core Ultra 7 or Core Ultra 9 configurations for added multitasking power.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Design

To say the new Dell designs underwhelm me would, perhaps, be under-selling it. While the Dell Inspiron line was always somewhat understated, it at least felt like a Dell.

The new Dell 14 Plus looks too basic for my taste, almost like a knock-off Apple chassis. But at least the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 still features some individuality, thanks to its ice blue colorway, wedge-shaped aluminum chassis, and sturdy 2-in-1 convertible hinges. Sure, the ice blue color reads as silver, but it's a cooler silver tone than some other laptops, which helps set the otherwise bland Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 apart. Like the Dell 14 Plus clamshell, the keyboard deck is rather minimalist, with a darker-toned keyboard, and a fingerprint reader and power button combo in the upper right corner.

The Dell 14 Plus measures 12.36 x 8.9 x 0.65 inches and weighs 3.42 pounds. This is a little heavier than some 2-in-1s, but not to a distracting degree, and it’ll still fit into any laptop bag. If you were wondering, here’s how the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 stacks up against its competition:

• Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition: 12.44 x 8.66 x 0.65 inches, 2.9 pounds
• MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo A2VM: 11.82 x 8.75 x 0.64 inches, 2.9 pounds
• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441: 12.36 x 8.81 x 0.58~0.67 inches, 3.71 pounds

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Ports

The Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 features a pretty full port array that should cover most people’s needs:

• 1x Thunderbolt™ 4 (40 Gbps, DisplayPort 2.1, Power Delivery)
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (10 Gbps,DisplayPort 1.4, Power Delivery)
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (5 Gbps)
• 1x HDMI 2.1
• 1x Audio

If you still need additional connections, you may want to snag one of the best laptop docking stations or USB-C hubs.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Battery life

Intel’s Core Ultra 200V “Lunar Lake” chips are known to be very efficient, offering fantastic battery life. The Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 is no exception. During my average workday, I was easily able to get through hours of web surfing, photo editing, spreadsheet jenga, and word processing without draining the battery below 35%.

It was only while benchmarking the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 on battery life for a story that I had to break out the charger. But unless you’re going to be re-running a bunch of stress-test benchmarks for multiple hours straight, you’re unlikely to run into the same issue.

The Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 lasted an impressive 15 hours and 14 minutes on the Laptop Mag web surfing battery test. While we have seen more impressive battery life before, 15 hours on our battery test will get you through a full workday even when pushing a laptop’s performance, which is about all most people really need.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Display

Dell’s laptop displays have been rather disappointing to us lately, and unfortunately, the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 is no different. Much like the XPS 13s we saw last year, the 14-inch, 1920 x 1200, touchscreen panel on the Dell 14 Plus is dim and rather dull, displaying washed-out colors.

Watching the trailer for the John Wick spin-off, Ballerina, the super-saturated blue and orange colors that dominate the trailer were lifeless. The vibrant interior scenes of Ana de Armas training against a punching bag were almost as washed out as the snowy exterior sequences.

I got a much nicer-looking picture by setting Dell Optimizer to the “Movie” preset, which offered more vibrant colors, so the trailer looked less washed out. However, even in “Movie” mode, the Dell 14 Plus still wasn’t quite as vibrant as most displays we see. It was far more watchable than the default, though.

This is a serious drawback for a 2-in-1 since it makes the tent mode almost useless for watching movies or a TV show. You won’t want to use this display for your content binges unless you’re absolutely desperate.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Keyboard and touchpad

The Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 keyboard is the same as the clamshell, with a decent bounce to the keys and a well-spaced layout. The keys are a bit oversized, which can take some getting used to.

On the 10fastfingers.com advanced typing test, I averaged a typing speed of 84 words per minute (WPM) which is a bit shy of the 88 WPM I maintain on the MacBook Pro 14. I was a bit tripped up by the key size, but not so badly I wasn’t able to type.

Dell opted for a mylar touchpad on the Dell 14 Plus, which has a slightly rough feel to it. The touchpad also lacks haptics, instead relying on a shallow click, which is particularly unsatisfying. Clicking near the top of the touchpad seems to bend the chassis in a way that I find particularly disconcerting.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Audio

The dual speaker array on the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 is bottom-firing, so it’s got a decent bit of distortion.

I queued up “We Close Our Eyes” by Danny Elfman’s 80’s new wave rock outfit Oingo Boingo to test the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1’s audio system and I was immediately disappointed. The song features great depth between the synth melody and steady bassline, but the Dell 14 Plus flattened the sound out so it seemed hollow, and almost shrill on the high-notes. The volume was also not particularly impressive either.

We absolutely recommend a set of the best headphones if you’re going to be doing a lot of music streaming on the Dell 14 Plus.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Performance and heat

With an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V chipset, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, the Dell 14 Plus is powerful enough to handle web surfing, light photo editing, email management, and even some spreadsheet jockeying. If you need to do a lot of multitasking, you may want to opt for the Intel Core Ultra 9 288V configuration, but most people will be perfectly fine with the Core Ultra 5 or Ultra 7 models.

I didn’t run into any hangups even with 20 Chrome research tabs open, including a few spreadsheets and multimedia pages. Adding Photoshop on top of that didn’t really slow the Dell down, either.

The Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 does get a little hot under pressure, hitting almost 98 degrees Fahrenheit on the underside after 15 minutes of video streaming. So if you’re going to be pushing the Dell’s performance you may want to make sure you rest it on a table rather than your lap.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Gaming and graphics

It’s the same graphics used for the MSI Claw 8 AI+, so you get some solid gaming power at 1080p and medium graphics presets.

I opted for Baldur’s Gate III for my game testing this time around, as BG3 is rather well optimized for lower-end hardware and isn’t the most graphically demanding title despite being rather gorgeous at higher graphics settings. I didn’t run into many CPU bottleneck hangups, even in large-scale encounters, and the game ran smoothly at the max 1200p resolution and Medium graphics. My framerates kept over 50 frames per second, more than meeting the minimum 30 fps standard for playability.

While the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 is not a gaming laptop, it’s not a bad choice if you plan to get some casual gaming done.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): AI features

The Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 features an Intel Core Ultra 200V chipset which means it has a powerful enough NPU to enable the entire Copilot+ suite of applications like CoCreate, LiveCaptions, and Recall in addition to advanced Windows Studio Effects and the full version of Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant.

You can also download Intel’s AI Playground if you’d rather utilize other AI models.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Webcam

Dell has packed an FHD camera into the slim bezels of the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 which is ideal for handling Windows Hello secure sign-in or the occasional video call.

The FHD webcam feed isn’t the clearest we’ve ever seen, but it is accurate enough to function for the occasional video call or virtual meeting. I did have a bit of a pink cast over my face with the internal webcam, but not a distracting degree.

If you plan to take a lot of video calls on the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1, you may want to invest in one of our best webcams for a better video feed.

Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (Intel): Software and warranty

Dell offers both Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro installations on the Dell 14 Plus, though our review unit came with Windows 11 Home. This comes with some pre-installed Microsoft applications like Copilot, Microsoft Office 365, Windows MediaPlayer, and the Xbox app.

Dell has also pre-installed a number of its own proprietary applications like Dell Optimizer and Support Assist to get the most out of your Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1. Dell Optimizer can help optimize your display and thermal settings, while Dell Support Assist can help you troubleshoot any issues you might encounter.

Dell offers a one-year limited warranty with the Dell Plus 14 2-in-1.

Bottom line

If you’re looking for a convertible laptop that is the whole package, the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 is not that laptop.

If you’ve got the budget to spare, we’d recommend the Asus Vivobook 16 Flip or Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition instead. The Vivobook is just a bit pricier than the Dell 14 Plus and offers the more powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 258V chipset and a 16-inch OLED display. The Yoga 9i is far pricier but has a gorgeous OLED display that makes it fantastic for your next Netflix binge.

However, if you need to stick to a tight budget, the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 is affordable and gives you great battery life and solid general performance. The Dell’s affordability does come at the expense of a vibrant display and quality audio, but if you want a 2-in-1 more for web surfing flexibility in tablet mode rather than for content streaming, it’s a decent choice. It’s just hard to recommend a convertible laptop that suffers from a poor display and poor audio.

Microsoft's Windows operating system has a trail of mysteries that people are eager to see solved, and they're not limited to Google searches for Blue Screen of Death error codes, either.

From "Whatever happened to Windows 9?" to "How did we get an artificial intelligence, before decent Windows Search performance?" Everybody is looking to Microsoft for answers.

But according to one Microsoft employee manning the official Windows account on X, one question looms larger than most, humorously posting earlier this week: "It's always 'when is Windows 12 coming' and never 'how are you doing person who runs the Windows account."

Shockingly, this might count as the first official mention of Windows 12 by the Redmond-based company, even if it was only used to spice up a social media post.

When I saw it, I could only mutter "Don't do that." And not in a Hawkeye crying in the Tokyo rain, Marvel's Avengers Endgame, "Don't give me hope" way either.

I was happy when people weren't talking about Windows 12. Microsoft, especially. Nobody should be talking about Windows 12. That path only leads to disappointment. Here's why.

Holding out for a hero? Windows 12 isn't your savior

I've heard it time and time again from Windows 10 holdouts who refuse to upgrade to Windows 11, even as its October 14, 2025, end-of-support date rapidly approaches: "No thanks, I'll wait for Windows 12."

No doubt, those people are old enough to recognize a peculiar pattern. One where every other Windows release stumbles before being replaced by a supposedly superior alternative.

It all feels a little superstitious, but the evidence is undeniable: Windows 95, good. Windows 98, bad. Windows 98 SE, good. Windows ME, bad. Windows XP, good. Windows Vista, bad. Windows 7, good. Windows 8, bad. Windows 10, good. Windows 11, kill it with fire.

Logically, the next major milestone release, presumably Windows 12, is destined for greatness — except it isn't. If you're unhappy with the direction of Windows 11, I can guarantee that if Windows 12 exists, and whenever it arrives, you'll be equally as unhappy still.

Be careful what you wish for

Thankfully, I won't, based on a single post by one bored social media manager, that this is some dog-whistle for the supposed future operating system's imminent arrival. There's been no official-official word of Windows 12 from anybody in a position of authority at Microsoft so far, and I hope it stays that way.

If Windows 12 arrives — and I do stress the if — it'll bring with it the kind of hardware requirements that make TPM 2.0 look as trivial as insisting a keyboard includes a spacebar.

Microsoft's multi-billion-dollar AI push all but guarantees that the next milestone Windows release will be designed for the Copilot+ PC experience, demanding hefty investments from users to adopt the latest NPU-equipped hardware.

Given the operating system's current heading, Windows 12 wouldn't simply lean on AI, it would practically collapse into it, leaving hundreds of thousands of Windows 10 users wishing they'd have been more careful about what they asked for as their previously dated hardware is left looking like it should be gathering dust on a museum shelf next to the Antikythera mechanism.

If you're not happy with Windows 11, the last thing you want to be doing is haranguing Microsoft to release Windows 12. In my opinion, not even playfully.

Let's keep Windows 12 well and truly out of the discourse, at least until Microsoft is finished with its experimental AI phase and starts setting its sights on fixing what has turned so many away from its current flagship operating system in the first place..

In the meantime, there's always Linux.

More from Laptop Mag

• Windows 11 May update: A controversial AI feature makes a quiet comeback
• Microsoft loosens the noose on Windows 10 users with new end-of-support timeline
• Microsoft's next Windows update isn't at all what users were searching for

For the second Tuesday of May 2025, Microsoft released updates for Windows 11 22H2, 23H2, and, of course, 24H2. The latter is getting all of the most exciting updates, which Microsoft is likely hoping will entice you to make the jump to it.

While the second Tuesday of the month isn't all that special for most companies, it marks Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday. As the name implies, Patch Tuesday is when the tech giant rolls out new patches for its software to fix bugs and address security vulnerabilities.

These patches also usually bring the previous month’s preview updates, which were limited to certain insider or optional channels, to the general public.

Though Microsoft has a bit of a habit of downplaying what’s actually exciting in these updates in its release notes and chooses to focus on the security fixes instead, this one seems to pack quite a punch, particularly for those using a Copilot+ PC.

• See also: Best AI laptops in 2025

Recall is back, but this time with more privacy controls

The 24H2 update, delivered through the KB5058411 patch, includes all the improvements from the KB5055627 patch that Microsoft released as a Preview build on April 25, 2025.

The KB5055627 patch heavily focuses on the AI-powered features Microsoft has been quietly refining for a while now, including one that turned into one of the biggest controversies of 2024: Recall. The feature is finally making a comeback… after it was, well, recalled (pun fully intended) last year due to a widespread privacy backlash.

Recall, announced at Microsoft's 2024 Build event, is designed to help you “recall” something by capturing snapshots of what you’re doing on your PC every few seconds. For example, imagine you decided to watch a few Instagram Reels on your PC during your lunch break and came across a hilarious meme you wanted to share with your best friend. Before you can send it or save it, Instagram randomly refreshes, and that meme is lost forever.

With the Recall feature, you could type something like “funny cat meme from Instagram,” and it would harness the AI capabilities of Copilot+ PCs to “retrieve both text and visual matches for your search.”

Microsoft also added more privacy controls to avoid controversy this time around, like the option to pick which apps and websites Recall can snapshot. You’ll also be able to pause or turn off the feature at any time.

Critically, Recall is also now an opt-in experience, and Windows will ask for your permission before saving snapshots. You must also enroll in Windows Hello to “confirm your presence so only you can access your screenshots.”

Recall isn’t the only AI feature that’s finally landing

Copilot+ PC users will also finally be able to use Click To Do, which can analyze what’s on your screen and perform tasks like finding an app that can best do the job for you. You can use this feature by hitting the Windows key and clicking with the mouse, or the Windows key and the Q key.

Microsoft demonstrates how this feature could be useful by giving an example of using Click To Do to select an image. The feature might display different options you can take, like using the Photos app to erase an object from the image or using Paint to remove the background.

Improved Windows Search is also finally landing on Copilot+ PCs, allowing you to search for something with a description rather than the exact terminology. For instance, if you want to change the theme of your PC, instead of typing in random words you think might match the setting name, a description like “change my theme” should suffice.

Other than the Settings app, Improved Windows Search will also work in File Explorer, Windows Search in the taskbar, and even the Photos app.

The May 2025 Windows 11 update also includes a new Speech Recap feature in Windows’s built-in screen reader, Narrator, which can track what the Narrator said while providing you with a live transcription. The update also makes it easier to control or access your phone from your PC by placing Phone Link right in the Start menu.

The security updates, compared to the new features, are relatively limited, so you don't need to rush to update to protect your PC.

There are also no known issues in the April 2025 update, though, like every Windows update, bugs can surface as users begin to install it and start reporting their experiences.

What's next

This update arrives just ahead of Microsoft Build 2025, which will be held from May 19 to 22 in Seattle, Washington.

Now that Microsoft has finally rolled out all of the features announced at Build 2024, we can expect a new collection to debut with a heavy focus on AI again.

We'll also be keeping an eye out for any additional details on end-of-support plans for Windows 10, as Microsoft recently walked back the end of Microsoft 365 support for Windows 10 users. That may not be the last concession for Windows 10 holdouts.

More from Laptop Mag

• Life with Microsoft Recall: I spent weeks testing Windows 11’s most controversial feature
• Microsoft's next 50 years are all about making AI feel useful
• Best AI PC in 2025: My 6 top AI laptops tested and reviewed
  

The death of Windows 10 has been signaled for years. Come October 14, 2025, the current, most-popular version of Windows will be no more — at least when it comes to technical support, new features, and vital security patches. You know, all of the things that are somewhat vital to the operating aspect of an everyday operating system.

Despite aesthetic aversions and a lingering performance stigma, the only available lifeboat for Windows 10 users now is Windows 11. And it appears many are eager to hop aboard.

Estimates from StatCounter analysts suggests more users than ever are made the switch to Microsoft's flagship operation system, dragging Windows 10's near 70% global desktop market share down to ~53% over the last 12 months — with Windows 11 seemingly destined to overshadow Windows 10's userbase for the first time since its October 2021 release over the next few months.

However, for many, the upgrade to Windows 11 is less of a smooth transition and more of an obstacle course of hardware hurdles, software snags, and wallet woes in the wake of Trump-era tariffs.

Thankfully, Windows 10 users have a temporary "Get Out Of Jail Free" card available to them — for a price: Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program.

But a quiet change to Microsoft's post-end-of-support plans has made the deal unexpectedly sweeter for some Windows 10 holdouts.

Moving the goalposts on Windows 10's end-of-support

Originally, Microsoft insisted that both Windows 10 and its Microsoft 365 apps would lose support in lockstep on October 14, 2025. That's no longer the case.

A recently updated Tech Community blog post indicates that Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 (including Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, and OneDrive) will continue to receive security updates up until October 2028 (as spotted by Neowin), stealthily turning tail on a January announcement that claimed otherwise.

Does this moving of the goalposts suggest that Windows 10's end-of-support may get the same delayed treatment? Sadly, that seems incredibly unlikely.

Instead, Microsoft's sudden change of heart is likely to have more to do with the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program — an offer of a slow and steady descent into unfamiliar waters, rather than the immediate walking of the plank proposed by the impeding October shutdown.

Microsoft's ESU is an optional, paid service to keep Windows 10 on life support for business and home users by providing much-needed security patches after the operating system is sun-downed later this year.

Home users can secure a single year of extended security for just $30. However, businesses are expected to pay $61 per device, rising to $122 and then $244 over consecutive years.

The news of continued support for Microsoft 365 apps is likely to pair with businesses opting for the full three years of ESU support, and not a suggestion of any impeding u-turn on Windows 10's end-of-support date.

Consider it a stay of execution, not a pardon. The noose may have loosened, but the trapdoor is still very much oiled and ready.

What's next

Microsoft has given Windows 10 users a temporary lifeline, but whether they stay or delay, they'll be expected to pay.

The surprise turnaround on Microsoft 365 app security updates is a welcome one, but it won't stop the inevitability of an eventual upgrade to Windows 11 — which could mean a costly upgrade in hardware amid troubling tariff-induced upticks in hardware prices for machines that don't measure up to Microsoft's inflated minimum specs.

There's always the option to leave Windows behind entirely. Perhaps you're ready to switch to macOS, or the "End of 10" could be your invitation to explore a Linux alternative.

That said, you could also ignore the warnings entirely, white knuckle Windows 10's end-of-support while clutching your aging hardware in a death grip, and see just how long you can outrun the operating system's obsolescence before your device is riddled with spyware, your credit cards are cloned, your machine is slowly assimilated into a Chinese state-sponsored botnet, and your best form of protection is naught but a ramshackle homemade Faraday cage.

But that seems like a lot of strife just to avoid a UI with more rounded corners.

More from Laptop Mag

• Microsoft's next Windows update isn't at all what users were searching for
• It's the "End of 10," but that doesn't mean you have to install Windows 11
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Dell took the Inspiron branding from us and gave us the oversimplified yet somehow still confusing Dell 14 Plus (2025). The previous version is still our pick for the best Dell laptop, so I had high hopes for Dell's updated affordable clamshell.

Now, for $949 (on sale), my review configuration of the Dell 14 Plus does offer decent performance and long battery life packed into an aluminum fingerprint-proof chassis. However, the upgraded models don’t cost that much more and feature stronger CPUs. But regardless of performance, the Dell 14 Plus supports a poor display and audio experience, along with a shallow touchpad.

You can count the Dell 14 Plus out in the running for the best laptops or best 14-inch laptops, but I’m sure someone could make use of its higher configurations. Let’s see if it’s right for you.

Dell 14 Plus (2025): Specs and benchmarks

Dell 14 Plus: Price and configurations

I wouldn’t call the Dell 14 Plus a budget laptop, but it’s on the more affordable side of premium. The model I reviewed costs $1,099 (currently $949) and is outfitted with an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V processor, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch, 2560 x 1600 non-touch display.

Okay, Dell’s system on its website is so confusing because if you go to the standard configuration list, you’ll find a $1,049 model with a 1200p touchscreen display (meanwhile, every other spec is similar to ours). But to get our configuration, you need to go to the custom order to find the better version with a 1600p display.

Now, you can step up to the $1,249 model (currently $1,049, so this is the one I’d get), which bumps you to the Ultra 7 258V CPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 14-inch, 2560 x 1600 non-touch display.

Even if this wasn't on sale, $200 more (from the base configuration) is a steal for a boost in performance, RAM, and display. If you're thinking about buying this laptop, get this configuration.

Finally, the last model upgrades you to an Ultra 9 288V CPU for $1,399.

I’m shocked that none of these models feature high-refresh-rate displays, which are commonplace among laptops in this price range.

Now, if you’re looking for something a little cheaper, I recommend looking at our best laptops under $1,000 or true bargain-basement options among the best laptops under $500.

Dell 14 Plus (2025): Design

I suppose a simple name deserves a simple design. The Dell 14 Plus features an aluminum chassis with an Ice Blue (this is silver, I don’t care what anyone says) colorway. The only feature on the lid is a glossy paint Dell logo. While the design seems uninspired, I’ll give credit to Dell; the chassis didn’t attract any of my fingerprints while I was using it.

The interior sports the same color while the keyboard is dressed in a darker gray, with the power button fingerprint reader combo situated in the top right corner. No one likes this power button placement at Laptop Mag. The bezels around the display are quite thin, leaving a thicker space at the top for the webcam (which has a privacy shutter, thankfully).

At 3.42 pounds and 12.36 x 8.9 x 0.67 inches, the Dell 14 Plus still has a bit of weight to it, which isn’t a bad thing, and its slim profile lets you fit it in just about any laptop bag. Here’s how it stacks up to its competitors.

• Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4: 2.7 pounds, 12 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches
• Asus Zenbook 14 UX3405: 2.81 pounds, 12.3 x 8.67 x 0.59 inches
• Acer Swift Go 14 AI: 3 pounds, 12.7 x 8.9 x 0.71 inches

Dell 14 Plus (2025): Ports

Despite its size, the Dell 14 Plus offers the bare minimum number of ports for most people, but it would’ve been nice to see an additional USB Type-A port.

• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) port
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery
• 1x Thunderbolt 4 port with DisplayPort 2.1 and Power Delivery
• 1x HDMI 2.1 port
• 1x Universal Audio jack

Need more ports? Check out our best USB Type-C hubs and best laptop docking stations pages.

Dell 14 Plus (2025): Battery life

I'm not shocked that the Dell 14 Plus performed well in our battery testing, as Dell has produced some of the laptops with the best battery life in recent years. While I wouldn't call the Dell 14 Plus the best, it's quite good.

On the Laptop Mag battery test, which requires it to continuously surf the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, the Dell 14 Plus scored 13 hours and 25 minutes.

While it came in a couple of hours behind the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 and Swift 14, the Dell offers more than enough time for a workday and some after-hours free time. And it's remarkably better than the Zenbook 14.

Dell 14 Plus (2025): Display

At this price point, display quality can be a hit or miss. The Dell 14 Plus’ 14-inch, 2560 x 1600 non-touch panel is more of a miss, especially because there’s no better configuration. It’s not bad per se, but it’s mediocre.

I watched the Lilo & Stitch trailer, and when he busted out of his pod, and green smoke gushed out, the color seemed a bit muted. There wasn’t enough brightness to push the colors forward. Meanwhile, when the titular characters were side-by-side, Stitch’s blue fur and Lilo’s red shirt looked decent but not bold. I expected more out of a 1600p display.

The anti-glare on the display also seems a bit aggressive, as I could see a light fuzziness on the screen. It may be to accommodate the relatively poor brightness, but it just makes the light diffusion worse.

Overall, the Dell 14 Plus featured the dimmest and dullest display among its competition.

Dell 14 Plus (2025): Keyboard and touchpad

This keyboard is weird. The Dell 14 Plus’ keys are well spaced, but they’re big enough that they take up more room, which tripped me up because the backspace feels further to the right than it should be. Despite that, there’s a decent bounce to each of the keys.

I fumbled pretty hard on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, scoring only 72 words per minute, which is far below my 81-wpm average. I’m not a big fan of the keyboard layout; the backspace really tripped me up, but that might just be me. On my second round, I got 78 wpm, so it takes some getting used to.

While the keyboard may be hit or miss for some, the touchpad is definitely a miss. Where’s my haptic feedback touchpad, Dell? This 4.5 x 3.1-inch touchpad is so shallow and unsatisfying that I actively hate navigating with it. I highly recommend taking a look at the best wireless mouse if you plan on getting the Dell 14 Plus.

Dell 14 Plus (2025): Audio

If you were expecting a great audio experience, I’m sorry to disappoint. Unfortunately, the Dell 14 Plus’ bottom-firing speakers sound hollow and even a bit shrill on the higher notes.

I listened to “The Underworld” from Epic: The Musical (I’ll never stop listening to it), and I immediately noticed that the speakers pushed the vocals back and elevated the stringed instruments. This imbalance took away from the overall experience. I could also barely hear the sound effects, like the ship creaking in the background. The instruments also got a bit muddy toward the end of the song when Odysseus is singing his little heart out.

Surprisingly, there’s no audio software.

Dell 14 Plus (2025): Performance and heat

Packed with an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V processor and 16GB of RAM, the Dell 14 Plus wasn’t designed with the best performance in mind, but it’s solid for light multitasking. I only noticed a slight slowdown after popping open a couple of dozen Google Chrome tabs and a handful of YouTube videos.

Unfortunately, the Dell 14 Plus got rinsed in almost every benchmark we threw at these laptops. On the Geekbench 6 overall performance test, the Dell fell behind the MacBook Air’s M4 and Zenbook 14’s Ultra 7 258V by quite a wide margin. It’s a wonder how much two digits can change in an Intel processor. Meanwhile, the Swift Go’s Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 pulled ahead only a little.

When transcoding a 4K video to 1080p, we saw similar results across all competitors. I’m not too shocked by Dell's performance, considering its processor, but I’m more disappointed by its 1TB SSD, which scored a sub-1,000-MBps transfer rate.

At the very least, the Dell 14 Plus remained cool after playing a 15-minute video, clocking in 95.2 degrees Fahrenheit between the G and H keys, basically in line with our 95-degree comfort threshold.

Dell 14 Plus (2025): Gaming and graphics

I wouldn’t recommend running the latest AAA games on the Dell 14 Plus’ Intel Arc Graphics chip, but you can get some light gaming in.

We got 52 frames per second in Sid Meier's Civ VI: Gathering Storm (Medium, 1080p), 26 fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Ultra, 1080p), and 24 fps in Borderlands 3 (Badass, 1080p). Now, the last two couldn’t make the 30-fps playability threshold, but if you turn down some settings, you can get there.

Meanwhile, its competitors landed around the same place.

Dell 14 Plus (2025): AI features

Naturally, the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V features an NPU, so you can natively run some AI processes, but there’s really no Dell-branded AI features you can take advantage of here.

The Dell 14 Plus, like every other laptop, offers the suite of Windows 11 AI features, like Recall, Cocreate, and Live Captions.

Dell 14 Plus: Webcam

It’s not often that a laptop sports a good webcam, which is why I wasn’t surprised when the Dell 14 Plus’ 1080p shooter fell short.

There’s a strong film grain over the entirety of the photo I took. The window behind me and half of my ceiling were overexposed, and the My Hero Academia poster’s gorgeous blue sky looked not-so-tantalizing. I recommend checking out the best webcams.

Dell 14 Plus (2025): Software and warranty

There are two important Dell-branded apps onboard the Dell 14 Plus: Dell SupportAssist and Dell Optimizer. The former gives you performance settings, updates, hardware scans, network optimization, and warranty information. Meanwhile, Dell Optimizer features settings for display, battery, and thermal management.

The Dell 14 Plus comes with a one-year limited warranty.

Bottom line

I wanted to like the Dell 14 Plus — I’ve always been a fan of the Inspiron series, but this one fails to stand out, and I swear it doesn’t have anything to do with its new name (maybe).

It offers decent performance and solid battery life, but I can’t get over its subpar display, hollow audio, and shallow touchpad.

If you want to stay in this price range but need better performance and battery life, I highly recommend checking out the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 or Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406).

But if you do like what you see out of the Dell 14 Plus, I highly recommend getting the Ultra 7 258V model for increased performance.

HP’s ZBook Ultra is a hyper-portable mobile workstation that immediately feels like a competitor to Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup. Not only is it a light and thin workstation, but it’s also got a new, innovative chipset under the chassis.

AMD’s Ryzen AI Max chipset is an ambitious project for x86 CPU architecture and something of a gamble. While we did have a blast with the gaming-centered version on the Asus ROG Flow Z13, I’ve been waiting to get my hands on this chip in the HP ZBook Ultra since CES back in January.

The Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 chip in the ZBook Ultra 14 G1a offers fantastic all-around performance, solid Radeon 8060s GPU power, and more memory than I know what to do with. The ZBook also features a vivid display, a slim, portable design, powerful audio, and a professional port array. A steep price tag, lackluster battery life, and a grainy webcam hold it back, but they aren't shocking for a 14-inch workstation laptop.

Does the MacBook Pro 14 finally have competition in the form of the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a? Is it powerful enough to land a spot on our best workstations list? Let’s take a look.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Specs and benchmarks

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Price and configurations

No workstation is cheap, and if you hoped the ZBook Ultra might be an exception to that rule, you’ll be disappointed.

The base configuration of HP’s ZBook Ultra 15 G1a costs $2,599 and gets you the powerful combination of the Ryzen AI Max Pro 385 CPU with Radeon 8060S integrated graphics, 32GB of memory, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 14-inch, 1920 x 1200, IPS display.

You can upgrade to the Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chipset with a 1TB SSD and a 14-inch, 2880 x 1800, OLED touchscreen for an additional $350. Upgrading the Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 model to 64GB of RAM for an additional $300 brings the total to $3,249.

Upgrading to the Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 model costs $5,660 and comes with 64GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch, 2880 x 1800, OLED display. Upgrading the RAM to 64GB and storage to 2TB brings the total to $6,290.

The top-end configuration of the ZBook Ultra with the Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395, Radeon 8060S integrated graphics, 128GB of RAM, 4TB of SSD storage, and 14-inch, 2880 x 1800, OLED display costs a total of $8,250.

However, our review spec is perhaps the best value for the ZBook Ultra. For $4,049, you get the Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 CPU, Radeon 8060S integrated graphics, 128GB of RAM, 2TB of SSD storage, and the 14-inch, 2880 x 1800, OLED touchscreen. This gives you the most use of the unified memory, with additional storage space, an upgraded CPU, and an OLED display.

While none of these configurations are cheap, they’re not too steep compared to the average workstation price. However, it does start higher than other portable content creation laptops like the Apple MacBook Pro 14 ($1,599 starting price) or Asus ProArt PX13 ($1,699). It is worth noting that upgrades on the MacBook Pro, in particular, are expensive, to match our recommended ZBook Ultra configuration, it would be $5,099.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Design

HP hasn’t changed much of the ZBook aesthetic for the ZBook Ultra 15 G1a. It has a Meteorite Silver magnesium alloy chassis with a minimalist chrome HP logo on the top cover and a sleek keyboard deck with a centered touchpad.

The ZBook Ultra does have slim bezels on the display, with a slight increase in bezel size along the top to fit the webcam. The hinges are nice and sturdy, with an almost 180-degree rotation in case you need to use the ZBook on your lap and tilt the display back for better ergonomics.

Most ZBook workstations aren’t laptops you’d want in your lap for long. Even the slim ZBook Studio can feel a bit hefty after some time, but the ZBook Ultra is designed to be a completely portable powerhouse machine, and its chassis design is small and lightweight to match.

The ZBook Ultra measures just 12.29 x 8.45 x 0.71 inches and weighs just 3.4 pounds. While this is pretty light and portable compared to most powerful workstation laptops, it is a bit closer in dimensions to more mobile creator devices like:

• Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M4 2024): 12.3 x 8.7 x 0.61 inches, 3.4 pounds
• Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7: 13.95 x 9.49 x 0.67 inches, 4.3 pounds
• Asus ProArt PX13: 11.74 x 8.26 x 0.62 inches, 3.04 pounds
• Apple MacBook Pro (M4 Pro, 2024): 14 x 9.7 x 0.66 inches, 4.7 pounds

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Ports

As a mobile workstation, the ZBook Ultra comes with a full port array to connect all of your devices:

• 2x USB 4 Type-C (40Gbps, Power Delivery, DisplayPort 2.1)
• 1x USB Type-C (10Gbps, Power Delivery, DisplayPort 2.1)
• 1x USB Type-A (10Gbps)
• 1x HDMI 2.1
• 1x Audio combo
• 1x Security lock slot

The ZBook Ultra offers the majority of ports you could want with multiple DisplayPort 2.1 USB-C connections, additional USB Type-C and Type-A ports, and an HDMI port. The only major workstation port missing is an SD card reader, so if you need a quick-access SD slot, you may want to snag one of the best laptop docking stations or USB-C hubs.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Battery life

The Achilles' heel of most Windows workstations is battery life. And the HP ZBook Ultra is no exception. While it doesn’t have a discrete graphics card, its Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 chipset is still a bit of a power hog.

I easily got through half of my workday, with 15-20 Chrome tabs and Photoshop running, without needing to find an outlet, but I did have to plug the ZBook into its charger around my lunch break. It’s not awful for a powerful workstation laptop, but it’s not touching MacBook Pros, which offer over 18 hours of battery life.

On the Laptop Mag web surfing battery test, the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a lasted 6 hours and 46 minutes. It’s not much worse compared to most workstation laptops, but when compared to its hyper-portable competition, the ZBook Ultra does fall short against the ProArt PX13 and ThinkPad P1 Gen 7.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Security and durability

The ZBook Ultra features HP Wolf Pro Security, a TPM 2.0 embedded security chip, and a nano security lock slot, so it has plenty of hardware and software security.

The ZBook also features an IR webcam for Windows Hello secure sign-in, and a fingerprint reader on the power button.

HP has run the ZBook Ultra through all 21 durability tests to meet the MIL-STD-810H standard, including exposure to extreme high and low temperatures, dust, humidity, and high altitude. So the ZBook Ultra can follow you on location to

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Display

More than other laptops, workstations require a high level of color accuracy in their displays. After all, if you’re using the ZBook Ultra for design work, you need to know the color you see on your display is what will be seen by customers.

The glossy 14-inch, 2880 x 1800, OLED touchscreen display on our ZBook Ultra model is absolutely what you’d expect from a ZBook laptop. Pulling up photos of a recent trip to put the ZBook through its editing paces, I was taken back by just how well the OLED touchscreen captured the vivid, bright colors of the Walt Disney World parks, even at night.

From the cyberpunk blue lights of the new Tron Lightcycle Run coaster to the terracotta pink of the Tower of Terror, I’ve rarely been more nostalgic for a family Disney trip than when editing my vacation photos on the ZBook Ultra.

In our lab testing, the ZBook’s display covered 139% of the DCI-P3 color gamut with an accuracy of 0.31 (lower is better) and had a max SDR brightness of 368 nits, with a peak HDR brightness of 575 nits. The numbers don’t lie; this display is fantastic.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Keyboard and touchpad

HP opted for the Premium keyboard on the ZBook Ultra, and it’s a choice that’s paid off. The ZBook Ultra’s keyboard is crisp, with a springy activation feel.

On the 10fastfingers.com advanced typing test, I averaged a typing speed of words per minute (WPM), which is just shy of the 88 WPM I maintain on the MacBook Pro 14.

The HP Premium keyboard is also mounted underneath the keyboard deck, making it easier to swap out for repair or IT recycling to a different region. While not necessary on more consumer-focused devices, it's a valuable option on a professional workstation, as most of these laptops will be used for at least 4 years.

The large glass touchpad on the ZBook Ultra is also a delight, sporting multigesture support and a silky feel. The touchpad is clickable through about 90% of the area, with only the top edge being unclickable. I didn’t notice the difference while using the ZBook until I looked for it.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Audio

HP has loaded four integrated stereo speakers with tuning by PolyStudio into the ZBook Ultra, and those top-firing speakers pack an impressive amount of power. Not only can they fill a room, but the speakers have a high degree of audio clarity, even at full volume.

I could differentiate between the screaming guitars and melodic synth of Sleep Token’s “The Summoning” at high and medium volumes. The PolyStudio audio offered serious fidelity from the rich, driving bass to Vessel’s soaring vocals.

The ZBook Ultra’s audio can handle web calls and video or audio editing sessions. However, if you spend a lot of time editing in the field or office, we’d recommend a set of the best headphones so you don’t need to worry about background noise getting in the way.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Performance and heat

The ZBook Ultra 14 G1a features AMD’s most ambitious mobile chipset, the Ryzen AI Max series, specifically the Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395. This massive APU is supported by 128GB of unified memory and a speedy SSD.

I used the ZBook Ultra to edit some of my recent vacation photos, and even unplugged, the ZBook Ultra could handle my usual edits without issue. Even editing multi-layered projects for my work at Laptop Mag was a breeze.

In our performance testing, the ZBook Ultra’s Ryzen AI Max+ Pro chipset outperformed the MacBook Pro 14’s M4, the ThinkPad P1 Gen 7’s Intel’s Core Ultra 7 165H, and the ProArt PX13’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 processors in Geekbench 6 multicore performance by up to 36%. Only the MacBook Pro 16’s M4 Pro outpaced the ZBook Ultra.

The ZBook does get a bit hot under strain, with its hottest point measuring 99.6 degrees Fahrenheit above the F4 key after streaming a 4K video for at least 15 minutes. While not the hottest laptop temperature we’ve ever measured, it can get toasty on your fingertips. Thankfully, the rest of the laptop stays a bit cooler, with the area between the G and H keys hitting 95.5 degrees and the underside measuring 92.3 degrees.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Gaming and graphics

The HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a is a thin, light, and ultraportable workstation. Not a gaming laptop.

Workstation laptops do feature powerful GPUs, but they historically perform poorly in gaming compared to high-powered gaming laptops because workstation GPUs are designed for precision rather than raw power. While I am a self-professed MMO hermit who will play Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail on any platform capable of running it, even I hesitate to game on a workstation.

However, the ZBook Ultra is a competitor of the MacBook Pro 14, and I like to play games on my Mac. So I eventually convinced myself to download and run FFXIV on the ZBook Ultra, not that it took too much effort. I didn’t expect the ZBook Ultra to play as well as a dedicated gaming laptop, but it maintained a smooth 55 to 60 frames per second on the Standard (Laptop) preset at 1800p. So, if you want to use the ZBook Ultra as your daily driver, it can keep up with some light gaming.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: AI features

The HP ZBook Ultra features an AMD Ryzen AI chipset, which means it has a 50 TOPS NPU onboard, which gets you access to the entire Copilot+ suite of applications like CoCreate, LiveCaptions, and Recall, in addition to advanced Windows Studio Effects and the full version of Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant.

As an AMD laptop, the ZBook Ultra also has access to AMD’s AI-optimized software, which includes Amuse, Topaz Labs, Camo Studio, and Arkrunr.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Webcam

The ZBook Ultra sports a 5MP IR camera, which is ideal for Windows Hello secure sign-in and not so great for virtual meetings. The feed is a bit grainy with some color distortion, which casts a persistent pink layer over my face.

It’s perfectly serviceable for the occasional Zoom call, but if you want to use the ZBook Ultra as your daily work laptop, you may want to invest in one of our best webcams to handle your virtual meetings rather than use the onboard camera.

HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Software and warranty

The ZBook Ultra ships with Windows 11 Pro, which includes standard Microsoft applications like Copilot, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, Windows Media Player, and Microsoft Teams. The ZBook Ultra has some pre-installed AMD software, like AMD Bug Report Tool and AMD Install Manager.

HP also pre-loaded proprietary software, such as HP Audio Control, Connection Optimizer, Insights, Sure Recover, Poly Camera Pro, and HP Support Assistant. There are more than 15 different HP and Poly programs pre-installed on the ZBook Ultra, which is a bit much. Thankfully, the programs don’t take up much space on the SSD.

HP offers a three-year limited warranty with the HP ZBook Ultra.

Bottom line

If you’re OS agnostic like I tend to be, you want a portable, powerful, efficient workstation to meet your day-to-day requirements and make sure you don’t miss a beat when working or creating in your off time.

The HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a comes very close to eclipsing my MacBook Pro in terms of portability and beats the base MacBook Pro's CPU power, but it comes at the cost of battery life and a higher price. The base configuration of the ZBook Ultra costs $2,599, which is a bit steep for the average consumer. And it doesn’t get the full leverage of the Ryzen AI Max Pro chipset’s unified memory.

If you need the ultimate combination of affordability, power, and battery life, the MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024) is still the way to go, especially if you don’t need to run Windows to access all of your applications. But if you need the full breadth of the Windows ecosystem, the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a is a worthy contender.

Unlike the Asus ProArt PX13, the ZBook Ultra is more powerful than the base M4 chipset, offers more GPU power for data analysis and video editing, and has a much better display. While the ProArt PX13 is the cheaper option, the ZBook Ultra gets you far more power. It’s got your back if you’ve got funds.

In news unlikely to surprise anybody, Windows 10 is rapidly approaching its October 14 expiration date. That doesn't mean you'll be waking up on October 15 to a computer that no longer functions, but it does mean you'll miss out on Microsoft's technical support, feature updates, and security patches.

You can probably make do with the former, but the latter will leave you, your data, your hardware, and your system integrity completely exposed to every ne'er-do-well netizen with a willingness to exploit legacy machines (of which, there are a lot).

The official solution? Upgrade to Windows 11, obviously. And if your hardware doesn't meet Windows 11's stricter requirements? According to Microsoft, it's time to scrap your hardware and invest in one of the best laptops that comes pre-installed with Windows 11, instead.

However, the official path isn't the only path, and a new project called End of 10 is offering a different solution — one that doesn't involve tossing out your perfectly good hardware, surrendering to Windows 11's centrally-aligned, ad-laced Start Menu, or being constantly harangued about the spiritual benefits of owning a Microsoft Account.

In fact, it doesn't involve Windows at all. It's guiding people towards a different platform entirely: Linux.

The "End of 10" but a fresh, Linux-based start for your brand-new, old computer

Yes, I'm well aware that suggesting Windows 10 users migrate to Linux may sound a bit like suggesting you start living in a van, under a bridge, and down by the river. It's free, it's liberating, but you might need to write a Bash script every time you want to start the engine.

At least, that's how Linux used to be seen.

Modern Linux is a different beast entirely, and it's perhaps in its most accessible state ever. That said, with only a 4% share of the desktop OS market (as per StatCounter estimates), Linux may rival Apple's macOS in terms of popularity, but it's vastly overshadowed by Windows' presence as the "standard" operating system.

Still, it's often that 4% who are the most vocal about their operating system of choice. They may be just as evangelical as your local Mormons, but they also have good reason to be. Even I, a lifelong Windows user, have been enjoying dabbling in Linux thanks to Valve's Steam Deck and its Arch Linux-based SteamOS platform.

Gaming with Proton? Surprisingly excellent. General computing? Seamless.

End of 10 seeks to promote Linux adoption, not by challenging Windows 11 with any particular distro, but instead by educating users with a mix of online or in-person guidance on how to make the switch with confidence.

It's less about the cold suggestion to "download this ISO" and more "let's walk you through it."

If you've ever debated giving Linux a shot, but have been scared off by its "experts only" reputation, End of 10's global network of repair cafes, independent shops, organizations, and Linux-familiar groups, could have you up and running on a fresh install in no time at all — breathing new life into older hardware, and letting you enjoy a brand-new, old computer.

What's next

Let's be fair. Windows 11 isn't terrible. It's (relatively) stable, secure, and very much the definition of a modern operating system with its growing AI-backed feature set. Most of what works in Windows 10 carries over to Windows 11 pretty smoothly.

For every problematic switching to Windows 11 story you come across, there are probably a dozen or more silently satisfied upgraders now residing on Microsoft's flagship operating system.

But when it comes to hardware requirements, there are a lot of computer owners who don't even have the opportunity to give it a chance, even if they wanted to.

End of 10 isn't just about keeping older hardware out of landfills, it's a project that reminds people that, in the shadow of Windows' dominance, they still have a choice.

Linux isn't perfect, either. It has its quirks, and it's not going to be suited for every workflow, especially if you rely on currently unsupported programs like Adobe's suite of tools, for example.

However, for those with aging hardware, those who don't want to be forced onto Windows 11, or those who've already made the jump and are regretting it, Linux stands as a more than viable alternative in 2025.

While I can say that Windows 11 probably isn't the horror show that it's made out to be, I can also admit that it didn't get off to the best of starts, and its AI-focused future isn't appealing to everybody.

Windows 11 is probably in its best shape to date, but the one thing Microsoft still can't patch out of its operating system is the stigma.

Maybe the End of 10 can be the start of something new for you.

More from Laptop Mag

• Microsoft's new AI can change your laptop's settings — if you trust it to
• Microsoft set to make huge Windows change — and it's hoping you won't notice
• Microsoft CEO brags, AI model performance is "doubling every 6 months"

Microsoft is bringing even more new AI features to your Windows 11 laptop, this time with a tool that might save you a lot of aggravation.

Windows 11 users will soon be getting a new "AI agents" feature that will let you use natural language to change your system settings with AI. This feature could be helpful for making Windows 11 PCs more accessible — assuming you trust Microsoft's AI to control your system settings.

Here's a look at when you'll get access to Microsoft's new AI settings agent and what you should consider before using it.

See also: Best laptop deals May 2025

Microsoft announces feature that can control system settings with AI

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced in a blog post that it will soon be launching a new "AI agents" feature that will allow Windows 11 users to use natural language to adjust their settings with the help of AI.

As Microsoft explains, "With this update to Settings, you will be able to simply describe what you need help with like, 'how to control my PC by voice' or 'my mouse pointer is too small' and the agent will recommend the right steps you can take to address the issue."

You will even be able to grant the AI permission to make the changes for you if you want. The feature will use on-device AI, meaning it will not rely on transmitting data to the cloud, so any data about your system settings will stay on your device.

The feature will be rolling out this week for Windows Insiders members with Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs . It will be available later for Windows Insiders with Intel and AMD-powered PCs, although Microsoft has not specified a date yet.

Should you use Microsoft's settings AI on your Windows 11 laptop?

I always try to look at new AI features and tools with a healthy dose of skepticism since using AI can often come at the cost of your data privacy. Privacy concerns motivated the wave of backlash around Microsoft's Recall AI feature last year that has faced delays ever since.

With that said, this week's new AI agents feature isn't quite as concerning. This feature could legitimately be a game changer for a lot of people, helping to improve accessibility. That's especially true for people who are new to using Windows 11 or just aren't familiar with all the inner workings of their settings.

You might know exactly what you want to change about your PC, but just unsure where to find the right setting to adjust. The option to simply explain what you're looking for and allow an AI to make the right changes could save everyone time and trouble, assuming the feature works as advertised.

Of course, like with any AI tool, you should still take privacy into account. The risks for this feature look relatively low, at least on paper, since it uses on-device AI and only runs when you specifically request it to.

As Microsoft's blog post states, "With your permission and at your initiation, [AI agents] can even complete the actions to change your settings on your behalf."

While that could be great for tweaking basic settings, I'd still caution users against using AI to change more system-critical settings. For instance, it's probably not a good idea to let Microsoft's AI try to update your graphics drivers for you. Until it's clear that this AI feature is capable of consistently, accurately acting on requested settings changes, it's probably best to only use it with basic settings like mouse pointer size or display brightness.

More from Laptop Mag

• Microsoft set to make huge Windows change — and it's hoping you won't notice
• Microsoft CEO brags, AI model performance is "doubling every 6 months"
• Microsoft's new Surface Pro could solve our biggest issue with the previous gen

For Windows 11 users, it's time to update, whether you want to or not.

Microsoft announced on Friday on its Windows 11 update blog that "Windows 11, version 24H2," will not be optional, using the term "rollout" for the update. For everyone less-than-pleased with Windows 11 updates, this news may cause some annoyance. This auto-update applies to Windows 11 Home and Professional editions.

However annoying the news might be, the rollout of this Windows 11 update, which includes all previous updates if you’ve not been updating, comes just a few months before Windows 11 25H2 debuts, which should occur in September or October of this year. (Windows 11 24H2 first debuted in October 2024.)

This sort of forced update isn’t new; it’s just the annual “final” feature update, minus the monthly security updates. The number – “24” – is for this year, and the H2 means “second half” because the annual feature updates are debuted in the second half of the calendar year.

To see if your Windows machine can download this update, go to Settings > Windows Update and select Check for updates.

Windows Latest, the first outlet to report this news, also notes there is a measure of control over this update, though: “The Windows 11 2024 Update is offered immediately when you check for updates, but it will not download unless you click ‘Download and install.’”

With this update, Microsoft states that users can “choose the time to restart your device or postpone the update.” But you cannot cancel this update.

As our colleagues at Tech Radar observe: “In short, it’s time to get ready for version 24H2 on your Windows 11 PC before too long – which might be a worry for some folks given the amount of bugs and complaints of all sorts of oddities that have been associated with this particular feature upgrade. Microsoft must be confident enough that it’s been hammered into better shape at this point, though, to open the 24H2 update to this broad general deployment.”

If you haven’t updated to Windows 24H2 yet — say you’re still running 23H2, 22H2, or 21H2 — you will also receive the update automatically. The only caveat is if your company’s IT department manages your Windows machine.

There is a way to stop the download once it has begun — Windows Latest helpfully offers a step-by-step guide — but that might only be delaying the inevitable.

If you’re still on Windows 10, none of this news may matter much to you. However, the days of Windows 10 are numbered, as well: Support for the OS from Microsoft ends on October 14.

More from Laptop Mag

• Microsoft found a way to fix slow Word launches, but it’s not all good news
• Amid the slow death of Windows 10, Microsoft's CEO reveals a bold stat about Windows 11
• Microsoft's controversial Recall feature arrives on Copilot+ PCs, here’s what you should know

I'm a bit spoiled with all the fancy laptops I get to review on a weekly basis, but I can spot a lazy budget laptop from a mile away.

I wanted to love the Acer Aspire 3 15. The first laptop I ever bought was an Acer Aspire laptop with a barebones discrete GPU inside, and that thing carried me through Fallout 4, albeit on very low settings. I expected the Aspire 3 to come at me with a low-quality display and speakers, but I lost hope when I saw its abysmal battery life. Its performance didn’t help either. However, sacrifices must be made in the quest for a sub-$500 Windows laptop, and the Aspire 3 15 is often well under that mark.

If you’re looking for a Windows laptop that offers a nice design and a decent keyboard for an affordable price, then the Acer Aspire 3 15 might be the budget laptop for you. But just to be sure, let’s dive in.

Acer Aspire 3 15: Specs and benchmarks

Acer Aspire 3 15: Price and configurations

There are quite a few models of the Acer Aspire 3 15. The one I reviewed costs $499 and is outfitted with an AMD Ryzen 3 7320U processor, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 60Hz touchscreen display. It's just $309 on Amazon at the time of writing, which is a great deal.

The cheapest model costs $329, but that brings you down to a 128GB SSD, and Windows 11 will come in S mode (which you can disable afterward). The most you can pay for this laptop is $619, and that model features a Ryzen 5 7520U, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

You’re well within budget range with these laptops, and overall, the price for components is what we expect. However, if you’re looking for something with a bit more power, I recommend checking out the best laptops overall.

Acer Aspire 3 15: Design

I’ll give Acer credit; the Aspire 3 15 does not look like a budget laptop. It’s got a sleek silver colorway with the company logo at the top of the lid and “Aspire” typed in an elegant font at the bottom.

For better or worse, the hinge has plenty of resistance, so it takes a bit of effort to lift the lid open. The interior shows off more of the same silver design, accompanied by a black keyboard carved in the center. I’m not a fan of the rounded edges on the touchpad or the slanted lip of the deck.

While the Aspire could certainly be lighter and thinner, it’s not so bad, clocking in at 3.92 pounds and 14.3 x 9.4 x 0.74 inches. Here’s how it compares:

• Acer Aspire 14 AI: 3.2 pounds, 12.56 x 8.86 x 0.46~0.67 inches
• Asus Vivobook 16 (2025): 4.14 pounds, 14.06 x 9.87 x 0.70~0.78 inches
• Acer Chromebook Spin 312: 2.84 pounds, 11.41 x 8.10 x 0.78 inches

Acer Aspire 3 15: Ports

There’s a decent number of ports aboard the Acer Aspire 3 15, but there probably should’ve been more than one USB Type-C port.

• 1x DC-in
• 1x USB Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gbps), DisplayPort over USB-C
• 1x HDMI 2.1
• 2x USB Type-A
• 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
• 1x Kensington lock slot

Need more ports? Check out our best USB Type-C hubs and best laptop docking stations pages.

Acer Aspire 3 15: Battery life

I don’t expect a whole lot out of budget laptops due to their price. However, one thing I will not compromise on, no matter the price, is battery life. This is where the Acer Aspire 3 15 falters.

On the Laptop Mag battery test, which sets it to continuously surf the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, the Aspire 3 15 lasted a measly 6 hours and 56 minutes. That’s the shortest time of all its competitors, each of them scoring over 10 hours of battery life.

Acer Aspire 3 15: Display

If you're opting for a budget laptop, you can forget about the display. This is one of the more acceptable sacrifices you’ll need to come to terms with, as much as it pains me to say as a lover of OLED. The Acer Aspire 3 15 features a 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 60Hz touchscreen display that’s not very colorful or very bright.

I watched the colors drain from Stitch’s typically vibrant blue face in the latest Lilo & Stitch trailer. Scenes in the daylight looked like they were shot at dusk. And the dull contrasting colors between the ocean and the sand felt like the beach wanted to be left behind (no 'Ohana here).

The numbers our colorimeter caught on the Aspire 3’s panel confirm what I saw. It’s the dimmest screen among its competition, but its poor color averages the same.

Acer Aspire 3 15: Keyboard and touchpad

Typing on the Acer Aspire 3 15’s keyboard felt good. I love the raised texture on the keys, and they’re well-spaced overall. However, a mixture of lower key travel and its lower placement in the deck makes typing require a bit more effort.

I noticed this when I scored 78 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, which is just below my 81-wpm average. The keyboard is fine, it just needed a little something to make it great, like more travel or bounce on the keys.

The 3.2 x 5.1-inch touchpad is surprisingly smooth, but it feels too stiff to click, and the clicker itself sounds soft and muffled. The touchpad experience is an important component of a laptop, so if you’re as picky as I am, maybe check out the best gaming mouse.

Acer Aspire 3 15: Audio

Play something on your phone, and then sit on it. That’s what the Acer Aspire 3 15’s front-firing speakers sound like.

I listened to “Keep Your Friends Close” from Epic: The Musical and was shocked by the opening wind instruments presenting a decent albeit quiet sound. Then, I was hit with the nasally vocals and the sharp percussion. There isn’t much of a balance, either, as the horned instruments took over the vocals toward the end of the song.

I wouldn’t exactly want to listen to the rest of the musical like this, so I’d opt for one of the best headphones.

Acer Aspire 3 15: Performance and heat

Listen, I wasn’t expecting much out of the Acer Aspire 3 15 in terms of performance, but the AMD Ryzen 3 7320U processor is a bit of a mess. I already noticed a slight slowdown when I started to open new Chrome tabs. Jumping to a couple of dozen tabs and YouTube videos did slow it down further, but to be fair, it wasn't a dealbreaker kind of bad.

If you’re opting for a budget laptop, you’ve got to keep your expectations low, regardless. Stick to light tasks like web browsing, writing, and spreadsheet management. Despite that, the Aspire 3 scored quite a bit lower on the Geekbench 6 overall performance test compared with its rivals.

The Vivobook 16’s Qualcomm Snapdragon X X1-26-100 and the Aspire 14 AI’s Intel Core Ultra 5 226V managed over a 140% increase in performance versus the Aspire 3. Meanwhile, the Acer Chromebook Spin 312, which features the low-tier Intel Core i3-N305, scored slightly better than the Aspire 3. Getting trumped by your siblings, especially a Chromebook, is rough.

The Aspire 3 took nearly 12 minutes to transcode a 4K video to 1080p on our HandBrake benchmark, which is nearly or over twice as long as its Windows competitors. Meanwhile, its SSD speed was unbearably slow.

Don’t get me started on the heat (too late). Why are we clocking 107.4 degrees Fahrenheit as the hottest temp? What is this budget laptop doing that it needs to be that hot? We found this on the rear-center of the underside, about 2 inches left off center (behind the vent).

Acer Aspire 3 15: Gaming and graphics

Do I really need to go out of my way to tell you not to game on this thing? The Acer Aspire 3 15’s AMD Radeon Graphics doesn’t get you anywhere apart from your barebones photo-editing. Again, just because it can’t game, doesn’t make this a bad laptop. The Acer Aspire 3 is built for light loads.

On the Sid Meier's Civ VI: Gathering Storm benchmark at Medium, 1080p settings, the Aspire 3 scored 10 frames per second, a third of what the playable threshold is. The Aspire 14 AI’s Intel Arc 130V managed some impressive frames overall, while the Vivobook 16’s Qualcomm Adreno actually didn’t get it much further than the Aspire 3.

Acer Aspire 3 15: AI features

You’re not going to find any dedicated AI features aboard the Acer Aspire 3 15. The AMD Ryzen 3 7320U doesn’t support an NPU for onboard AI processing.

There is Copilot, but considering that there isn’t even a dedicated button for it on the keyboard, this device wasn’t built with AI in mind

Acer Aspire 3 15: Webcam

If you’re invested in how you look (which you should be, you’re beautiful), then maybe don’t use the Aspire 3’s 720p webcam.

The poor contrast overexposed the window behind me, consuming half of my ceiling in a white light. The My Hero Academia poster behind me looked dull, washing away the bold green and red of Deku’s outfit. And the overall resolution made my face and hair look fuzzier than usual. Like most of this laptop, it does work, but if you want something better, I suggest looking at the best webcams.

Acer Aspire 3 15: Software and warranty

The app you’ll want to keep in mind is Care Center, which features system information, hardware checkups, tuneups, updates, and recovery management. You’ll see a couple of other Acer-branded items in the app section, but those are just documentation for your laptop. Apart from that, there’s the Acer Purified Voice Console, which reduces background noise of your microphone, and Acer Product Registration, which handles your warranty.

The Acer Aspire 3 15 comes with a one-year limited warranty.

Bottom line

While I’m not the biggest fan of the Acer Aspire 3 15, I cannot deny that it's pretty solid for a laptop this cheap. It looks nice and features a relatively clicky keyboard. However, I cannot get over its poor battery life. The lower performance does suck, but battery life? I can name a bunch of budget laptops with great battery life, and I have!

If battery life is important to you, and I assume it is, then I highly recommend either saving some money or waiting for a sale on the Acer Aspire 14 AI. That offers over double the battery life of the Aspire 3 15, as well as double the performance.

If you really want a 15-inch laptop for dirt cheap, and plan on staying plugged in all day, then the Aspire 3 might be for you.

Maybe not precisely on October 14, 2025, but at some point soon, Windows 10 will become a security risk.

That date is when Microsoft will stop supporting the operating system, and it will not patch any new vulnerabilities. If you’re still using Windows 10 at work, your IT department will most likely not allow you to use the OS any longer.

All of this will hasten the death of Windows 10, which has been slowly dying since Windows 11 debuted in October 2021.

The death of Windows 10 has been slow because, as Laptop Mag has reported often over the years, Windows 10 users are raging against the dying of the light.

There are myriad reasons for keeping Windows 10 instead of Windows 11, and in the words of Laptop Reviews Editor Rami Tabari, “You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t displeased with Windows 11 in some shape or form.”

But with each new update, Windows 11 gets better and better, and the data shows that more people are making the switch. StatCounter, a site that tracks various data, showed that in April 2024, Windows 10 usage accounted for 70% of Windows users. A year later, it accounted for just 54% of Windows users.

And this week, Microsoft revealed a statistic that demonstrates just how bold the change to Windows 11 has been in the past year.

“We continue to see increased commercial traction as we approach end of support for Windows 10. Windows 11 commercial deployments increased nearly 75% year over year,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Tuesday. ("Commercial deployment" is finance-speak for "units sold and switched on," essentially.)

The comments came during Nadella’s remarks to investment analysts after Microsoft released its earnings report for the third quarter of its 2025 fiscal year.

While Windows is top of mind for many PC users, as a revenue earner for Microsoft, it's pretty small. In the 2024 fiscal year, Windows revenue made up just 9% of the company's $245 billion.

The growth of Windows 11 has been steady since its launch in October 2021. In its 2023 annual financial report, released in July 2023, Microsoft noted that the number of devices running Windows 11 had doubled in the previous year.

Wait — what does Copilot think about Windows 10?

If you ask Copilot, Microsoft’s generative AI app that comes included with many Windows 11-enabled laptops, why Windows 10 hangs on for so many so close to its end-of-support date, the reasons are apparent.

For one, if you have an older computer, it may not run as efficiently or at all with the Windows 11 operating system.

Other, more OS-focused reasons – such as quibbles about the Start menu and control over system updates – keep people on Windows 10.

What's next for Windows 11?

If you haven't upgraded or it’s your first time with Windows, know that it's free to upgrade to Windows 11 if you have Windows 10. However, there's a non-monetary cost: it will require more of your RAM and memory.

Your system requirements, if not up to spec, will put a choice in your hands: stick with Windows 10 and risk a security vulnerability, or buy a new laptop.

Windows 11 rolls out updates to features in the second half of every calendar year and monthly security updates.

Each new update includes information from all previous updates. Microsoft released the most recent security update on April 25, and, as the name suggests, the 24H2 version of Windows 11 was released in the second half of 2024, specifically in October 2024.

The Windows 11 25H2 release window is rumored to be between September and October. As reported by Windows Central, Microsoft started testing 26200 series builds in March, a precursor to 25H2, with developers.

More from Laptop Mag

• As Windows 11 adoption skyrockets, Microsoft tightens its grip on new users
• Microsoft has forked up Windows 11, but there's one clear solution
• Microsoft doesn't want you to upgrade to Windows 11
• No, Microsoft isn't going to charge you $1.50 to update Windows 11
• I ditched Windows 11 for Linux — and you should, too
• Windows 11 Home vs. Pro: Which one is right for you?

Microsoft will stop supporting the Windows 10 operating system on October 14, 2025, which will force the hand of many to update to Windows 11.

While Windows 11 debuted in October 2021, Windows 10 still claims the largest user base worldwide.

Research from StatCounter shows that 54% of Windows users were still running Windows 10 as of April 2025, down from nearly 70% a year earlier. While use of Windows 10 is decreasing, it's still massive on a global scale.

What does "stopping support" mean for Windows 10 users who don't want to upgrade, or cannot because their laptop won't support it, to Windows 11? At its most basic level, the end of support for Windows 10 means your laptop that runs Windows 10 will be more vulnerable to new security risks that Microsoft won't address.

Whether you're looking for the latest news about Windows 11, how to get the most out of Windows 10 before support ends in October, or original reporting and analysis, check back to this page regularly. Laptop Mag will have new reporting, original ideas, opinions, and essays leading up to and beyond the moment when Windows 10 support ends.

I’m sure you were as confused as I was when I started reading that Windows was going to charge $1.50 per month just for updates.

Microsoft recently announced the full release of hotpatching in Windows Server 2025. This is what IT departments use to share a collective cloud space across a network, and it acts as a wall of security for the individual devices connected to that server.

Windows Server 2025 is offering the ability to hotpatch, which installs updates without the need to restart the server. This doesn’t mean your system will never need a reboot, but according to Microsoft’s blog, it’ll be less frequent.

Hotpatching has been available in the preview version of Windows Server 2025 since 2024 (confusing, I know). It will become generally available on July 1, 2025.

Again, this is only for people who use Windows Server 2025. In other words, if you’re not attached to a dedicated Windows Server in your house or in a company office, this isn’t something you need to worry about.

That's good news for regular Windows users, however, this type of behavior may not really bode well for consumers in the future.

Hotpatching in Windows Server 2025

The issue with this “quality of life” feature is that it’s locked behind a paywall. It may not affect a majority of Windows users, but what’s stopping Microsoft from introducing something like this to regular users in the future?

Microsoft is acting like Windows 11 has some paid DLC to make the game easier when it's a feature that should already be built in.

It gets a little worse, too. If Windows Server users are already participating in the preview, they will automatically be charged the $1.50 subscription fee when it officially releases. In order to avoid this, you need to disenroll from Azure Arc in preview on or before June 30.

It seems like Microsoft forgot that Windows actually isn’t free. We don’t really notice it because it comes preloaded in a majority of laptops and PCs. But you’re seeing that cost one way or another, and you’ll get a closer look at the price if you are building a gaming PC.

To be clear, Windows Server 2025 costs $1,176 for the Standard edition and $6,771 for the Datacenter edition, or $33.58 per CPU core per month. Asking for $1.50 per month on top of that feels like nickel-and-diming.

It would be nice for a feature like hotpatching to show up on the individual consumer side of things, but I’m not getting my hopes up. And even if something similar does show, are we going to have to pay an additional cost?

I have a feverish nightmare being forced to pay a fee just to get rid of pop-ads (glares at Amazon’s Kindle).

More from Laptop Mag

• Microsoft set to make huge Windows change — and it's hoping you won't notice
• Microsoft Recall is gradually rolling out — will new privacy features get you to try Windows AI?
• Oops. Deleting Windows' mysterious "inetpub" folder was a terrible mistake. Here's how to fix it

It came like a thief in the night, springing up in the system drives of Windows 11 users worldwide without warning or explanation. But now, Microsoft's mysterious "inetpub" folder risks veering from fix to flaw as its vulnerabilities are exposed.

The folder's sudden appearance caused a stir online as users noticed it for the first time. Thankfully, the curiously empty directory was traced to April's Windows 11 24H2 (KB5055523) update — and was believed by many to be little more than a harmless artifact left behind that could be safely removed.

However, it was anything but. Microsoft quickly followed up on suggestions that the folder could be deleted with a clear warning not to. Proving that appearances can be deceiving, the seemingly inert "inetpub" folder was actually intentionally positioned by Microsoft to tackle a Windows Update security vulnerability (CVE-2025-21204).

With the secret of Windows 11's mystery "inetpub" folder revealed, Windows users believed there was nothing left to worry about. Turns out, they were wrong.

Windows 11's "inetpub" folder: From mystery to menace?

In a recent blog post, cybersecurity expert (and self-confessed porg lover) Kevin Beaumont exposed how Microsoft's efforts to patch one Windows 11 exploit may have created another — potentially leaving millions of machines open to new attacks.

Microsoft's original patch was designed to block an exploit where limited-access users could use "symbolic links" to gain advanced control of a machine by piggybacking on Windows Update's elevated permissions.

Symbolic links redirect processes from one location to another, similar to how desktop shortcuts redirect to files in other directories. Windows 11's April security patch borrowed certain safeguards from Microsoft's Internet Information Services (which uses inetpub as its default directory) to block this behaviour (known as "link following").

Ironically, the patch designed to prevent link following exploits is also vulnerable to it, as Beaumont reveals that a simple junction script run through the Command Prompt, pointing C:\inetpub to notepad.exe, can reportedly introduce a new denial of service vulnerability that prevents Windows updates, leaving systems wide open to future threats.

The initial exploit Microsoft hoped to solve was primarily a local issue. However, Beaumont's research suggests that this type of meddling with the inetpub folder could leave users vulnerable to attackers from external sources if exploited.

What's next

Beaumont reportedly informed Microsoft of the issue two weeks prior to publishing his findings, and has yet to hear back from the company.

However, this kind of silent response isn't abnormal for Microsoft. Following reports of its AI chatbot Copilot handing out PowerShell scripts to illegally authenticate copies of Windows 11, Microsoft similarly played its cards close to its chest, quietly patching out the issue at a later date.

In the meantime, there's no official guidance for mitigating any risk other than to remain vigilant. Ensure your computer is up to date at all times, avoid downloading sketchy software, and don't presume that deleting the inetpub folder will solve these issues, as it may cause complications with future updates.

For now, the new mystery surrounding Windows 11's "inetpub" folder is how Microsoft plans to secure it from similar meddling in the future.

More from Laptop Mag

• Microsoft set to make huge Windows change — and it's hoping you won't notice
• Microsoft Recall is gradually rolling out — will new privacy features get you to try Windows AI?
• Oops. Deleting Windows' mysterious "inetpub" folder was a terrible mistake. Here's how to fix it

Changes to the Windows operating system are nothing new, the platform is in a constant state of flux thanks to a never-ending onslaught of updates, security patches, and feature drops.

However, there are some things we can count on Microsoft to leave untouched, like the painfully slow Microsoft Store, unwanted injection of ads, and a years-old issue that sees bloatware called Microsoft Edge preinstalled on every system.

That said, the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build (27842) is preparing to shake things up by wiping one of Windows' most dreaded features of the last two decades off the board entirely. Kind of.

A fresh coat of panic for Windows' infamous Blue Screen of Death

The legendary Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) — an infamously dreaded fixture of Windows that announces critical system errors since the early days of the operating system looks set to be no more.

However, those hoping this means that Microsoft has finally found a way to fix the common hardware and software errors that cause this screen to display are in for a letdown. This update is less of a memory and driver issue panacea, and more of a facelift for a digital panic attack.

At least, that appears to be the trajectory Microsoft is heading in with the latest Windows 11 build. The iconic BSoD will be replaced with a new error screen dedicated to the announcement of an unexpected restart, devoid of the modern QR code and relatable frowny face emoji, and plastered in a fresh coat of Medium Forest Green panic.

Yes, the Blue Screen of Death is dead. Long live the Green Screen of Death — an even more sterile wall of frustration whose singular superpower might be the subtle reminder to go outside and touch grass amid your driver woes. Perhaps an attempt to lessen the likelihood of you putting your fist through your keyboard after all of your hard work is flushed down the proverbial pan, as said screen forces a reboot of your machine.

Ironically, this might be Microsoft's first efforts to preserve hardware, following its advice for Windows 10 users to toss their computers into the scrap heap ahead of the operating system's October 14 end-of-support.

What's next

While the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build (27842) offers several more impactful improvements to Microsoft's operating system, including improved battery iconography for laptops, along with the usual mix of bug and security fixes.

The retiring of the BSoD is less of a solution and more of a vibe shift that Microsoft claims will offer a "more streamlined UI for unexpected restarts which better aligns with Windows 11 design principles and supports our goal of getting users back into productivity as fast as possible."

By aesthetics alone, the new design is cleaner, though it offers even less context than before on what the cause of the unexpected error may have been — which may make for a streamlined UI, but makes for a terrible troubleshooting experience.

Should Microsoft stick with the new color scheme, users can likely expect to see the refreshed error screen become standard as part of the Windows 11 25H2 update later in the year.

Ideally, Microsoft will be hoping that this is a change that most users won't ever become aware of. But are you really getting the full Windows experience without the occasional BSOD-inducing crash?

It's a subtle tweak, but it marks something of an end-of-an-era moment for the constantly evolving Windows platform. After decades of watching the BSoD trash my productivity, hamper my gaming sessions, and induce panic over the state of my hardware, for once, I might actually miss it.

So long, and thanks for all the glitch.

More from Laptop Mag

• Microsoft Recall is gradually rolling out — will new privacy features get you to try Windows AI?
• Oops. Deleting Windows' mysterious "inetpub" folder was a terrible mistake. Here's how to fix it
• If you ignore this Windows error, maybe it'll go away — or so says Microsoft

Lenovo just gave its ThinkPad portfolio a major update, bringing additional workstation and business laptops in the P and L series.

The standout of the update batch is the ThinkPad P14s Gen 6, an ultra-light and portable workstation powered by the latest AMD Pro processors.

As a thin, light, and powerful mobile workstation, the P14s Gen 6 could prove to be a competitor for the MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024) and the HP ZBook Ultra 14.

Lenovo is also updating the ThinkPad P16s Gen 4 with AMD's latest Pro processors, and the L series laptops in the 13, 14, and 16-inch variants will be updated with AMD and Intel SKUs.

While the P16s and L-series ThinkPads are getting updated, the P14s is the ThinkPad we think is most likely to make it onto our list of Best workstation laptops or Best Lenovo ThinkPads.

ThinkPad P14s Gen 6

The sixth-generation ThinkPad P14s will feature processor options up to the Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 370, graphics up to the AMD Radeon 890M, up to 96GB of DDR5 memory, up to 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage, and a 14-inch display. Display panel options include a 1920x 1200 IPS or 2880 x 1800 OLED monitor.

While Lenovo has made the P14s an integrated GPU-only workstation, AMD's latest generation of integrated graphics blew us away in our initial testing of the Ryzen AI 300 series. And the P14s is designed to handle CAD and BIM workloads, making it a solid choice for STEM and architecture students.

The P14s Gen 6 is also Lenovo's thinnest and lightest mobile workstation, weighing just 3.06 pounds and measuring 0.63-inches at it's thickest point.

Between its AMD Ryzen AI 300 processor, slick integrated Radeon graphics, and light and thin size, the P14s is absolutely portable and powerful enough to give the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024) a run for its money.

While HP's ZBook Ultra 14 G1a will be a more powerful workstation with the AMD Ryzen AI Max chipset, the P14s Gen 6 will likely offer better battery life since it's Ryzen AI PRO 300 chip requires far less power.

The ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 will be available starting May 2025, with U.S. pricing expected to start at $1,579.

ThinkPad P16s Gen 4

For workstation users who need a bit more screen real estate, Lenovo is also updating the P16s with the latest AMD Ryzen AI PRO processors, up to the Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 370.

The P16s can also be configured with integrated graphics up to the Radeon 890M, up to 96GB of DDR5 memory, and up to 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. The 16-inch model has two display options: a 1920 x 1200 IPS or a 3840 x 2400 OLED panel.

With its larger screen, the P16s Gen 4 is a little thicker and heavier than the P14s, weighing 3.77 pounds and measuring 0.71 inches at its thickest point.

Because the P16s Gen 4 is a mobile workstation with integrated graphics only, it isn't quite a MacBook Pro 16 competitor, but it should still be a worthy option for architects or STEM researchers who need a fully mobile workstation laptop.

The ThinkPad P16s Gen 4 will be available starting May 2025, with U.S. pricing expected to start at $1,619.

ThinkPad L Series

Lenovo is also updating the L series of business laptops, offering the latest AMD and Intel CPUs.

Configuration options will include Intel Core Ultra 200U series processors and AMD Ryzen AI processors up to the Ryzen 7 PRO. The L series laptops, in 13-inch, 14-inch, and 16-inch variants will come with integrated Intel or AMD graphics.

System memory can be configured with up to 32GB of RAM for the L13 Gen 6 or 64GB of RAM for the L14 Gen 6 and L16 Gen 2. Storage can be configured up to 1TB for the L13, or up to 2TB for the L14 and L16 models.

Each of the L series laptops comes with multiple panel options, ranging from a 1920 x 1200 IPS touch to a 1920 x 1200 IPS, 500-nit display.

The new ThinkPad L series will be available in June 2025, with US pricing expected to start at $1,509 for the L13 Gen 6. The L13 2-in-1 Gen 6 is expected to start at $1,669, while the L14 Gen 6 is expected to start at $1,209, and the L16 Gen 6 is expected to start at $1,219.

What's next

Thanks to the ever-changing state of the U.S. foreign tariff policy, Lenovo's prices are subject to change. However, tariffs can also impact shipping expectations as the changing tariff policy has caused some laptop makers, including Lenovo, to rush shipments of laptops to the U.S.

So for now, these release dates and prices reflect Lenovo's best estimation and not a final word on either price or ship date.

We'll need to get some of these new ThinkPads into our lab to see if they'll find a home on some of our Best pages, including best workstation laptops, best Lenovo ThinkPad laptops, or even best AMD Ryzen laptops.

More from Laptop Mag

• I spent a week with the HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i, and this mobile workstation obliterated my expectations.
• We tested and reviewed over a dozen ThinkPads to find the 3 best ThinkPads in 2025
• 6 months later, has Intel finally fixed desktop performance?

HP’s latest ZBook Fury G1i laptops were announced on March 18 at HP’s Amplify conference in Nashville. Coming in both 16 and 18-inch variants, this desktop replacement workstation features desktop-class components for unrivaled power and a quick latch for easy repairs and upgrades.

The new ZBook Fury lineup isn't available to buy yet, but I got my hands on a pre-production model of the ZBook Fury 18 G1i, and it's blown past my initial expectations of just how powerful it could be. I’m not sure any workload I can create is enough to push this machine anywhere near its limits.

While this is far from a final verdict on the ZBook Fury, it does seem like a strong contender for our best workstations.

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: Specs

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: Pricing and configurations

The ZBook Fury 18 G1i’s starting configuration includes an Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX processor with a 4.5GHz max turbo frequency for its 12 E-cores, a 5.2GHz max turbo frequency for its 8 P-cores, and 36MB L2 cache. The Core Ultra 7 255HX chipset includes an integrated Intel Graphics tile, and an Intel AI Boost NPU with up to 13 TOPS of processing power. The base configuration also features 512GB of M.2 storage, and an 18-inch, 2560 x 1600, anti-glare flat LCD display.

The Fury G1i can be upgraded to an Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX processor (4.6GHz max turbo frequency for the 12 E-cores, and 5.3GHz max turbo frequency for the 8 P-cores), or an Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX processor (4.6GHz max turbo frequency for the 16 E-cores, 5.5GHz max turbo frequency for the 8 P-cores, and a 40MB L2 cache).

The base ZBook Fury 18 configuration features integrated Intel graphics. Still, discrete GPU options will range from the Nvidia RTX Pro 1000 Blackwell Generation Laptop GPU with 8GB of DDR7 VRAM to the RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell Generation with 24GB of DDR7 VRAM.

The ZBook can be configured with up to 4TB of storage and up to 128GB of DDR5 ECC memory or 192GB of DDR5 non-ECC RAM.

HP has not announced pricing information for the ZBook Fury 18 G1i, likely due to the volatility of the US tech tariffs and the ZBook's status as a professional workstation laptop.

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: Design

The ZBook Fury 18 G1i sports the classic HP ZBook look, with a minimalist, Nouvelle Silver chassis and an inset HP logo on the top cover. The keyboard deck is also clean, with a latticeless keyboard, large palm rests, and a massive touchpad with discrete buttons. It’s not the flashiest or sleekest design considering the sheer magnitude of the laptop, but it is perfectly suitable for a professional environment.

The Fury 18 G1i is an absolute beast of a laptop. With an 18-inch display and desktop-class components, it’s not a slim desktop replacement. The Fury is not a laptop designed for the daily commute, measuring 15.88 x 11.41 x 1.10 inches and weighing at least 7.78 pounds. It’s portable enough, so if you need to move desks or take it to a meeting, you can, but it’s not the kind of laptop you’ll want to bring on a plane or for working on your commute to and from the office.

The Fury 18 is the first HP workstation in the 18-inch class and it's also the first of it's size we’ve looked at here at Laptop Mag. We’ve traditionally opted for 16-inch workstation laptops for their increased portability. Making the ZBook Fury 18 G1i seem even less portable in comparison to other ZBook workstations like:

• HP ZBook Studio 16 G10: 14.02 x 9.54 x 0.76 inches, 4.2 pounds
• HP ZBook Studio 16 G11: 14.02 x 9.54 x 0.76 inches, 4.1 pounds
• HP ZBook Fury 16 G9: 14.3 x 9.8 x 1.09 inches, 5.38 pounds

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: Ports

As a professional workstation laptop, the ZBook Fury 18 G1i comes with plenty of ports to connect to all your devices:

• 2x Thunderbolt 5 (with power delivery, DisplayPort 2.1, 8pGbps signaling rate)
• 1x Thunderbolt 4 with USB Type-C (with power delivery, DisplayPort 2.1, 40Gbps signaling rate)
• 1x USB Type-A (10Gbps signaling rate)
• HDMI 2.1
• 1x Power connector
• 1x Audio combo jack
• 1x RJ-45 Ethernet jack
• 1x Smart card reader
• 1x SD card reader
• 1x HP Tamper Lock slot

With multiple DisplayPort 2.1 connections, Thunderbolt 4 and 5 connectivity, and a USB Type-A port alongside a Smart card reader and an SD card reader, you’re unlikely to need more ports for the ZBook Fury. But if you need additional SD card slots or Thunderbolt ports, you may want to snag one of the best laptop docking stations or USB-C hubs.

See also: Thunderbolt 5 is set to change how you literally see your laptop display

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: Battery life

For all that Intel’s Arrow Lake processors are designed to be more energy efficient, they’re still powerful chipsets. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX processor in our ZBook Fury 18 model operates at a base power of 55W (watts), with the Fury designed to take full advantage of its maximum turbo power of 160W. Combined with an Nvidia RTX Pro 3000 Blackwell Generation GPU rated for 60-140W of power, the ZBook Fury would never offer the battery life you want for a great on-the-go workstation.

The Fury is a portable workstation designed to be used connected to AC power typically, so its battery life isn’t great. Rather than handle my usual daily workload, I instead tested out the ZBook Fury’s battery life by doing some vacation photo editing from a recent trip. I did some color and exposure correction and cropping on 20 photos for an hour, which cost me about 20% battery. While not awful, it’s certainly not indicative of benchmark-breaking battery life.

That said, I didn’t see a huge performance drop with the ZBook Fury operating on battery power, which is nice. Of course, that eats away at battery longevity, but it means you’re not sacrificing all of the discrete Nvidia Blackwell GPU’s power if you need to break out the Fury when in the field.

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: Display

The ZBook Fury 18 G1i has only one flat LED panel option, a matte, 2560 x 1600, panel with a 165Hz refresh rate. But don’t let the lack of options fool you. The 18-inch 1600p display is a gorgeous, vibrant display.

The Fury’s matte LED display is calibrated to cover 100% of the DCI-P3 color space, and based on what my eyes can pick up, it’s almost certainly capable of hitting that threshold.

The Fury 18’s LED display showcased the striations of mineral deposits of the Kilaeua volcano crater in Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park. The display features enough contrast to capture the details inside Kilauea’s lava tubes, while still capturing the vibrant red of Mauna Kea’s cinder cones.

With a refresh rate of 165Hz, the Fury’s display is easy on the eyes, causing less strain due to screen flicker. It’s also ideal for video editing at framerates above 60fps (frames per second).

The ZBook Fury 18 G1i is powerful enough and has enough ports to handle multiple monitors. So if the onboard 18-inch panel isn’t enough for your needs, the Fury can power a 4K, 5K, or even 8K monitor if you need the extra pixels.

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: Keyboard and touchpad

The ZBook Fury 18 G1i, like most of HP’s ZBook line, features an HP Z Keyboard with quietKey switches. The Fury 18 G1i opts for a latticeless, full-sized keyboard with a number pad. The Z Keyboard has a nice click activation and solid bounce, but it is quiet enough to fit into a professional environment without causing distractions, the way a louder, mechanical switch can.

On the 10fastfingers.com advanced typing test, I averaged 87 words per minute (wpm), which is just below my 88WPM average on the Apple MacBook Pro 14. That’s a pretty shallow learning curve considering the size difference between the MacBook’s smaller keyboard and the Fury’s massive deck.

The touchpad is large and slightly offset on the keyboard deck due to the numpad, and features three discrete buttons. The glass touchpad has a silky feel for precise gestures, and the touchpad buttons offer a satisfying physical click. You can also use tap gestures to control the ZBook Fury, but for workstation users, having physical click buttons makes more sense, given how specific certain creative programs can be.

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: Performance and heat

Because our ZBook Fury 18 G1i laptop is a pre-production sample, we couldn’t accurately benchmark it to get a good idea of its performance compared to other workstations. The Fury was running a Windows 11 Pro test build with early sample drivers for its Nvidia RTX Pro Blackwell Generation GPU, so any benchmark results may not have accurately represented the laptop’s performance once it's available on the market.

That said, I did run the laptop through SPECworkstation 4 and Blender Benchmark suites to see if I could push the Fury to its limits during any of the intense workloads since my vacation photo editing session was hardly enough to kick the fans on. It was only once the Fury had hit the HandBrake 8K and 4K tests during SPECworkstation 4 that the fans kicked on, and even then, they were barely noticeable over the general Laptop Mag office chatter.

Based on this first early glimpse at what the ZBook Fury is capable of with its powerful Intel Arrow Lake HX processor, the Fury can tackle complex workloads with robust single-thread and multithread performance.

And if my brief testing experience with the Fury 18 is a fair representation, it’ll even stay relatively cool while handling complex data science and 3d modeling workloads.

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: Graphics and gaming

After I saw the Fury 18 G1i at HP Amplify, I’d joked that I would need to learn how to animate in Blender to actually put this laptop to the test, and it looks like I was right.

While I do the occasional photo and video editing, my general needs don’t really require a beefy workstation-class GPU. And the Fury absolutely sped through the Blender benchmark and SPECworkstation 4 GPU tests with impressive results, though certain workloads did seem to put at least some stress on the Fury, like SPEC’s Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, CATIA, and Creo Parametric benchmarks.

The ZBook completed a run of the entire SPECWorkstation 4 suite in short order, with minimal fan noise across the entire suite. While the results of my brief benchmark testing aren’t likely to be completely accurate with the full production model of the Fury, the scores I did see were impressive.

In almost all of the industry vertical segments, the ZBook Fury met or exceeded the SPECworkstation 1.0 ratio, solidifying the ZBook Fury as HP’s premier powerhouse workstation.

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: AI features

With its Intel Arrow Lake chipset, the HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i does have a small Intel AI Boost NPU onboard. It also has a powerful Nvidia Blackwell Pro GPU, so you can run various AI workloads on all three hardware accelerators.

The ZBook Fury G1i only has a few pre-installed AI features, like the Microsoft Copilot assistant and Windows Studio Effects like automatic camera framing, eye contact correction, and background blur.

Since it has an Intel Arrow Lake processor, the ZBook Fury does not meet the Copilot+ requirements, meaning it misses out on some Copilot+ exclusive features like Live Captions, CoCreate, and Recall.

That said, as an Intel laptop with an AI PC chipset, the ZBook Fury can run Intel’s AI Playground software for additional AI features. This gives you access to Llama, OpenVino, Juggernaut, and DreamShaper 8 models upon installation, but you can also feed additional LLM models to Intel AI Playground, including DeepSeek and Microsoft Phi-4.

HP ZBook Fury 18 G1i: What's next?

This is still just an early look at what the ZBook Fury 18 G1i is capable of, based on the time I spent with a pre-production sample. So it’s not our definitive review of the laptop, but if you’re looking for an immensely powerful but still mobile workstation, the ZBook Fury is one to watch.

However, if you’d rather go for a more portable workstation, HP is expected to revamp the ZBook Studio line with the latest processors later this year. The company has also launched the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a, which features AMD’s innovative Ryzen AI Max processor. As an ultra-thin and lightweight 14-inch workstation, it’s a clear MacBook Pro competitor.

However, if you need a mobile workstation with desktop-class power, the ZBook Fury looks like a winner.

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When mysterious folders appear within your system directory, it's typically a warning sign that something might be afoot regarding your device's security.

So, when many Windows users stumbled upon a mysterious new "inetpub" folder on their computers (myself included), it's no wonder that eyebrows were raised.

The folder, which is the default directory of Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS), wasn't a documented change and was initially presumed to be a harmless artifact left behind by April's Windows 11 24H2 (KB5055523) update.

However, a recent security vulnerability update to the Microsoft Knowledge Base (as reported by Windows Latest) reveals that the folder serves a vital purpose in protecting users against a harmful exploit that could see attackers granted elevated local privileges.

Phew! Panic over, right? Well, as long as you're not one of the people who deleted the seemingly empty folder when it appeared last week (like me), yes.

Well, don't I feel silly now? Thankfully, there's an easy fix to restore the "inetpub" folder back to its duties, and it only takes a moment. Let's take a closer look at the exploit in question and how to make sure you're protected.

"Inetpub": Why you don't want to delete that mysterious Windows folder

According to the Microsoft Knowledge Base, April's KB5055523 security patch was, in part, attempting to solve a security vulnerability (CVE-2025-21204) relating to attackers gaining elevated local privileges.

In a nutshell, the exploit allowed somebody with limited access to your computer to trick the system into giving them advanced control through special shortcut-like files called symbolic links.

This exploit manipulates Windows Update's elevated privileges to follow a symbolic link without the usual protections, giving an attacker access to parts of a system they normally wouldn't be allowed to touch.

The patch borrows certain safeguards from Microsoft's IIS to prevent this kind of behaviour (known as "link following"), ensuring your system now checks where a symbolic link leads to before allowing processes like Windows Update to make changes — effectively cutting off would-be attackers at the knees.

What to do if you did delete Windows' "Inetpub" folder

If you already pulled the trigger on deleting the "inetpub" folder from your system drive, you might now be left with egg on your face. Don't worry, so was I. However, a fix is at hand, and it doesn't take long to perform.

The folder, and presumably the related security patch can be restored by activating Internet Information Services manually, before performing a system restart.

Here are the steps to make it happen:

1. Open the Control Panel in Windows.
2. Navigate to Programs, then to Programs and Features.
3. Select Turn Windows features on or off.
4. Check the box next to the Internet Information Services option.
5. Click OK.
6. Restart your device from the Start Menu.

Once your device is back up and running, check your system folder to ensure the "inetpub" folder has returned successfully. Following this, you should be protected from the CVE-2025-21204 security vulnerability as intended.

Make sure you then disable IIS following these steps, by repeating the process above, but unchecking the box next to Internet Information Services.

More from Laptop Mag

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Another day, another Windows update. Another Windows update, another unfortunate error.

Post-update blues are practically a rite of passage for Windows users, as any patch applied to such an all-encompassing pool of hardware is sure to have its hiccups post-release.

One of the latest relates to the Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2 April update (KB5057589), which began rolling out to users on April 8. This patch is focused on the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), applying the Safe OS Dynamic update to improve Windows recovery features.

However, in typical fashion, not everything is going smoothly. Users have been greeted with a foreboding 0x80070643 error on install, where an "ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" message would indicate something has gone awry.

If you're an affected user feeling a little on edge over the potential failed installation of one of Windows 10's most invaluable tools for protecting your data, should you ever find your system has become unbootable, worry not.

Microsoft has a bold new approach to this bug: Ignore it until it goes away.

Error 0x80070643: Have you tried turning it off and on again?

In an official support post for the KB5057589 update, Microsoft highlights the WinRE error alongside several other priority issues, including a now resolved issue that saw USB printers spitting out random text and a mitigated fault that was impacting Windows and Linux dual-boot setups.

Typically, an issue with a vital tool like Windows Recovery would ring alarm bells, but Microsoft seems nonplussed. While the company admits that it's working on a resolution to the issue, in the meantime, Microsoft suggests the IT classic of turning your machine off and on again and calling back later if the problem persists.

With Windows 10 rapidly nearing its October 14, 2025, end-of-support, it's tempting to frame Microsoft's advice as coming from somebody already mentally clocked out on the tail-end of a Friday afternoon at the office — having worked in technical support, I know my own tricks when I see them.

However, in this instance, that appears to be all it takes.

According to Microsoft, the 0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE message is "not accurate" and won't impact the functionality of Windows Repair. The error is primarily observed when there is "another update in the pending reboot state," and the update will "typically" show as complete following a successful restart of affected devices.

For the atypical moments when this doesn't resolve the error message, Microsoft says not to worry. It'll work itself out. Within the support documentation, Microsoft recommends putting your faith in the age-old physician of all wounds: time.

Microsoft offers some final assurances to those encountering the bug with the following clarification:

"Windows Update might continue to display the update as failed until the next daily scan, at which point the update is no longer offered and the failure message is cleared automatically."

What's next

While Microsoft's technical support for this issue feels comically cliche, it would appear to be right on the money.

Say what you will about each Windows update bringing with it a fresh set of problems, but you can't fault Microsoft for constantly engaging with those issues and seeking solutions.

However, for Windows 10 users, the availability of that support is drawing to a close as the platform nears its October 14, 2025, end-of-support date.

Beyond that point, Windows 10 users will no longer receive important security patches, features, or technical support from Microsoft unless they opt in to the company's Extended Security Updates program, covering one additional year of support for $30.

If users want to continue receiving the latest features, security patches, and technical support from Microsoft, it's advised that they upgrade to Windows 11 ahead of October's shutdown.

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Recall was one of the signature new AI features for Copilot+ PCs announced by Microsoft at its Build event on May 20, 2024. On Thursday, almost a year later, Microsoft started a gradual rollout of Recall to Windows Insiders.

So why the delay? The concept behind Recall sounds excellent; it knows what you've done on your PC, allowing you to pull up anything you've seen with simple semantic searches describing what you remember. Here's how Microsoft describes it: "Unlock your photographic memory with Recall."

That may be the greatest sales pitch for buying one of the best AI laptops that I've heard, but Recall faced immediate backlash over privacy concerns, with Microsoft first changing it to an opt-in feature that you had to activate and then removing it entirely. It became one of the biggest AI controversies of 2024.

See also: Best laptop deals in April 2025

However, Microsoft did not give up on Recall, making small changes and allowing limited sets of Windows users to continue testing it out.

In December 2024, Laptop Mag contributing writer Shubham Agarwal spent weeks using the Microsoft Recall preview, and while he was initially put off by the privacy concerns, he stuck with it and found it "to be a game-changer and a glimpse into the future of desktop productivity."

Microsoft is taking another swing at bringing the feature to market via the Windows Insider program before a presumed eventual rollout to all Windows 11 users. Before that happens, let's take a look at the feature as it exists today — because you might have the chance to opt in to Recal soon.

Microsoft Recall in April 2025

Despite the rocky road for Recall, it retains the same promise and feature set we saw in May 2024. The goal is for you to be able to find anything you've seen or done on your Windows PC using a simple search bar rather than having to dig through multiple apps, files, or your browser history.

The biggest changes are all around the privacy guardrails that are in place.

The first is that the feature remains opt-in, even for those in the Windows Insider preview.

You have to launch Recall and then toggle the option to "Save snapshots" by going into Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots.

If you have concerns, you can also check this setting and verify that it's in the off position.

Second, you can manually filter apps or websites from inclusion in Recall snapshots by adding them to an exclusion list that is also found in Recall & snapshots settings.

This filtering option is in addition to the auto-filtering of sensitive information, which is designed to exclude passwords, ID numbers, and credit card numbers from snapshots. (However, Tom's Hardware reported late last year that Recall still would screenshot information like credit card and Social Security numbers.)

You also must enroll in Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security with one or more biometric sign-in options to use Recall. And finally, the snapshots are processed on-device without going to the cloud, which is why your laptop must meet the following hardware requirements:

• A Copilot+ PC that meets the Secured-core standard
• 40 TOPs NPU (neural processing unit)
• 16 GB RAM
• 8 logical processors
• 256 GB storage capacity
  • To enable Recall, you’ll need at least 50 GB of storage space free
  • Saving snapshots automatically pauses once the device has less than 25 GB of storage space

When will Recall be available on your laptop?

If you are a member of the Windows Insider Program in the U.S., Recall started rolling out on Thursday of this week, so if you don't have it already, it should arrive soon.

For Windows 11 users who aren't part of the Insider program, there's no official statement from Microsoft regarding the rollout yet.

Given the gradual rollout of the feature to Insiders even with Recall still flagged as in "preview," it seems clear that the company isn't going to rush it to a wide release.

If you can't wait, you can register for the Windows Insider Program and join the release preview channel.

What's next for Recall

The biggest question for Microsoft next is whether the influx of new Recall users will create another privacy panic or if Windows Insiders will be wowed by the feature and become evangelists for it.

The truth may be somewhere in between, but if Recall can't convince the Windows Insider audience, it will likely have trouble breaking through to mainstream users.

While the existence of a single "killer app" for AI remains in question, features like Recall certainly have strong potential.

We'll watch with interest to see if Microsoft's slow and steady approach with Recall finally pays off.

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Following the publication of this story, Microsoft has revealed that the "inetpub" folder is created as part of a security process and should not be deleted. This article has been updated to reflect this advice.

If you're a fellow Windows user, then you're all too aware of certain frustrations that come along with running Microsoft's operating system.

One of the more common frustrations we share is the sudden appearance of the platform's infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSoD), which leaves you only an obscure cryptographic puzzle of an error code to decipher its cause.

Then there are the moments when you leave your work open for the night, ready to hop back on the wagon in the morning with a head-start — only to find Windows Update has evaporated all of your unsaved work with an unprompted reset.

However, there are also the times that momentarily turn your blood to ice; that strangely named entry in your Task Manager processes, a brief flash of the Command Prompt when opening a file you downloaded online, and unannounced folders mysteriously appearing in your system drive.

The latter is something I recently came across, finding a strange, empty folder named "inetpub" sitting comfortably in my C: drive. I didn't create it, I didn't install anything relating to it, and I definitely didn't ask for it. Alarm bells did surely ring.

Naturally, I did what any person would do in this instance: groan at the thought of having to wipe my hard drive, change all of my passwords, and burn my wireless router at the stake in case it had fallen prey to a Chinese botnet.

Thankfully, before taking the nuclear option, I did what any tech-savvy person would do in this instance: I Googled it.

Turns out, I wasn't alone.

What is "inetpub," and why is it on my computer?

Let me spare you any more agonizing seconds spent wondering whether hackers have sneaked their way into your system and stumbled across the contents of that hidden folder on your desktop: no, they haven't.

Well, they might have. Astral projection for tech support is one of the few skills I've yet to develop in life, and I can't speak for the safety or status of your machine, after all.

However, if the only symptom you're facing is the lifeless and barren "inetpub" folder in your C: drive, then they likely haven't. In fact, you — like me — have nothing to worry about.

As it turns out, the "inetpub" folder is appearing for many users following April's Windows 11 24H2 (KB5055523) update, and it appears to be little more than a harmless artifact left behind by Microsoft's recent security patch, as noted by Windows Latest.

If you're unfamiliar with the name "inetpub," that's likely because it's the default directory used by Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS), something typically not activated on most consumer systems.

In a nutshell, IIS is Microsoft's built-in web server — something you'd use if you were to host a website from your Windows PC in the year 2006 for reasons unknown (and probably not worth venturing into) to anybody under the age of 40.

So, how did it suddenly appear on Windows systems?

UPDATE (04/15/25): Microsoft has since confirmed that the mysterious "inetpub" folder was created to patch a vulnerability that could see attackers exploit an elevation-of-privileges flaw in Windows.

On Microsoft's advice, "this folder should not be deleted regardless of whether Internet Information Services (IIS) is active on the target device."

What's next

Nothing. That's what's next. It's all a bit Much Ado About Nothing, really. However, it always pays to be vigilant.

The "inetpub" folder isn't a danger; it's not running any unidentified processes in the background, nor is it secretly hosting the contents of your Windows PC for internet users to access with wanton abandon.

For now, we all calmly move on and collectively agree to pretend we didn't just panic-Google "What is inetpub" and move into the comment section to talk about the wider quirks and nuances of the Windows 11 experience. See you there.

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You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t displeased with Windows 11 in some shape or form, but Microsoft is developing a new Windows 11 Start menu that’s bound to make a lot of people happy.

Bluesky user phantomofearth, who dives into Windows Insider builds, discovered the new Start menu in a recent build. The menu offers a larger, more streamlined look that finally displays all of your apps in one place. More importantly, you can finally axe the Recommended feed.

Getting the apps front and center is nice and all, but I’m more excited about the overall customization.

The new Windows 11 Start menu

Previous Windows 10 users have been asking for this back forever now, which makes sense why people are so excited. Going a step backward is obviously a step forward for Windows, which surprises (let me check) no one.

To be clear, I am still using Windows 10 for my gaming PC for these exact issues… and also Microsoft put a ridiculous hardware requirement on Windows 11. (At least I get to experience the silliness on each laptop I review.)

Again, I love that I don’t need to go through two different menus just to see my apps and that I don’t need to see the (generally) useless Recommended section anymore. However, a list of all the apps in alphabetical order isn’t exactly clean, either. It just makes it more accessible.

With the new UI, you can easily switch between seeing “All” apps alphabetically, all apps in a Name Grid, and then in Categories. This isn’t anything new, but the Category setting previously felt useless because I’d have to click into the Start menu, click All, then click on the category with the app I want, and finally click the app.

However, now with Categories, you'd get an instant, clean look at all my apps in the Start menu on one page with little-to-no scrolling. This isn’t revolutionary by any means, but Microsoft makes Windows hard to love. Heck, that’s why some folks ditched Windows 11 for Linux.

But if the Categories aren’t your style, you can now pin more apps, up to 8 per row. And you’re not stuck with 3 rows anymore, you can technically customize all the apps you see on your Start menu by doing this. So, folks who are very particular will have a field day customizing their Start menu.

If all you care about is ditching the Recommended section, however, you can disable it in the Personalization section in the Settings. Or at least whenever this update becomes available.

Technically, this feature was found in both the 23H2 and 24H2 versions of Windows 11. All that means is that we’ll likely see these new features soon, ideally in the coming weeks.

I won’t be surprised if Laptop Mag Windows expert Rael Hornby has a few things to say about it, so stay tuned for that.

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On Monday, Framework — known for pushing the envelope on the modularity, repairability, and sustainability of consumer laptops — revealed it would be pushing something else entirely: the pause button on some of its most accessible models, thanks to Trump-era tariffs.

It's not the only tariff-induced casualty of trade escalations, either. Recently, Nintendo delayed Switch 2 pre-orders in the U.S., leaving those stateside behind as the rest of the world calls dibs on the company's latest handheld from April 9.

In a reply to a post on its official Subreddit, Framework points to a total of six temporarily discontinued SKUs across its catalog as the company feels the sting of Wednesday's reciprocal tariffs between the U.S. and Taiwan, which hosts the company's entire production, officially take effect.

The company's laptops, originally designed to fight e-waste, now find themselves on the front lines of an international tariff war.

Its former DIY approach to the building and upgrading of your personal computer may have an all-new meaning for U.S. citizens: Delayed Indefinitely for You.

Tariffic news for nobody

Framework isn't some huge multinational conglomerate able to reshuffle factories, reroute shipping lanes, and hike prices without alienating its audience — that company is called Apple.

And that's part of the attraction to the company's somewhat anti Big Laptop catalog, which promotes upgradability in a device typically locked-in to its initial configuration from purchase to planned obsolescence.

A post on X confirms that sales in the U.S. have been temporarily halted on "a few base Framework Laptop 13 systems," including Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and AMD Ryzen 5 7640U models.

When pressed for a reason beyond simply "new tariffs," Framework revealed that the prices of these initial systems were set when "tariffs on imports from Taiwan were 0%," and that, at the current 10% tariff, the company would need to "sell to lowest-end SKUs at a loss."

These two particular models opened with price tags of $899 and $999, respectively. With their removal from the site's U.S. catalog, the Framework Laptop 13 now starts at $1,099 and $1,399 — a noticeable jump that only dulls its prior attractiveness.

What's next

Reaction to the news ranges from relief shown by early adopters and non-U.S. buyers to policy frustration and resigned understanding, with some even suggesting that Framework's popular 13-inch laptop can make the switch from the laptop you build yourself to the laptop you smuggle yourself.

While other models of Framework laptops appear as of yet unaffected, the entry-level door to affordable modular laptops just got a little bit narrower.

Framework claims that they're not the only manufacturer to make these decisions, stating that they're simply being the most transparent, highlighting in a follow-up post to X, "Other consumer goods makers have performed the same calculations and taken the same actions, though most have not been open about it."

The full impact of Trump's tariffs has yet to reveal itself, especially in the tech world. While larger brands can offset costs and quietly shelve SKUs that are no longer cost-effective, despite their popularity, a company the size of Framework seemingly can't.

There's no word yet as to when Framework intends to bring back affordable variants of its 13-inch laptop, with the right-to-repair champions needing time to prepare in the face of a shifting tariff landscape.

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